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A member of Russia's Spetsgruppa Al'fa jumps from an armoured personnel carrier during the rescue operation in the town of Byeslan, North Ossetia, 3 September 2004. He wears an oversuit camouflaged in the Russian «Partizan» pattern. [Image: Maxim Marmur/AFP/Getty Images.]

Partizan (autumn, bright)
Russian Federation

Both the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (Russian: Федеральная служба безопасности, trans. Federalnaya sluzhba bezopasnosti, FSB) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Russian: Министерство внутренних дел, trans. Ministerstvo vnutrennikh del, MVD) issue regular army uniforms to their interal forces and special operations units. At the time of writing, the latest camouflage pattern to be issued to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation is Flora, which is very effective in central Russia.

Unfortunately, a camouflage pattern that works well in the fields near Moscow isn't necessarily suitable to all of the diverse environments, in which Russian special forces are required to operate. For this reason most special operations units supplement their issue uniforms with commercially produced camouflage uniforms purchased by sponsors or out of their own pockets.

The summer variant of Partizan camouflage pattern first appeared around 2004. It was prominent during the Beslan school hostage crisis, during which it was worn by members of FSB Spetsgruppa Al'fa.

The autumn variant, shown here, probably was not introduced earlier than 2007. It is a six-colour camouflage, comprising black, dark brown, dark earth, ochre and medium green elements on a yellow ochre background. Overall, it is very similar in appearance to the war-time SS-Eichenlaubmuster ('SS oak-leaf pattern') camouflage pattern.

Oversuits printed in the Partizan camouflage pattern are reversible. The subdued variant, which appears on the reverse side of the cloth, is presumably intended for wear in drier regions.

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