1.
Russian language
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Russian is an East Slavic language and an official language in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and many minor or unrecognised territories. Russian belongs to the family of Indo-European languages and is one of the four living members of the East Slavic languages, written examples of Old East Slavonic are attested from the 10th century and beyond. It is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia and the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages and it is also the largest native language in Europe, with 144 million native speakers in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Russian is the eighth most spoken language in the world by number of native speakers, the language is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Russian is also the second most widespread language on the Internet after English, Russian distinguishes between consonant phonemes with palatal secondary articulation and those without, the so-called soft and hard sounds. This distinction is found between pairs of almost all consonants and is one of the most distinguishing features of the language, another important aspect is the reduction of unstressed vowels. Russian is a Slavic language of the Indo-European family and it is a lineal descendant of the language used in Kievan Rus. From the point of view of the language, its closest relatives are Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Rusyn. An East Slavic Old Novgorod dialect, although vanished during the 15th or 16th century, is considered to have played a significant role in the formation of modern Russian. In the 19th century, the language was often called Great Russian to distinguish it from Belarusian, then called White Russian and Ukrainian, however, the East Slavic forms have tended to be used exclusively in the various dialects that are experiencing a rapid decline. In some cases, both the East Slavic and the Church Slavonic forms are in use, with different meanings. For details, see Russian phonology and History of the Russian language and it is also regarded by the United States Intelligence Community as a hard target language, due to both its difficulty to master for English speakers and its critical role in American world policy. The standard form of Russian is generally regarded as the modern Russian literary language, mikhail Lomonosov first compiled a normalizing grammar book in 1755, in 1783 the Russian Academys first explanatory Russian dictionary appeared. By the mid-20th century, such dialects were forced out with the introduction of the education system that was established by the Soviet government. Despite the formalization of Standard Russian, some nonstandard dialectal features are observed in colloquial speech. Thus, the Russian language is the 6th largest in the world by number of speakers, after English, Mandarin, Hindi/Urdu, Spanish, Russian is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Education in Russian is still a choice for both Russian as a second language and native speakers in Russia as well as many of the former Soviet republics. Russian is still seen as an important language for children to learn in most of the former Soviet republics, samuel P. Huntington wrote in the Clash of Civilizations, During the heyday of the Soviet Union, Russian was the lingua franca from Prague to Hanoi
2.
Russia
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Russia, also officially the Russian Federation, is a country in Eurasia. The European western part of the country is more populated and urbanised than the eastern. Russias capital Moscow is one of the largest cities in the world, other urban centers include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a range of environments. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, the East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior elite and their descendants, in 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. Rus ultimately disintegrated into a number of states, most of the Rus lands were overrun by the Mongol invasion. The Soviet Union played a role in the Allied victory in World War II. The Soviet era saw some of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including the worlds first human-made satellite and the launching of the first humans in space. By the end of 1990, the Soviet Union had the second largest economy, largest standing military in the world. It is governed as a federal semi-presidential republic, the Russian economy ranks as the twelfth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2015. Russias extensive mineral and energy resources are the largest such reserves in the world, making it one of the producers of oil. The country is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction, Russia is a great power as well as a regional power and has been characterised as a potential superpower. The name Russia is derived from Rus, a state populated mostly by the East Slavs. However, this name became more prominent in the later history, and the country typically was called by its inhabitants Русская Земля. In order to distinguish this state from other states derived from it, it is denoted as Kievan Rus by modern historiography, an old Latin version of the name Rus was Ruthenia, mostly applied to the western and southern regions of Rus that were adjacent to Catholic Europe. The current name of the country, Россия, comes from the Byzantine Greek designation of the Kievan Rus, the standard way to refer to citizens of Russia is Russians in English and rossiyane in Russian. There are two Russian words which are translated into English as Russians
3.
Russian Ground Forces
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The Ground Forces of the Russian Federation are the land forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, formed from parts of the collapsing Soviet Army in 1992. The formation of these forces posed economic challenges after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the primary responsibilities of the Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, the security of occupied territories, and the defeat of enemy troops. The Ground Forces must be able to achieve goals both in nuclear war and non-nuclear war, especially without the use of weapons of mass destruction. Furthermore, they must be capable of protecting the interests of Russia within the framework of its international obligations. The Main Command of the Ground Forces is officially tasked with the objectives, The training of troops for combat. The improvement of troops structure and composition, and the optimization of their numbers, the development of military theory and practice. The development and introduction of training manuals, tactics. The improvement of operational and combat training of the Ground Forces, the newly re-emergent Russia retained most of the ranks of the Soviet Army, with some minor changes. The principal difference from the usual Western style is some variation in generals rank titles—in at least one case, Colonel General, the gallery below shows a selection of insignia, common to the Ground Forces – LF. As the Soviet Union dissolved, efforts were made to keep the Soviet Armed Forces as a military structure for the new Commonwealth of Independent States. The last Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union, Marshal Yevgeny Shaposhnikov, was appointed commander of the CIS Armed Forces in December 1991. Among the numerous treaties signed by the republics, in order to direct the transition period, was a temporary agreement on general purpose forces. Thirty-seven divisions had to be withdrawn from the four groups of forces and the Baltic States, some idea of the scale of the withdrawal can be gained from the division list. For the dissolving Soviet Ground Forces, the withdrawal from the former Warsaw Pact states and the Baltic states was a demanding, expensive. However, the facilities in those districts were inadequate to house the flood of personnel and equipment returning from abroad, the need for destruction and transfer of large amounts of weaponry under the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe also necessitated great adjustments. The Ministry of Defence newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda published a plan on 21 July 1992. Later one commentator said it was put together by the General Staff to satisfy the public demand for radical changes. The General Staff, from that point, became a bastion of conservatism, the reform plan advocated a change from an Army-Division-Regiment structure to a Corps-Brigade arrangement
4.
Mechanized infantry
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Mechanized infantry is infantry equipped with armored personnel carriers or infantry fighting vehicles for transport and combat. Mechanized infantry is distinguished from motorized infantry in that its vehicles provide a degree of protection from hostile fire, most APCs and IFVs are fully tracked or are all-wheel drive vehicles, for mobility across rough ground. Some nations distinguish between mechanized and armored infantry, designating troops carried by APCs as mechanized and those in IFVs as armored. The support weapons for mechanized infantry are also provided with motorized transport, compared with light truck-mobile infantry, mechanized infantry can maintain rapid tactical movement and, if mounted in IFVs, has more integral firepower. It requires more combat supplies and ordnance supplies, and a larger proportion of manpower is required to crew. For example, most APCs mount a section of seven or eight infantrymen but have a crew of two, most IFVs carry only six or seven infantry but require a crew of three. To be effective in the field, mechanized units also require many mechanics, with specialized maintenance and recovery vehicles, arguably, the first mechanized infantry were assault teams mounted on A7V tanks. The vehicles were extra-large to let them carry sizeable assault teams, all-machine gun armed A7V tanks carried two small flame throwers for their dismounts to use. A7V tank would often carry a second officer to lead the assault team, during the Battle of St. Quentin, A7Vs were accompanied by 20 stormtroopers from Rohr Assault Battalion, but it is unspecified if they were acting as dismounts or were accompanying the tanks on foot. During the battle, tank crews were reported to dismount and attack enemy positions with grenades, towards the end of World War I, all the armies involved were faced with the problem of maintaining the momentum of an attack. Tanks, artillery, or infiltration tactics could all be used to break through an enemy defense and it was widely acknowledged that cavalry was too vulnerable to be used on most European battlefields, but many armies continued to deploy them. Motorized infantry could maintain rapid movement, but their trucks required either a road network or firm open terrain. They were unable to traverse a battlefield obstructed by craters, barbed wire, tracked or all-wheel drive vehicles were to be the solution. Following the war, development of mechanized forces was largely theoretical for some time, although some proponents of mobile warfare, such as J. F. C. Fuller, advocated building tank fleets, other, such as Heinz Guderian in Germany, as the Germans rearmed in the 1930s, they equipped some infantry units in their new Panzer divisions with the half-track Sd. Kfz. 251, which could keep up with tanks on most terrain, the French Army also created Light Mechanized divisions in which some of the infantry units possessed small tracked carriers. Together with the motorization of the infantry and support units. The German doctrine was to use them to exploit breakthroughs in Blitzkrieg offensives, as World War II progressed, most major armies integrated tanks or assault guns with mechanized infantry, as well as other supporting arms, such as artillery and engineers, as combined arms units
5.
Brigade
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A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment, two or more brigades may constitute a division. Brigades formed into divisions are usually infantry or armored, in addition to combat units, they may include combat support units or sub-units, such as artillery and engineers, and logistic units or sub-units. Historically, such brigades have sometimes been called brigade-groups, on operations, a brigade may comprise both organic elements and attached elements, including some temporarily attached for a specific task. Brigades may also be specialized and comprise battalions of a branch, for example cavalry, mechanized, armored, artillery, air defence, aviation, engineers. Some brigades are classified as independent or separate and operate independently from the division structure. The typical NATO standard brigade consists of approximately 3,200 to 5,500 troops, however, in Switzerland and Austria, the numbers could go as high as 11,000 troops. The Soviet Union, its forerunners and successors, mostly use regiment instead of brigade, a brigades commander is commonly a major general, brigadier general, brigadier or colonel. In some armies, the commander is rated as a General Officer, the brigade commander has a self-contained headquarters and staff. Some brigades may also have a deputy commander, the headquarters has a nucleus of staff officers and support that can vary in size depending on the type of brigade. On operations, additional specialist elements may be attached, the headquarters will usually have its own communications unit. In some gendarmerie forces, brigades are the organizational unit. The brigade as a military unit came about starting in the 15th century when the British army, as such a field army became larger, the number of subordinate commanders became unmanageable for the officer in general command of said army, usually a major general, to effectively command. In order to streamline command relationships, as well as effect some modicum of control, especially in regard to combined arms operations. The terms origin is found in two French roots, which together, meant roughly those who fight, the so-called brigada was a well-mixed unit, comprising infantry, cavalry and normally also artillery, designated for a special task. The size of such brigada ranged from a company of up to two regiments. The brigada was the forerunner of the battalion task force, battle group. The brigade was improved as a unit by the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus
6.
