104th Airborne Division 328th Airborne Division Ganja. The brigade included

December 6 is one of the three holiday dates of the Ulyanovsk Separate Air Assault Brigade. On this day in 1944, the Division was assigned the number 104. Which the Division proudly carried until 1998
Emblem: scorpion, personifying mortal danger and unpredictability of actions on his part; The scorpion is distinguished by the fact that at any moment it is capable of delivering an irresistible blow to the enemy, which is characteristic of the fighting style of this division. The emblem also reflects the specifics of the 104th Guards combat training for operations in mountainous desert areas, where the formation was stationed for more than 45 years.
So the glorious 104th Guards. VDD

On December 6, 1944, the 11th Guards Airborne Division was reorganized into the 104th Guards SD (Slutsk district, Belarus, completed by January 3, 1945). In this form, the division as part of the 3rd and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts participated in the Vienna and Prague operations.

The division receives hordes. Kutuzov 2nd degree; 346th regiment - horde. Alexander Nevsky.

Subsequently, on April 7, 1946, by directive of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the Rifle Division was reorganized into the Airborne Division. Division headquarters - Narva, Estonia. The deployment of units is in the region. Rakvere, Nyhvi (Yehvi), Narva, mz. Hive.

In 1960 104 Guards The airborne division was redeployed to the Azerbaijani city of Kirovabad (Ganja) and the city of Shamkhor.

In 1974 and 1990, the division was awarded pennants of the Minister of Defense for courage and military valor. In 1993, 104 Guards. The Airborne Forces relocated from Ganja (Azerbaijan) to Ulyanovsk.

May 1, 1998 104th Guards. The Airborne Division was reorganized into the 31st Guards. a separate airborne brigade with the transfer of Battle Banners, pennants of the Minister of Defense, orders, historical records that belonged to the management of the 104th Guards Airborne Division and parachute regiments.

From 1994 to 1996 104 Guards VDD and from 1999 to 2001 31st Guards Airborne Forces participated in operations against terrorists in the republics of Chechnya and Dagestan. For courage and heroism, 10 military personnel were awarded the title of Hero of Russia, including 4 posthumously, more than 4,000 were awarded orders and medals.

There are many well-known people in the country among the natives of this group. For example, Colonel General Valery Vostrotin. In Afghanistan, paratrooper officer Vostrotin became a Hero of the Soviet Union. He commanded both a company and a regiment in the 104th Airborne Division. In the same division, the current commander of the Airborne Forces, Hero of Russia, Vladimir Shamanov, once commanded a regiment.

In April 2001, 31st Guards. The Airborne Infantry Brigade was withdrawn from the combat area of ​​the Republic of Chechnya to the permanent deployment point in Ulyanovsk, where it is currently located. On December 1, 2006, it was renamed 31 Guards. ODSBr.

Currently 31st Guards. The Special Airborne Brigade is the reserve of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the RF Armed Forces. The brigade occupies one of the leading places in combat and mobilization readiness, combat training, military discipline, among formations and units of the Airborne Forces and in general in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

In July - August 2006, the brigade took part in two large-scale exercises with a massive drop of troops and equipment near Ryazan and in the Orenburg region at the Southern Shield - 2006 exercise, where it received high praise from the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation.

The unofficial name of the 104th Guards Airborne Division is “Wild Division”, which is due to the specifics of training personnel to participate in combat operations in mountainous desert conditions. The symbol reflecting the specifics of the division is the scorpion.

Part 2. Kirovabad
Chapter I. 337th Regiment

We arrived in Kirovabad by train late at night. From our company, besides me, two more went there. From my platoon it was Valery Serdyukov - our “grandfather”. Even in training, we learned that Serdyukov was married, he had a child (in my opinion, a girl) and for us, mustacheless boys, he was such a veteran. By the way, he really was older, he was about 21-22 years old, and maybe even older. He was wiry, thin, and grumpy in character (needless to say, a year before demobilization in my 3rd parachute company he became a company sergeant major).

They lined us up somewhere near the station. In the light of the spotlights, some high rank, in my opinion, a general, probably from the division headquarters, handed over gray cardboard boxes containing the “Guard” badge. Since the war and to this day, all airborne formations are guards, but the training unit (training) is not a linear unit, that is, not combat, not combat, so they did not give “guards” there. And upon arrival, a guardsman's badge is immediately assigned to the linear units.

Then we were put into cars and taken to the shelves. As I later understood, me, Valerka and also Yurka from another training platoon were sent to the 337th Guards Order of Alexander Nevsky Parachute Regiment.

We were lined up on the parade ground and assigned to companies.
Valerka and I got the 3rd company, which was located in the third barracks farthest from the headquarters. The barracks, in my opinion, were panel (or maybe not?), 3-story. At night the parade ground is illuminated. It was the month of May, very hot, the night was stuffy, cicadas were singing and it was very, very quiet. Having entered the location, the officer handed us over to the company duty officer, but the company commander was already there to meet us. They showed us our bunks; I got one on the first tier. I began to undress and carefully put my uniform on a stool, and then, out of nowhere, demobilizers came up.

Seeing my badges, they said: “Oh, sergeant, cool! Sergeant, let’s take a swing - you’ve just been given a new guard (and, by the way, the badge was in my pocket, I didn’t put it on my tunic), and I have a little bit here.” The enamel has chipped off, you don’t care, but I’m demobilized.” Having thought that I really had to serve for another year and a half and deciding that perhaps there was such a unique tradition here, I answered: “Okay, let’s go.” They waved.

