 The core of Storm-333 assault team included 25 men from the Гром ("Grom" – "Thunder") unit of Alpha Group, and 30 operators from a special KGB group Зенит ("Zenit" – "Zenith"), later known as Vympel and Гром ("Grom" - "Thunder").There were also 87 troops of a company of the 345th Independent Guards Airborne Regiment.520 men from the 154th Separate Spetsnaz Detachment of the USSR Ministry of Defence known as the "Muslim Battalion" because it consisted exclusively of soldiers from the southern republics of the USSR.