56th Guards Air Assault Brigade

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7th Guards Airborne Brigade (1943 – Dec 1944) 351st Guards Rifle Regiment (Dec 1944 – Jun 1946) 351st Guards Air Landing Regiment (Jun 1946 – Jan 1949) 351st Guards Airborne Regiment (Jan 1949 – Oct 1979) 56th Guards Air Assault Brigade (1979 to 2021) 56th? Guards Air Assault Regiment (from December 2021)
Active	1943–present
Country	Soviet Union (1943–1991)  Russia
Branch	Airborne Troops
Type	Airborne forces
Size	Brigade
Garrison/HQ	Kamyshin
Engagements	World War II Battle of the Dnieper Vienna Offensive Soviet–Afghan War First Chechen War Second Chechen War
Battle honours	Don Cossack Order of the Patriotic War 1st class Order of Kutuzov 2nd class
Commanders
Current commander
Notable commanders	Vitaly Raevsky

The 56th Guards Air Assault Brigade was an airborne brigade of the Russian Airborne Troops. As of 2021 it was based in Kamyshin. However, in March 2021 it was indicated that the brigade would be reformed as a regiment and relocated to Feodosia in Crimea.^[1] The new regiment will be subordinate to the 7th Guards Mountain Air Assault Division.^[2] The brigade was first formed in 1979 and fought in the Soviet–Afghan War, the First Chechen War and the Second Chechen War. ^[3][4]

History[]

The 56th Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade was formed on 1 October 1979 in Chirchiq from the disbanded 105th Guards Airborne Division's . The new brigade inherited battle honors from that unit. On 13 December, the brigade was transferred to Termez in preparation for deployment to Afghanistan.^[3] On 27 December, the brigade's 4th Airborne Battalion crossed the Afghan border and secured Salang Pass.^[5] The 3rd Air Assault battalion was airlifted by helicopter into Afghanistan and captured on the next day. Between 13 and 14 January 1980, the brigade crossed the border and concentrated at Kunduz. At the same time, the 3rd Air Assault Battalion moved to Kandahar. In February, the 4th Airborne Battalion was transferred to Charikar but was moved back to Kunduz in the same year. The 2nd Air Assault Battalion was attached to the 70th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade in March. In December 1981, the brigade was moved to Gardez. The brigade was reequipped with the BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicle in 1985. On 5 April, it was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War 1st class. It fought in Operation Magistral from December 1987 to January 1988.^[6] In June 1988, the brigade crossed the border back into Turkmenistan during the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. After its return from Afghanistan, the brigade was based in Ýolöten.^{[4] [7]}

A UAZ-469 of the brigade in Gardez during 1987

The brigade became the 56th Guards Airborne Brigade in 1989.^[4] In January and February 1990, the brigade was deployed to Baku to patrol the border as a result of the Baku pogrom.^[3] On 1 June, the brigade was transferred to the Soviet airborne and renamed the 40th Separate Airborne Brigade. The newly renamed brigade was transferred to Fergana a week later to conduct security operations. After the Dissolution of the Soviet Union, the brigade was moved to the North Caucasus in Karachay-Cherkessia.^[8] The brigade was given the designation Don Cossack on 22 April 1994.^[4] Between December 1994 and October 1996, the brigade fought in the First Chechen War. In 1997, it was renamed the 56th Guards Airborne Regiment. In August 1999, a battalion sized task force of the regiment was deployed to fight in the Second Chechen War. After being withdrawn from Chechnya in November 2004, the regiment once again became the 56th Guards Airborne Brigade on 1 May 2009 and in July 2010 was designated as the 56th Guards Airborne Brigade (Light). ^[3] In 2013, it became part of the Russian Airborne Troops.^[4]

In January 2016, VDV commander Vladimir Shamanov announced that a new range near Kamyshin would be built in the spring of that year due to the higher intensity of combat training.^[9]

In 2021 it was indicated that the brigade would be redeployed to Crimea and reformed as a regiment. In November, 2021 it was confirmed that the new regiment would become a component of the 7th Guards Mountain Air Assault Division effective as of December 2021.^[10]

Component Units 2021^[11][]

• Airborne battalion
• 2nd Air assault battalion
• 3rd Air assault battalion
• Tank battalion
• Reconnassance battalion
• Artillery battalion
• Anti-aircraft battery
• Anti-tank battery
• Rifle (sniper) company
• Electronic warfare company
• Signals company
• Engineer company
• Landing support company
• Medical company
• Maintenance company
• Material support company
• RCB company
• Brigade command company

Commanders[]

• Alexander Petrovich Plokhikh (1980–1981)
• Mikhail Karpushkin (1981–1982)
• Viktor Arsentevich Sukhin (1982–1983)
• Viktor Matveevich Chizhikov (1983–1985)
• Vitaly Raevsky (1985–1987)
• (1987–1990)
• Alexander Sotnik (1990–1995)
• Sergei Mishanin (1995–1996)
• Rustam Aliev Stepanenko (1996–1997)
• Pavel Kirsi
• Igor Timofeyev
• Alexander Vitalievich Lebedev (2012–2014)
• Alexander Valitov (2014–2021)
• Anastasia Shevchuk (2021–present)

References[]