In the morning, out of habit, I woke up a few seconds before getting up and, hearing: “Rota, get up!”, I jumped up, began to pull on my boots, and in the evening I saw that all the beds had boots. They took the company for exercise, and Valerka and I were told to go to the quarters to receive southern uniforms. In the south (this was later seen in Afghanistan) they wore loose-fitting trousers, boots with socks, and a canvas Panama hat on their heads - the brim was even, but it was considered especially chic to curl the brim in such a way that it looked like a cowboy hat. Having received uniforms, we began to get acquainted with the location, and in general with the life of our already native 337th regiment.

On the very first day (it turned out to be a park and maintenance day), we were sent by car to Geranium to prepare the barracks to receive young recruits.
Geran is an educational summer town about 50 kilometers from Kirovabad, not far from Mingichaur and the Mingichaur hydroelectric power station. You had to go there either by train or by car. We were taken in cars. On the way, I looked at the unusual surroundings with interest.

But we need to start with the fact that from the windows of the barracks, and, in fact, from anywhere in the regiment, mountains were visible, in some places even covered with snow. All the vegetation was unfamiliar. Vineyards, apricot and peach orchards grew around the regiment's location. The street that led to the regiment (in fact, the street abutted at the checkpoint) was lined with mulberry trees, before that I had never heard or seen such a tree, otherwise it is also called mulberry, very tasty, sweet berries ripen on it. At one time, when they were ripe, I tried them.

In Geran I began to become more familiar with my calling.
They assigned me to the second platoon of the second squad and appointed me the commander of this squad. As I already wrote, in the Airborne Forces there are 7 people in the squad and in my squad, besides me (the commander), there was a machine gunner (Kalashnikov machine gun), a grenade launcher (RPG-9) and a 4th rifleman. All of them had AKMS assault rifles, just like in training, with folding butts. Well, of course, we went to work near Geranium without weapons.

In general, in my platoon there were 7 people of my conscription - Vaska Antonov (from Riga), Ramazanov (from Dagestan), Valerka (also from Dagestan) and an interesting soldier named Viksna, he was from the Baltic states, spoke with a slight accent, completely blond , probably even reddish, with whitish eyelashes, naturally, covered in freckles. He had the type of skin that never tans, but only turns red. He was thin and short, but his palms attracted attention - like those of a healthy man, say, a loader. It turned out that Viksna, after turning 8, had already been working as a lumberjack in the forest for two years - as he said: he was cutting off branches from trees. This is where these paws come from.

I was greeted normally.
Those whom I listed (they were in the platoon), in my opinion, only Vaska and Ramazanov were in my squad, and my conscription was called “scoopers” (those who served for six months), the rest were either “godki” (this those who served for a year), or demobilization (those who served for a year and a half were also “grandfathers” - these are those who will have to go to demobilization in a few weeks). We didn’t have “newcomers” (those who had just come to serve); we were just waiting for new reinforcements.

The company commander said that when the young people arrive, I will go to Geran as part of a training platoon and, as a squad commander, I will train the young people for a month and a half.

The first few days in the regiment were remembered for one event.
The platoon commander (in my platoon) was, if I’m not mistaken, Yurka Gradov, in my opinion, he was from Moscow. A cheerful, handsome guy, for some reason I remember him with a golden fixation, or maybe it already seems so to me now. He was one of the breed of impudent impudent people - he always got into trouble, didn’t let anyone off the hook, and, of course, he wasn’t all right with army discipline.

It turns out that on the eve of my arrival, he and several other demobilizers got into some kind of trouble. Literally two days after my arrival, he was removed from the post of deputy platoon commander (and in fact, the platoon commander is also the commander of the first squad, and there are three squads in the platoon) and I was appointed to this position. Yurka, of course, could not forgive me for this and I initially got a lot from him.

Here it is necessary to say separately about the so-called hazing. Of course, our young people for demobilization cleaned badges, glued demobilization albums, someone could iron out a parade shirt, if someone knew how to sew beautifully and neatly, they hemmed something, again, when chores, demobilization workers usually didn’t work, they smoked if There were no officers nearby, the “salagas”, “scoops” and “year-olds” were plowing. But there were simply no passions, which, unfortunately, are often written about, and which are actually happening now in our army, in those years, especially in the Airborne Forces.

By the way, we explained this to ourselves very simply.
Firstly, we have live firing very often. For example, combat shooting of a company or battalion, or even a regiment in a deployed formation, that is, this is when a unit marches in a chain, fires on the move, and a variety of targets appear in front of us in a variety of directions. And it is purely theoretically understandable that if there was some kind of offender, then we could lag behind a little there and, supposedly, the bullet could accidentally fly away in the wrong direction. Everyone understood this intellectually. And, secondly, we had this saying: “Insert a knitting needle.” The fact is that a backpack with a parachute (when the ring was pulled out, the backpack opened due to special rubber bands and the parachute was thrown out of there) could be pierced with a knitting needle, and the knitting needles were used for installation for a specific operation. And a backpack with a parachute pierced by a spoke would simply not open. As a hypothetical threat, when someone bothered you, you could often hear: “Well, I’ll put a needle in you, you pest, and you’ll fly and crow to the ground.” But still, this is not the main explanation. The main thing is how we were raised by officers and, above all, by our “father” - paratrooper number one, Commander-in-Chief of the Airborne Forces Vasily Filippovich Margelov, because we deciphered the Airborne Forces: “Troops Uncle Vasya."

