Spetsnazn.
/ˈspɛtsnaz/, U.S. /ˈspɛtsˌnɑz/ In Russia and (formerly) the Soviet Union: a highly trained, elite armed force used in top-security international operations.
ΚΠ
1982 N.Y. Times 23 Apr. a27/3 Moscow understands the effectiveness and economy of irregular warfare... It has placed more than 200,000 military personnel, called Spetsnaz..under the K.G.B.
1985 Observer 7 Apr. 3/1 The Spetsnaz are the Russian equivalent of the SAS, an elite corps, superbly fit and trained to seize or destroy installations in enemy territory.
1999 J. Elliot Unexpected Light (2000) iv. 161 It was their ‘black soldiers’, he said, who were really dangerous: the mujaheddin's name for Spetznaz units. The ‘special designation’ troops were highly trained commandos attached to the Soviet Intelligence Directorate.
2002 Observer (Electronic ed.) 27 Oct. I watched as a black-clad Russian special forces soldier of the anti-terrorist Spetsnaz units stood over each of the bodies laid in the foyer of the theatre in turn.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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