58th Army (Russia)
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The 58th Army is a field army, first of the Soviet Unions Red Army and subsequently of the Russian Ground Forces. It was reformed in the Transcaucasian Front from the 24th Army on 28 August 1942, much of its senior cadre also came from the NKVD, and among its missions was to keep order in the Caucasus, particularly in the Groznyi and Makhachkala regions. This was because of a Chechen uprising that had gone on since 1941, 58th Army later joined the North Caucasus Front. On 1 November 1942 it consisted of the 271st and 416th Rifle Division, prior to the North Caucasus Front putting its main effort into the Kerch-Eltigen Operation the Army HQ was reorganised as Headquarters Volga Military District in October 1943. The headquarters was reformed in 1995 in the North Caucasus Military District from the 42nd Army Corps at Vladikavkaz, during the Second Chechen War, the Army was commanded by General Vladimir Shamanov. On 3 August 2008, five battalions of the Russian 58th Army were moved to the vicinity of Roki Tunnel that links Georgias breakaway South Ossetia with Russias North Ossetia. On 8 August 2008 the 58th Army crossed the border into Georgia and engaged in combat against Georgian forces and its then-commander, General Anatoly Khrulyov was wounded in action. In June 2014 Ukrainian troops captured a damaged BM-21 Grad launcher, major general Sergey Kuzovlev became commander of the army on 18 August 2016. The Wolves of Islam, Russia and the Faces of Chechen Terror, Brasseys,2004
7.
Chechnya
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The Chechen Republic, commonly referred to as Chechnya, is a federal subject of Russia. It is located in the North Caucasus, situated in the southernmost part of Eastern Europe, the capital of the republic is the city of Grozny. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Chechen-Ingush ASSR was split into two parts, the Republic of Ingushetia and the Chechen Republic, the latter proclaimed the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, which sought independence. Following the First Chechen War with Russia, Chechnya gained de facto independence as the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Russian federal control was restored during the Second Chechen War. Since then there has been a reconstruction and rebuilding process, though sporadic fighting continues in the mountains. According to Leonti Mroveli, the 11th-century Georgian chronicler, the word Caucasian is derived from the Vainakh ancestor Kavkas, dr. Henry Harpending, University of Utah, supports her claims. People living in prehistoric mountain cave settlements used tools, mastered fire, traces of human settlement that date back to 40,000 BC were found near Lake Kezanoi. Cave paintings, artifacts, and other evidence indicates continuous habitation for some 8,000 years. 10, 000–8000 BCE Migration of Nakh peoples to the slopes of the Caucasus from the Fertile Crescent, Invention of agriculture, irrigation, and the domestication of animals. Pottery is known to the region, settlements made out of clay bricks discovered in the plains. In the mountains there were discovered settlements made out of stone and surrounded by walls, 4000–3000 BCE Invention of the wheel, horseback riding, metal works, dishes, armor, daggers, knives, arrow tips. The artifacts were found near Nasare-Cort, Muzhichi, Ja-E-Bortz, Abbey-Gove 900–1200 AD The kingdom in the center of the Caucasus splits into Alania, german scientist Peter Simon Pallas believed that Ingush people were the direct descendants from Alania. The Alan tribes build fortresses, castles, and defense walls locking the mountains from the invaders, part of the lowland tribes occupied by Mongols. 1500 AD First Russian involvement in the Caucasus,1558 Temryuk of Kabarda sends his emissaries to Moscow requesting help against Vainakh tribes from Ivan the Terrible. Ivan the Terrible marries Temryuks daughter Maria Temryukovna, alliance formed to gain the ground in the central Caucasus for the expanding Tsardom of Russia against stubborn Vainakh defenders. Chechnya was a nation in the Northern Caucasus that fought against foreign rule continually since the 15th century, the Chechens converted over the next few centuries to Sunni Islam, as Islam was associated with resistance to Russian encroachment. Notable in Chechen history, this particular Russo-Persian War marked the first military encounter between Imperial Russia and the Vainakh, as the Russians took control of the Caspian corridor and moved into Persian-ruled Dagestan, Peters forces ran into mountain tribes. Peter sent a force to subdue them, but the Chechens routed them
8.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
9.
First Chechen War
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The First Chechen War, also known as the War in Chechnya, was a conflict between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, fought from December 1994 to August 1996. The official figure for Russian military deaths is 5,732, although there are no accurate figures for the number of Chechen forces killed, various estimates put the number at about 3,000 to 17,391 deaths and missing. The conflict led to a significant decrease of population due to violence. Following long local resistance during the 1817−1864 Caucasian War, Imperial Russian forces defeated the Chechens, in 1936, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin established the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. The official pretext was punishment for collaboration with the invading German forces during the 1940–1944 insurgency in Chechnya, eventually, Soviet first secretary Nikita Khrushchev granted the Vainakh peoples permission to return to their homeland and restored their republic in 1957. Russia became an independent nation after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991, while Russia was widely accepted as the successor state to the USSR, it lost a significant amount of its military and economic power. In the Soviet period, some of Russias approximately 100 nationalities were granted ethnic enclaves that had various formal federal rights attached, relations of these entities with the federal government and demands for autonomy erupted into a major political issue in the early 1990s. Boris Yeltsin incorporated these demands into his 1990 election campaign by claiming that their resolution was a high priority, there was an urgent need for a law to clearly define the powers of each federal subject. In almost all cases, demands for autonomy or independence were satisfied by concessions of regional autonomy. The treaty outlined three basic types of subjects and the powers that were reserved for local and federal government. The only federal subjects that did not sign the treaty were Chechnya, neither Yeltsin nor the Chechen government attempted any serious negotiations and the situation deteriorated into a full-scale conflict. The storming caused the death of the head of Groznys branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Vitaly Kutsenko and this effectively dissolved the government of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Republic of the Soviet Union. In the following month, Dudayev won overwhelming support to oust the interim administration that was supported by the central government. He was made president and declared independence from the Soviet Union, in November 1991, Yeltsin dispatched Internal Troops to Grozny, but they were forced to withdraw when Dudayevs forces surrounded them at the airport. The newly created republic of Ingushetia then joined the Russian Federation, from 1991 to 1994, tens of thousands of people of non-Chechen ethnicity left the republic amidst reports of violence and discrimination against the non-Chechen population. During the undeclared Chechen civil war, factions both sympathetic and opposed to Dudayev fought for power, sometimes in pitched battles with the use of heavy weapons, in March 1992, the opposition attempted a coup détat, but their attempt was crushed by force. A month later, Dudayev introduced direct rule, and in June 1993. To prevent the invasion of Chechnya, he did not provoke the Russian troops, in August 1994, the coalition of the opposition factions based in north Chechnya launched a large-scale armed campaign to remove Dudayevs government
10.
Second Chechen War
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The Second Chechen War was an invasion launched by the Russian Federation, starting 26 August 1999, in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Brigade. On 1 October, Russian troops entered Chechnya, the campaign ended the de facto independence of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and restored Russian federal control over the territory. Some Chechen separatists also carried out attacks against civilians in Russia and these attacks, as well as widespread human rights violations by Russian and separatist forces, drew international condemnation. In mid-2000, the Russian government transferred certain military operations to pro-Russian Chechen forces, the military phase of operations was terminated in April 2002, and the coordination of the field operations were given first to the Federal Security Service and then to the MVD in the summer of 2003. By 2009, Russia had severely disabled the Chechen separatist movement, Russian army and interior ministry troops no longer occupied the streets. Grozny underwent reconstruction efforts and much of the city and surrounding areas were rebuilt quickly, sporadic violence continues throughout the North Caucasus, occasional bombings and ambushes targeting federal troops and forces of the regional governments in the area still occur. On 15 April 2009, the government operation in Chechnya was officially ended, as the main bulk of the army was withdrawn, the burden of dealing with the ongoing low-level insurgency mainly fell on the shoulders of the local police force. The exact death toll from this conflict is unknown, unofficial estimates range from 25,000 to 50,000 dead or missing, mostly civilians in Chechnya. Russian casualties are over 5,200 and are about 11,000 according to the Committee of Soldiers Mothers, Chechnya is an area in the Northern Caucasus which has constantly fought against foreign rule, including the Ottoman Turks in the 15th century. The Russian Terek Cossack Host was established in lowland Chechnya in 1577 by free Cossacks who were resettled from the Volga to the Terek River, in 1783, Russia and the Georgian kingdom of Kartl-Kakheti signed the Treaty of Georgievsk, under which Kartl-Kakheti became a Russian protectorate. To secure communications with Georgia and other regions of the Transcaucasia, Russian forces first moved into highland Chechnya in 1830, and the conflict in the area lasted until 1859, when a 250, 000-strong army under General Baryatinsky broke down the highlanders resistance. Frequent uprisings in the Caucasus also occurred during the Russo-Turkish War, the Chechen states were opposed by both sides of the Russian Civil War and most of the resistance was crushed by Bolshevik troops by 1922. Then, months before the creation of the Soviet Union, the Chechen Autonomous Oblast of the Russian SFSR was established and it annexed a part of territory of the former Terek Cossack Host. Chechnya and neighboring Ingushetia formed the Chechen–Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1936, in 1941, during World War II, a Chechen revolt broke out, led by Khasan Israilov. Chechens were accused by Joseph Stalin of aiding Nazi forces, in February 1944 Stalin deported all the Chechens and Ingush to the Kazakh and Kirghiz SSRs. Up to a quarter of people died during the resettlement. In 1957, after the death of Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev allowed the Chechens to return, afterwards, the authority of the Soviet government gradually eroded. During the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Chechnya declared independence, in 1992, Chechen and Ingush leaders signed an agreement splitting the joint Chechen–Ingush republic in two, with Ingushetia joining the Russian Federation and Chechnya remaining independent
11.