Let me digress and give a very typical example of what the Airborne Forces are from the point of view of discipline in relation to other branches of the military.
On November 7, that is, it was the fall of 1972, our regiment, together with other regiments and units of the Kirovabad garrison, took part in a parade on the central square of Kirovabad, opposite the Central Department Store. They took us to training, although it was probably already the spring of 1973, because it was warm, although no, it’s already forgotten now, after all, it was in November, because it was still warm in the south at that time. So, they chased us and chased us, but we had a consolidated “box” - a company - that is, 8 ranks of 8 people. We were the only paratroopers. There were infantrymen, tankmen, artillerymen, signalmen, and pilots. And at some stage they put us in “boxes” and ordered all the officers to gather to debrief the “flights”. Naturally, we, standing in such a “box”, eight by eight, were left to our own devices. Literally 10 minutes later there was only our “box” standing, and, indeed, standing - from all sides one could see clear rows, a clear alignment, the young people were standing in front, so they were almost standing at attention, the demobilizers were behind - not leaving the ranks, without taking a single step to the side, but quietly smoking in their sleeves. But still other “boxes” lay on the lawns, sat, wandered, whatever they wanted. The officers were gone for about 40 minutes. And all this time our landing “box” stood, essentially, without moving. It was “wild” for us to see how fighters from other branches of the military allowed themselves to carry out the command “Freely” in this way. By the way, the Airborne Forces are still famous for this, that the spirit of brotherhood, the spirit of mutual assistance, unquestioning execution of the commander’s orders are the essence of our service and our pride in the Airborne Forces.

Returning to Gradov. He is removed from his post, I am appointed, and it turns out that I am already occupying a position that I could have occupied, in principle, only before demobilization. That is, in the absence of the platoon commander (and my platoon commander was Lieutenant Shavrin, a good guy, only a little sick, he spent a lot of time in the hospital for some reason) I actually performed his duties. Even during checkpoints, when the command was given: “Platoon commanders, come to me!”, I, along with the officers, ran to the battalion commander or regiment commander. But all this was ahead.

This summer I saw grapes growing for the first time, and I tasted them straight from the vine for the first time in my life. I saw how peaches, apricots, persimmons grew (there was a variety called “Korolek” for some reason), and pomegranates. I remember once, but it was already, in my opinion, a year later, we were driving to an exercise in an open GAZ-66 in an absolutely wild place. And suddenly we saw (and this was apparently at the end of September): there were bushes, there were practically no leaves on them, only huge red balls - pomegranates - hanging. We were moving in a convoy, it was impossible to stop, but the driver of our GAZ-66 had a great idea: he drove off the road, shook us a little on the bumps, drove up close to a bush, braked and skidded the body so that the side hit the bush and grenades fell straight to our body. They immediately burst, we were all red, as if in blood, but we ate plenty of pomegranates.

Every year, somewhere in August, our entire regiment took part in the grape harvest.
There was no need to go far - the vineyard was literally behind the fence. At first, of course, they ate “from the belly”, but they soon got tired of the grapes and looked for other varieties in distant plots - they still got tired of it. Well, we, enterprising soldiers, very quickly learned how to make mash. This was done very simply: they took the grapes, strained them, squeezed them into some containers, then these containers were placed in a warm place and after some time they could drink the so-called “bragulka”, but for this they had to wait several days. And working in the vineyard was relaxing; sometimes it felt like you were in civilian life. The commanders came in from time to time - the norm was clear to us and, in general, the work was “don’t hit someone who is down.” By the way, I still have a photograph where I hold two bunches of grapes, like mice by their tails.

Next to me is Valerka Serdyukov.

So, one day we decided to find somewhere " agdamchik". The local Azerbaijanis always had their own wine in every house. I don’t know, maybe specifically for soldiers, or maybe so, they made “Agdam”. It was fortified wine, to be honest, I don’t know what was added to it, but the strength was “atomic”. And, of course, I wanted to feel like a civilian and take a sip of this very “Agdam”.

And so we chipped in, whoever had what money, and by the way, in the entire Soviet Army we paid privates 3 rubles a month, paratroopers - 4, we were also paid for jumping (up to 10 jumps we were paid, in my opinion, 4 rubles, and after 10 they paid 10 rubles - it was “serious” money). As a sergeant and platoon commander, I was paid as much as 8 rubles, plus jumping. In a word, we had some money, but most often we ate it very quickly in the soldiers' teahouse. And so, having reset, we realized that there was not enough, and one of ours had an old wristwatch. Let's encourage him: “Why do you need a watch? It doesn’t work well anyway, let’s sell it.”

So we sold this watch, bought an Agdam, sat down between the rows of grapes and had a picnic.
And the deputy company commander for drill training (as we called him “zampostroyu”) was senior officer Pozdeev. Quite recently he was a company commander in another company of our regiment, but there was a check, he had a shortage (either pea coats, or overcoats, or blankets) and he was transferred to a lower position “deputy” in our company, and most importantly - ordered him to compensate for material losses. I remember at ceremonial divorces, when all the officers put on their dress uniform, he always stood in field uniform. When they reprimanded him, he angrily replied: “I pay out of my salary what they “hung” on me and I don’t have the opportunity to buy myself a new uniform.”

