On the size of the Russian grouping in the zones of the Georgian-Abkhazian and Georgian-Ossetian conflicts August 6th, 2013
In Georgian, and often in Western publications, the thesis about the overwhelming numerical superiority of Russian troops introduced into the conflict zones in August 2008 is widespread, which allegedly predetermined the rapid defeat of the Georgian army. According to some Georgian estimates, the number of Russian troops involved in South Ossetia alone exceeded one hundred thousand people.
The study of documents that became available after the conflict allows us to more accurately determine the combat composition of the Russian group. Below we publish a translation of a fragment of the second, supplemented and corrected edition of the book.
As can be seen from these data, the established Russian ground force had neither a qualitative nor a quantitative superiority over the Georgian armed forces. At the same time, it should be noted that by the time the hostilities ended, large forces of the North Caucasian Military District were on the march to the conflict zone or were ready to go there if necessary. The quick end of hostilities did not require their introduction, but it was possible to quickly build up the Russian grouping.
Photo (c) A.A. Kovylkov, correspondent of the newspaper "Military Bulletin of the South of Russia" / fotki.yandex.ru/users/kovilkov/album/827 31/
In South Ossetia:
19th motorized rifle division
- 135th motorized rifle regiment (two motorized rifle battalions, including one that served as peacekeepers)
- 429th motorized rifle regiment (two motorized rifle battalions, two tank companies)
- 503rd motorized rifle regiment (two motorized rifle battalions, one tank company)
- 693rd motorized rifle regiment (two motorized rifle battalions, one tank battalion)
- 481st anti-aircraft missile regiment
- 292nd self-propelled artillery regiment
- 141st separate tank battalion
- 239th separate reconnaissance battalion
- 1493rd Separate Engineer Battalion
- 344th Separate Logistics Battalion
- 70th motorized rifle regiment (two motorized rifle battalions, one tank company)
- 71st motorized rifle regiment (three motorized rifle battalions, one tank battalion)
- 50th self-propelled artillery regiment
- 417th separate reconnaissance battalion
- battalion "Vostok" (one company)
- battalion "West" (one company)
- 104th Air Assault Regiment (one battalion)
- 234th Air Assault Regiment (one battalion)
- 217th Airborne Regiment (two battalions)
22nd Separate Special Purpose Brigade (one company)
Total: about 16,000 military personnel, 130 tanks, 105 self-propelled guns, 40 MLRS, 400 infantry fighting vehicles, 400 armored personnel carriers, 60 infantry fighting vehicles.
In Abkhazia:
15th separate motorized rifle brigade (in the role of peacekeepers, without heavy weapons)
- 43rd separate motorized rifle battalion
- 526th separate motorized rifle battalion
- 558th separate motorized rifle battalion
- 108th Air Assault Regiment (two battalions)
- 247th Air Assault Regiment (two battalions)
- 1141st Artillery Regiment
45th Special Purpose Reconnaissance Regiment (one company)
Total: about 6500 military personnel, 20 self-propelled guns, 100 armored personnel carriers, 100 armored personnel carriers.
The 42nd motorized rifle division will no longer fight terrorists, but will cover the state border
The Russian Defense Ministry decided to re-form the 42nd Guards Motor Rifle Division (42 MSD) in Chechnya. In 2009, the legendary military unit, once considered the "most belligerent" in the Russian Armed Forces, was disbanded by former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov. Instead of 42 MSD in Chechnya, separate motorized rifle brigades were created, which will now again be united into a division and will cover the state border.
At present, the decision has already been made and work on reorganizing the division has begun, ”an informed source in the military department told Izvestia. - The division will be formed on the basis of three motorized rifle brigades, which are now based in the Republic of Chechnya. These brigades will be reorganized into motorized rifle regiments of the division.
According to Izvestia, the Russian military department plans to finally form the division within the next year.
42 MSD originates from the 111th Rifle Division, formed in 1940 in the Kiev Special Military District. During the Great Patriotic War, for the courage and heroism shown in the battles against the Nazi invaders, the formation was transformed into the 24th Guards Rifle Division. Later, for the liberation of the city of Evpatoria, the division received the honorary name "Evpatoria", and for the capture of Sevastopol, the division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
After the Second World War, the division changed its serial number, becoming the 42nd Guards MSD. The formation, relocated to the city of Grozny, Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, became a training center where, until 1992, future tankers, signalmen, anti-aircraft gunners, motorized riflemen and even doctors were trained. After the aggravation of the situation in the North Caucasus, the training center was disbanded.
