The 200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade is a military formation of the 14th Army Corps, part of the Northern Military District, based at Pechenga in Murmansk Oblast. The brigade was formed from the 131st Motor Rifle Division in 1997 and was one of the two Russian Arctic warfare brigades. In 2014, brigade units participated in the

War in Donbas War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

. In 2022, brigade units participated in the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

. Interrogations of Russian

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

established that the brigade was in Ukraine and suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Kharkiv.

History

Formation

The 200th Brigade was formed from the former 131st Motor Rifle Division in 1997. It inherited the honorifics "Pechenga Order of Kutuzov" from the division. Transition to professional contract status was planned to finish at the end of 2006. At the beginning of April 2006, the brigade had about 700 professional personnel, practically all sergeant positions having been filled by kontraktniks (russian: контрактник contracted professional soldiers). More than 180 military men and women have signed contracts for service in communications, medical, and rear services subunits. The brigade had about 10 professional soldiers from other

Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. ...

members. At the beginning of 2006, during a trip to the

Leningrad Military District The Leningrad Military District was a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2010 it was merged with the Moscow Military District, the Northern Fleet and the Baltic Fleet to form the new Western Military District. Hi ...

, the 200th Brigade was visited by the

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from coun ...

Sergei Ivanov Sergei Borisovich Ivanov ( rus, Сергей Борисович Иванов, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej bɐˈrʲisəvʲɪtɕ ɪvɐˈnof; born 31 January 1953) is a Russian senior official and politician who has served as the Special Representative of ...

. The brigade has association links with the Norwegian

6th Division (Norway) The 6th Division ( no, 6. divisjon) is a former Norwegian military formation. History The pinnacle of this division's service was during World War II, during the German invasion of Norway. It was commanded by General Carl Gustav Fleischer,Lund ...

and the Swedish Norrbottens Regiment. It formed part of the 6th Army in the

Western Military District The Western Military District (russian: Западный военный округ, Zapadnyy voyennyy okrug) is a Military districts of Russia, military district of Russia. It is one of the five military districts of the Russian Armed Forces, ...

. As of November 2011 it became the first of two new Arctic brigades of the Russian Ground Forces. The unit had some disciplinary problems in 2011.Another Trouble Brigade
2011-11-17, In November 2012 it became part of the Coastal Troops of the

Northern Fleet Severnyy flot , image = Great emblem of the Northern Fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Northern Fleet's great emblem , start_date = June 1, 1733; Sov ...

War in Donbas

In 2014, the brigade was involved in the

. Elements of the brigade participated in the battle of

Luhansk Airport Luhansk International Airport ( uk, Міжнародний аеропорт "Луганськ") was an airport in Luhansk, Ukraine . The airport was located 20 km (12 miles) south of the city center, 9 km to the city limit. Since 11 Jun ...

and were spotted in the Khryashchevatoe village, a Luhansk suburb. In October 2014, Senior Lieutenant Yevgeny Trundayev, commander of the anti-tank platoon of the 1st Motorized Infantry Battalion, was killed in the clashes for 32nd checkpoint, a battle in

Luhansk Luhansk (, ; uk, Луганськ, ), also known as Lugansk (, ; russian: Луганск, ), is a city in what is internationally recognised as Ukraine, although it is administered by Russia as capital of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR). A ...

region. He was later awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation. The brigade has formed part of the 14th Army Corps since the corps' formation in April 2017. In late January 2022, the brigade deployed from Pechenga, via trains over a few days, to the training area in

Postoyalye Dvory Postoyalye Dvory (russian: links=no, Постоялые Дворы) is a rural locality () in Vinnikovsky Selsoviet Rural Settlement, Kursky District, Kursk Oblast, Russia. Population: Geography The village is located 110 km from the Russia� ...

, east of

Kursk Kursk ( rus, Курск, p=ˈkursk) is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym rivers. The area around Kursk was the site of a turning point in the Soviet–German stru ...

, to participate in what the

Russian Ministry of Defence The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (russian: Министерство обороны Российской Федерации, Минобороны России, informally abbreviated as МО, МО РФ or Minoboron) is the govern ...

described as combat drills. By February 19th, the brigade moved to

Belgorod Belgorod ( rus, Белгород, p=ˈbʲeɫɡərət) is a city and the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River north of the border with Ukraine. Population: Demographics The population of B ...

and remained there until the eve of the invasion.

Russian invasion of Ukraine

On 24 February, the brigade entered operations as part of the

invasion of Ukraine The territory of present-day Ukraine has been Invasion, invaded or Military occupation, occupied a number of times throughout History of Ukraine, its history. List See also *List of invasions *List of wars involving Ukraine References

...

, operating in the area near

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.MT-LB's accompanied by a

T-80 The T-80 is a main battle tank (MBT) that was designed and manufactured in the former Soviet Union and manufactured in Russia. The T-80 is based on the T-64, while incorporating features from the later T-72. The chief designer of the T-80 was So ...

tank and

anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

gun. They were later destroyed by a unit of the Ukrainian 93rd Mechanized Brigade. A column of

BM-21 The BM-21 "Grad" (russian: БМ-21 "Град", lit= hail) is a self-propelled 122 mm multiple rocket launcher designed in the Soviet Union. The system and the M-21OF rocket were first developed in the early 1960s, and saw their first comba ...

rocket artillery vehicles were also destroyed outside the city. Pro-Ukrainian sources reported that the commander of the brigade's 382nd Separate Rocket Artillery Battalion, LtCol Dinar Khametov, was killed during the battle. The brigade's artillery group continued to take further losses. By early-March, the brigade had suffered large losses and their commander, Col Denis Kurilo, was severely wounded and left the brigade. Members of the unit were seen operating in

Derhachi Derhachi (, ; ) is a city in Kharkiv Raion, Kharkiv Oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. The city is located northwest of the oblast capital, Kharkiv. The settlement was founded in the second half of the 17th century as a sloboda. It hosts the a ...