In general, the man was very “cool”, but actually fair.
He was probably the main educator in our company, despite the fact that we also had a political officer. (By the way, in our battalion there was a political officer with the interesting surname Sasonny, his rank was captain, for some reason I remember him. In fact, he was a sincere man.) By the way, “Pozdeich” (as we called him among ourselves) was really he was cool, and if someone was rude or did something wrong, he could take him aside so that no one would see, and simply punch him in the teeth without any fuss, and he did it professionally - the jaw only clanged and then the offender’s cheekbone ached for a long time. Surely an attentive reader will understand that such details cannot be retold without experiencing it yourself, which means that I once fell under his “hot” hand. I’ll digress and tell you under what circumstances this happened.

Here I need to say a few words about packing the parachute; I already wrote about this when I talked about the training. The fact is that there is such an element of packing when the pilot chute cover was tied to the main parachute cover with a special thread (which in no case should be nylon, but only hebash) with a special knot, which we called the “prosecutor’s knot.” If something happened to the parachute, very often the cause was this part, and then they carefully looked to see if someone had replaced the hebash rope with a nylon one, or the knot was tied incorrectly, or something else. And we were taught that even if for some reason the rupture did not occur, it was never possible to break this knot on earth. And if this thread did not break, then the cover from the main canopy would not be pulled off, because the exhaust stabilizing parachute did not open, but in this case, the parachute designers came up with two huge pockets on the side of the cover. When a parachutist flies to the ground, the oncoming air flow inflates these pockets and, like a stocking, pulls off the cover.

One day a young recruit came to Geran, I even remember the soldier’s last name - Lunin, in my opinion, a Muscovite. He was somewhat similar to Viksna, with the same blond hair. This Lunin gave me a lot of trouble - he was not very physically developed. And now it’s time for the night jump. I jumped with everyone... And already at the landing site I’m running, holding a candle with a flashlight, questioning and counting all my fighters to see if everything is okay. And suddenly one of my friends says to me: “There’s Lunin, something’s wrong with him.” I got scared and screamed: is it broken or what? They answer me: “No, everything seems to be fine, but something didn’t work for him.” I ran to look for Lunin. I found it, I see that the dome is open, thank God, he is safe and sound, though he is all pale (and so pale), there are only eyes on his face and, in my opinion, he even stutters. I ask: "What happened?" He replies: “I flew for a very long time.”
- We all flew for a long time.
- No, I flew for a long time and the parachute did not open.
I'm asking:
-Did you pull the ring?
- Pulled.

Suddenly I see that the same situation happened, that is, the cover was pulled off by a stream of air and, of course, instead of the prescribed 5 seconds, it probably flew for about half a minute. It’s good that the cover managed to come off, the canopy opened and he landed. Lunin confirmed that when the dome opened, it jerked and after a few seconds there was already ground. I looked: everything was fine with him, but if they found out what had happened, they would look into it and pin this emergency on our training platoon. And without hesitation, I tore off the two covers, tore the lock between them, and pulled the cover off the pilot chute. In a word, I made it look as if everything worked properly.

And my “bulls” had already managed to tell about what happened with Lunin not only to me, but also to “Pozdeich”, who also ran and examined the entire company (he was the commander of a training company). And so he “flies up” right up to Lunin and me, shouting: “Where?” I answer: “Everything is fine, Comrade Senior Lieutenant, I’ve already done it.” And then “Pozdeich” silently turns around and hits me on the cheekbone with a hook, I hit him head over heels. He immediately extends his hand to me, helps me get up and says reproachfully: “I thought you were smart enough. Do you even understand that this is a judicial matter?” I say: “Comrade Senior Lieutenant, no one knows.”
- How does no one know? Everyone is already chatting.
“Now we’ll build it, give instructions, and say that it happened.”
He said:
- Still, you’re a fool, Mironov.

In fact, we hushed up this matter. By the way, bending down and taking the thread, I saw that it was nylon. Where did she come from? - unclear. Well, that's a thing of the past.

So, back to the vineyards.
In a word, “Pozdeich,” when we arrived at the company’s location, noticed with his experienced gaze that some of the fighters were “behind the scenes” and gave us a “debriefing.” “Pozdeich” knew as well as we did in which houses one could buy “Agdam”, and probably the locals also informed him that the soldiers had sold the watch. For some reason, he thought that we had either stolen this watch from someone or taken it away, and decided to organize a whole investigation. He called each of the participants of the feast one by one to the office and talked.
Left me for last.

Moreover, when someone came out, he did not allow them to approach us, but sent them to different places under the supervision of the company duty officer, so that we would not tell each other anything. It was my turn. I go into the office, “Pozdeich” asks: “Well, Sergeant Mironov, you’re the commander, your soldiers here have completely laid you down, if you don’t tell me now how it really happened, then we’ll pin it all on you.” . To be honest, I got a little scared, because they can lead to a disbat, but it’s not in my habits to “hand over” my own people - I stand there, silent. “Pozdeich” continues: “Why are you silent? Don’t you want to surrender? So you were “handed over” by your own people, I just need you to retell how it happened and that’s all, to complete the picture, consider that we are even.” I'm silent.

Ah well! - And suddenly he takes a leather glove from the table, puts it on his right hand and happily pulling it on, clenching and unclenching his fist, comes up to me, and his face is angry and angry, he breathes in my face and says: “Okay, since you’re such a silent person, I’ll have to teach you a lesson” (and this was after that story with the parachute and I knew firsthand what “Pozdeich’s” fist was).

It’s unpleasant, of course, but I think, okay, I’ll have to feel this “pleasure” again. I'm silent. “Pozdeich” looks intently into my eyes, apparently looking to see what is more there: fear or the will to say nothing (to be honest, there was an equal amount of both) and says: “Okay, free.” I exhaled: “Permission to go, comrade guard senior lieutenant?” - “Go.” I headed towards the door, but heard: “Stop!” I look around, and he says to me: “You’re nothing, a normal lad. Go, just don’t be naughty anymore.”

