[Krosan]

I went on to read the Reuters article linked in Zerohedge and there they say he was from OMON police unit. OMON is "special" because it is sort of like a riot police used mostly to disperse demonstrations. Rather far from Special Forces as it is commonly understood.

[ansel12]

Rangers, SEALs, Special Forces are all Special Operations units, but the “Special Forces” is the United States Army Special Forces, the “green berets”, which is a nick name for them.

I think the media is erasing their name and making it a generic term.