Russian 201st Military Base
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (November 2015) |
201st Rifle Division (I Formation) 1941–1942 (converted to 43rd Guards Rifle Division) 201st Rifle Division (II Formation) 1943 – c. 1945 325th Rifle Brigade c. 1945 – 1948 27th Mountain Rifle Division 1948–1957 124th Motor Rifle Division 1957–1965 201st Motor Rifle Division 1965–2004 201st Military Base (2004–present) | |
---|---|
201-я российская военная база | |
Active | 1941–present |
Country | Soviet Union (until 1991) Russia |
Branch | Soviet Army (until 1991) Russian Ground Forces |
Type | Military base |
Role | Security |
Part of | Central Military District |
Garrison/HQ | Tajikistan, Dushanbe |
Engagements | Battle of Moscow Siege of Leningrad Operation Bagration Soviet–Afghan War |
Decorations |
The Russian 201st Military Base (Tajik: Пойгоҳи низомии 201-и Русия; Russian: 201-я российская военная база) is a Russian military base based in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, part of the Central Military District. It was originally raised twice in World War II as part of the Soviet Union's Red Army and is now part of the Russian Ground Forces.
The Great Patriotic War
201st Rifle Division (first formation)
The division was formed as Red Army national unit on 3 August 1941 in
At this time the composition of the division included the 92nd, 122nd and 191st Rifle Regiments, 220th Artillery Regiment, 10th Independent AAA Battery, 170th Independent Signals Battalion, and other support units. By December 1941 the division had 10,348 personnel, of whom 51% were ethnic Latvians, 26% ethnic Russians, 17% Jews and 6% others. This caused some problems since most Jews spoke
The first combat the division experienced was during the counter-offensive at Moscow in the areas of
The division joined in combat for
The division also included other Latvian citizens who were behind the Soviet front line and a large number of Russia's Latvians. Beginning strength was about 2,100 men. In September 1941 the division had about 10,000 men. The division contained the 92nd, 122nd and 191st Rifle Regiments and 220th Artillery Regiment. On 5 October 1942 it became the 43rd Latvian Guard Riflemen Division. Regiments assigned to this division were the 121st, 123rd, and 125th Guard Rifle Regiments and the 94th Guard Artillery Regiment, the 270th Artillery Battalion which was renamed to the 55th Guard Artillery Battalion, the 48th Guard Antitank Artillery Battalion, the 100th Antiaircraft Battery which was renamed to the 44th Guard Antiaircraft Battery, the 53rd Sapper Battalion which was renamed to the 47th Guard Sapper Battalion. The division was commanded by Guard Major General Jānis Veikins, Regiment Commander L. Paegle, Regiment Commander A. Frolovs, Guard Major General Detlavs Brantkalns and Alfrēds Kalniņš.[3]
201st Rifle Division (2nd formation)
Border detachments of the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (the NKVD) had been resisting the Finnish advance from June 22, 1941. On September 21, 1941, the combined detachment of Border Guards, including the 3rd Border Guard Detachment, became a separate rifle brigade of the
The 201st Rifle Division was formed in accordance with the directive of the commander of the Leningrad Front, General of the Army L.A. Govorov No. 1/15885 of May 25, 1943. The formation of the division took place north of Leningrad in the village of
It served in the Leningrad and Baltic coast areas. Aside from the usual components of the rifle division in 1943, the division also had a separate battalion equipped with snow skis, and each regiment had a snow ski equipped company to serve as advance detachments. In September the division was transferred to the 3rd Army. The initial composition of the division included:
- 92nd Rifle Regiment (former 3rd, 5th, 33rd and 102nd Border Guard detachments from the Karelian peninsula Border Guard Brigade)
- 122nd Rifle Regiment (former 13th Leningrad Internal Security Brigade)
- 191st Rifle Regiment (was created from detachments of a naval infantry brigade of the Baltic Fleet)
- 220th Artillery Regiment
- 256th Separate Communications Battalion
- 119th Separate Reconnaissance Company
- 122nd Separate Reconnaissance Company(ski)
- 198th Separate Anti-Tank Division
- 51st Separate Sapper Battalion
- 53rd Separate Sapper Battalion
- 49th Separate Medical-Sanitary Battalion
- 20th Separate Auto-Delivery Company
- 136th Separate Chemical Company
The division's first commander was Colonel Vyacheslav Petrovich Yakutovich.
In January 1944 the division was assigned to the 122nd Rifle Corps. The division received the title Gatchina for its role in breaking the siege of Leningrad and received its first Order of the Red Banner during the war. Following the relief of the siege the division incorporated several partisan detachments and groups which were used to strengthen the reconnaissance and ski equipped units. In February the division was transferred to the 117th Rifle Corps, and soon after was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for the capturing of Luga.