And having already left the office, I realized that, of course, all these stories about the fact that I was “surrendered” - this was what is called “taken to task.” I also realized that “Pozdeich” is a real officer and knows what soldier’s and officer’s solidarity is. And, by the way, he really didn’t have enough of an officer’s job in his difficult situation.

I noticed that the thinking of those who served and those who did not serve is absolutely different, which those who served pay attention to, those who escaped “hardships and hardships” will never pay attention to.

A brief educational program on the history of the 31st Airborne Forces, for those who asked:

In October 1948, instead of the 104th Guards Airborne Division, which had left the ranks, the 337th Guards Landing Airborne Regiment was formed on the basis of the 3rd Infantry Battalion of the 346th Guards Airborne Regiment.

In accordance with the order of the Minister of the Armed Forces of the USSR dated December 31, 1948, in 1949, the Airborne Forces were reorganized into the Airborne Army (VDA, military unit 96885).

In March 1949, on the basis of the order of the Minister of the Armed Forces of the USSR dated December 31, 1948 No. 0048, the General Staff directive dated January 29, 1949 No. org/2/108506 and the directive of the Commander of the Airborne Army dated February 18, 1949 No. 1466128-s 337 The 1st Guards Landing Airborne Regiment of the 104th Guards Airborne Division was reorganized into the 337th Guards Parachute Regiment.

The 11th Ordo (military unit 54157) of the 104th Guards Airborne Division was disbanded.

By order of the Minister of the Armed Forces of the USSR No. 0016 of September 27, 1949, Unit Day was established for the 104th Guards Airborne Division on January 1, 1945 (the end date of the formation of the division).

On April 18, 1953, in accordance with the resolution of the Council of Ministers and the order of the USSR Ministry of Defense, the Directorate of the Airborne Army was reorganized into the Directorate of the Airborne Forces Commander.

Based on the General Staff Directive of September 12, 1953 No. 12/573241 and the order of the commander of the Airborne Forces of September 19, 1953 No. 1051760, by November 15, 1953, the airborne divisions were transferred to new states:

The 14th Guards Ors was reorganized into the 729th Guards Obs of the 104th Guards Airborne Division;

The 113th Guards Orr 104th Guards Airborne Division was disbanded.

The 180th medsanr was reorganized into the 180th medsanb of the 104th Guards Airborne Division.

The 17th separate aeronautical detachment of the 104th Guards Airborne Division was disbanded and air traffic control units were created.

The 117th separate guards fighter anti-tank artillery division of the 104th guards airborne division was disbanded.

Based on the directive of the Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces dated June 7, 1960 No. osh/1/290219 and the directive of the Commander of the Airborne Forces dated June 7, 1960 No. 446982, from August 15, 1960, units of the 104th Guards Airborne Division transferred to new states.

The 80th Parachute Regiment (military unit 20729) was accepted from the 7th Guards Airborne Division, replacing the transferred 97th Guards Parachute Regiment (Alytus, Lithuanian SSR).

The 135th separate aeronautical detachment was disbanded; one aeronautical unit was formed on its base, which was transferred to the 116th separate military transport aviation squadron.

The divisional automobile school was also disbanded.

After reorganization in the period from July to September 1960, the 104th Guards Airborne Division in its entirety was redeployed to the territory of the ZakVO:

department (Kirovabad city, Azerbaijan SSR, staff No. 35/20);

80th Parachute Regiment (Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, staff No. 35/21);

328th Guards Parachute Regiment (Kirovabad, Azerbaijan SSR, state No. 35/21);

337th Guards Parachute Regiment (Kutaisi, Georgian SSR, state No. 35/21);

75th separate self-propelled artillery division (Kirovabad, Azerbaijan SSR, staff No. 35/22);

226th separate guards artillery division (military unit 93717, Shamkhor, Azerbaijan SSR, staff No. 35/23);

103rd separate guards anti-aircraft artillery division (Kirovabad, Azerbaijan SSR, staff No. 35/24);

99th separate guards battery of guided anti-tank rocket launchers (military unit 32452, Shamkhor, Azerbaijan SSR, staff No. 35/25);

729th separate guards communications battalion (Kirovabad, Azerbaijan SSR, state No. 35/26);

132nd separate guards engineer battalion (Kirovabad, Azerbaijan SSR, state No. 35/27);

116th separate military transport aviation squadron (Kirovabad, Azerbaijan SSR, staff No. 35/28);

180th separate medical battalion (Kirovabad, Azerbaijan SSR);

305th separate motor transport company (Kirovabad, Azerbaijan SSR, state No. 35/30);

120th automobile repair shop (Shamkhor, Azerbaijan SSR, staff No. 35/31);

282nd field mechanized bakery (Kirovabad, Azerbaijan SSR, staff No. 35/32);

divisional united warehouses (Kirovabad, Azerbaijan SSR, state No. 35/33).

By April 27, 1962, on the basis of the directive of the General Staff of the Ground Forces No. osh/2/300529 of March 22, 1962, the directive of the Airborne Forces commander No. 471437 of April 5, 1962, the Airborne Forces switched to new states:

The 226th separate guards artillery division of the 104th guards airborne division was reorganized into the 1180th guards artillery regiment.

The 99th separate battery of anti-tank installations was disbanded and merged into the artillery regiment as a line one.

