Russian special purpose regiments or Spetsnaz, Specnaz (?????? ???????????? ?????????? - ???????/Voyska spetsialnogo naznacheniya, ) is a general term for "special forces" in Russian, literally "special purpose units". Russian special forces (Spetsnaz) can refer to any elite or special purpose units under subordination of the Federal Security Service (FSB) or Internal Troops of Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the units controlled by the military intelligence service GRU. Nowadays, the term is used as well to describe any special purpose units or task forces of other ministries (even the Emergency Situations Ministry special rescue unit) [LINK: http://www.sambofrance.org/documents/degradation.html] The Degradation of Russia's Special Forces, by Stanislav Lunev, The Jamestown Foundation