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76th Guards Chernigov Airborne Division
Russian 76th Airborne Division patch
76th Airborne Division shoulder sleeve insignia.
Active September 1, 1939[1] - present
Country Soviet Union Soviet Union
Russia Russia
Branch Flag of the Russian Airborne Troops Airborne Troops
Type Paratroopers
Role Parachute Infantry
Size 6,000-8,000
Garrison/HQ Pskov
Engagements World War II
Soviet-Afghan War
First Chechen War
Second Chechen War
2008 South Ossetia war

The 76th Guards Air Assault Division (Russian: 76-я гвардейская десантно-штурмовая Черниговская Краснознаменная дивизия) is a division of the Russian Airborne Troops based in Pskov.

History[]

The 76th Air Assault Division was originally established in 1939 as the 157th Rifle Division. On 1 March 1943 it became the 76th Guards Rifle Division. The Division fought in Chernigov, Odessa, Brest and Danzig with the 70th Army of the 2nd Belorussian Front in May 1945. Soon after the war it became the 76th Airborne Division, by 1946 as part of the 15th Airborne Corps.

The 76th Division originally had three regiments: the 104th, 234th, and 237th, with the 237th Guards Airborne Regiment disbanded circa 2002.

After an experimental period, the 104th Parachute Regiment of the 76th Airborne Division became the first Russian ground forces regiment that was fully composed of professional soldiers (and not of "srochniki" - the conscripted soldiers aged eighteen).

Elements of the 104th Regiment were ambushed in Chechnya in March 2000.[2]

In 2006, the 76th Airborne Division became an Air Assault Division.

In 2008 the 76th Air Assault Division was involved in the 2008 South Ossetia war, being deployed to South Ossetia and fought in the Battle of Tskhinvali.

Subordinated units and fighting strength[]

As of 2009, the 76th Air Assault Division consisted of the following units:

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This article does not contain any citations or references. Please improve this article by adding a reference. For information about how to add references, see Template:Citation.


  • 76th Guards Air Assault Division in Pskov
    • 23rd Guards Airborne Regiment in Pskov (newly formed regiment)
    • 104th Guards Airborne Regiment in Cherekha
    • 234th Guards Airborne Regiment in Pskov
    • 1140th Guards Artillery Regiment in Pskov
    • 4th Air Defence Regiment in Pskov
    • 656th Engineer Battalion in Pskov
    • 728th Signal Battalion in Pskov
    • 7th Maintenance Battalion in Pskov
    • 242nd Military Transport Aviation Squadron in Pskov
    • 3996th Airmobile Hospital

References[]

  1. 1 сентября свою 69 годовщину отметит 76-я десантно-штурмовая дивизия (On September 1, the 76th Air Assault Division will celebrate its 69th anniversary), verified August 2008
  2. Federation of American Scientists, 76th Airborne Division (Pskov), verified August 2008

External links and further reading[]

  • 76th Airborne Division (official site)
  • Thornton, Rod (2004) "Military Organizations and Change: The 'Professionalization' of the 76th Airborne Division", The Journal of Slavic Military Studies, 17:3,449 — 474



All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at 76th Guards Air Assault Division and the edit history here.
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