VLADIMIR Putin has unleashed his ruthless Spetsnaz special forces unit who train with live bullets and kill dogs with shovels into Ukraine to execute Volodymyr Zelensky as the invasion continues to stall.

       The 15,000-strong elite unit face gruelling training and potentially deadly initiations to qualify before operating behind enemy lines and carrying out spearhead assaults.

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       Russia's Spetsnaz soldiers go through a grim training programme Credit: AFP 12

       They are forced to batter each other in gruelling contests Credit: Alamy 12

       Recruits must complete horrific assault courses involving a five-mile run through rugged terrain Credit: Getty 12

       The no-nonsense training programme is used in all Spetsnaz units Credit: Alamy

       Whether it's learning how to kill with a spade, or wrestling maddened dogs to the death, the training process to become a Spetsnaz soldier is known to be a grim ordeal.

       The no-nonsense training programme has been used in all Spetsnaz units of the Interior Ministry troops since 1993.

       Those taking part must endure three stages - each aimed at pushing competitors to the limit.

       First is a physical fitness test, then a weapons and ammunition test before the dreaded '12 minutes of hell' combat sessions where they batter the living daylights out of each other in no-holds-barrred contests.

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       The medieval-style training regime also sees recruits handed just a shovel before being locked in a room with a rabid dog which they are told to kill.

       They also learn a martial art called Sambo - a vicious form of no-holds-barred street fighting in which recruits are trained to use anything from broken bottles to street signs.

       Soldiers in training are also given real knives to practise martial art manoeuvres and during the weapons tests, troops must show their skills using an RPG-7 anti-tank grenade launcher, AK74s, sniper rifles and pistols.

       They are even forced to complete horrific assault courses involving a five-mile run through rugged terrain as they are bombarded with smoke grenades and live ammunition.

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       The name Spetsnaz comes from a combination of the Russian phrase spetsialnoye nazhacheniye, meaning “special purpose”.

       It has come to describe all specialised units in the Russian military since the force came into existence in the 1950s - with the original and most elite casts falling under the GRU - Russia's military intelligence agency.

       The Spetsnaz were key in Russia’s Cold War efforts n- but the organisation didn’t die with the Soviet state, and under President Putin, they have had a resurgence.

       It's now understood the bloodthirsty troops have been deployed to Ukraine to hunt down President Zelensky - who defiantly remains in the capital Kyiv.

       Zelensky claims Putin's special forces are also pursuing his family - who are hiding elsewhere in Ukraine as Russian troops continue to pound major cities with relentless shelling.

       In a video statement, he said: “According to our information, the enemy marked me as target number one, my family as target number two.

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       Those taking part must endure three stages aimed at pushing them to the limit Credit: Alamy 12

       The ruthless special forces trials have been taking place since 1993 Credit: Alamy 12

       GRU Spetsnaz fighter Islam Abduragimov, 19, has reportedly been killed in Ukraine Credit: East2West 12

       Captain Konstantin Druzhkov, 33, was also killed, it's understood Credit: East2West

       "They want to destroy Ukraine politically by destroying the head of state. We have information that enemy sabotage groups have entered Kyiv.”

       And a month into Putin's bloody invasion, Russia has lost three of its elite GRU Spetsnaz fighters - including one who used Stalin’s real surname as his pseudonym.

       The foreign military intelligence special forces troops were “liquidated” by the Azov regiment of the National Guard of Ukraine.

       Those killed were named as Captain Konstantin Druzhkov, 33, Islam Abduragimov, 19 and Shamil Aselderov, whose age is unclear.

       Documents linked to the men were found in a captured Tigr armoured vehicle.

       Druzhkov was married to a Donbas resident and served in the military intelligence HQ of Russia’s southern military district.

       He had been involved in fighting in the Donbas in 2014, according to the Ukrainian side and used the pseudonym Konstantin Dzhugashvili on a social media account concealing his real identity.

       Dzhugashvili was the real family name of the Soviet Union’s brutal wartime leader, Josef Stalin.

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       A hit squad from the GRU was behind the poisoning with Novichok of its former spy Sergei Skripal - who had defected to Britain - in Salisbury in 2018.

       In the Cold War, a GRU agent under diplomatic cover in London, Captain Yevgeny Ivanov triggered the fall of a Tory government after he seduced Christine Keeler, the lover of British war minister John Profumo.

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       GRU Spetsnaz soldier Shamil Aselderov has reportedly died in Ukraine Credit: East2West 12

       Documents linked to the three Spetsnaz fighters were found in a captured Tigr armoured vehicle. Credit: East2West 12

       The Spetsnaz unit has reportedly been deployed to execute Zelensky Credit: AP 12

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