The 217th Guards Airborne Regiment is an airborne regiment of the

Russian Airborne Troops The Russian Airborne Forces (russian: Воздушно-десантные войска России, ВДВ, Vozdushno-desantnye voyska Rossii, VDV) are the airborne forces branch of the Russian Armed Forces. It was formed in 1992 from units of ...

. It was formed in 1948 from elements of the 296th Guards Airlanding Regiment. Currently based in

Ivanovo Ivanovo ( rus, Иваново, p=ɪˈvanəvə) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Russia. It is the administrative center and largest city of Ivanovo Oblast, located northeast of Moscow and approximately from Yaroslavl, Vlad ...

, it is part of the

98th Guards Airborne Division The 98th Guards Airborne Division is an airborne division of the Russian Airborne Troops, currently based in Ivanovo. Russian 98th Airborne Division patch.svg, 98th Guards Airborne Division shoulder sleeve insignia (1993) History During the Se ...

History

The regiment was formed on 1 October 1948 in Galyonki from elements of the 296th Guards Airlanding Regiment. It was part of the

13th Guards Airborne Division The 13th Guards Airborne Division was a division of the Soviet Airborne Troops. Its first formation was formed in December 1943 from airborne brigades and was quickly redesignated the 98th Guards Rifle Division without seeing combat in World War I ...

. In April 1955, the division was disbanded and the regiment transferred to the

. In 1965, for its performance in exercises on

Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh: ...

, the regiment received thanks from the

USSR Ministry of Defense The Ministry of Defense (Minoboron; russian: Министерство обороны СССР) was a government ministry in the Soviet Union. The first Minister of Defense was Nikolai Bulganin, starting 1953. The Krasnaya Zvezda (Red Star) was the ...

. At the time, the regiment was commanded by Major Gennady Margelov. On 22 February 1968, the regiment was awarded the

Order of Kutuzov The Order of Kutuzov (russian: орден Кутузова ''orden Kutuzova'') is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named after famous Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov (1745–1813). The Order was established du ...

3rd class. Beginning on 25 July 1969, the regiment moved to

Bolhrad Bolhrad ( uk, Болгра́д, Bolhrad, ; bg, Болград, Bolgrad; ro, Bolgrad, Gagauz: ''Bolgrad''), is a small city in Odesa Oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine, in the historical region of Budjak. It is the administrative center o ...

. 119 personnel of the regiment fought in the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. It saw extensive fighting between the Soviet Union and the Afghan mujahideen (alongside smaller groups of anti-Soviet ...

. The regiment deployed to Oktemberyan between 23 and 29 March 1988. On 21 June it deployed in

Stepanakert / az, Xankəndi, italic=no , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = File:StepanakertCollage.jpg , imagesize = 300px , image_caption = From top left: Holy Mother ...

, which it left on 2 August. It was deployed to

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...

on 21 September and returned to Bolhrad on 16 November. On 24 May 1989, it went back to Yerevan, which it left on 25 August. It deployed to

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

on 3 October and remained there until 18 October. While paratroopers were being airlifted out of Baku on 18 October 1989, an Il-76MD crashed near the city, killing 9 crew members and 48 paratroopers from the regiment. On 16 January 1990 it again deployed to Baku and left there on 16 March. As a result of the

Dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

, elements of the regiment became the Ukrainian 25th Airborne Brigade. Beginning on 23 April 1993, the regiment moved to

, where it is still based today. The regiment fought in the

Second Chechen War The Second Chechen War (russian: Втора́я чече́нская война́, ) took place in Chechnya and the border regions of the North Caucasus between the Russia, Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, from Augus ...

, during which its chief of staff was Yunus-bek Yevkurov. In January 2022, the regiment was reportedly deployed to

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

in the context of the

Ukraine crisis The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since February 2014. Following Ukraine's Revo ...

.{{Cite web , url=https://www.gfsis.org/russian-monitor/view/3121 , title=Rondeli Russian Military Digest: Issue 118, 24 January - 30 January 2022

References

Military units and formations established in 1948 Regiments of the Russian Airborne Troops Airborne units and formations of the Soviet Union Airborne infantry regiments Regiments of the Soviet Union Military units and formations of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine