Draft:Center 795
Russian Intelligence Agency
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Center 795 is a Russian top-secret military unit comprised of elite units from the GRU and FSB which emerged after the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war. It is a fully autonomous entity designed to perform covert operations ranging from military missions in Ukraine to political abductions and assassinations abroad.[1]
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History
Formation
The creation of Center 795, also designated as Military Unit 75127, stems from the necessity for a new covert unit following a number of failed operations of Unit 29155, a GRU clandestine directorate. Between 2018 and 2022 this unit was responsible for the Poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal, the 2016 attempted coup in Montenegro and other operations across Europe. Dozens of Unit 29155's operatives had been exposed by investigators and journalists, compromising the unit.[1]
Military Unit 75127 was established by a Russian General Staff order in December of 2022, with the internal name Center 795. While the previous Unit 29155 was withing the GRU's hierarchy, Center 795 was designed to exist as a separate structure which reports directly to the Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov. As a separate organisation its mandate contains "full-cycle" operations, involving intelligence gathering, surveillance, sabotage and killing, all within a self-contained command. It was envisioned to function as a shadow army. To provide Center 795 with a cover it was not housed within the GRU's existing bureaucratic structure. Instead, officers were listed as employees of the Russian arms manufacturer Kalashnikov Concern. Its operational base was to be located at the Patriot Park military-industrial complex outside Moscow. This way, training exercises could be camouflaged as "test shooting" linked to Kalashnikov's weapons production.[1] Center 795 is partially funded by Russian oligarch and co-owner of Kalashnikov Concern Andrey Bokarev.[2]
Discovery
On the 24th of February 2026, 42-year old Russian citizen Denis Alimov was arrested at El Dorado International Airport. He was wanted for his suspected involvement in a conspiracy to kill two “prominent European figures.” He had allegedly offered $1.5 million bounties for each murder and recruited mercenaries for the job.[3] Before his arrest, Alimov had been under FBI surveillance for over one year.[1]
Alimov was a veteran of OMON and FSB Alpha Group and maintained a direct personal relationship with Ramzan Kadyrov. By the end of 2024 he was mainly focussed on targeting dissidents perceived as enemies of the Russian Federation. Because of his experience in prosecuting Chechen separatists, he was mainly given targets that belonged to the Chechen diasphora in Europe who opposed Kadyrov and sought Chechen independence. The most important targets were acting prime minister-in-exile of the unrecognized Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Akhmed Zakayev and his family. To carry out this operation Alimov recruited Darko Durovic, a Serbo-Croatian speaker living in the United States, as his primary field asset. Durovic was given a $60,000 down payment and promised $1.5 million for each target upon completion of the operation.[1]
After meeting face-to-face in Moscow, Durovic and his handler Alimov communicated through encrypted messaging applications. Howerever, because Durovic spoke Serbian and Alimov spoke Russian they had to translate each others messages. They used Google Translate to do this, which the FBI had under surveillance. These incriminating messages contained details about the targets, payment, weapons and an unnamed co-conspirator. Alimov was Charged with murder and kidnapping conspiracy charges along with counts of providing material support to a designated terrorist organisation and conspiracy to finance terrorism.[1]
Organisation
Center 795 consists of approximately 500 officers devided into three directories, each with a distict role. This structure allows the unit to oparate as a self-contained combined-arms formation. In theory it could carry out independent military and intelligence operations without external support.
The Intelligence Directorate, consisting of nine departments, is the unit's largest directorate. Each department has a specific role. 11th Department handles open-source intelligence. 12th Department handles human agents abroad and is almost entirely staffed by veterans of Unit 29155. 13th Department handles signals intelligence, operating radiotecnical intelligence equipment including satellite intercept stations. 14th and 15th Departments conduct optical reconnaissance using Orlan and Eleron drone for intelligence gathering. Department 16, 17 and 18 are ground surveillance teams that provide physical pre-strike confirmation. 19th Department is a sniper detachment part of the Intelligence Directorate, which suggests its main purpose is carrying out targeted liquidations.[1]
The Assault Directorate contains four Combat Application departments, comprising four autonomous strike groups each. These groups operate around a single principle, no group knows what the others are doing to prevent them from possibly compromising eachother.[1]
The Combat Support Directorate consists of five department that are closer to a conventional warfighting force. These are: armor, artillery, medical, EOD, and air defence. These departements are supplemented by five specialist sections that handle anti-tank operations, maintenance, fortification, and logistics. Some of the equipment that this Directorate has access to include T-90A main battle tanks and Smerch 300mm MLRS systems.[1]
Center 795 recruits officers from various units of the Russian army, the GRU, the FSB, Rosgvardia, and the FSO. Because of the higher status of the unit within the internal hierarchy of the Russian special services Ceneter 795 is allowed to poach personnel from these units without the consent of that agency. Civilians without any military background are also regularly recruited as they can operate without being linked to Russian military or security services.[1]