At the end of 1999, the Russian Ministry of Defense decided to revive the 42 MSD and deploy it on a permanent basis in the Republic of Chechnya. Four motorized rifle and one artillery regiment, reconnaissance and engineer battalions of the newly created division were fully staffed with contract servicemen. Despite the ongoing fighting, a unique social infrastructure was created in Chechnya, and the fighters of the unit lived not in barracks, but in dormitories.
In addition to participating in the counter-terrorist operation in Chechnya, units and subunits of the 42nd MSD played an important role during the fighting with Georgia in August 2008. Thus, the personnel of the 70th and 71st motorized rifle and 50th artillery regiments, as well as the 417th reconnaissance battalion, made a many-kilometer march from Chechnya to South Ossetia, overcame the Roki tunnel and immediately entered into battle with the Georgian forces. In the future, the fighters of the division participated in the defeat of the enemy already on the territory of Georgia.
The division covered more than 300 km along mountain serpentines in the most difficult conditions. At the same time, the march took less than a day, - Anton Lavrov, one of the authors of the book "Tanks of August", dedicated to the Russian-Georgian conflict of 2008, told Izvestia. - Soldiers of the 42nd Motor Rifle Division liberated Tskvinval and then took part in the attack on the Georgian Gori. Although the personnel of the division did not enter the city itself and therefore did not get into the lenses of television cameras, they completed the most important task - they blocked Gori and held the approaches to the city.
In 2009, by decision of the Ministry of Defense, the division was disbanded, and separate motorized rifle brigades were created from its two regiments ( 17th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade (Shali), 18th Guards Motorized Rifle Evpatoria Red Banner Brigade (Khankala and Kalinovskaya)), the rest of the units and subdivisions were disbanded, and the personnel were dismissed or transferred to other positions.
Later, the 1st Guards Tank Regiment was transferred to the place of the 291st regiment of the 42nd MSD in the village of Borzoi from Alabino near Moscow. Already in Chechnya, the regiment surrendered its tanks and turned into the 8th Mountain Rifle Brigade. On the emblem of the new brigade, where there is not a single tank, until recently, a cuirass (a symbol of the armored forces. - Izvestia) was painted, as well as alpenstocks, showing the belonging of the military unit to the mountain infantry. A strange combination of symbols on the emblem of the unit gave rise to jokes about "mountain tank climbers" capable of "conquering Elbrus" on tanks.
Previously, three brigades in the Republic of Chechnya were intended primarily to assist local law enforcement agencies in conducting counter-terrorist operations, Viktor Murakhovsky, editor-in-chief of the trade magazine Arsenal of the Fatherland, told Izvestiya. - These military units had in many respects a unique staff and weapons, designed primarily for solving anti-terrorist tasks. But at present, the main task of the brigades has changed - they are involved in covering the state border, and in case of war they must hold the enemy’s offensive, then defeat him with a counterattack. For such actions, a more heavily armed and numerous division is better suited, which, unlike brigades, can be more autonomous at the expense of its own resources and solve a fairly wide range of tasks both in defense and in the offensive.
Airborne troops. The history of the Russian landing Alekhin Roman Viktorovich
DEEP INTELLIGENCE (REVOCATIONAL AND amphibious companies)
Back in the mid-70s, reconnaissance and airborne companies were created in separate reconnaissance battalions of motorized rifle and tank divisions, which in the first years of their existence were called "deep reconnaissance companies." Since they were usually third in line in the battalions, they were unofficially called simply “third companies”, and those who were aware knew what they were talking about. The servicemen of these reconnaissance and airborne companies wore the uniform of their divisions, but they were given a jump uniform for jumping. Often in these companies, fighters and commanders wore blue berets. These companies did not have their own numbers, since they were not separate units.
Being abandoned behind enemy lines in the offensive zone of their division, these companies, as part of their activities in the front line, in fact, performed tasks similar to those assigned to special intelligence. On their own, the reconnaissance groups of the "third companies" behind enemy lines could organize the destruction of almost any rear object that they encountered on the way, and in any case they had to destroy the enemy's nuclear weapons.
The training of personnel for these companies was mainly carried out by the 597th separate reconnaissance battalion, located in the n. Sandy, in the Leningrad Military District. There were also several more training battalions scattered throughout the vast country.
I will try to list these reconnaissance and airborne companies as of the mid-80s, when Soviet military power was at its peak.
Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (Western Group of Forces):
RDR 5th Orb (military unit 60495) 27th Guards Motor Rifle Division, Halle;
RDR 6th Orb (military unit 83059) 207th Motor Rifle Division, Stendal;
RDR 7th Orb (military unit 47250) 47th Guards TD, Burg;
RDR 9th Orb (military unit 47596) 11th Guards TD, Dresden;
RDR 10th Orb (military unit 83083) 79th Guards Motor Rifle Division, Jena;
RDR 11th Orb (military unit 86881) 39th Guards MRD, Meiningen.
By the way, in this division there was one very interesting regiment - the 120th Guards Motorized Rifle, which was formed on the basis of the 201st Airborne Brigade during the Great Patriotic War, thus being the heir to the very first airborne unit , 3rd Airborne Brigade and Airborne Detachment of the Leningrad Military District. During the period of the defeat of the remnants of the former Soviet power, in 1993, this regiment will be ingloriously disbanded;
RDR 12th Orb (military unit 83068) 94th Guards Motor Rifle Division, Schwerin;
RDR 13th orb 9th TD, Zeithain;
RDR 17th orb (military unit 35018) 16th TD, Neustrelitz;
RDR 17th Guards Orb (military unit 34161) 32nd Guards Motor Rifle Division, Uteborg;
RDR 18th orb (military unit 60491) 12th TD, Manwinkel;
RDR 30th orb (military unit 60549) 90th TD, Bernau;
RDR 34th Orb (military unit 58593) 21st Motor Rifle Division, Perleberg;
RDR 40th orb (military unit 47368) 7th TD, Quedlinburg;
RDR 53rd orb (military unit 34810) 25th TD, Vogelsand;
RDR 59th Orb (military unit 58545) 35th Motor Rifle Division, Olympics Dorf;
RDR 68th Guards Orb (military unit 23562) 20th Guards Motor Rifle Division, Plauen;
RDR 107th Guards Orb (military unit 58447) 32nd Guards TD, Uteborg;
RDR 112th Guards Orb (military unit 35094) 10th Guards TD, Halberstadt;
RDR 113th Orb (military unit 60544) 57th Guards MRD, Rudolstadt.
Central Group of Forces:
RDR 20th Guards Orb 30th Guards Motor Rifle Division, Riechki;
RDR 31st Orb 48th Motor Rifle Division Visoko Mito;
RDR of the 45th Guards Orb (military unit 67001) 18th Guards MRD, Dechin;
RDR 81st Guards Orb (military unit 34965) 15th Guards TD, Milovice;
RDR 84th orb 31st TD Bruntal.
Northern Group of Forces:
RDR of the 96th Guards Orb (military unit 28348) 20th Guards TD, Svetoshchuv;
RDR of the 126th Guards Orb (military unit 74256) 6th Guards MRD, Byalogard.
Southern Group of Forces:
RDR of the 15th Guards Orb (military unit 75569) 254th Motor Rifle Division, Szekesfehervar;
RDR 16th Guards Orb (military unit 64802) 93rd Guards Motor Rifle Division, Kecskemét;
RDR 56th Guards Orb (military unit 30248) 13th Guards TD, Veszprem;
RDR of the 99th Guards Orb (military unit 81154) 19th Guards TD, Esztergom.
Leningrad Military District:
RDR 597th training orb (military unit 54052) of the 56th guards training center, Pesochny;
RDR 789th Guards Orb 45th Guards Motor Rifle Division, Kharitonovo;
RDR 790th orb (military unit 15745) 54th MRD, Alakurti;
RDR 792nd orb (military unit 40335) 64th MRD, Sapernoye;
RDR 794th Orb 77th Guards Motor Rifle Division, Arkhangelsk;
RDR 795th Orb 111th Motor Rifle Division, Lahdenpokhya;
RDR 796th Orb 131st Motor Rifle Division, Luostari.
Baltic Military District:
RDR 19th Guards Orb (military unit 14044) 1st Guards MRD, Dolgorukovo;
RDR 79th orb (military unit 71677) 1st TD, Kornevo;
RDR 80th Guards Orb 40th Guards TD, Sovetsk;
RDR 86th Orb 3rd Guards Motor Rifle Division, Klaipeda;
RDR 148-ro Guards Orb (military unit 48853) of the 144th Guards Motor Rifle Division, Klooga;
RDR 640th Orb 107th Motor Rifle Division, Vilnius;
RDR 45th Guards Orb 18th Guards Motor Rifle Division, Gusev;
RDR Guards Orb 26th Guards Motor Rifle Division, Sovetsk;
urdr of the 381st training orb (military unit 10940) of the 54th training center, Dobele.
