Dead Soviet troops in Operation Winter Spear
Operation Winter Spear (22 November 1965) was a covert operation carried out by the United States' Black Ops in the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The CIA's Special Activities Division sent a team of 75 operatives to attack a Soviet intelligence base, and they killed all of the Spetsnaz soldiers there and took out the base.
History[]
President Lyndon B. Johnson authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to launch a highly-classified and covert operation into the Soviet Union to eradicate a Soviet intelligence station that was threatening the secrecy of American actions, with Hampton Clayton being chosen from the Special Activities Division to lead the Black Ops team. A team of 75 top-tier operatives were dispatched to raid the Soviet facility in an operation codenamed "Winter Spear", and the CIA team was inserted into the wilderness of Russia for the operation. They assaulted the Spetsnaz soldiers that garrisoned the station, and intense firefights broke out. The CIA provided air support in the form of napalm strikes, while mortar teams also assisted the Americans in their operation. In the end, all 75 Soviet soldiers were killed while 46 Americans died, including Clayton. The operation was a success against the Soviets, as it checked one of the Spetsnaz's bases.