Initially , this special-purpose counter-terrorism unit was involved in delicate operations which necessitated its members have a unique skill set . In 1979 , the Alpha Group shot a young Soviet Ukrainian , named Yuri Vlasenko , who was occupying a room in the Consular Section of the Embassy of the United States in Moscow , demanding he be granted asylum in the United States . He was either killed by gunfire , or by the detonation of his home-made bomb , which also slightly damaged the building . Throughout the 1980s , Alpha became increasingly deployed domestically to respond to a rising number of hostage taking situations , including at least two cases which involved buildings being taken over and hostages taken by violent groups of deserters from the Soviet Army , as well as other armed organizations . Notably , the 1983 hijacking of Aeroflot Flight 6833 in Tbilisi , Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic , was thwarted when Alpha stormed the airplane , killing three and capturing three other hijackers who were attempting to escape to the west , which also resulted in the loss of five hostages . The unit also became involved in the ethnic conflicts throughout the Soviet Union in the late 1980s and early 1990s . Alpha was also used as the " spearhead " of KGB counterintelligence operations , interdicting hostile intelligence operations on Soviet territory and seizing enemy spies such as CIA agent Adolf Tolkachev in 1985
Aeroflot Flight 6833
Aeroflot Flight 6833
Alpha Group