The 6th Guards Motor Rifle Vitebsk-Novgorod Twice Red Banner Division (;

Military Unit Number A Military Unit Number (Russian: Войсковая часть) is a numeric alternate designation for military units in the armed forces and internal troops of post-Soviet states, originally used by those of the Soviet Union The Soviet ...

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 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in People's Republic of Poland, Poland from the end of World War II, Second World War in 1945 until 1993 when they were withdrawn in the aftermath of the fal ...

. It was the second formation of the 6th Guards Motor Rifle Division, and drew its history from the

90th Guards Rifle Division The 90th Guards Rifle Vitebsk Division was an infantry division of the Red Army during World War II. Formed from the 325th Rifle Division in recognition of its actions during the winter of 1943, the division fought in the Battle of Kursk, the ...

History

In an exchange of numbers, the 6th Guards Lvov Motor Rifle Division (First Formation) in Germany in 1985 became the 90th Guards Tank Division, while the 90th Guards Tank Division became the 6th Guards Motor Rifle Division. The division in Poland disbanded a tank regiment and formed a motor rifle regiment, while the division in Germany formed a tank regiment. Division headquarters was located in the town of Borne Sulinowo. In November 1985, the 65th Separate Air Assault Battalion was formed from the division's 126th Separate Guards Reconnaissance 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 Voivod ...

. 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 Division withdrew from Poland in 1992 and was moved to

Tver Tver ( rus, Тверь, p=tvʲerʲ) is a city and the administrative centre of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is northwest of Moscow. Population: Tver was formerly the capital of a powerful medieval state and a model provincial town in the Russi ...

in the

Moscow Military District The Order of Lenin Moscow Military District was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The district was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1968. In 2010 it was merged with the Leningrad Military D ...

where it became the 166th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade. Between January and July 1996 it fought in 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 редакц ...

. In 1997 the brigade was disbanded and converted into the 70th Guards Base for Storage of Weapons & Equipment. The 70th VkhVT was finally disbanded in 1998. The lineage of the division is perpetuated by the 90th Guards Tank Division, reformed in 2016.

Composition

1985

The division was composed of the following units. *16th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment *82nd Guards Motor Rifle Regiment – Sypniewo *252nd Motor Rifle Regiment *80th Tank Regiment *193rd Guards Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment *1082nd Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment *90th Tank Battalion *54th Guards Communications Battalion *465th Anti-Tank Artillery Battalion *101st Guards Engineer-Sapper Battalion *126th Reconnaissance Battalion *71st Equipment Maintenance and Recovery Battalion *1083rd Material Supply Battalion *97th Medical Battalion *669th Missile Battalion

Commanders

*Major General Vladimir Vasilyevich Bulgakov (1990–1992)

Notes

References

*Andrew Wojtaszak, Kazimierz Kozlowski: Soldier Polish Western Pomerania X-XX century: the materials of scientific session of 10 November 1999: collective work. Wilson: Department of Civic Education, 2001. . {{Soviet Union divisions 006 Military units and formations established in 1985 Military units and formations disestablished in 1992 Military units and formations awarded the Order of the Red Banner 1985 establishments in the Soviet Union