56th Guards Air Assault Regiment

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56th Guards Air Assault Regiment (Dec 2021 – present) 56th Guards Air Assault Brigade (Oct 1979 – Dec 2021) 351st Guards Airborne Regiment (Jan 1949 – Oct 1979) 351st Guards Air Landing Regiment (Jun 1946 – Jan 1949) 351st Guards Rifle Regiment (Dec 1944 – Jun 1946) 7th Guards Airborne Brigade (1943 – Dec 1944)
Russian: 56-й гвардейский десантно-штурмовой полк
Active	1943–present
Country	Soviet Union (1943–1991)  Russia
Branch	Airborne Troops
Type	Airborne forces
Size	Brigade
Garrison/HQ	Feodosia, Crimea, Ukraine
Engagements	World War II Battle of the Dnieper Vienna Offensive Soviet–Afghan War First Chechen War Second Chechen War Russo-Ukrainian War
Decorations	Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class
Battle honours	Don Cossack
Commanders
Notable commanders	Vitaly Raevsky

The 56th Guards Air Assault Regiment is an airborne regiment of the Russian Airborne Troops (VDV). Based at Feodosia in Crimea, the regiment is part of the 7th Guards Mountain Air Assault Division.^[1] It was formed in 2021 from the 56th Guards Airborne Brigade, based at Kamyshin.^[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 351st Guards Airborne Regiment. 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 Rabat-Mirza-Kushka Pass 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]}

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 General Colonel 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 mid-2021 it relocated from Kamyshin in Volgograd Oblast, Russia to Feodosia in Crimea. These circumstances explain a lot of the poor facilities, chaos, and undermanning described in Pavel Filatyev's memoir text.^[10] 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.^[11]

According to Pavel Filatyev's memoir, the reformed regiment attacked from Crimea to Kherson as part of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and took part in combat in southern Ukraine. In September 2023 the regiment was deployed at the Southern theatre around the village of Verbove.

Component units 2021

• Airborne battalion
• 2nd Air assault battalion
• 3rd Air assault battalion
• Tank battalion
• Reconnaissance 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

^[12]

Commanders

• Alexander Petrovich Plokhikh (1980–1981)
• Mikhail Karpushkin (1981–1982)
• Viktor Arsentevich Sukhin (1982–1983)
• Viktor Matveevich Chizhikov (1983–1985)
• Vitaly Raevsky (1985–1987)
• Valery Evnevich (1987–1990)
• Alexander Sotnik (1990–1995)
• Sergei Mishanin (1995–1996)
• Rustam Aliev Stepanenko (1996–1997)
• Pavel Kirsi (2002–2007)
• Igor Timofeyev (2007–2012)
• Alexander Vitalievich Lebedev (2012–2014)
• Alexander Valitov (August 2014–March 2018)
• Colonel Yevgeny Nikolayevich Tonkikh (March 2018–March 2020)
• Colonel Andrey Vladimirovich Kondrashkin (March 2020–2022)

References