The 156th separate detachment of heavy airborne equipment was formed (military unit 86795).

By September 1, 1993, by order of the President of the Russian Federation and Directive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation No. 314/3/0162 of February 2, 1993, the 104th Guards Airborne Division was redeployed from the city of Ganja to the city of Ulyanovsk.

In accordance with the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation, the division was located on the territory of the former 26th Directorate of Military Construction Units.

328th Guards Reconnaissance Regiment, 337th Guards Reconnaissance Regiment, 180th Medical Infantry Division and other units in the Zavolzhsky district of Ulyanovsk, Ulyanovsk region,
1180th Guards Regiment in the village of Polivno,
103rd Guards Regiment in the village of Mirny,
132nd Guards Infantry Division in the village of Tetyushskoye,
116th Airborne Aviation Unit to the Bely Klyuch airfield.

By directive of the Airborne Forces headquarters No. 568/3/012 of January 5, 1994, the 180th medb of the 104th Guards Airborne Division was reorganized into the 3998th Airborne Forces (a).

The 2002 appendix to the instructions of the Chief of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces No. 314/12/0710 approved the list of airborne units and formations that took part in hostilities in the zone of armed conflict in the Chechen Republic.
By December 1, 1995, by directive of the First Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation No. 314/2/0700 dated October 9, 1995, Airborne Forces Headquarters No. 568/3/0566, the 110th ORR of the 104th Guards Airborne Division was reorganized into the 166th Orb.

By Directive of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation of September 24, 1996 No. 314/2/0555 of the Airborne Forces, the 166th Orb of the 104th Guards Airborne Division was reorganized into the N-Org.

By directive of the 1st Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation No. 314/2/0800 of December 15, 1997, Airborne Forces Headquarters No. 568/3/0106 of February 12, 1998, by May 1, 1998, the 104th Guards Airborne Order of Kutuzov Division was reorganized into The 31st Separate Guards Airborne Order of Kutuzov Brigade (while the departments of the 328th Guards Parachute Regiment, the 337th Guards Parachute Order of Alexander Nevsky Regiment, and the 1180th Guards Artillery Regiment were disbanded).

But the battle banners of the units remained. The battalions in the brigade did not receive regalia.

To preserve the military traditions of the disbanded units and the memory of their military merits, awards and honorary titles were given:

the Order of Alexander Nevsky of the 337th Guards Division - in the 119th Guards Division of the 106th Guards Airborne Division (on paper this was done, but in reality the order remained in the 91st Division).

The brigade included:

control of the 31st Separate Guards Air Assault Order of Kutuzov Brigade (military unit 73612, Ulyanovsk):

54th separate air assault battalion (military unit 85954);

91st separate air assault battalion (military unit 85955);

116th separate parachute battalion (military unit 83788);

99th separate guards artillery division (military unit 85956, Polivno village, Ulyanovsk region);

anti-aircraft missile and artillery battery;

422nd courier-postal communication station (military unit 62327).

CAUCASIAN EPIC

Fragment from the book "The Winged Guard in the Nightmare of the Afghan War"

