Vityaz was created on May 5, 1991, formed on the basis of the pre-existing 6th detachment of OSNAZ, the spetsnaz unit within the OMSDON division of Soviet Internal Troops.

Their deployment was blocked by soldiers of the Chechen National Guard immediately after landing, and Vityaz was then flown back without even disembarking following a standoff at Grozny Airport.

On October 3, 1993, during the Russian constitutional crisis, Vityaz personnel in BTR armored vehicles were accused of indiscriminately gunning down a crowd of both anti-Yeltsin protesters (most of them unarmed) and onlookers at the Ostankino TV center in Moscow.

The unit's commander, Colonel Sergei Lysyuk, was awarded Hero of the Russian Federation for his actions in the Perestroika era, including at Fergana, Nagorno-Karabakh, Yerevan, and Baku[5] which were credited as "saving Yeltsin's rule from the opposition".

On September 1, 2008, Vityaz and Rus were formally deactivated and merged into a single unit, the 604th Special Purpose Center, under the direct command of ODON (formerly OMSDON).