The 83rd Guards Air Assault Brigade is an airborne brigade 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 ...

, first formed in 1986. It 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 ...

History

Soviet era

The brigade traces its history back to the formation of the 65th Separate Air Assault Battalion in

Białogard Białogard (pronounced , german: Belgard, ; Pomeranian: ''Biôłogard'') is a historic town in Middle Pomerania, northwestern Poland, with 23,614 inhabitants as of December 2021. The capital of Białogard County in the West Pomeranian Voivodes ...

from the 126th Separate Guards Reconnaissance Battalion 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. ...

in November 1985, part of the

Northern Group of Forces The Northern Group of Forces (; ) was the military formation of the Soviet Army stationed in People's Republic of Poland, Poland from the end of World War II, Second World War in 1945 until 1993 when they were withdrawn in the aftermath of the fal ...

. Between May and November 1986, the battalion was expanded to form the 83rd Separate Air Assault Brigade under the command of Colonel V.M. Sinitsyn. The brigade participated in the "Druzhba-86" exercises of

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republic ...

troops. In 1988, after

Soviet 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 ...

inspections, the brigade had the best results out of the

. The brigade won a

Krasnaya Zvezda ''Krasnaya Zvezda'' (russian: Кра́сная звезда́, literally "Red Star") is the official newspaper of the Soviet and later Russian Ministry of Defence. Today its official designation is "Central Organ of the Russian Ministry of Defen ...

contest involving a 10 kilometer forced march in 1989. On 18 May 1990, the brigade was subordinated directly to the commander of the VDV and was reorganized as the 83rd Separate Airborne Brigade. The brigade was transferred to

in the

Far Eastern Military District The Far Eastern Military District (russian: Дальневосточный военный округ; Dalʹnevostochnyĭ voennyĭ okrug) was a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2010 it was merged with the Pacific ...

during July.

Russian Troops

On 1 February 1996, the brigade was detached from the

and subordinated to the

. In a 2002 exercise, the brigade successfully cooperated with

Naval Infantry Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

at Cape Klerk southwest of Vladivostok, earning it compliments from the Minister of Defence

Sergei Ivanov Sergei Borisovich Ivanov ( rus, Сергей Борисович Иванов, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej bɐˈrʲisəvʲɪtɕ ɪvɐˈnof; born 31 January 1953) is a Russian senior official and politician who has served as the Special Representative of ...

. From 22 June 2004, the brigade participated in the exercise "Mobilnost-2004". In fall 2006, the brigade was given the banner of the Military Council. On 1 December 2013, the brigade was transferred to the

. It was awarded Guards status on 25 March 2015.

2022 Ukraine

In 2022, the brigade reportedly took part in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to Ukrainian state media, its deputy commander, Lieutenant Colonel Vitaliy Slabtsov, was killed in action during the invasion. In July 2022 the website of the National Resistance Center of Ukraine reported that it had received large amounts of information from a source within the brigade. The NRC published personal data like passports and certificates, as well as some military documents, including classified data like organization charts, personnel lists, phone numbers, and addresses. On May 21, 2022, VDV Major Vladimir Chilin, who previously served in

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

, was killed in Ukraine and later buried in

Ryazan Ryazan ( rus, Рязань, p=rʲɪˈzanʲ, a=ru-Ryazan.ogg) is the largest city and administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. The city is located on the banks of the Oka River in Central Russia, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Census ...

. Chilin reportedly was the deputy commander of a battalion in the 83rd Air Assault Brigade.

Composition

In 1996, the brigade was composed of the following units. * 598th Airborne Battalion * 635th Airborne Battalion * 654th Airborne Battalion * 9th Guards Artillery Battalion The structure of the brigade has been unclear; it has incorporated a tank battalion in the past.

References

{{Brigades of the Russian Ground Forces Airborne infantry brigades of Russia Military units and formations established in 1986