In June 1944 the division was serving with the
Cold War and post-independence
Post-war
Following post-war reductions, the division was reflagged as the 325th Rifle Brigade, but in 1948 was again reflagged as the 27th Mountain Rifle Division. It remained within 119th Rifle Corps through the corps' redesignation as 33rd Rifle Corps in 1955 and then 33rd Army Corps in 1957. As a mountain division, it included receiving pack mountain 75 mm guns for its artillery regiment that were of the 1905 model with their manufacturer's plate stating they were manufactured in St. Petersburg. In 1958, following post-Stalinist reforms, the division was reduced to the 451st Mountain Rifle Regiment, but in the next year it was reformed albeit as the 124th Motor Rifle Division (cadre, about fifteen per cent strong),[4] including the 401st Tank Regiment. It reverted to the 201st Gatchina Motor Rifle Division in 1965. From 1960 the division's artillery regiment was the 998th Artillery Regiment Starokonstantinovsky, which later became a self-propelled regiment. In the 1960s the division also received the 1098th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment.
The first
In 1968 the
Afghanistan
As part of the Central Asian Military District, the division participated in the invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979, when it entered Afghanistan with the 40th Army.
In the 191st Motor Rifle Regiment of the "framed" (reduced-strength) division at the beginning of December 1979, there were 12 (twelve) people (the regiment was held at a state “G” strength).[8] In connection with the deployment of the regiment to Afghanistan, in January 1980, the regiment's personnel were quickly increased to 2,200 people.
It was stationed in
During its service in Afghanistan the division largely coordinated its operations with the Afghan Army's 18th (Mazar-i-Sharif) and 20th (Baglan) Infantry Divisions, as well as the 10th and 31st Infantry Regiments.
In 1985, the division received a second Order of the Red Banner. The division used BMP-1 and BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, BTR-60 and BTR-70 armoured personnel carriers, T-62 tanks and Gvozdika 122mm self-propelled guns. The last Soviet vehicle to leave Afghanistan on 15 February 1989 was a BTR-60 from the 201st.[citation needed] The BTR-60 is still kept to the present day as a memorial.
Following its withdrawal, the 191st MRR was returned to the division, while it retained the 149th Guards MRR.
The Tajik Civil War
At the time the
The 201st Motor Rifle Division, with the support of loyal Tajik forces, attacked
In 1996 the division's sapper battalion participated in border region mine clearance operations with Tajikistan forces.
In 2001 the division was deployed to the Afghanistan border in expectation of the US attack on Afghanistan, and possible attempts by the Taliban to cross the border into Tajikistan.
From 2003 onwards
On 13 August 2003 the 201st Motor Rifle Division participated in a joint exercise with the Tajik military 10 km southwest of Dushanbe at the Lyaur testing ground.
At one point during the civil war in Tajikistan, soldiers of the 201st Motor Rifle Division safely escorted staff of the US Embassy in Dushanbe to the airport for evacuation. This marks the only time in history that Americans have officially asked for and been given protection by the Russian military.
In October 2004, it was renamed the 201st Military Base.[4] In October 2012, it was signed an agreement extending the term of deployment of the Russian military base in Tajikistan until 2042.[10] Within the planned rearmament, about 100 units of new equipment, mostly the BTR-82A armored personnel carriers, as well as more than 10 T-72B1 tanks, have been delivered to the 201st Military Base in 2016, as well as a Borisoglebsk-2 EW system and a Garmony air defence radar plus Silok anti-drone EW complexes delivered in 2018.[11][12][13][14][15] A battalion of unmanned aviation armed with Orlan-10 drones was formed in 2019.[16][17] A first-ever divisional set of the air defense system S-300PS has entered combat duty at the Russian 201st military base in Tajikistan, the Central Military District’s press-service told TASS on Saturday, 26 October 2019.[18] 14 vehicles, including 8 modernized BMP-2Ms IFVs, were delivered in March 2020 and two Mi-8MTV5-1 combat transport helicopters in September 2020.[19][20] 20 Verba MANPADS were delivered in June 2021 and 17 BMP-2Ms in the next August.[21][22] The base furthermore received the Kalashnikov AK-12 assault rifles and Yarygin handguns to replace Makarov pistols, ASVK-M large-caliber army sniper rifles, long-range flamethrowers and a batch of Kornet anti-tank missiles as of August 2021.[23][24] NSV Utes heavy machine guns entered service with the base in September 2021 and Aistenok reconnaissance and fire control systems in November.[25][26] 30 modernized T-72B3M tanks entered service in December 2021[27] and 12 communications vehicles in early 2022.[28]
On September 14, 2022,
Subordinated units and fighting strength
201st Motor Rifle Division (base)[30]
- 92nd Motor Rifle Regiment – Giprozemgorodok Garrison, Dushanbe
- 149th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment – Kulyab Garrison
- 191st Motor Rifle Regiment – Kurgan-Tyube Garrison
- 998th Artillery Regiment (withdrawn from Tajikistan 2006)
- 1098th Air Defence Regiment (withdrawn from Tajikistan 2006)
- Separate Tank Battalion (withdrawn from Tajikistan 2006)
- 783rd Separate Reconnaissance Battalion
- 340th Separate Repair and Restoration Battalion
- 636th Separate Service Support Battalion
- 252nd Separate Communications Battalion
- 212th Separate Communications Battalion (territorial)
- 303rd Separate Helicopter Squadron using four Mi-24 and four Mi-8 helicopters
- 670th Air Group (squadron) equipped with five SU-25aircraft, subordinated to the 201st Military Base Command to which also belongs the 201st Division.