Belarusian military district:
RDR 3rd Guards Orb 6th Guards TD, Grodno;
RDR 6th Guards Orb 8th Guards TD, Pukhovichi;
RDR 46th Guards Orb (military unit 43194) 120th Guards Motor Rifle Division, Uruchcha;
RDR 50th orb 29th TD, Slutsk;
RDR 52nd orb 193rd TD, Bobruisk;
RDR 53rd Guards Orb 37th Guards TD, Borovukha;
RDR 56th Orb 19th Guards Tank Division, Zaslonovo;
RDR 90th Orb 50th Motor Rifle Division, Brest;
RDR 97th orb 28th TD, Slonim;
RDR 134th orb 34th TD, Borisov;
RDR Orb (military unit 12344) 76th TD, Brest.
Moscow Military District:
RDR 136th Guards Orb (military unit 33755) 2nd Guards MRD, Kalininets;
RDR 137th Guards Orb 4th Guards TD, Naro-Fominsk;
RDR 39th Guards Orb 32nd Guards Motor Rifle Division, Tver;
Odessa Military District:
RDR 95th Guards Orb 28th Guards Motor Rifle Division, Chernomorskoye;
RDR 102nd Guards Orb (military unit 48383) 59th Guards MRD, Tiraspol;
RDR 103rd Orb 126th Motor Rifle Division, Simferopol;
RDR 129th Orb 180th Motor Rifle Division, Belgorod-Dnestrovsky;
Kyiv Military District:
RDR 15th Orb 254th Motor Rifle Division, Artemoven;
RDR 74th Guards Orb 17th Guards TD, Krivoy Rog;
RDR 117th Orb 72nd Motor Rifle Division, Belaya Tserkov;
RDR of the 130th Guards Orb (military unit 24066) 25th Guards Motor Rifle Division, Lubny;
RDR of the 1377th training orb (military unit 54057) of the 169th training center (former 48th guards unit), Oster.
Carpathian Military District:
RDR 21st Guards Orb (military unit 15727) 51st Guards MRD, Vladimir-Volynsky;
RDR 29th Orb 24th Motor Rifle Division, Rava-Russkaya;
RDR 47th Guards Orb 128th Guards Motor Rifle Division, Mukachevo;
RDR 54th Guards Orb 30th Guards TD, Novograd-Volynsky;
RDR 83rd orb (military unit 22356) 23rd TD, Ovruch;
RDR 91st Guards Orb 70th Guards Motor Rifle Division, Ivano-Frankivsk;
RDR 92nd orb (military unit 15331) 161st MRD, Izyaslav;
RDR 93rd Orb 17th Guards Motor Rifle Division, Khmelnitsky;
RDR 94th Guards Orb 97th Guards Motor Rifle Division, Slavuta;
RDR of the 1262th training guards orb of the 110th guards of the training center, Chernivtsi.
Transcaucasian Military District:
RDR 766th Orb 10th Guards Motor Rifle Division, Akhaltsikhe;
RDR 767th Orb 15th Guards Motor Rifle Division, Kirovakan;
RDR 768th Orb 23rd Motor Rifle Division, Ganja;
RDR 769th Orb 60th Motor Rifle Division, Lankaran;
RDR 770th Orb (military unit 15729) 75th MRD, Nakhichevan;
RDR 772nd orb (military unit 15732) 127th MRD, Leninakan;
RDR 773rd Orb 45th Motor Rifle Division, Gonio;
RDR 774th Orb 147th Motor Rifle Division, Akhalkalaki;
RDR 776th Orb 164th Motor Rifle Division, Sovetashen;
RDR 777th Orb 295th Motor Rifle Division, Baku.
North Caucasian Military District:
RDR 107th Orb 9th Motor Rifle Division, Maykop;
RDR 249th Orb (military unit 12356) 19th Guards MRD, Vladikavkaz;
RDR 417th orb (military unit 55034) 173rd OTC, Grozny;
RDR 347th orb 14th TD, Novocherkassk.
Volga Military District:
RDR 1378th training orb 43rd umsd, Chernorechye.
Ural Military District:
RDR 206th Orb 213th Motor Rifle Division, Totskoye;
RDR 907th orb (military unit 35652) 34th MRD, Sverdlovsk.
