Russia has set up a secret unit to carry out assassinations abroad
According to journalistic investigations, an organisation known as Centre 795 or military unit 75127 was formed in December 2022 by order of the General Staff. The unit operates autonomously and reports directly to the Chief of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, or his deputy.
Officers were selected for the centre from the FSB, in particular from the ‘Alfa’ and ‘Vympel’ units, as well as from the GRU and the KGB of Belarus. In total, it comprises around 500 personnel. It is reported that officers from the circle of General Andriy Averianov, who previously headed GRU Unit 29155, played a special role. Denis Fisenko was appointed head of Centre 795.
The unit’s headquarters is located at the Kalashnikov Concern’s training centre in Patriot Park in Kubinka. Funding is provided by Kalashnikov co-owner Andrei Bokarev and Rostec head Sergei Chemezov. According to sources, rank-and-file officers receive up to 500,000 roubles, whilst senior officers receive up to 3 million roubles a month in addition to their military pay.
The unit was originally created for operations in Ukraine; however, according to sources, no significant results were achieved in this area. Subsequently, its remit was expanded to include sabotage against military targets, as well as operations against opposition figures and journalists abroad.
One such operation ended in failure. Centre 795 officer Denis Alimov was tasked with organising the abduction of relatives of Chechen opposition politician Akhmed Zakayev, who lives in London. A Serbian citizen, Darko Durovic, who resides in the US, was enlisted to carry out the operation. Due to the language barrier, they communicated using Google Translate.
The FBI obtained a court order to access the translation history and monitored the correspondence. In March 2025, Durovic was arrested in the US, and Alimov was arrested at Bogota airport in February. He is awaiting extradition and faces charges of organising a murder, conspiracy to kidnap and financing terrorism.
