Salikov, Igor R. Putin's "Viper" Detachment

One Man’s Role in a Russian Special Forces Unit and the Invasion of Ukraine

With the collapse of the USSR in 1991, the Soviet armed forces were largely disbanded and some of their personnel were distributed among the new independent republics. With few options available to him, the author joined Redut, an organisation consisting of Russian mercenaries operating abroad. In the years that followed, Vladimir Putin's rise to power after his election as president led to a strong nationalist sentiment in the Kremlin. Two former Soviet republics, first Chechnya and then Georgia, were the first to face increasing Russian aggression. Special sabotage teams and assault battalions were formed, each based on the Redut group, and the author, who had been given the call sign Viper, soon found himself back in Russian service. This time, however, he led a special unit in operations in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. In autumn 2021, Viper was appointed commander of the Redut Group's intelligence department as part of the GRU. He was assisted by three secret agents. These were Ukrainian special forces officers who had defected to Russia. They were given a secret mission: to attack the headquarters of the Ukrainian secret service SBU in Kiev and destroy all files before Putin began his large-scale invasion of the country. Putin's Viper Detachment is the first complete account by Viper himself of this secret operation and how his unit had to fight its way out of Ukraine after the failed attack on the SBU headquarters. What followed was a thrilling, fast-paced battle that ultimately led the battle-hardened author to refuse to continue fighting or killing. He withdrew his unit from Ukraine to Belarus, pursued by Putin's counterintelligence officers. Viper eventually managed to flee Russia and make his way to the International Criminal Court in The Hague to testify about the war crimes of Putin's government. This is the first time the world has heard about this secret operation from the man who led it. In this book, Viper reveals the true nature of the covert war in Ukraine.