SOVIET SPECIAL FORCES HARASS SWEDES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000706940051-3
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 15, 2011
• Sequence Number: 51
• Publication Date: May 23, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2011/12/15: CIA-RDP9O-00965ROO0706940051-3
^i r R~~~~ l ~;ASEINGTON POST
, ; ,,y~t~ll? 2 3 'lay 1986
7~ JACK ANDERSON and DALE -VAN AM
Soviet Special Forces Harass Swedes
N of since "The Man in the Iron Mask" has
there been such a bizarre plot: abduction of
the Swedish royal family by Soviet
commandos to assure Sweden's neutrality in case
of an East-West war.
The kidnap plot is revealed in a recent, highly
sensitive U.S. intelligence report on t e et n ,
as the Soviet s=ial forces are called. The purpose
of seizing the royal family, the report explains,
would be to sow confusion in Sweden and stifle any
notion its political leaders might have of joining
NATO countries against the Soviet Union.
For their own mysterious reasons, the Soviets
have targeted Sweden for a wide range of
harassment, espionage and apparent training
missions for the Spetsnaz. Their arrogance is
sometimes unbelievable. Two years ago, the
Swedish army had to use machine guns and
grenades to repel Soviet frogmen who had landed
on the island of Almoe, near the Swedes'
Karlskrona naval base.
Over the last five years, in fact, Sweden has been
"invaded" more than 100 times by Spetsnaz
mini-submarines-code-named Argus (the manned
version) and Zbuk (the remote-controlled drone).
These 65-foot mini-subs are launched from a
mother submarine and can crawl along the seabed
on their tanklike tracks or skim through the water
by propeller. They have a maximum operating
depth of 344 feet.
The-mini-subs are used by the four Spetsnaz
naval bri ades, which re port to the GRU, the
Soviem~itary into iience organization.
"GRU naval Spetsnaz concentrates on attacking
enemy seaborne nuclear delivery systems or
support facilities," a secret Pentagon report
explains. "They can be used to attack shoreline
targets or can be used against interior targets
when sea infiltration is preferred." In fact, the
mini-subs have already made it into Stockholm
harbor to within a mile of the royal palace.
The Pentagon report also notes: "Both ground
[forces] and [the 2,000 men of] naval Spetsnaz can
[infiltrate] ... various vessels, including merchant
ships, high-speed craft or submarines.
Mini-submersibles launched from either subs or
surface craft can be used either to infiltrate teams
or to conduct an underwater attack against ships,
shoreline or underwater targets."
In Sweden's case, the mini-subs are undoubtedly
conducting reconnaissance and training activities.
Their frequent and flagrant intrusions have been
understandably demoralizing to the Swedish navy.
One naval officer, Capt. Hans von Hofsten, has
publicly complained, "Defense policy has too long
been based on ignoring the facts. The extent,
intensity and seriousness of the submarine
operations in our waters are passed over in silence,
belittled or even ridiculed [by civilian leaders]."
Meanwhile, the Spetsnaz mini-subs' distinctive
tracks have been showing up in strategic locations
all over the world. Tracks identical to those left on
the Swedish seabed have been found off Gibraltar
and near Japanese naval bases. Some were detected
in the Soya Strait between the Japanese northern
island of Hokkaido and Soviet Sakhalin Island, the
route Soviet warships take to reach the Pacific
from Vladivostok.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2011/12/15: CIA-RDP9O-00965ROO0706940051-3