Order of the Red Banner
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The Order of the Red Banner was the first Soviet military decoration. The order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and it was the highest award of Soviet Russia, subsequently the Soviet Union, until the Order of Lenin was established in 1930. Recipients were recognised for extraordinary heroism, dedication, and courage demonstrated on the battlefield, the order was awarded to individuals as well as to military units, cities, ships, political and social organizations, and state enterprises. In later years it was awarded on the twentieth and again on the thirtieth anniversary of military service without requiring participation in combat. The Russian Order of the Red Banner was established during the Russian Civil War by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of September 16,1918, the first recipient was Vasily Blyukher on September 28,1918. The second recipient was Iona Yakir, during the Civil War there existed similarly named orders and decorations established by the Soviet communist governments of several other constituent and nonconstituent republics. The August 1,1924 decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee established the all-Soviet Order of the Red Banner for deserving personnel of the Red Army, from 1918 till the late 1930s there was also a collective variant - the Revolutionary Red Banner of Honor. This was in the form of a military color awarded to distinguished Red Army, Soviet Air Force and it was more older than the order, having been established on August 3, a month and several weeks before. As a military decoration, The Order of the Red Banner recognised heroism in combat or otherwise extraordinary accomplishments of military valour during combat operations. Before the establishment of the Order of Lenin on April 5,1930, during World War II, under various titles, it was presented both to individuals and to units for acts of extreme military heroism. Nearly all well-known Soviet commanders became recipients of the Order of the Red Banner, the order was awarded to individuals as well as whole formations, which then added the prefix Red Banner to their official designations. Naval vessels also flew a special ensign, the Order of the Red Banner was also used as a long service award between 1944 and 1958 to mark twenty and thirty years of service in the military, state security, or police. This was surrounded by two golden panicles of wheat, at the bottom were the letters SSSR, additional awards of the Order bore a white enamelled shield with a silver sequence number at the bottom of the obverse. A recipient of three Orders of the Red Banner would wear a badge of the order followed by his second award bearing a number 2. The early variants of the Order were screw back badges to wear on clothing. Later variants hung from a standard Soviet pentagonal mount with a ring through the suspension loop, the mount was covered with an overlapping 24mm wide red silk moiré ribbon with 1. 5mm wide white edge stripes and a 7mm wide white central stripe. The Order of the Red Banner was worn on the side of the chest. If worn in the presence of Orders or medals of the Russian Federation, pavel Dybenko won 3 Orders of the Red Banner, his first in the 1921 bloody suppression of the naval rebellion in Kronstadt, his 2 others in 1922 in the suppression of peasants uprisings
12.
Battle honour
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In European military tradition, military units may be acknowledged for their achievements in specific wars or operations of a military campaign. These honours usually take the form of a place and a date, theatre honours could be listed and displayed on regimental property but not emblazoned on the colours. Since battle honours are emblazoned on colours, artillery units. These honour titles were permitted to be used as part of their official nomenclature, similar honours in the same tenor include unit citations. Battle honours, theatre honours, honour titles and their ilk form a part of the variety of distinctions which serve to distinguish military units from each other. For the British Army, the need to adopt a system to recognise military units battlefield accomplishments was apparent since its formation as an army in the later part of the 17th century. Although the granting of battle honours had already been in place at the time, before then, a regiments colours were practical tools for rallying troops in the battlefield and not quite something for displaying the units past distinctions. The first battle honour to be awarded in the British Army was granted to the 15th Hussars for the Battle of Emsdorf in 1760, thereafter, other regiments received battle honours for some of their previous engagements. The battle honour is held by the successor regiment, the Princess of Waless Royal Regiment. During these early years of the British standing army, a regiment needed only to engage the enemy with musketry before it was eligible for a battle honour, thus in 1882, a committee was formed to adjudicate applications of battle honour claims. This committee, later called the Battles Nomenclature Committee, still maintains its function in the British Army today. A battle honour may be granted to infantry/cavalry regiments or battalions, as well as ships and squadrons, they are granted to sub-units such as companies. Battle honours are presented in the form of a name of a country, region, or city where the units distinguished act took place. Not every battle fought will automatically result in the granting of a battle honour, conversely, a regiment or a battalion might obtain more than one battle honour over the course of a larger operation. Similarly, while in Korea, Princess Patricias Canadian Light Infantry earned both Kapyong and Korea 1951–1953, supporting corps/branches such as medical, service, ordnance, or transport do not currently receive battle honours. However and uniquely the Royal Logistic Corps has five battle honours inherited from its previous transport elements, Commonwealth artillery does not maintain battle honours as they carry neither colours nor guidons—though their guns by tradition are afforded many of the same respects and courtesies. However, both the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers were in 1832 granted by King William IV the right to use the Latin Ubique, meaning everywhere and this is worn on the cap badge of both the Corps of Royal Engineers and the Royal Regiment of Artillery. The practice was extended to these same regiments and corps in the successor Commonwealth armed forces
13.
Yevpatoria
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Yevpatoria or Eupatoria is a city of regional significance in Crimea, a territory disputed between Ukraine and Russia after Russia annexed Crimea in March 2014. Eupatoria serves as the center of Eupatoria municipality, one of the districts into which Crimea is divided. The first recorded settlement in the area, called Kerkinitis, was built by Greek colonists around 500 BC. Along with the rest of Crimea, Kerkinitis was part of the dominions of Mithridates VI, King of Pontus, from whose nickname, Eupator, from roughly the 7th through the 10th centuries AD, Eupatoriya was a Khazar settlement, its name in Khazar language was probably Güzliev. It was later subject to the Cumans, the Mongols and the Crimean Khanate, during this period the city was called Kezlev by Crimean Tatars and Gözleve by Ottomans. The Russian medieval name Kozlov is a Russification of the Crimean Tatar name, for a short period between 1478 and 1485, the city was administrated by the Ottoman Empire. Afterwards, it became an important urban center of the Crimean Khanate, in 1783, along with the rest of the Crimea, Kezlev was captured by the Russian Empire. Its name was changed to Evpatoriya in 1784. The name comes from the Greek Eupatoria, in this writing the name of the city came in the French, German, Spanish and English languages at end of 18th сentury. Yevpatoriya - this writing the name of the city came in American English from Ukrainian name Євпаторія, the city was briefly occupied in 1854 by British, French and Turkish troops during the Crimean War, when it was the site of the Battle of Eupatoria. Adam Mickiewicz visited the town in 1825 and wrote one of his Crimean Sonnets here, the 400-year-old Juma Jami mosque is one of the many designed or built by the Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan. 35-metre minarets rose on the flanks of the building, the mosque was of great state significance. It was here that a ceremony of the declaration of rights of the Crimean Khans was held at their enthronement, only after that they went to their capital, the city of Bakhchisarai. After the referendum on 16 March 2014, Crimea became part of Russia, Eupatoriya became a residence of the spiritual ruler of the Karaites, the Gakham. The ensemble organically incorporates three courtyards, the entrance to it is marked by the gates, built in 1900, which look like a refined triumphal arch. In 1930s it was a question about the medical profile resort of Eupatoria, natural factors create excellent conditions for the treatment of osteo-articular tuberculosis and other childrens diseases. In Eupatoria perfect combination of climatic and balneological factors contributing to the healing of the most serious diseases of this time like tuberculosis, an additional positive factor is the lack of mosquitoes in Eupatoria, as on the southern coast of Crimea, or mosquitoes as in Anapa. In 1936, the government decided to determine the place of construction of the All-Union childrens resort in Eupatoria, in 1938, the approved plan of general reconstruction of the city
14.
Russian Guards
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Guards or Guards units were elite military units of Imperial Russia prior to 1917-18. The designation of Guards was subsequently adopted as a distinction for various units and formations of the Soviet Union, the tradition goes back to the a chieftains druzhina of medieval Kievan Rus and the Marksman Troops, the Muscovite harquebusiers formed by Ivan the Terrible by 1550. The exact meaning of the term Guards varied over time, in the Russian Empire, Imperial Russian Guard units, derived from German Leibgarde, were intended to ensure the security of the sovereign, initially, that of Peter the Great in the 1690s. These were based on the Prussian Royal Life Guards, during the 19th century the Imperial Russian Guard regiments were not exclusively composed of Russian troops, but also included Lithuanian, Finnish and Ukrainian units. During the Brusilov Offensive the 1st and 2nd Guards numbers were supplemented with line army corp, in February–March 1917 the defection of reserve battalions of the Imperial Guard based in Petrograd was a major factor in the overthrow of the Tsarist government. The service units of the Guard at the front disintegrated along with the remainder of the Imperial Army, the Red Guards were armed groups of workers formed during the Russian Revolution of 1917, although the designation and concept dates back to Moscow during the Revolution of 1905. In 1917 the volunteers of the Red Guard and their leaders formed the main strike force of the Bolsheviks. In October 1917 the Red Guards of Petrograd played a role in the capture of the Winter Palace. When the Soviet Red Army was formed in 1918, the Red Guards became the Army Reserve, however, the Guards badge was not introduced until 21 May 1943. Zhukov states the first period of the war gave birth to the Soviet Guards, for mass heroism and success in the battles of 1941-1942 the Guards title was awarded to 789 groups, formations, separate units, and fighting ships of the Soviet Armed Forces. List of guards units of Ukraine
15.