February 11, 1989 was not only the date of withdrawal of the 345th Civil Defense
PDP from Afghanistan to the Union, but also the starting point of a new and completed
a decisive period in the history of this famous airborne regiment. In this use
historical day 2nd battalion, regimental reconnaissance and 3rd howitzer battalion
tarya under the command of the deputy commander of the guard regiment under
Colonel Yu.M. Lapshina (Yuri Mikhailovich - author of the published
"Afghan Diary" published in 2004, covering the history of the regiment
at the final period of the Afghan war) were transferred to
BTA plane to the Azerbaijani city of Kirovabad, where, as indicated,
elk, the 104th Airborne Division was deployed. Thus, the 345th
The regiment was included in the Kirovabad Guards Airborne Forces
division, which at that time was commanded by Major General Sorokin.
The question arises: why was the 345th regiment immediately redeployed to
Azerbaijan, and not to Uzbekistan, to Fergana? More; Let us remind you once again that
The 105th Airborne Division was disbanded on the eve of the entry of the Soviet
troops to Afghanistan. Decision about e; reconstruction was accepted only in
1990, when the 345th regiment was already part of the 104th Airborne Forces and was enlisted
operated in Transcaucasia to carry out special government functions
tasks. After preparatory work, the 105th Airborne Division was again formed
incorporated in 1991, but did not last long. After the crash of Co-
of the Soviet Union, this Airborne Forces unit was “inherited” to
composition of the armed forces of sovereign Uzbekistan.
Since February 1989, the 345th GPDP (received a new military no-
military unit 93613) was located near the railway station of the city of Kirovoba-
yes (Ganja). But only the regiment personnel began combat support.
cooking, as already in the spring of 1989 he was involved in not
government assignments typical de jure for the Airborne Forces. On the edge
80–90s, in the last years of the existence of the USSR, Transcaucasia became
is the epicenter of the so-called “hot spots” in space are dying
cabbage soup, once a great Soviet power. Guardsmen of the 345th Regiment
had to participate in the process of stabilizing the situation in all
three Transcaucasian Soviet Union Republics - Azerbaijan,
Armenia and Georgia. In Azerbaijan itself, where he began to be stationed
345th Regiment, the situation was very tense. The Armenian-
Azerbaijani military conflict over Karabakh. It was restless
and on the Iran-Azerbaijan border, which was no longer held
only border guards, but also paratroopers, in particular, guardsmen of the 350th
regiment of the Vitebsk 103rd Airborne Division (not every reader is probably aware
line that at the indicated time units of the 103rd Airborne Division were transferred
under the jurisdiction of the KGB of the USSR, i.e. for about two years they were de jure considered...
border troops).
At the beginning of April 1989, units of the 104th Airborne Division were involved in
neutralization of an anti-government rally in Tbilisi. More; from 4
April in Tbilisi under the leadership of the leaders of the national movement
Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Irakli Tsereteli an open-ended rally broke out,
anti-Soviet in its nature. Two days later, the rally participants
began to proclaim slogans: “Down with Russian imperialism!”, “USSR-
prison of nations!”, “Down with Soviet power!” and so on. April 8 after
overthrow of the long march, the soldiers of the 345th regiment (440 people) entered
Georgian capital, taking up defensive positions near the House of Government
government At this time in Tbilisi, in addition to the paratroopers (345th GPDP,
328th GPDP, 21st separate airborne assault brigade), there were also other units: 4th motorized rifle-
regiment of the Dzerzhinsky division (650 people), Perm and Voronezh
Riot police (160 people), cadets of the Gorky Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR
(450 people)
By the evening of April 8, the atmosphere in the center of Tbilisi became tense
limit. At the building of the Council of Ministers of the GSSR, a large number of
crowd of thousands of demonstrators, barricades appeared on the avenue
Rustaveli. The tragic outcome occurred early in the morning of April 9, 1989
d. After unsuccessful exhortations from the command with a request to de-
the monstrants dispersed, the troops were given the order to begin displacing
participants of the rally to Republic Square. Paratroopers, armed,
like other military units, sapper blades and rubber
with sticks, they moved through the barricades towards the demonstrators. Pro-
there was a clash between the parties. Demonstrators used weapons against soldiers
whether edged weapons, chains, rods, bottles, stones. Soon in 15 minutes
the meeting was dispersed. During these tragic events, according to
According to official information, 17 demonstrators were crushed to death.
We are in a crowd, 268 people are injured. From the Soviet troops
172 people were wounded. Among them were paratroopers. TO
At the end of April, the situation in Tbilisi stabilized for a while, and
the troops returned to their place of permanent deployment. We returned to Kiro-
wobad and paratroopers of the 104th Airborne Division. This is how the tragedy of April 9 ended
1989, in which guardsmen 345-
th regiment. In sovereign Georgia in memory of those tragic events in
Tbilisi date April 9 is celebrated as the day of national unity,
civil harmony and memory of those who died for Georgia.
In 1990, the internal situation in Azerbaijan continued to
remain tense. Centrifugal political forces contribute to
led to an increase in destabilization in this republic. Paratroopers like
elite units have been repeatedly involved as a peacekeeping force
in Azerbaijan. At the very beginning of 1990, the personal
the composition of the 345th regiment began to carry out the order of the commander
Airborne Forces, demanding to carry out a multi-kilometre military demonstration
meter march through the territory of Azerbaijan and Armenia along the route:
Kirovobad–Kazakh–Aboyan–Nakhichevan–Alin–Shusha–Stepanakert–Mir
Bashir–Yevlakh–Kirovobad. The task was successfully completed
filled with paratroopers, all driver mechanics of the 345th GRDP were awarded
received government awards.
At the end of 1991 he stopped his; historical existence of Co-
Vetsky Union. Soviet republics of Transcaucasia (Armenia, Azerbaijan-
Jan, Georgia) overnight turned into sovereign states.
However, the acquisition of independence by these countries did not mean a decision
tion of long-standing internal ethnopolitical problems. "Hot spots" in
Transcaucasia continued to exist, military confrontation between
the peoples of this region for independence continued in the 90s.XX
century.
An example of this is the Georgian-Abkhaz armed conflict
1992–1993 By the will of Stalin in 1931, Abkhazia, which occupied the north
the western part of Transcaucasia, was reassigned to the Georgian
Soviet Socialist Republic in the status of an autonomous republic
public within Georgia. The national pride of the Abkhazians was
very affected. It is characteristic that in the second half of the 20th century. repeatedly
but (in 1957, 1967,1978) there were mass protests by Abkhaz-
of the population demanding the separation of Abkhazia from the Georgian
SSR. At the end of the era of perestroika, when the process of sovereignty of the Union
nious and some autonomous republics of the USSR began to quickly gain
pace, the Georgian-Abkhazian issue has sharply escalated. In March 1989
a gathering of thousands of Abkhaz people took place, demanding
Abkhazia's secession from Georgia. In the middle of summer 1989 in Abkhazia
in the capital of Sukhumi there was a violent clash between Abkhazians
and the Georgians, who turned into victims, shed blood. In 1992, after
After Georgia gained independence, the Abkhazians again began to fight
boo for your sovereignty. The Georgian-Abkhaz conflict from this moment
begins to take on the character of an armed confrontation. Beginning
there was a war. Russia volunteered to separate the warring parties.
this. Our country was interested in maintaining a peaceful situation
in Abkhazia for the reason that at that time in this part of Transcaucasia,
has long been a prestigious resort destination for Soviet
people, there were many citizens of the Russian Federation. Now they
there was danger and they had to be evacuated.
On August 17, 1992, the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation made a
phenomenon: “In connection with the current situation in Abkhazia and the creation
a real threat to Russian citizens who were there on vacation,
among which as a result of the clashes taking place in Sukhumi
there were casualties (2 killed and wounded), the Russian government, by agreement,
communication with the leadership of Georgia took urgent measures... To ensure
security and evacuation of Russian citizens, as well as to strengthen
protection of Russian troops stationed in this area
A parachute regiment has been sent to Abkhazia..."
More; On August 16, the 345th Civil Defense Division was alerted and promptly
transferred to the airfield of the Black Sea resort of Gudauta. While
The regiment was commanded by Guard Colonel Evgeny Dmitrievich D;min.
At the same time, the 901st OPDB under the command of the Guards landed in Sukhumi.
diy of Lieutenant Colonel V. Krasovsky. The entire Airborne Forces group in Abkhazia
was led by the Operational Group headed by Major General A. Sigut-
kin.
The appearance of paratroopers in troubled Abkhazia allowed the growth
for Siyan resort-goers to return safely to their homeland; by the end of August
in 1992, more than 4 thousand people left this “hot spot”. Gvar-
the paratroopers were to remain in Abkhazia until 1998.
fulfilling the role of peacemakers, i.e. to be a force dividing warring
sides. The 345th Airborne Regiment took under guard the airfield in Gudauta, seis-
mic laboratory in the village. Lower Escher, as well as a number of other military
ny objects. Peacekeeping paratroopers legitimately earned respect for
attitude on the part of the local population, who perceived our
warriors as their protectors. Unfortunately, among the personnel
The 345th Regiment also had casualties.
Late in the evening of March 27, 1993, to the seismic station in the village.
The militants rained down artillery and mine fire on Nizhniye Esher.
At that moment, the station was guarded by paratroopers of the 7th Parachute
companies. As a result of the shelling, the communication line was damaged, which means
Communication with the Airborne Forces Operational Group in Gudauta was lost. Position
Guard Senior Sergeant Vitaly saved him with his heroic action
Wolf (born July 14, 1972 in the village of Malinovsky, Zavyalovsky district
Altai region. He graduated from high school in Yarovoye. Called up for
military service in the fall of 1990. After six months of service in the 44th
airborne training division in Gaizhunai was sent to the 345th GPDP in Ki-
rovobad. Since August 1992, as commander of the communications department 3-
The regiment's th battalion served in Abkhazia. Since the end of 1992 he continued
service as a super-enlisted sergeant). Under mine fire
The paratrooper rushed to repair communication lines. Being already hard
wounded by shrapnel in the head, he managed to restore contact with the 7th company
Gudauta. The helicopter arrived; you suppressed the fire support
high enemy positions. The hero sergeant died without regaining consciousness.
By decree of the President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin dated July 26, 1993, for courage-
in and heroism shown in the performance of military duty, guard
senior sergeant of long-term service Wolf Vitaly Alexander-
Rovich was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation. IN
in the same year, Vitaly Wolf Street appeared in Yarovoye.
After the end of the next phase of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict,
in the fall of 1993, the 345th (at that time essentially a separate) military regiment
sh;l to the 7th Guards Airborne Division, which in
Soviet era was stationed in Lithuania (Kaunas), and then was
brought to Russian territory. The regiment continued to remain
Abkhazian land until the end of the 90s. XX century, still fulfilling the peace
creative mission in this region of Transcaucasia.
In May 1994, Georgia and Abkhazia finally signed
a ceasefire agreement was signed. Consequently, there was a non-
the need to create official collective forces to support
desire for peace, law and order in the region. And such a decision was
adopted by the Government of the Russian Federation in June 1994. A logical consequence
This decision was the formation of the so-called. 50th military base, which
The 345th regiment entered.