. It is likely two battalion tactical groups and its rocket artillery battalion were rather rendered combat ineffective during this time period. Deployed troops of the brigade suffered heavy casualties near Kharkiv with more than 30 units of equipment destroyed or captured. The

Governor of Murmansk Oblast The Governor of Murmansk Oblast (russian: Губернатор Мурманской области) is the head of the executive branch of government in Murmansk Oblast, in northwestern Russia. The position of governor under the current Charter of ...

regularly announced the deaths of prominent members of the brigade including Maj. Leonid Belyakov. To replace the losses the brigade suffered, a battalion tactical group consisting of

reservist A reservist is a person who is a member of a military reserve force. They are otherwise civilians, and in peacetime have careers outside the military. Reservists usually go for training on an annual basis to refresh their skills. This person is ...

, coastal troops, and

sailors A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

, reportedly with little combat training, was sent to Ukraine in July. It is estimated that by late May 2022, the brigade suffered heavy casualties and had fewer than 900 soldiers compared with more than 1,400 at the beginning of the invasion. According to one source, as of December 2022, the brigade is visually confirmed to have lost 40% of its vehicles.

Kharkiv counteroffensive

By September 2022, Ukraine launched its

counteroffensive In the study of military tactics, a counter-offensive is a large-scale strategic offensive military operation, usually by forces that had successfully halted the enemy's offensive, while occupying defensive positions. The counter-offensive i ...

in Kharkiv bringing the rest of the oblast under Ukrainian control. Following the

Battle of Kupiansk The Battle of Kupiansk was the third battle of the Ukrainian Kharkiv counteroffensive that began on September 8, 2022 and ended on September 16, 2022. A ''Financial Times'' article on 28 September depicted the battle as "The 90km journey that cha ...

, units from the brigade attempted to recapture the settlement, however, they were encircled by units of Ukraine's 92nd Mechanized Brigade and forced to retreat reportedly resulting in 30 killed and 10 wounded, including a company commander.

Current structure

The 200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade consists of a brigade headquarters, three motor rifle battalions, one tank battalion, a brigade artillery group (coordinating two separate self-propelled howitzer battalions and one separate rocket artillery battalion), an anti-aircraft missile battalion, an anti-aircraft missile-artillery battalion, an anti-tank artillery battalion, a reconnaissance battalion, and several directly subordinated

combat support In the United States Army, the term combat support refers to units that provide fire support and operational assistance to combat elements. Combat support units provide specialized support functions to combat units in the following areas * Chemi ...

and combat service support battalions and companies. *Brigade Headquarters **274th Separate Guards Engineer Battalion **293rd Electronic Warfare Company **185th Postal Service Station **Separate Reconnaissance Battalion **Separate Communications Battalion **NBC Defense Company **Medical Company **Commandant Company **Separate Material Support Battalion **Maintenance Battalion **Sniper Company **UAV Company *583rd Separate Guards Motor Rifle Battalion (MT-LB) *658th Separate Motor Rifle Battalion (MT-LB) *664th Separate Motor Rifle Battalion (MT-LB) *60th Separate Guards Tank Battalion (T-80BVM) *Brigade Artillery Group (BrAG) **Control and Reconnaissance Battery (for brigade Chief of Artillery) **416th Separate Guards Howitzer Self-Propelled Artillery Division (152mm) **471st Separate Guards Howitzer Self-Propelled Artillery Division (152mm) **382nd Separate Rocket Artillery Battalion (BM-21) *871st Separate Anti-Tank Artillery Battalion *226th Separate Anti-Aircraft Missile Battalion *246th Separate Anti-Aircraft Missile-Artillery Battalion

Equipment

The 200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade has the following equipment: * 41 ×

BVM Main Battle Tanks * 36 × 2S19 Msta self-propelled howitzers * 18 ×

BM-21 Grad The BM-21 "Grad" (russian: БМ-21 "Град", lit= hail) is a self-propelled 122 mm multiple rocket launcher designed in the Soviet Union. The system and the M-21OF rocket were first developed in the early 1960s, and saw their first com ...

Multiple Rocket Launchers *

MT-LB The MT-LB (russian: Многоцелевой Тягач Легкий Бронированный, translit=Mnogotselevoy tyagach legky bronirovanny, literally "multi-purpose towing vehicle light armored") is a Soviet multi-purpose, fully amphibi ...

based 9P149 tank destroyers with 9K114 Shturm Anti-tank missile * SA-13 Gopher *

Rapira : ''Rapira is also a name for the Soviet 100 mm anti-tank gun T-12 Rapira (russian: Рапира, rapier) is an educational procedural programming language developed in the Soviet Union and implemented on the Agat computer, PDP-11 clones (Electr ...

100-MM AT gun *

SA-8 The 9K33 ''Osa'' (, literally "wasp"; NATO reporting name SA-8 ''Gecko'') is a highly mobile, low-altitude, short-range tactical surface-to-air missile system developed in the Soviet Union in the 1960s and fielded in 1972. Its export version ...

Gecko * Barnaul-T air defence system *

SA-19 The 2K22 Tunguska (russian: 2К22 "Тунгуска") is a Soviet and now Russian Caterpillar track, tracked self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon armed with a Surface-to-air missile, surface-to-air gun and missile system. It is designed to provide ...

Grison

Commanders

* Colonel Vitaly Leonidovich Razgonov (September 2009April 2011) * Colonel Denis Kurilo (2022)

References

{{Brigades of the Russian Ground Forces Mechanised infantry brigades of Russia Military units and formations established in 1997 Military units and formations of Russia in the war in Donbas Murmansk Oblast