Vologda
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Vologda is a city and the administrative, cultural, and scientific center of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the Vologda River within the watershed of the Northern Dvina. The city serves as a transport hub of the Northwest of Russia. The Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation has classified Vologda as a city, one of forty-one in Russia. 224 buildings in Vologda have been recognized as cultural heritage monuments. Two conflicting theories exist as to the date of Vologdas foundation, the year 1147 is the official date first fixed in 1780 by Alexey Zasetsky in his book Stories about miracles of Gerasimus of Vologda. The story mentions that in 1147 the Trinity Monastery was founded close to the Vologda River, the date of the foundation of the monastery is then taken as the date of the foundation of the city of Vologda and is mentioned in official city documents. This date, which would make Vologda to be of the age as Moscow, is, however. The story was written in 1666 by a certain Foma. Foma himself admitted that he had no sufficient data on the biography, the story contains many contradicting details. Besides, the life in the Russian north was not known in the 12th century. Archeological excavations do not confirm this date either, instead, they demonstrate that the city of Vologda was founded in the 13th century. The year 1264 was the first mention of Vologda when it was included in the list of possessions of the Novgorod Republic in the agreement between the Republic and the Grand Prince of Vladimir and this date is also supported by archaeological data. The nucleus of Vologda in the 13th century was not located in the area which is now the city center and this area was the center of Vologda up to 1565. Until that year, no stone constructions existed in Vologda, all of the city fortifications, bridges, houses, churches, and industrial enterprises were made of wood. In 1371, Dmitry Prilutsky, a monk from the Nikolsky Monastery in Pereslavl-Zalessky, founded Nikolsky Monastery, now known as Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery, in 1397, during the reign of Vasily I, Vologda was added to the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Subsequently, the city was several times attacked by Novgorod forces, during the Muscovite Civil War, Vologda played a key role. From there Vasily traveled to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery where the hegumen released him from the oath, the civil war continued, and in 1450, Vologda was besieged by the troops of Dmitry Shemyaka, however, they did not manage to occupy the town. After the death of Vasily in 1462, Vologda passed to the possession of his son Andrey Menshoy and became the center of the Principality of Vologda
16.
North Caucasus
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The North Caucasus or Ciscaucasus is the northern part of the Caucasus region between the Sea of Azov and Black Sea on the west and the Caspian Sea on the east, within European Russia. Geopolitically, the Northern Caucasus includes the Russian republics and krais of the North Caucasus, the outer border of the Soviet Unions North Caucasus Krai was the same as that of present-day North Caucasus Economic Region which includes an oblast, two krais, and seven republics. The former North Caucasus Military District also included Astrakhan Oblast, Volgograd Oblast, and its administrative center was Rostov-on-Don until 10 January 1934, Pyatigorsk until January 1936, then Ordzhonikidze and, from 15 December 1936, Voroshilovsk. Geographically, the term North Caucasus also refers to the slope and western extremity of the Caucasus Major mountain range. The Forecaucasus steppe area is also encompassed under the notion of Ciscaucasus, thus the northern boundary of the Forecaucasus steppe is generally considered to be the Manych River. Ciscaucasus was historically covered by the Pontic steppe, mostly on fertile calcareous chernozyom soils and it is bounded by the Sea of Azov on the west, and the Caspian Sea on the east. According to the Concise Atlas of the World, Second Edition, shaw, Institute of British Geographers Media related to North Caucasus at Wikimedia Commons North Caucasus travel guide from Wikivoyage Relations between The North and South Caucasus. Articles in the Caucasus Analytical Digest No.27
17.
Grozny
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Grozny is the capital city of the Chechen Republic, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River, according to the 2010 Census, it had a population of 271,573, up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Census, but still only about two-thirds of 399,688 recorded in the 1989 Census. In Russian, Grozny means fearsome, or redoubtable, the word as in Ivan Grozny or Ivan the Terrible. While the official name in Chechen is the same, informally the city is known as Соьлжа-Гӏала, Sölƶa-Ġala, which literally means the city on the Sunzha River. In December 2005, the Chechen parliament voted to rename the city Akhmadkala —a proposition which was rejected by his son Ramzan Kadyrov, the fortress of Groznaya was founded in 1818 as a Russian military outpost on the Sunzha River by general Aleksey Petrovich Yermolov. As the fort was being built the workers were fired upon by the Chechens, the Russians solved the problem by placing a cannon at a carefully chosen point outside the walls. When night fell and the Chechens came out of their places to drag the gun away all the other guns opened up with grapeshot. When the Chechens recovered their senses and began to carry away the bodies the guns fired again, when it was over 200 dead were counted. Thus did the fort receive its baptism of fire. It was a prominent defense center during the Caucasian War, after the annexation of the region by the Russian Empire, the military use of the old fortress was obsolete and in December 1869 it was renamed Grozny and granted town status. As most of the residents there were Terek Cossacks, the town grew slowly until the development of oil reserves in the early 20th century and this encouraged the rapid development of industry and petrochemical production. In addition to the oil drilled in the city itself, the city became a center of Russias network of oil fields. The result was the population almost doubled from 15,600 in 1897 to 30,400 in 1913, one day after the October Revolution, on November 8,1917, the Bolsheviks headed by N. Anisimov seized Grozny. As the Russian Civil War escalated, the Proletariat formed the 12th Red Army, however, with the arrival of Denikins armies, the Bolsheviks were forced to withdraw and Grozny was captured on February 4,1919 by the White Army. Underground operations were carried out, but only the arrival of the Caucasus front of the Red Army in 1920 allowed the city to end up with the Russian SFSR on March 17. Simultaneously it became part of the Soviet Mountain Republic, which was formed on January 20,1921, on November 30,1922, the mountain republic was dissolved, and the national okrug became the Chechen Autonomous Oblast with Grozny as the administrative center. At this time most of the population was still Russian, as Cossacks were viewed as a potential threat to the Soviet nation, Moscow actively encouraged the migration of Chechens into the city from the mountains. In 1934 the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Oblast was formed, becoming the Chechen-Ingush ASSR in 1936, in 1944, the entire population of Chechens and Ingush was deported after rebelling against Soviet rule
18.
T-54/T-55
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The T-54 and T-55 tanks are a series of Soviet main battle tanks introduced just as the Second World War ended. The first T-54 prototype was completed at Nizhni Tagli by the end of 1945, the T-54 eventually became the main tank for armoured units of the Soviet Army, armies of the Warsaw Pact countries, and many others. T-54s and T-55s have been involved in many of the armed conflicts since the later part of the 20th century. The T-54/55 series eventually became the tank in military history. Estimated production numbers for the range from 86,000 to 100,000. During the Cold War, Soviet tanks never directly faced their NATO adversaries in combat in Europe, the Soviet T-34 medium tank of the 1940s is considered to have the best balance of firepower, protection and mobility for its cost of any tank of its time in the world. In 1943, the Morozov Design Bureau resurrected the pre-war T-34M development project, by the time the T-44 was ready for production, the T-34 had also been modified to fit the same gun. The T-44 was produced in small numbers, around 2,000 being completed during the war. Instead, the continued to use the design as the basis for further improved guns, experimenting with a 122 mm design. Efforts to fit the 100 mm gun to the T-44 demonstrated that changes to the design would greatly improve the combination. The main issue was a turret ring, which suggested slightly enlarging the hull. A prototype of the new design, about 40 centimetres longer and this model looked almost identical to the original T-44, albeit with a much larger gun. In testing, there were drawbacks that required correction and many alterations that had to be made to the vehicles design. It was decided to begin production of the new vehicle. It would go into production in Nizhni Tagil in 1947 and Kharkov in 1948, production of the initial series of T-54s began slowly as 1,490 modifications were made. The Red Army received a tank that was superior to World War II designs, the 100 mm gun fired BR-412 series full-calibre APHE ammunition, which had superior penetration capability when compared to the T-34 that it replaced. The serial production version, designated T-54-1, differed from the second T-54 prototype, as production ramped up, quality problems emerged. Production was stopped and an improved T-54-2 version was designed, several changes were made and a new turret was fitted
19.
2nd Guards Tamanskaya Motor Rifle Division
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The 2nd Guards Motor Rifle Tamanskaya Division named after M. I. Kalinin, also known as the Tamanskaya Division, Taman Division and Taman Guards, is one of the most famous and decorated divisions of the Russian Ground Forces. The 127th Rifle Division was formed 8 June 1940 in Kharkiv, the division was initially garrisoning Kharkiv, Chuhuiv and Bohodukhiv. It was transferred to Rzhyshchiv in May 1941, the 127th Rifle Division was with 19th Armys 25th Rifle Corps, along with 134th and 162nd Rifle Divisions on June 22,1941. It formed part of the High Command reserve, by August, it was with the Front troops of the Soviet Reserve Front. At that time, the 535th Rifle Regiment has lost its way,4 August 1941, the 127th division has traversed Dnieper river 13 km south of Yartsevo as part of the general Soviet retreat. Afterwards, it was relieved of front line duty and sent to Dorogobuzh for replenishment, the for the distinguished combat service, the division was renamed to 2nd Guards Rifle Division 18 September 1941. At the end of September 1941, it fought in Hlukhiv area,3 October 1941 the division was transferred to Kursk area and fought a defensive battle around Tim town. 22 December 1941, the division has started to advance as a hart of Winter Campaign of 1941–42. Acting together with the 1st Guards Rifle Division and 87th Rifle Division, it advanced through Cheremisinovo51. 88°N37. 26°E /51.88,37.26, by 28 January 1942, the division was located in Stary Oskol. After participating in the Novorossiysk-Taman offensive in September-October 1943, the division was renamed to 2nd Guards Motor Rifle Division after the city of Taman, Russia. Starting from 3 November 1943, the division acted in the spearhead of Kerch-Eltigen Operation in northern Yenikale beachhead, during the Crimean Offensive the division has liberated Alushta city 15 April 1944, acting under command of Separate Coastal Army. 19 May 1944 it was relieved from the front line duty, reassigned to the Soviet Strategic Reserve, 2nd Guards Army and it restarted combat operations 8 July 1944 after the 2nd Guards Army was given to the 1st Baltic Front. The division participated in Šiauliai Offensive and later in October 1944 - in Battle of Memel, on 2 July 1946, the division received the honorific named after M. I. The division was called to Moscow for security duties following the death of Joseph Stalin on 5 March 1953, in December 1953, the division was renamed to 23rd Guards Tamanskaya Mechanised Division. In March 1957, the division was renamed to 23rd Guards Tamanskaya Motor Rifle Division, in November 1964, the division was renamed to 2nd Guards Tamanskaya Motor Rifle Division. The division has played a prominent role in two of the political crises of recent Soviet and Russian history. Boris Yeltsin delivered a speech standing on top of tank no,110, strengthening his own position significantly, both domestically and abroad
20.