Turkestan military district:
RDR 650th Orb 5th Guards Motor Rifle Division, Afghanistan;
RDR 781st Orb 108th Motor Rifle Division, Afghanistan;
RDR Orb 4th Guards Motor Rifle Division, Termez;
RDR Orb (military unit 61205) 88th Motor Rifle Division, Kushka;
Central Asian Military District:
RDR 85th orb 78th TD, Ayaguz;
RDR 105th Orb 8th Guards Motor Rifle Division, Panfilov;
RDR 106th Orb 58th Motor Rifle Division, Saryozek;
RDR 236th Orb 155th Motor Rifle Division, Ust-Kamenogorsk;
RDR 783rd Orb 201st Motor Rifle Division, Afghanistan;
RDR Orb 167th Motor Rifle Division, Semipalatinsk;
RDR Orb 203rd Motor Rifle Division, Karaganda.
Siberian Military District:
RDR 121st Orb 85th Motor Rifle Division, Novosibirsk;
RDR 172nd Orb 242nd Motor Rifle Division, Abakan;
RDR 1263rd Orb 62nd Motor Rifle Division, Itatka;
RDR Orb 13th Motor Rifle Division, Biysk.
Transbaikal Military District:
RDR 109th Guards Orb (military unit 15349) 11th Guards Motor Rifle Division, Mirnaya;
RDR 128th Guards Orb (military unit 21757) 122nd Guards Motor Rifle Division, Dauria;
RDR 186th Orb 2nd Guards Tank Division, Choibalsan;
RDR 192nd Orb 245th Motor Rifle Division, Gusinoozersk;
RDR Orb 110th Motor Rifle Division, Bratsk;
DDR 1914 orb 49th office, Chita;
RDR Guards Orb 5th Guards TD, Kyakhta;
RDR Orb 52nd Motor Rifle Division, Nizhneudinsk;
RDR 110th Guards Orb (military unit 59335) 38th Guards Motor Rifle Division, Sretensk;
RDR 132nd Orb 12th Motor Rifle Division, Mongolia;
RDR Orb 41st Motor Rifle Division, Choyren, Mongolia;
rdr orb 51st td, Nalaih, Mongolia;
RDR Orb (military unit 96599) 149th Motor Rifle Division, Erdenet, Mongolia.
Far Eastern Military District:
RDR 27th Orb 277th Motor Rifle Division, Sergeevka;
RDR 88th Guards Orb 21st Guards TD, Belogorsk;
RDR 115th Orb 265th Motor Rifle Division, Yekaterinovka;
RDR 118th Guards Orb 81st Guards Motor Rifle Division, Bikin;
RDR 127th Guards Orb 123rd Guards Motor Rifle Division, Barabash;
RDR 129th Orb 121st Motor Rifle Division, Sibirtsevo;
RDR 131st Orb 135th Motor Rifle Division, Grushevoye;
RDR of the 154th Orb of the 73rd Motor Rifle Division, Komsomolsk-on-Amur;
RDR Orb 22nd Motor Rifle Division, Yelizovo;
RDR Orb 29th Motor Rifle Division, Kamen-Rybolov;
RDR Orb (military unit 20187) 33rd Motor Rifle Division, Khomutovo;
RDR Orb 40th Motor Rifle Division, Smolyaninovo;
RDR Orb 67th Motor Rifle Division, Skovorodino;
RDR Orb 79th Motor Rifle Division, Poronaysk;
RDR Orb 87th Motor Rifle Division, Petropalovsk-Kamchatsky;
RDR Orb 192nd Motor Rifle Division, Blagoveshchensk;
RDR Orb 199th Motor Rifle Division, Krasny Kut;
RDR Orb (military unit 48319) 262nd MRD, Vozzhaevka;
RDR Orb (military unit 04030) 266th MRD, Raychikhinsk;
rdr orb 27th utd, Zavitinsk;
RDR Orb 270th Motor Rifle Division, Khabarovsk.
It is clear that this list is completely incomplete (and requires clarification), but even the listed companies are an impressive force. The vast majority of these companies existed in a cropped or collapsed state, but those in which there were personnel underwent full airborne training.
Usually, scouts went to the airborne troops or GRU special forces to jump. Most of the "live" reconnaissance and airborne companies in the second half of the 80s wore the uniform and symbols of the Airborne Forces.
From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (VO) of the author TSB From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (GL) of the author TSB From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (DE) of the author TSB From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (OR) of the author TSB From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (PE) of the author TSB From the book "Afghan" lexicon. Military jargon of veterans of the Afghan war 1979-1989. author Boyko B L From the book Spetsnaz GRU: the most complete encyclopedia author Kolpakidi Alexander Ivanovich From the book Japanese manual for the preparation of tank units in 1935 author USSR Ministry of Defenseairborne troops, Airborne Forces And the combat traditions of the Airborne Forces live on, and as before, every soldier, officer, general proudly says: “We serve in the airborne troops!” )