As a peacekeeping military unit, the 345th Regiment remained in
Abkhazia until the spring of 1998. It was then that events occurred that
determined the end of the glorious history of this regiment. At the specified
time begins the next disbandment of the Russian army,
accompanied by the reform of some military units, in
including elite ones with rich combat experience.
Unfortunately, the victim of these not entirely thought-out army
The 345th Russian Airborne Regiment also underwent reforms. according to the order of the minister
Defense of the Russian Federation April 30, 1998, the famous winged guard regiment
was disbanded. On its basis, the so-called 10th separate
parachute regiment of the Russian peacekeeping forces. Battle Banner
the no longer existing 345th Civil Defense Division was transferred by order to the Central
minesweeper museum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
The reader will definitely have a question: why is this significant
Was this regiment disbanded? It's really difficult to answer.
But. This problem can also be the subject of a separate historical
sky research. Indeed: which of the military and politicians
first put forward the idea of ​​​​disbanding the 345th Civil Defense Division and what
did the forces lobby the military department for this project? Was this
the idea is due to bureaucratic stupidity or conscious betrayal
the leadership of our airborne forces? Someday we will get the answer.
The 10th OPDP did not last long. In 1999, during the
secret of the commander of the Russian Airborne Forces, Colonel General Georgy Shpak Mini-
The Ministry of Defense and the General Staff authorized the return of combat
banner of the 345th regiment to its successor. Presentation of this combat
The banner of the 10th RDP took place in July 1999. But very soon
the 10th Regiment itself ceased to exist.
Due to the termination of the peacekeeping force's mandate
Russian government in the zone of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict
ordered the withdrawal of the 10th regiment to Russian territory, where it was
disbanded The battle banner of the 345th Airborne Regiment now rests in
Central Museum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. And will be
it will be kept in this military sanctuary forever, reminding posterity
about the glorious history of the 345th regiment of our winged guard, which
by the will of the lords of metahistory it was destined for more than 9 years to find
to live in the nightmare of the Afghan war, honorably preserving and strengthening
the best traditions of the Soviet landing and the spirit of the military guards brother-
stva.