The 2nd Guards Motor Rifle ''Frunze'' Brigade (; ), Military Unit No. 73809, is a Kyrgyz military unit in the

Ground Forces An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

based in the city of Koy-Tash.

History

Early Soviet era and war years

The 1st Peasant Soviet Regiment was one of the first military units to be formed in the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

, being formed in 1918, in

Gomel Gomel (russian: Гомель, ) or Homiel ( be, Гомель, ) is the administrative centre of Gomel Region and the second-largest city in Belarus with 526,872 inhabitants (2015 census). Etymology There are at least six narratives of the o ...

, a city in what is now

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 ...

. The first fighters were from the Gomel and

Starodub Starodub ( rus, links=no, Староду́б, p=stərɐˈdup, ''old oak'') is a town in Bryansk Oblast, Russia, on the Babinets River (the Dnieper basin), southwest of Bryansk. Population: 16,000 (1975). History Starodub has been known ...

partisan detachments. It first saw action during the

Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...

during which it fought against foreign occupation and anti-Soviet forces. It was labelled the 241st Peasant Regiment immediately after those battles. For its service in the battles of Minsk, Baranavichy, Rodimin, it was awarded the

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner (russian: Орден Красного Знамени, Orden Krasnogo Znameni) was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of t ...

. On 9 June 1922, the regiment was renamed the 94th Peasant Rifle Regiment, and in recognition of its service it received the honorific ''

Mikhail Frunze Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze (russian: Михаил Васильевич Фрунзе; ro, Mihail Frunză; 2 February 1885 – 31 October 1925) was a Bolshevik leader during and just prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917. Born in the modern-day ...

'' in 1927. In the 30s, the regiment took part in combat operations against the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

Lake Khasan Lake Khasan or Lake Hassan (russian: озеро Хасан; ) is a small lake in Khasansky District, Primorsky Krai of Russia, located southeast of Posyet Bay, on the border with North Korea and China, southwest of Vladivostok. It has a surfac ...

during the

Soviet–Japanese border conflicts The Soviet–Japanese border conflicts, also known as the Soviet-Japanese Border War or the First Soviet-Japanese War,was a series of minor and major conflicts fought between the Soviet Union (led by Joseph Stalin), Mongolia (led by Khorloo ...

of the decade. In September 1939, the regiment was given the conventional name of the 17th Rifle Regiment.

War years

During the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), and Sou ...

, the unit was deployed to operations in Belarus and the Baltic States. In 1941, near

Naro-Fominsk Naro-Fominsk (russian: На́ро-Фоми́нск) is a town and the administrative center of Naro-Fominsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Nara River, southwest from Moscow. Population: History The Fominskoye village was fir ...

, the infantrymen restrained the German

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

offensive for four days, after which they launched a counterattack. In 1942 it received the honorary title of '' Guards,'' becoming 87th Guards Red Banner Rifle Regiment, and the division in which it was serving became the

29th Guards Rifle Division 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

. During the war, it notably took part in the

Battles of Rzhev The Battles of Rzhev (russian: Ржевская битва, Rzhevskaya bitva) were a series of Red Army offensives against the Wehrmacht between January 8, 1942, and March 31, 1943, on the Eastern Front of World War II. The battles took place ...

. It included four

Heroes of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...

, and over two hundred order bearers. The regiment's combat service, often referred to in Russian sources as its 'combat path,' or 'fighting way,' ended while serving in

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

. Its last battle was fought near the town of Tsipkuri under the command of regimental commander,

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...

, Colonel Ivan Tretyak.

Post-war

After the war, it had been renamed to the 113th Guards Mechanized Regiment (effective June 1946) and the 282nd Guards Red Banner Motor Rifle Regiment named after Frunze (effective 30 April 1957), both of which under the 36th Guards Motor Rifle Division. The regiment held the title of best in the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

for more than two decades and was awarded the Pennant of the

Minister of Defense of the Soviet Union The Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union refers to the head of the Ministry of Defence who was responsible for defence of the socialist Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1917 to 1922 and the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1992. Peo ...

"For courage and military valor". Later the 282nd Guards Motor Rifle Regiment received a "permanent residence permit" in Kirghizia in 1967 after being relocated to the republic from the city of Rakvere in the Estonian SSR. Organizationally, it became part of the 8th Guards Motor Rifle ''Panfilov'' Division with a deployment in the village of Koy-Tash near Frunze.

Independence

In May 1992, like many other military units deployed on the territory of the former Soviet republic, the regiment was included in the ranks of the

Armed Forces of the Kyrgyz Republic The Armed Forces of the Kyrgyz Republic (; Kyrǵyz Respublikasynyn Kuralduu Küctörü) is the national military of Kyrgyzstan. It was originally formed from the former Soviet forces of the Turkestan Military District stationed in newly independe ...

. On 8 December 1997, it was transformed into the 1st Koy-Tash Motorized Rifle brigade. In November 2012, by order of

Ministry of Defense {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

Major General

Taalaibek Omuraliev Taalaibek Baryktabasovich Omuraliev ( ky, Таалайбек Барыктабасович (Барыктабас уулу) Өмүралиев, translit=Taalaybek Baryktabasovich (Baryktabas uulu) Ömüraliyev, russian: Таалайбек Бары� ...

, it was given its current name Members of the brigade took part in the quelling of the

Batken Conflict The Batken Conflict (, ) was a period of armed clashes between militants of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and the Armed Forces of Kyrgyzstan, with support to the latter being provided by the Uzbek Ground Forces. It was caused by incursi ...

in 1999, with 25 of its fighters being killed in action. Units of the brigade are part of the

Collective Rapid Reaction Force The Collective Rapid Reaction Force (russian: link=no, Коллективные силы оперативного реагирования, КСОР; KSOR) is a joint combined arms task force comprising independent military units from the Collect ...

of the

Collective Security Treaty Organization The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is an intergovernmental military alliance in Eurasia consisting of six post-Soviet states: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. The Collective Security Treaty has ...

. An anniversary pennant was handed over to personnel of the brigade on its 95th anniversary, during a ceremony held on Poklonnaya Hill in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

. On its

centennial {{other uses, Centennial (disambiguation), Centenary (disambiguation) A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century, a period of 100 years. Notable events Notable centennial events at ...

in 2018, it received greetings from

President of Kyrgyzstan The president of Kyrgyzstan, officially the president of the Kyrgyz Republic (russian: Президент Киргизской Республики; ky, Кыргыз Республикасынын Президенти), is the head of state an ...

Sooronbay Jeenbekov Sooronbay Sharip uulu Jeenbekov (; ky, Сооронбай Шарип уулу Жээнбеков, translit=Sooronbay Şarip uulu Jeenbekov; born 16 November 1958) is a Kyrgyz politician who served as the 5th President of Kyrgyzstan from 2017 unti ...

, who described the unit as one that "continues to maintain and increase its glorious path". Previously, meetings of veterans of the regiment were held in 2008 and 2013.

References