Moscow Military District
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The Moscow Military District was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2010 it was merged with the Leningrad Military District, the Northern Fleet, in the beginning of the second half of the 19th century Russian officials realized the need for re-organization of the Imperial Russian Army to meet new circumstances. A tsarist edict of 6 August 1864, announced in a Defence Minister’s order on 10 August of the year, established ten military districts. The District’s territory then comprised 12 provinces, Vladimir, Vologda, Kaluga, Kostroma, Moscow, Nizhniy Novgorod, Ryazan, Smolensk, Tambov, Tver, Tula, and Yaroslavl. The District was intended as a reinforcement source for troops and equipment, the District dispatched five infantry and a cavalry division south to the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–8, as well as sending another division to the Caucasus area. This force totaled around 30,000 men and 20,000 horses, over 80,000 men were also called into reserve units. The District also housed 21,000 Turkish prisoners of war, during the First World War over a million men were stationed in the district. By a resolution of the Moscow military revolutionary committee on 17 November 1917, muralyov was assigned as the new commander of the district. From June to the middle of September 1919 the District conducted 33 callups totalling more than 500,000 people. In Moscow the 1 Moscow Rifle Division, Warsaw revolutionary infantry regiment, and 2nd revolutionary infantry regiment were formed, in Voronezh two cavalry divisions were formed, two rifle divisions and two rifle regiments in Nizhniy Novgorod, and the 16th Rifle Division in Tambov. Artillery units too were also being raised in the capital area, autumn maneuvers began to be conducted yearly here in the district. The 2nd Rifle Corps was stationed in the district from 1922 to 1936, in the beginning of the 1930 tanks started to be introduced, including the MS or T-18, T-26, T-27, BT, T-28, and the heavy T-35. In 1930 the first mechanized infantry brigade in the Soviet Army was formed in the district, the Russian Ground Forces official site notes that the first tactical parachute landing took place in the District on 2 August 1930. In World War II the District formed three fronts,23 armies,128 divisions of all arms, and 197 brigades of all arms, in 1944–5 alone the District sent to the front 1,200,000 soldiers. From summer 1945 to summer 1946, in order to supervise the process, the District was subdivided into four, the Moscow, Voronezh, Gorki. General Kirill Moskalenko took command of the District in 1953 and would later be a Marshal of the Soviet Union after leaving his post, the Voronezh Military District was reactivated in 1949 and was active until 1960. In 1979 Scott and Scott reported the HQ address as being Moscow, A-252, the Districts dispositions at the end of the 1980s were, 13th Guards Army Corps, Gorkiy. In the early 1990s the District received the headquarters of the First Guards Tank Army from the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany and it was relocated to Smolensk, and consisted of the 4th Guards Tank Division and 144th Guards Motor Rifle Division
21.
Leningrad Military District
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The Leningrad Military District was a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2010 it was merged with the Moscow Military District, the Northern Fleet, the Leningrad Military District was originally formed as the Petrograd Military District after the October Revolution of 1917 up to the beginning of the formation of the Red Army. The Petrograd District was established as a part of the Red Army by order в„–71 of the Highest Military Council of 6 September 1918. On 1 February 1924, by the order в„–126 the Revolutionary Military Councils of the USSR the Petrograd military district was renamed the Leningrad Military District, markian Popov was appointed District Commander in 1939. Its main purpose was the defence of the Kola Peninsula and the shores of the Gulf of Finland. On the right flank it bordered with the Arkhangelsk Military District, among the defensive works started in the 1930s to protect the frontiers was the Karelian Fortified Region. Three and a months later the Front was dissolved back into the District headquarters. The Front’s forces heroic efforts played a part in resisting the German attacks during the Siege of Leningrad. By the joint efforts of troops of the Leningrad Front, Volkhov Front, pressing home the attack, the forces of the Leningrad Front in summer and in the fall of 1944 helped seize Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The Front was reorganized under the Leningrad District into a status on 9 July 1945. Marshal Leonid Govorov took command shortly afterwards, in 1949 the 76th Air Army became the districts Soviet Air Forces component, after the 13th Air Army was redesignated. General-Colonel of Aviation Fedor Polynin was the first commander of the 76th Air Army, apart from a brief period when the air army was redesignationed the Air Forces of the Leningrad Military District from 1980 to 1988, the 76th Air Army would be active in the region until 1998. General, later Marshal, Sergei Sokolov assumed command in 1965, on 22 February 1968, in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the Soviet Army and for its successes in combat and in political training, the District was awarded the Order of Lenin. Marshal Sokolov later became the Minister of Defence in 1984, in May 1960 the Northern Military District was subsumed into the Leningrad Military District, and Headquarters Northern Military District became Headquarters 6th Army. Among the districts divisions at the time was the 156th Motor Rifle Division, in 1965 the 156th Motor Rifle Division became the 37th Motor Rifle Division. Up to 1967 the 44th Army Corps was located in Arkhangelsk, and then its headquarters was relocated in Transbaikalia and this is probably the former 116th Rifle Corps, raised in 1946 within 2nd Shock Army in Germany. On 3 June 1968 the District was placed on alert, the Norwegian Army raised its alert levels in response. On the evening of 7 June, the Norwegian Garnisonen i Sør-Varanger garrison heard the noise of powerful engines coming from the manoeuvres along the entire Soviet front of the Norwegian-Soviet border, actual observations were not possible over the border in the dark
22.
T-62
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The T-62 is a Soviet main battle tank that was first introduced 1961. As a further development of the T-55 series, the T-62 retained many design elements of its predecessor including low profile. In contrast previous tanks, which were armed with rifled tank guns, while 100 mm HEAT ammo could have accomplished the task, they were much less accurate than APDS shells, and the relatively low flight velocity resulted in poorer accuracy if used on moving targets. It was decided to up-gun the T-55 with a 115 mm smoothbore cannon, experimental trials showed that the T-55 was inherently unsuited to mount the larger new cannon, and work therefore began on a new tank. The bigger gun required a turret and turret ring to absorb the higher recoil. This in turn necessitated a larger hull, as the T-55 hull was too small to accept the new turret. The T-62 thus took shape, marking an improvement upon the T-55. At the time when Alexander Morozov was working on his Obyekt 430 tank and he was responsible for the T-54A and T-54B modernizations of the T-54 main battle tank, the brainchild of Morozov. After work on the T-54M modernization was abandoned, he and his team started working on a new tank. The new tank had a suspension with six road wheels made of aluminum. The turret was cast and armed with a 100 mm D-54TS tank gun with the Molniya two-plane stabilization system, the tank carried 50 rounds and was powered by a V-36 diesel engine developed by engineer Artiemejev. The engine was placed on the bottom of the hull, a solution which reduced the height of the engine compartment, the Obyekt 140 weighed 37.6 tonnes. Morozovs Obyekt 430 tank had a hull of welded rolled steel plates, the turret had three-layer armour with an overall thickness of 185 mm to 240 mm. It was armed with the same D-54TS tank gun as Kartsevs Obyekt 140, in 1957, Uralvagonzavod built two Obyekt 140 prototypes which were put on trials soon after. The trials showed that because of the construction of many of the tanks systems, Kartsevs tank would be expensive in serial production. This increased the load carried by the tank to 45 rounds. At the end of 1958, Kartsev decided to modernize the Obyekt 140 turret and he fitted it with a cartridge-case ejector and mounted it onto a stretched T-55 chassis with a new suspension. He also considered that designs based on already produced vehicles had a chance of acceptance
23.
BMP-1
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The BMP-1 is a Soviet amphibious tracked infantry fighting vehicle. BMP stands for Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty 1, meaning infantry fighting vehicle, the BMP-1 was the first mass-produced infantry fighting vehicle of USSR. It was called the M-1967, BMP and BMP-76PB by NATO before its designation was known. It would increase infantry squad mobility, provide support to them. The BMP-1 was first tested in combat in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, based on lessons learned from this conflict, and early experiences in the Soviet War in Afghanistan, a version with improved fighting qualities was developed, called the BMP-2. It was accepted into service in August 1980, in 1987, the BMP-3, a radically redesigned vehicle with a completely new weapon system, entered service in limited numbers with the Soviet Army. Existing APCs offered little or no protection from nuclear or chemical weapons. Furthermore, the infantry had to disembark to be able to use their weapons, the requirement for the BMP, which was first drawn up in the late 1950s, stressed speed, good armament, and the ability for all squad members to fire from within the vehicle. The armament had to direct support for dismounted infantry in the attack and defense. The vehicle needed to protect the crew from.50 cal machinegun fire and 20–23 mm caliber autocannons across the frontal arc, firepower consisted of the innovative combination of the 73 mm 2A28 Grom gun and a launcher for the 9M14 Malyutka anti-tank wire-guided missile. Requirements were issued to the design bureaus between 1959 and 1960. There was a question as to whether the BMP should be tracked or wheeled, so a number of configurations were explored. The tracked Obyekt 764 was chosen because its front-engine design provided a convenient, the original prototype was built in 1964, followed by the improved Obyekt 765 in 1965, which was accepted by the Army in 1966, under a designation BMP-1. A large number of variants of the BMP-1 were produced, with the most notable IFV variants being, BMP-2, MLI-84, the BMP went into production with the Soviet Army in 1966. The first series was produced until 1969 and it was replaced by the improved production model, the BMP-1, which was produced from 1969 until 1973. This, in turn, was replaced by the Obyekt 765 Sp3, a number of improvements were made to the reliability of the chassis, engine and transmission during mass production. The last version of the BMP-1 IFV, which was produced from 1979 to 1983, was armed with a more powerful ATGM launcher 9P135M-1 for the ATGM Konkurs/Fagot. Upgrades of the BMP-1 were performed by KMZ as well as by tank repair workshops of the Ministry of Defence during scheduled, more than 20,000 BMP-1s and vehicles based on it were built in the USSR
24.
