6th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade
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The 6th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade () was a
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 ...
mechanized infantry brigade, stationed in East Berlin during the Cold War, from 1962 to 1989. Formed in 1962 as the 6th Separate Brigade of Protection after the Berlin Crisis of the previous year increased tensions, the unit was soon renamed the 6th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade. Directly subordinated to the
Group of Soviet Forces in Germany The Western Group of Forces (WGF),. previously known as the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany (GSOFG). and the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSFG),. were the troops of the Soviet Army in East Germany. The Group of Soviet Occupat ...
(GSFG), the brigade helped protect East Berlin and provided troops for ceremonial duties in the city. In event of a conflict, the brigade was to invade
West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
, with the help of
National People's Army The National People's Army (german: Nationale Volksarmee, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1956 to 1990. The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) a ...
units stationed in and around Berlin. In 1982, the brigade inherited the lineage of the
60th Guards Rifle Division The 60th Guards Rifle Division was formed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in January, 1943, based on the 2nd formation of the 278th Rifle Division, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. The division ...
's 185th Guards Rifle Regiment, and became an elite
Guards unit Guards units (russian: Гвардия, translit=Gvardiya) were elite units and formations in the Soviet Armed Forces that continue to exist in the Russian Armed Forces and other post-Soviet states. These units were awarded Guards status after di ...
, also receiving the honorifics "Berlin Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky". The brigade was the last Soviet Army unit to leave Germany after its reunification, in 1994, and was withdrawn to
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 ...
, where it became a motor rifle regiment of the
10th Guards Tank Division The 10th Guards ''Uralsko-Lvovskaya'' Volunteer Tank Division, also known as the Ural-Lvov Tank Division, is a tank division of the Russian Ground Forces and part of the Moscow Military District's 20th Guards Army. The division traces its herit ...
in 1997. Fighting in both the
First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
and 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 Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, from August 1999 ...
, the unit was disbanded in 2009.


History


Cold War

After the August 1961 Berlin Crisis escalated tensions between the West and the Soviet Union, the GSFG command formed the 6th Separate Brigade of Protection on 20 August 1962 from the Headquarters of the Commandant of the Garrison of Soviet Troops in Berlin, in order to provide a permanent Soviet presence in the city that could, in event of a war, quickly and effectively neutralize the NATO forces in West Berlin. Colonel Ivan Kirillov, commander of the
6th Guards Motor Rifle Division The 6th Guards Motor Rifle Vitebsk-Novgorod Twice Red Banner Division (; Military Unit Number 68434) was a Soviet motor rifle division, which after the end of World War II was stationed on the Polish territory as part of Northern Group of Forces. ...
's 81st Guards Motor Rifle Regiment, which had been deployed into the city during the crisis, became the new brigade's commander. The brigade initially included four separate motor rifle battalions: the 133rd, 154th, 162nd, and the 178th, all formed from commandant's battalions that had been stationed in the city since the beginning of the Cold War. The 133rd Battalion, formed in 1945, was tasked with providing ceremonial guards for the Soviet War Memorial in the Tiergarten and
Spandau Prison Spandau Prison was located in the borough of Spandau in West Berlin. It was originally a military prison, built in 1876, but became a proto-concentration camp under the Nazis. After the war, it held seven top Nazi leaders convicted in the Nurem ...
, both of which were located in the British sector of the city. The 162nd Battalion provided security on the Soviet sides of the three vehicle and three rail checkpoints that controlled movement between the two sections of the city. These functions were performed by its three motor rifle companies, based near the checkpoints. On 19 November, the brigade was redesignated as the 6th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade.


Service in the Russian Ground Forces

On 31 August 1994, the brigade was withdrawn from Berlin to
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 ...
, where a military camp named after
Georgy Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov ( rus, Георгий Константинович Жуков, p=ɡʲɪˈorɡʲɪj kənstɐnʲˈtʲinəvʲɪtɕ ˈʐukəf, a=Ru-Георгий_Константинович_Жуков.ogg; 1 December 1896 – ...
was built as its base. On 23 September, the 53rd and 54th Separate Tank Battalions were disbanded. 700 soldiers and more than 100 officers and NCOs from the brigade fought in the First Chechen War, suffering casualties of 30 killed and over 50 wounded. By 1997, the 6th Brigade included the 154th, 178th, 524th, and 525th Separate Motor Rifle Battalions, the 65th Separate Tank Battalion, the 79th and 83rd Separate Self-Propelled Howitzer Artillery Battalions, the 90th Separate Anti-Aircraft Rocket Battalion, the 93rd Separate Anti-Aircraft Rocket Artillery Battalion, and the 89th Separate Anti-Tank Artillery Battalion. In accordance with an order from 25 August 1997, the brigade was downsized into the 6th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment, part of the
10th Guards Tank Division The 10th Guards ''Uralsko-Lvovskaya'' Volunteer Tank Division, also known as the Ural-Lvov Tank Division, is a tank division of the Russian Ground Forces and part of the Moscow Military District's 20th Guards Army. The division traces its herit ...
. In February 2009, the regiment was disbanded.


See also

*
Berlin Brigade The Berlin Brigade was a US Army brigade-sized garrison based in West Berlin during the Cold War. After the end of World War II, under the conditions of the Yalta and Potsdam agreements, the Allied forces occupied West Berlin. This occupat ...
- US Military presence in Berlin. *
French Forces in Berlin The French Forces in Berlin (french: Forces Françaises à Berlin) were the units of the French Armed Forces stationed since 1945 until the end of the Cold War-era in West Berlin according to the agreements of the Yalta Conference and Potsdam Con ...
- French Military presence in Berlin. *
Berlin Infantry Brigade The Berlin Infantry Brigade was a British Army brigade-sized garrison based in West Berlin during the Cold War. After the end of World War II, under the conditions of the Yalta and Potsdam agreements, the Allied forces occupied West Berlin. T ...
- British Military presence in Berlin.


References

{{Brigades of the Russian Ground Forces Ground Forces brigades of the Soviet Union Military history of Berlin Mechanised infantry brigades of Russia Cold War military history of Germany