76th Guards Air Assault Division

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76th Guards Air Assault Division
150px
76th Guards Air Assault Division shoulder sleeve insignia.
Active 1 September 1939[1] – present
Country Soviet Union Soviet Union
(1939 - 1991)
Russia Russian Federation
(1991 - present)
Branch Большая эмблема Воздушно-десантных войск России.png Airborne Troops
Type Airborne forces
Role Light Infantry
Airborne Infantry
Airmobile infantry
Part of Medium emblem of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (27.01.1997-present).svg Russian Armed Forces
Garrison/HQ Pskov
Motto Мы всюду там, где ждут победу!
Anniversaries 1 September
Engagements
Commanders
Current
commander		 Guards Col. Naumets Vasilevich
Notable
commanders		 Gen. Vasily Margelov

The 76th Guards Air Assault Division (Russian: 76-я гвардейская десантно-штурмовая Черниговская Краснознаменная дивизия) is a division of the Russian Airborne Troops based in Pskov.

History

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. The Division fought in Chernigov, Odessa, Brest and Danzig with the 70th Army of the 2nd Belorussian Front in May 1945. Soon after the war it became the 76th Airborne Division, by 1946 as part of the 15th Airborne Corps.

The 76th Division originally had three regiments: the 104th, 234th, and 237th, with the 237th Guards Airborne Regiment disbanded circa 2002.

After an experimental period, the 104th Parachute Regiment of the 76th Airborne Division became the first Russian ground forces regiment that was fully composed of professional soldiers (and not of "srochniki" - the conscripted soldiers aged eighteen).

Elements of the 104th Regiment were ambushed in Chechnya in March 2000.[2]

In 2006, the 76th Airborne Division became an Air Assault Division.

In 2008 the 76th Air Assault Division was involved in the 2008 South Ossetia war, being deployed to South Ossetia and fought in the Battle of Tskhinvali.

Crimea and the War on the Donbass

In 2014 division units spearheaded the 2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine, particularly used in operation on the Crimea Annexation.[3][4]

The 76th Guards Air Assault Division entered Ukrainian territory in August and engaged in a skirmish suffering 80 dead.[5]

On 21 August 2014, the Ukrainian government claimed to have captured two BMD-2 armoured fighting vehicles and the map case of an officer from the division on Ukrainian territory.[6][7][8][5] Russia's defence ministry denied the claim.[9][10] Several members of the division died on 19–20 August, under circumstances their families would not reveal.[11] Later that month Vladimir Putin awarded the Division one of Russia's highest awards, the Order of Suvorov for the "successful completion of military missions" and "courage and heroism".[5][12]

A Pskov newspaper reported that nearly an entire company of paratroopers from the 76th Guards Air Assault Division was lost during combat in Ukraine as part of the War in Donbass.[13] Russian troops killed in Ukraine were reportedly being buried in Ukraine in order to avoid publicity.[14]

On 22 August, two Russian Army BMD-2s belonging to the 76th Guards Air Assault Division were captured by Ukrainian forces in Lutuhino in the Luhansk region.[15]

Subordinated units and fighting strength

As of 2010, the 76th Air Assault Division consisted of the following units:[16]

  • Division headquarters (Pskov, Leningrad Military District)
  • 23rd Air Assault Regiment
  • 104th Air Assault Regiment
  • 234th Air Assault Regiment
  • 1140th Artillery Regiment
  • 4th Air Defense Regiment
  • 656th Engineering Battalion
  • 728th Communications Battalion
  • 7th Maintenance Battalion
  • 1682nd Logistics Battalion

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Further reading

  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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