OMSBON - Independent Special Purpose Motorized Brigade

Captain M. S. Prudnikov's detachment, Elusive, became the core of a partisan brigade in Vitebsk area, and in the region of Nalibok Forest (from autumn 1943 the commander of the brigade, which numbered 1,200 men, was A. G. Morozov). A. I. Voropayev's detachment, Saturn, operated in Smolensk area; and A. M. Rabtsevich's detachment, Brave Men, operated in Minsk area. The detachments and special groups of K. P. Orlovskiy, G. M. Khvostov, N. A. Prokopyuk, P. G. Shemyakin, and others were located in enemy rear areas from 1942. A. N. Shikhov and V. A. Karasev went into the enemy rear several times with detachments. Karasev went into the enemy rear several times with detachments. The detachment of A. K. Flegontov, who in 1921–22 had commanded all partisan detachments in the Primor'ye [an administrative region of RSFSR in the Far East], was sent into Byelorussia in the fall of 1942. He began his raid in Kalinin area, and concluded it near the city Osipovichi, having successfully supported the development of the partisan movement in Byelorussia. In just the first three months of 1942, more than twenty OMSBON detachments and special groups were inserted across the front lines into the fascist rear, and 212 special detachments and groups in all (7,316 men) were sent to front commanders for activities in the enemy rear. Almost all of them were Communists and Komsomol members, the overwhelming majority being young men aged 20 to 25 years.

Special detachments and special groups operated in the fascist rear in close cooperation with the party underground and partisans. Thus, from July 1942, Gradov [S. A. Vaupshasov], the commander of a partisan formation, was a member of the military council for the Minsk Partisan Zone. Together with the Minsk Underground City Party Committee of the Communist Party of Byelorussia, the council supervised and coordinated the activities of 23 detachments (3,500 partisans). The supervision of more than 400 underground operatives, agents, and couriers in Minsk, Slutsk, Osipovichi, and other Byelorussian cities was implemented as well from the Gresskiy Forests in the Minsk vicinity. The nucleus of the formation was the party organization of 100 Communists. Here were printed newspapers, proclamations, and leaflets, and active political work was conducted among the populace. A courier system supported communications between the movement headquarters and the underground and also the receiving of information. The structure of other partisan formations, which were created on a base of OMSBON detachments, was similar. In 1942–1944, its detachments and groups fought openly or underground, not only in occupied territories of the RSFSR, Ukraine, Byelorussia, and the Baltic states, but also in other European countries, including Germany.

OMSBON detachments made use of broad support among the local population. News of the appearance of «Muscovites» spread quickly throughout the neighboring forests and villages. «The audacity, courage, utter reliability, and discipline of the soldiers and commanders of the Chekist subunits impressed the local inhabitants.» In early December 1942, near the village Krevniki in the Polotsk region, Ye. A. Teleguyev's demolitions group encountered a fascist ambush near the railroad track. An exchange of fire occurred, and the OMSBON soldiers had to withdraw. They attempted to establish a base in another area, but ran into a patrol. A local resident came to their aid. He led them to a poorly guarded section of rail line near a large station, and then reported to them the results of sabotage. Sixteen flatcars with motor vehicles were destroyed in the explosion. A demolitions group under the command of a Spanish emigre, Lieutenant F. Eskribano (special detachment of Senior Lieutenant D. I. Kuznetsov) found itself in a similar situation in May 1944. Three times the demolitions group attempted to approach the track, and each time they ran into fascists. Then a local resident led them to the main building at the Talka station (Minsk-Bobruysk line), which was not guarded quite as closely as the connecting rails or bridges. In minutes, two mines (pressure and time-delay) were planted. The first did not work.Private Ya. P. Fokin, who had planted it, went back the next night to determine the problem. The demolitions men made their way to the station by the same route, and the demolitions expert corrected his mistake. At dawn, two powerful explosions resounded. Two locomotives, sixteen flatcars with field guns, and fourteen flatcars with tanks were destroyed.

As a rule, local youths who had learned about the appearance of the detachment «Muscovites» tried to establish contact with them or join them. As the mission allowed it, the detachment quickly grew into a partisan formation. Thus, the detachment of Senior Lieutenant I. M. Kuzin, which went into the enemy rear in January 1942 and operated in the Borisov district of Minsk area for 8 months, grew from 36 men to a formation of 900. Its command established liaison with the Orsha underground, and K. S. Zaslonov's group supplied it with weapons and ammunition and helped it to establish contact with Moscow. The distribution of OMSBON forces was planned first of all to insure the successful execution of their operations. For example, Captain G. M. Khvostov's detachment, Innovator, was based in the terrain feature of Uznosh-Mokh (Smolensk-Vitebsk-Orsha triangle), and controlled important railways and highways. In the immediate area was the headquarters of Army Group Center, the local headquarters of military intelligence Abwehr Team 103 was at the Krasnyy Bor bridge, and the school which was training agents and saboteurs was at the Katyn' station. This detachment provided much valuable information to the headquarters of the Western Front and Moscow, and its demolitions men frequently knocked out enemy communications.