Special Battalions Vostok and Zapad
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Special Battalions Vostok and Zapad were two Spetznaz units of Russian military intelligence based in Chechnya. The overwhelming majority of personnel were ethnic Chechens, while the personnel were mixed Russian. The Chechen personnel were of diverse origins, the units were directly subordinate to the GRU, but operationally they were included in the structure of the 42nd Motor Rifle Division. Following the 2006 Lebanon War, members of units were sent to protect Russian field engineers on a peacekeeping mission in Lebanon. Zapad was commanded by career officer Said-Magomed Kakiyev while Vostok was controlled by the controversial Yamadayev clan, Kakiyev and three of the Yamadayev brothers received the Hero of the Russian Federation award. The brothers owned their TV station, Vostok, and several businesses in Chechnya. One of the brothers, Ruslan Yamadayev, became a State Duma deputy representing Chechnya, on the other hand, Kakiyev kept a low profile. In April 2008 escalating tensions between Ramzan Kadyrov and the Yamadayevs—including occasional armed clashes—erupted into an open and violent conflict. The Vostok units leaders were accused by the Chechen government, members of the public, both Vostok and Zapad were involved in the conflict in South Ossetia in August 2008, with Vostok commanded by Sulim Yamadayev. Reportedly, the Vostok detachment suffered losses in Georgia but were not accused of committing any crimes there, in November 2008, both battalions were disbanded under continued pressure from Kadyrov. It was also announced that a commission set up by the Ministry of Defence, together with the Military Prosecutors Office. The Yamadayevs and their loyalists were chased out of Chechnya, and their houses were ransacked and burned, and the mosque they built in Gudermes was dismantled
25.
Main Intelligence Directorate
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Main Intelligence Agency, abbreviated GRU, is the foreign military intelligence agency of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The official full name is Main Intelligence Agency of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and it is also known as GRU GSh. The GRU is Russias largest foreign intelligence agency, in 1997 it deployed six times as many agents in foreign countries as the SVR, the successor of the KGBs foreign operations directorate. It also commanded 25,000 Spetsnaz troops in 1997, in January 1810 The Expedition for Secret Affairs under the War Ministry was formed. Two years later it was renamed the Special Bureau, in 1815 the bureau became the First Department under the General Chief of Staff. In 1836 the intelligence functions were transferred to the Second Department under the General Chief of Staff, after many name changes through the years, in April 1906 the Military intelligence was carried out by the Fifth Department under the General Chief of Staff of the War Ministry. In November 5,1918 the Imperial Military intelligence was replaced by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Soviet Union, in May 1992 the GRU was dissolved and became part of the new Russian Ministry of Defense. In 2006 the GRU moved to a new Headquarters complex at Khoroshovskoye Shosse, in April 2009, President Dmitry Medvedev fired then-GRU head Valentin Korabelnikov, who had helmed the GRU since 1997, reportedly over Korabelnikovs objections to proposed reforms. In 2010 GRU changed its name to Main Directorate of the Russian General Chief of Staff, the GRU gathers human intelligence through military attaches and foreign agents. It also maintains significant signals intelligence and imagery reconnaissance and satellite imagery capabilities, GRU Space Intelligence Directorate has put more than 130 SIGINT satellites into orbit. GRU and KGB SIGINT network employed about 350,000 specialists, the American leaders will be easily assassinated using the suitcase bombs, according to Lunev. GRU is one of the instructors of terrorists worldwide according to Lunev. Terrorist Shamil Basayev reportedly worked for this organization, US Congressman Curt Weldon supported claims by Lunev but noted that Lunev had exaggerated things according to the FBI. This spy network was managed from Armenia by GRU Colonel Anatoly Sinitsin, a few days later the arrested officers were handed over to Russia through the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. GRU special forces soldiers have appeared in Aleppo and Homs. GRU officials have also visited Qamishli, near the border with Turkey, since the mid-1970s the GRU has maintained a satellite communications interception post near Andreyevka, located approximately fifty miles from Spassk-Dalny, Primorsky Krai. Dmitry Kozak and Vladislav Surkov, members of the Vladimir Putin administration, two Chechen former warlords Said-Magomed Kakiev and Sulim Yamadayev are commanders of Special Battalions Vostok and Zapad that are controlled by the GRU. The battalions each included close to a thousand fighters until their disbandment in 2008, approximately 300 commandos, intelligence officers and other GRU personnel died during the fighting in Chechnya
26.
Spetsnaz
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Spetsnaz, abbreviation for Войска специального назначения, tr. Voyska spetsialnogo naznacheniya pronounced, is a term for special forces in Russian and is used in numerous post-Soviet states. Historically, the referred to special military units controlled by the military intelligence service GRU. It also describes special purpose units, or task forces of other ministries in post-Soviet countries, the 5th Spetsnaz Brigade of Belarus or the Alpha Group of the Security Service of Ukraine are both such examples of non-Russian Spetsnaz forces. The Russian abbreviations SPETSNAZ and OSNAZ, both meaning special purpose, are terms used for a variety of special operations forces. They are syllabic abbreviations typical of early Soviet-era Russian, although many Cheka, Spetsnaz later referred to special purpose or special operations forces, and the words widespread use is a relatively recent, post-perestroika development in Russian language. The Soviet public used to very little about their countrys special forces until many state secrets were disclosed under the glasnost policy of Mikhail Gorbachev during the late 1980s. In post-Soviet Russia Spetsnaz became a term as special operations, from police raids to military operations in internal conflicts. Coverage of these operations, and the celebrity status of special forces in state-controlled media, encouraged the public to identify many of these forces by name, SOBR, Alpha. The term Spetsnaz has also continued to be used in several other states such as Belarus, Ukraine. In Russia, foreign special forces are also known as Spetsnaz. Lionel Crabb was a British Royal Navy frogman and MI6 diver who vanished during a mission around a Soviet cruiser berthed at Portsmouth Dockyard in 1956. In an interview for a Russian documentary film, Koltsov showed the dagger he used as well as an Order of the Red Star medal that he claimed to have been awarded for the deed. Koltsov,74 at the time of the interview, stated that he wanted to clear his conscience, Soviet Spetsnaz forces took part in the Soviet–Afghan War of 1979-1989 in Afghanistan, usually fighting fast insertion/extraction type warfare with helicopters. Their most famous operation, Operation Storm-333, saw Soviet Special Forces storming the Tajbeg Palace in Afghanistan and killing Afghan President Hafizullah Amin, the Soviets then installed Babrak Karmal as Amins successor. The operation involved approximately 660 Soviet operators dressed in Afghan uniforms, including ca.50 KGB and GRU officers from the Alpha Group, the Soviet forces occupied major governmental, military and media buildings in Kabul, including their primary target – the Tajbeg Presidential Palace. Spetsnaz units conducted numerous missions throughout the war, including ambushes. The Spetsnaz often conducted missions to ambush and destroy enemy supply-convoys, the Mujahideen had great respect for the Spetsnaz, seeing them as a much more difficult opponent than the typical Soviet conscript soldier
27.
2008 Russian military reform
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Significant reforms of the Russian Armed Forces were announced in October 2008 under Defence Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov, and major structural reorganisation began in 2009. The stated aims of the reform are to reorganize the structure and the chain of command in the Russian army, the 2003 program however moved at a very slow pace, mainly due to the unwillingness of the military to reform. An essential part of the reform is its down-sizing. By the beginning of the reform, there were about 1.13 million active personnel in the Russian Armed Forces, the planned reduction to 1 million servicemen will be advanced from 2016 to 2022. Largely, the reductions falls within the officers and they used to account for about one third of the total strength of the Armed Forces, this will be reduced to 15%. An important element of the reforms is the creation of a professional NCO corps, such a corps would serve as the basis for soldier training and military discipline. The NCO corps will consist of specialists with almost 3 years of training, the first new NCO Training Center was established in December 2009 at the Ryazan Institute for Airborne Troops. The future NCOs will occupy the posts of commanders and deputy commanders of motor rifle, reconnaissance, airborne and it is planned to have 2,000 candidates annually. However, the introduction of sergeants into the system will take not 3–4 years as envisaged, in mid 2010, a reorganisation was announced which would consolidate military districts and the navys fleets into four Joint Strategic Commands. Serdyukovs Defense Ministry will also be putting some soon-to-be-vacant real estate up for sale, e. g. Moscow MD headquarters, the initial asking prices for these buildings and land will be several billion U. S. dollars. Out of those 24 divisions, only 5 motorised rifle-divisions were at full strength in 2008, only about 13% of the army units could be deemed permanently combat-ready. It was announced that every tank or motorized-rifle division will be split, as a rule and this process began in October 2008 with the splitting of the 2nd Guards Tamanskaya Motor Rifle Division near Moscow. By the end of 2009,23 of the 24 divisions had been disbanded and their elements were used to create 4 tank brigades,35 motorized rifle brigades, all the brigades are permanent-readiness forces. Almost all brigades are now designated otdelnaya, with several units retaining the Guards honorific, the only remaining division is the 18th Machine Gun Artillery Division on the Kuril Islands. The number of units and formations in the Ground Forces will be reduced from 1,890 to 172 within three years. The original four-link command and control system has replaced by a three-link system. The number of units in the Russian Air Force will be reduced from 340 to 180 and it was announced that the Air Force plans to eliminate the reduced, two-squadron aviation regiments. The new organization of the VVS establishes the Air Base as the structural element
28.
