The 70th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade was a

Soviet Ground Forces 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 of 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 ...

. During the war, it was based in

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a List of cities in Afghanistan, city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population ...

First Formation

The brigade was formed on 1 March 1980 in Kandahar from the 373rd Guards Motor Rifle Regiment of the

5th Guards Motor Rifle Division The 5th Guards ''Zimovnikovskaya'' order Kutuzov II degree Motor Rifle Division, (Military Unit Number (V/Ch) 51852 from 1979) named on the 60th anniversary of the USSR, was a military formation of the Soviet Ground Forces. It was formed from the ...

. On 4 May 1985, it was awarded a second

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 th ...

for its actions in Afghanistan. In August 1988, it withdrew to Kushka. The brigade was disbanded in February 1989.{{Cite web, url=http://www.ww2.dk/new/army/other/70ogmsbr.htm, title=70th independent Guards Motorised Rifle Brigade, last=Holm, first=Michael, website=www.ww2.dk, access-date=2016-03-19

Second Formation

The

17th Guards Rifle Division The 17th Guards Rifle Division was created on March 17, 1942, from the first formation of the 119th Rifle Division, in recognition of that division's stalwart defense against German Army Group Center in the Battle of Moscow, and in the subsequent ...

became the 123rd Guards Motor Rifle Division in 1957 and converted into the 129th Guards Machine-Gun Artillery Division in 1989. With the

collapse 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 ...

, it became a

Russian Ground Forces The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска �ВSukhoputnyye voyska V}), also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces ...

formation in May 1992. In 2001, it was converted to the 17th Guards Motor Rifle Division, and became the 70th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade in 2009. The brigade is currently based in

Ussuriysk Ussuriysk (russian: Уссури́йск) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Primorsky Krai, Russia, located in the fertile valley of the Razdolnaya River, north of Vladivostok, the administrative center of the krai, and about ...

References

External links

Website dedicated to the brigade
Ground Forces brigades of the Soviet Union Mechanised brigades Military units and formations established in 1979 Military units and formations awarded the Order of the Red Banner