MOSCOW, March 6 (RIA Novsoti) – Russia’s Defense Ministry is set to create a special operation unit, the chief of the General Staff said on Wednesday.

“Having studied the practices of forming, training and use of special operations forces in the world’s leading states, the Defense Ministry’s leadership is also taking steps to create them,” General Staff head Valery Gerasimov told foreign military attaches in Moscow.

The growing need for a special operation unit has been proven by the experience of military conflicts in the 21st century, he said.

A command for the new unit has been already formed, which has begun planning for unit’s training and tasking, Gerasimov said, without elaborating.

The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), which was activated in 1987, controls units which have taken part in many operations worldwide, including anti-terrorism tasks.