International Standard Serial Number
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An International Standard Serial Number is an eight-digit serial number used to uniquely identify a serial publication. The ISSN is especially helpful in distinguishing between serials with the same title, ISSN are used in ordering, cataloging, interlibrary loans, and other practices in connection with serial literature. The ISSN system was first drafted as an International Organization for Standardization international standard in 1971, ISO subcommittee TC 46/SC9 is responsible for maintaining the standard. When a serial with the content is published in more than one media type. For example, many serials are published both in print and electronic media, the ISSN system refers to these types as print ISSN and electronic ISSN, respectively. The format of the ISSN is an eight digit code, divided by a hyphen into two four-digit numbers, as an integer number, it can be represented by the first seven digits. The last code digit, which may be 0-9 or an X, is a check digit. Formally, the form of the ISSN code can be expressed as follows, NNNN-NNNC where N is in the set, a digit character. The ISSN of the journal Hearing Research, for example, is 0378-5955, where the final 5 is the check digit, for calculations, an upper case X in the check digit position indicates a check digit of 10. To confirm the check digit, calculate the sum of all eight digits of the ISSN multiplied by its position in the number, the modulus 11 of the sum must be 0. There is an online ISSN checker that can validate an ISSN, ISSN codes are assigned by a network of ISSN National Centres, usually located at national libraries and coordinated by the ISSN International Centre based in Paris. The International Centre is an organization created in 1974 through an agreement between UNESCO and the French government. The International Centre maintains a database of all ISSNs assigned worldwide, at the end of 2016, the ISSN Register contained records for 1,943,572 items. ISSN and ISBN codes are similar in concept, where ISBNs are assigned to individual books, an ISBN might be assigned for particular issues of a serial, in addition to the ISSN code for the serial as a whole. An ISSN, unlike the ISBN code, is an identifier associated with a serial title. For this reason a new ISSN is assigned to a serial each time it undergoes a major title change, separate ISSNs are needed for serials in different media. Thus, the print and electronic versions of a serial need separate ISSNs. Also, a CD-ROM version and a web version of a serial require different ISSNs since two different media are involved, however, the same ISSN can be used for different file formats of the same online serial
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7th Guards Mountain Air Assault Division
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The 7th Guards Mountain Air Assault Division is an elite guards division of the Russian Airborne Troops. The 7th Guards Airborne Division was formed in September 1948 based on 322nd Guards Rifle Regiment which fought in Eastern Europe in World War II, in October 1948 the division was relocated to Kaunas, Lithuania. During the Cold War period, the served in the suppression of the Hungarian. On August 1993, the division was relocated to Novorossisk, Russia and it took part in various counter-insurgency operations in the Caucasus region. On 1st December 2006 it was renamed as 7th Guards Mountain Air Assault Division, in 2014 the divisions 247th Guards Air Assault Regiment took part in War in Donbas. There were two separately formed 7th Guards Airborne Divisions in the Red Army and Soviet Ground Forces/Soviet Airborne Troops, the first division was formed during the Second World War at Ramenskoye in December 1942. It fought at Demyansk, Voronezh, Korsun, on the Dnieper River and it ended the war with 4th Guards Army of the 3rd Ukrainian Front in May 1945. As part of a military reorganization, this division was retitled the 115th Guards Rifle Division in June 1945. The second formation of the 7th Guards Airborne Division was started in September 1948 based on 322nd Guards Rifle Regiment, the first formation of the division was formed during the Second World War at Ramenskoye in December 1942. It fought at Demyansk, Voronezh, Korsun, on the Dnieper River, anxious to meet the Allies, he sent out scouts. At midnight, he met Major General Stanley Eric Reinhart, commander of the U. S. 65th Infantry Division, for the duration of their presence on the Danube river, both commanders continued to cooperate in an unusually effective manner. Twenty years later, public affairs officer Captain John J. Pullen described their first cordial encounter for the National Observer, for the 50th anniversary, Erlauf erected a Soviet-sponsored memorial. It features a girl, linking arms with a GI on her right. As part of a military reorganization at the end of June 1945. The 22nd Guards Tank Division was activated on 4 June 1957 in Novomoskovsk, Dnepropetrovsk Oblast, the baptism of fire of the second formation divisions predecessor regiment took place in 1945, fighting around Lake Balaton under the 37th Guards Rifle Corps, 9th Guards Army, 3rd Ukrainian Front. On 26 April 1945, the 322nd Guards Rifle Regiment of the 103rd Guards Rifle Division was awarded the Order of Kutuzov, second class, in commemoration, the divisions official day is 26 April, by an order of the Defense Minister of the USSR. At the end of the war, the 322nd Guards Rifle Regiment was in the city of Trebon, during the war, the regiment was thanked on six occasions by the Stalin, the Supreme Commander. In all 2,065 of its soldiers, sergeants and officers were decorated for valor, the division was relocated to the cities of Kaunas and Marijampole, Lithuanian SSR
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242nd Training Centre
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The 242nd Training Centre of the Airborne Forces is a brigade-sized training formation of the Russian Airborne Troops. The Deputy Commander of the Airborne Troops, Lieutenant-General Vasily Margelov, the formations birthday is 17 September, when the formation of the division was completed and Major General N. G. The vast majority of officers had experience in training units of the regimental schools, among the officers selected to staff the training centre were 131 veterans of the Great Patriotic War. The division consisted of three training Airborne Regiments, 301st and 304th Training Airborne Regiments - Ostrov,302 - Cheryokha, however, for unclear reasons, the division was soon renamed the 44th. Also the regiment numbering changed, instead of, respectively, the 302nd and 304th, the regiments were not Guards units either. In September 1961, available stocks, weapons, military equipment, the Divisional Headquarters and the 301st Regiment were established at Gaižiūnai, the 304th Regiment at Rukla, and the 1120th Training Artillery Regiment in the city of Prienai. Apparently, after the relocation, the division and its regiments were renumbered, the division thus became the 44th Airborne Ovruch Red Banner Order of Suvorov and Bogdan Khmelnitsky Division. This apparently meant the division had inherited the honours of the wartime 4th Guards Airborne Division, which was given the title Ovruch in November 1943. The 4th Guards Airborne Division, formed from the 1st Airborne Corps at Moscow in December 1942, fought at Kursk, Orel, Zhitomir, Korsun, Targul Frumos, Debrecen, and Budapest. Of the old division in Cheryokha remained only the 226th Training Airborne Regiment which stayed there until 1969. On 15 May 1972, the 332nd School for Praporshchiks was formed in Gaižiūnai from the 226th Training Airborne Regiment. On 1 December 1987 in accordance with the order of the Ministry of Defence of the Soviet Union of 18 August 1987, the 44th Training Airborne Division was renamed the 242nd Airborne Training Centre. In accordance with the directive of the Defense Ministry on 13 November 1992, shortly after the relocation, the 301st Training Airborne Regiment was disbanded, and the 1120th Training Artillery Regiment was moved to Ishim in Tyumen Oblast. The training centre headquarters is located in the village of Svetloe in the Omsk Oblast. In the years since its relocation to Omsk the formerly division-sized formation has shrunk to the size of a brigade, in July 2015, a barracks of the centre in the village of Svetloe collapsed, killing 23. Colonel Oleg Ponomarev, who commanded the centre at the time, was arrested, colonel Arkady Furdeyev replaced him in command of the centre in late August. Russian-language source on 242nd Training Centre Bonn, Keith E. ed. Slaughterhouse, slugin, S. A. Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны, от Красной Армии к Советской. Tomsk, Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing, schofield, Carey, The Russian Elite, Inside Spetsnaz and the Airborne Forces, Stackpole/Greenhill,1993
31.
