The use of special operations of today’s warfare has increased. Yet, researchers within the field claim that the research in special operations is insufficient. This increases the request for special operations theories. McRaven’s special operations theory is the most recognized and criticized. Still, his theory has not been subject for theory testing. McRaven’s special operations theory focuses solely on western operations. The focus on western operations is a problem that applies to most of the research in special operations. Can McRavens theory help explain Soviet success in special op-erations? This case study aims to test McRavens special operations theory on Soviet special opera-tions. The cases have been chosen primarily on sources availability and resulted in the capture of Ruzyne airfield in Prague 1968 and the assassination of Hafizullah Amin at the Tajbeg-palace in Kabul 1978. The results of this study show that McRaven’s special operations theory have enough explanatory power to illustrate why the soviets had success in their special operations. With correct appliance of the six theoretic principles the soviets reached relative superiority and completed their objectives. Distinguishing for both operations was the high level of deception that were used. To further verify if McRaven’s special operations theory can explain other countries special operations more research is needed.