Total strength[31]
- 6,000–7,000 men
- 96 T-72B3)
- 300 BTR-82A)
- 54 artillery pieces
- 1,100 other vehicles
- Orlan-10 UAV
- 8 helicopters
- 5 ground attack aircraft
References
- ^ Арон Шнеер. Плен. Глава 6. Латышская (Латвийская) дивизия
- ^ Latvia SIG. Archived 18 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ JULY 1941 TO MAY 8, 1945. Archived 14 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c Holm.
- ^ "70 лет вместе: 201-я РВБ празднует юбилей | Новости Таджикистана ASIA-Plus".
- ^ Shermatov, Gafur (18 October 2016). "'We were greeted as relatives.' From the Red Army to the military base". Tajikistan News (in Russian). Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ "От Красной армии до российской военной базы в Таджикистане".
- ^ "Сайт 191-го отдельного мотострелкового полка". Archived from the original on 29 November 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
- ^ "Боевой путь 191 Отдельного мотострелкового полка.Афганистан". polk191.narod.ru. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
- ^ "Russian military conduct antiterrorist drills in Tajikistan".
- ^ "Some 100 military units delivered to Russian military base in Tajikistan".
- ^ "Borisoglebsk-2 EW system delivered to a Russian military base in Tajikistan | June 2018 Global Defense Security army news industry | Defense Security global news industry army 2018 | Archive News year".
- ^ "ЦАМТО / Новости / Пять радиолокационных станций "Гармонь" поступили на вооружение Центрального военного округа".
- ^ "ЦАМТО / Новости / На российскую военную базу в Таджикистане поступили новейшие комплексы РЭБ "Силок" для противодействия БЛА".
- ^ "Russia sets up anti-drone mobile groups at its airfields in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan".
- ^ "ЦАМТО / Новости / Батальон беспилотной авиации сформирован на 201-й российской военной базе в Таджикистане".
- ^ "UAV battalion formed at 201st Russian military base in Tajikistan".
- ^ "S-300PS air defense systems enter duty at Russian military base in Tajikistan".
- ^ "ЦАМТО / Новости / Модернизированные БМП-2М поступили на вооружение российской военной базы в Таджикистане".
- ^ "New Mi-8MTV5-1 Gunships Join Russian Military in Tajikistan".
- ^ "Russian air defense crews in Tajikistan get cutting-edge MANPADS portable systems".
- ^ "Upgraded combat vehicles arrive for Russia's military base in Tajikistan".
- ^ "Sophisticated weapons arrive for Russia's military base in Tajikistan".
- ^ "Russia's military base in Tajikistan receives latest Kornet anti-tank missile systems".
- ^ "ЦАМТО / / Крупнокалиберные пулеметы НСВ "Утес" поступили на вооружение российской военной базы в Таджикистане".
- ^ "ЦАМТО / / Около ста единиц ВВСТ получили войска ЦВО в ноябре".
- ^ "ЦАМТО / / Батальон танков Т-72Б3М усилил боевой потенциал российской военной базы в Таджикистане".
- ^ "ЦАМТО / / Партия современных комплексов связи поступила на российскую военную базу в Таджикистане".
- ^ "'Up To 1,500' Russian Troops Redeployed To Ukraine From Tajik Base, Investigation Reveals". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
- ^ http://www.waronline.org/write/world-military/russian-military-abroad/tadjikistan/ Formations and units of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation in Tajikistan (in Russian)
- ^ Russian motorized rifles in Tajikistan destroyed the defensive points of a mock enemy Russian MOD 27-01-2023
- Orr, M.J. The Russian Garrison in Tajikistan- 201st Gatchina Twice Red Banner Motor Rifle Division. The Conflict Studies Research Centre. Camberly Surrey, England 2001.
- Cooper, Tom. Tajikistan 1992–1997 www.acig.org, September, 2003.
- Holm, Michael. "201st Gatchinskaya twice Red Banner Motorised Rifle Division". Soviet Armed Forces 1945-1991. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
- Pravda Online
- http://samsv.narod.ru/Div/Sd/sd201/default.html
- Атаев Р.С. Подумаем над этим (О термине "таджикско-афганская граница"), "Солдат России" газета 201-й МСД, №65 от 1 октября 1994 г., Душанбе.
External links
- History of the division (in Russian)
- BBC Russian Service: Российские ветераны войны в Таджикистане – без статуса
- Youtube: Таджикистан получил российское оружие для укрепления границы с Афганистаном