76th Guards Air Assault Division
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The 76th Guards Air Assault Division is a division of the Russian Airborne Troops based in Pskov. The division traces its lineage back to the 76th Guards Rifle Division, the division fought in the Battle of Kursk, the Battle of the Dnieper, Operation Bagration, the East Pomeranian Offensive, and the Berlin Offensive. Postwar, it was converted into an airborne division, the division moved to Pskov, its current base, in 1949. The division was involved in Black January and the January Events in Lithuania, after the Dissolution of the Soviet Union the division became part of the Russian Airborne Troops. The division fought in the First Chechen War, Second Chechen War, the division became an air assault division in 2006. It was involved in the Annexation of Crimea and the War in Donbass, the 76th Air Assault Division was originally established in 1939 as the 157th Rifle Division. On 1 March 1943 it became the 76th Guards Rifle Division for its actions in the Battle of Stalingrad, Major General Alexander Kirsanov commanded the division. The division fought in the Battle of Kursk, fighting in the part of the Kursk Bulge. Until 3 July the division was part of the Bryansk Front in the area of Belyov, on 12 July the division began the crossing of the Oka. By the end of the day the division had captured bridgeheads, the division received thanks from the Supreme Commander for this action. On 8 September, the division began to advance from the Oryol area to Chernigov, after three days the division had advanced 70 kilometers and reached the village of Tolstoles on 20 September, three kilometers northeast of Chernigov. The division then helped capture the city and advanced to the west, by an order of the Supreme Commander on 21 September the division was thanked and awarded the honorific Chernigov. The division then advanced into Belarus and it became part of the 1st Belorussian Front. On 17 July 1944 it began an attack northwest of Kovel, on 21 July the vanguard of the division moved north towards Brest in heavy fighting. On 26 July, troops advancing from the north and south linked up 20 to 25 kilometers west of Brest, German troops in the area were surrounded. For its actions in the capture of Brest, the division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, on 25 January 1945, the division, as part of the 2nd Belorussian Front, blocked the route out of Toruń, surrounding German forces. In late February, the division attempted to cut the road out of Konitz, German troops were able to escape in the fighting. On 23 March the division captured Sopot and advanced to the Baltic Sea, by 25 March it had captured Oliwa and was advancing towards Danzig
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98th Guards Airborne Division
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The 98th Guards Airborne Division is an airborne division of the Russian Airborne Troops, stationed in Ivanovo. During the Second World War, the formation began its existence as the 98th Guards Rifle Division and it incorporated 296th Guards Rifle Regiment, 299th GRR, 302nd GRR. Formed in December 1943-January 1944 at Demitrov in the Moscow Military District and it was part of the 37th Guards Airborne Corps, 9th Guards Army on the Karelian front, on the Svir river and near Budapest in February 1945. The division ended the war near Prague, on 7 June 1946, the division became an airborne unit at Pokrovka, Primorsky Krai. It included the 296th Guards Air-Landing Regiment, the 299th Guards Airborne Regiment, on 1 October 1948, the 296th was used to form the 13th Guards Airborne Division and was replaced by the new 95th Guards Air-Landing Regiment. In 1949, the 95th became an airborne regiment, on 1 June 1951, the division relocated to Belogorsk. The 217th Guards Airborne Regiment joined the 98th from the disbanded 13th Guards Airborne Division on 30 April 1955, in April 1956, the 95th was disbanded and replaced by the disbanded 99th Guards Airborne Divisions 300th Guards Airborne Regiment. The 17th Guards Artillery Regiment also disbanded and was replaced by the 74th Guards Artillery Regiment of the 99th Division, in June 1956, the 37th Guards Airborne Corps was disbanded and the division was directly subordinated to the Airborne Headquarters. On 6 January 1959, the 243rd Separate Military-Transport Aviation Squadron was activated with the division, on 15 August 1960, the 74th Guards Artillery Regiment became the 812th Separate Guards Artillery Battalion. The battalion became the 1065th Guards Artillery Regiment on 27 April 1962, in August 1969, units of the division relocated to Bolgrad in the Odessa Military District and Chisinau and Merry Kut, Artsyz Raion. The division became involved in the major exercises South, Spring 72,73 - Crimea, Ether -74, Spring -75, Shield -79, on 1 October 1992, the 300th Guards Airborne Regiment left the division and became a separate unit. It was replaced by the 106th Guards Airborne Divisions 331st Guards Airborne Regiment, the division was relocated from Bolgrad in Ukraine to Ivanovo after the fall of the Soviet Union during May 1993. 217th Guards was moved to Ivanovo in the spring of 1993, in doing so remnants of its constituent units, such as the 217th Guards Airborne Regiment, were reorganised as Ukrainian formations. At about the time, the 300th Guards Parachute Regiment was detached. In December 1997, the 299th Guards Airborne Regiment was absorbed into the 217th Guards Airborne Regiment, today, its two regiments, the 217th and 299th, are stationed near the Ivanovo Severny military-transport airfield. However another source lists the two constituent regiments as the 217th and 331st, the later having transferred from 106th Tula Guards Airborne Division in 1998 and it took part in the 2008 South Ossetian War. Russia has been accused of, and has denied, supporting the pro-Russian separatists who battle the Ukrainian army in the War in Donbass, a battalion tactical group of the divisions 331st Guards Regiment participated in the August fighting. In February 2015, its 217th Guards Regiment and 1065th Guards Artillery Regiment were participating in the war, after duty, Bakhtin went back to the guard house without returning his weapon, and unleashed it on his comrades
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103rd Guards Airborne Division
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The 103rd Guards Airborne Division was a division of the Soviet Airborne Troops. It was established in 1946 and disbanded in 1993, a year after its transfer to the Armed Forces of Belarus, the original 103rd Guards Rifle Division was formed from the previous 13th Guards Airborne Division on 18 December 1944 in Bykhaw. The division became part of the 37th Guards Rifle Corps and in February were embarked on trains, between 16 March and 1 April, the division advanced along Lake Balaton after participating in the repulse of Operation Spring Awakening. On 23 March, the division helped capture Veszprém, on 26 March Devecser, on 28 March Sárvár, on 2 April, the division captured Gloggnitz and then fought in Vienna. After the capture of Vienna in the Vienna Offensive, the division advanced westward, the division was assigned to rest and resupply in Baden bei Wien on 28 April. The division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and the Order of Kutuzov 2nd class on 1 May. On the same day, its 317th and 324th Guards Rifle Regiments were awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky, on 6 May, the division marched in the direction of Vienna and on 8 May was concentrated near Traufeld. It entered Třeboň on 12 May, the division was then located at Szeged but was moved to Seltsy, Ryazan Oblast on 10 February 1946. The divisional staff began combat training of the Airborne Troops on 5 August 1946, the division was moved to the city of Polotsk in March 1947. On 1 October 1948, the 322nd Guards Airlanding Regiment was transferred to form the 7th Guards Airborne Division and was replaced by the 39th Guards Airlanding Regiment, after Mikhail Denisenko became commander of the division in December 1948, he was killed in a parachute jump in April 1949. In 1956 the 350th and 357th Airborne Regiments joined the division from the disbanded 114th Guards Airborne Division and that same year, the division was transferred to Vitebsk, still within the Belorussian Military District. In 1959, division personnel helped test the Antonov An-12 transport, in 1962, the division participated in the Exercise Vltava with other Warsaw Pact troops and received thanks from the Czechoslovak Defence Minister. The division received thanks from Grechko in July 1967 for its performance in the Exercise Dnieper, from 21 August to 20 October 1968, the division participated in Operation Danube, the crushing of the Prague Spring. The division participated in Exercise Brotherhood in Arms which was held in East Germany in 1970, in 1975, it became the first Guards Division of the Airborne Troops of the USSR to make a parachute jump out of AN-22 and IL-76 aircraft. The division also participated in Exercises Spring 75 and Vanguard 76, the 103rd Guards Airborne Division participated in the combined arms exercise Berezin in Belarus in February 1978. From the outset, they jumped with weapons and equipment, from IL-76s, the actions of the divisions personnel on maneuvers were very highly rated by Soviet military commanders. In December 1979 the division was transferred to Afghanistan, on 26 December, the division crossed the Afghan border. During the war in that country, the division was awarded the Order of Lenin, the 317th Guards Airborne Regiment withdrew from Afghanistan on 5 February 1989
34.
106th Guards Airborne Division
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The 106th Guards Tula Red Banner Order of Kutuzov Airborne Division, more generally referred to as the Tula Division, is one of the four airborne divisions of the Russian Airborne Troops, the VDV. Based in the city of Tula, to the south of Moscow and it became the 106th Guards Rifle Division in December 1944, as all the original VDV divisions and brigades were being reconstituted as Guards Rifle formations. The Divisions honorifics are Red Banner, Order of Kutuzov, though an early Western writer reported them as Dneipr-Transbaikal seemingly incorrectly, on 7 June 1946, the 106th Guards Rifle Division was converted to an airborne division at Tula, part of the new 38th Guards Airborne Corps. On 1 October 1948, the divisions 347th Guards Air Landing Regiment was used to form the 11th Guards Airborne Division and it was replaced by the new 51st Guards Air Landing Regiment, which became an airborne unit in 1949. On 5 May 1955, the 137th Guards Airborne Regiment joined the division from the disbanded 11th Guards Airborne Division, on 6 January 1959, the 110th Separate Military-Transport Aviation Squadron was formed with the division, equipped with ten Antonov An-2 transports. On 15 August 1960, the 205th Guards Artillery Regiment became the 845th Separate Guards Artillery Battalion, at the same time, the 351st Guards Airborne Regiment transferred to the 105th Guards Airborne Division and was replaced by the 105ths 331st Guards Airborne Regiment. On 27 April 1962, the 845th Separate Guards Artillery Battalion became the 1182nd Guards Artillery Regiment, the Tula Division, from that point until the present day, was to be one of the most frequently-used elements of it. Two of its regiments took part in the Soviet war in Afghanistan, as nationalist unrest grew in the southern republics of the USSR throughout the end of the 1980s, the division was deployed to Baku, Azerbaijan, in 1988 and to Fergana, Uzbekistan, in 1990. Throughout this time the division was commanded by General Alexander Lebed, in 1991, an attempted coup against the Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev took place in Moscow. When they arrived, Lebed stated that he had orders to secure the Parliament building and he did not, however, give the order for his men, equipped with BMD armoured vehicles, to launch an attack. Following the failure of the coup and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, in 1992, battalions of the Tula Division were attached to Group West. In March 1995, the battalions were transferred to the command of Group North and continued fighting, in May, they withdrew from Chechnya. The divisions losses in the first war are unclear,36 of its soldiers have been confirmed killed in action, the Second Chechen War began in 1999. With Moscow determined to avoid a repeat of the quagmire that the first war had become, the Tula Divisions contribution to that force was the 51st and 119th Parachute Landing Regiments. Its losses in war were still considerable but less than in the first,67 of its soldiers were reported either killed or missing in action. For its actions in the campaign, the Tula Division was awarded the MoD Pennant. On 26 April 2004, the Tula Division celebrated its 60th anniversary, in August 2014 the divisions 137th Guards Airborne Regiment had participated in the War in Donbass. On 13 August 2015, the division was given the honorific name Tula, modern Russian airborne divisions are relatively smaller formations, in manpower terms, typically, they number around over 5,000 men
Russia
Russian Ground Forces
Motorized Infantry
Order of the Red Banner
Active divisions of the Russian Federation