The 22nd Separate Guards Special Purpose Brigade (''22-я отдельная гвардейская бригада специального назначения'') is a special forces (''spetsnaz'') brigade of the

Armed Forces of the Russian Federation The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (, ), commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military forces of Russia. In terms of active-duty personnel, they are the world's fifth-largest military force, with at least two m ...

. The brigade is currently based at Stepnoy,

Rostov Oblast Rostov Oblast ( rus, Росто́вская о́бласть, r=Rostovskaya oblast, p=rɐˈstofskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the Southern Federal District. The oblast has an area of and a populati ...

Structure

As of 2020, the brigade is based at Stepnoy,

, in the

Southern Military District 200px, Headquarters of the district at 53 Pushkinskaya Street / 43 Budenovsky avenue, Rostov-on-Don The Southern Military District (Russian: Южный военный округ) is a military district of Russia. It is one of the five military ...

. Currently, the brigade consists of: * Brigade HQ ** Signals Company ** Support Company ** Special Weapons Company ** Logistics Unit ** Engineer Unit * 108th Spetsnaz Detachment * 173rd Spetsnaz Detachment * 305th Spetsnaz Detachment * 411th Spetsnaz Detachment

History

It was established at

Kapchagai Konaev ( kk, Қонаев; russian: Конаев), previously known as Kapchagay ( kk, Қапчағай, links=no; russian: Капшагай, links=no or ), is a city with the Almaty Region of Kazakhstan. It is located on the Ili River, and has ...

in the

Turkestan Military District The Turkestan Military District (russian: Туркестанский военный округ (ТуркВО), ''Turkestansky voyenyi okrug (TurkVO)'') was a military district of both the Imperial Russian Army and the Soviet Armed Forces, with it ...

on 22 July 1976. On 3 April 1978 it became a separate unit. In 1983, elements of the brigade temporarily deployed to Cuba.

Soviet-Afghan War

On 15 March 1985, it was moved to

Lashkar Gah Lashkargāh ( ps, لښکرګاه; fa, لشکرگاه), historically called Bost or Boost (), is a city in southwestern Afghanistan and the capital of Helmand Province. It is located in Lashkargah District, where the Arghandab River merges into ...

and 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 brigade received a zone of responsibility of 1,100 km along the front and 250 km in depth towards

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. Part of the brigade began fighting in April 1985, having stood in the way of caravans of weapons and drugs coming from Pakistan and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. Formed in December 1986, the 411th detachment, deployed in the province of Farah, was responsible for controlling the caravan routes from Iran. In total, the 22nd brigade alone lost 199 troops in Afghanistan and killed more than 5,000

Mujahideen ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' ( ar, مُجَاهِدِين, mujāhidīn), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' ( ar, مجاهد, mujāhid, strugglers or strivers or justice, right conduct, Godly rule, etc. doers of jihād), an Arabic term th ...

Other Conflicts

In 1989, elements of the brigade deployed to participate in the

Angolan Civil War The Angolan Civil War ( pt, Guerra Civil Angolana) was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war immediately began after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. The war was ...

. In August 1988, the brigade moved to

Pirəkəşkül Perekeshkul (also, Perekeşkül, Pirəkəşkül, Perekeshkul’, Perekischkjul, Perekishkyul’, and Pirekeshkyul’) is a village in the Absheron Rayon of Azerbaijan. The village forms part of the municipality of Pirəkəşkül-Qobustan. Pereke ...

in Azerbaijan and participated in the

First Nagorno-Karabakh War The First Nagorno-Karabakh War, referred to in Armenia as the Artsakh Liberation War ( hy, Արցախյան ազատամարտ, Artsakhyan azatamart) was an ethnic and territorial conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in th ...

. Elements of the brigade have participated in the

Black January Black January ( az, Qara Yanvar), also known as Black Saturday or the January Massacre, was a violent crackdown on the civilian population of Baku on 19–20 January 1990, as part of a state of emergency during the dissolution of the Soviet U ...

, the

First Chechen War The First Chechen War, also known as the First Chechen Campaign,, rmed conflict in the Chechen Republic and on bordering territories of the Russian FederationФедеральный закон № 5-ФЗ от 12 января 1995 (в реда� ...

, where it took part in the Kizlyar-Pervomayskoye hostage crisis. The Brigade returned to participate 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 ...

. In June 1992, the brigade moved to Stepnoy,

in the

, where it is still located today.http://voenpro.ru/infolenta/22-gv-obrspn-pervaya-v-rossiyskoy-gvardii. Or at Kovalevka, Rostov Oblast? :ru:Ковалёвка (Ростовская область).

References

Spetsnaz brigades of Russia Spetsnaz brigades of the Soviet Union Military units and formations established in 1976 {{Russia-mil-stub

Structure

History

Soviet-Afghan War

Other Conflicts

See also

References