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18th Guards Motor Rifle Division

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133rd Rifle Division (I Formation)
(1939–1942)
18th Guards Rifle Division
(1942–1945)
30th Guards Mechanised Division
(1945–1965)
18th Guards Motor Rifle Division
(1965 – c. 2001, 2020 – present)
18-я гвардейская мотострелковая Инстербургская Краснознамённая, ордена Суворова дивизия
Sleeve patch of the 18th Guards Motor Rifle Division
Active1939–present
Country Soviet Union (until 1991)
 Russia (1991–2001; 2020–)
Branch Soviet Army (until 1991)
 Russian Ground Forces (1991–2001; 2020–)
TypeMechanized infantry
SizeDivision
Part ofLeningrad Military District
11th Army Corps, Baltic Fleet
Garrison/HQGusev and Sovetsk
Engagements
Decorations
Battle honoursInsterburg
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Grigory Karizhsky

The 18th Guards Insterburg Red Banner Order of Suvorov Motor Rifle Division (Russian: 18-я гвардейская мотострелковая Инстербургская Краснознамённая, ордена Суворова дивизия, romanized: 18-ya gvardeyskaya motostrelkovaya Insterburgskaya Krasnoznamonnaya, ordena Suvorova diviziya), is an active division of the Russian Ground Forces.

History

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Gun crew of 51st Guards Rifle Regiment Senior Sergeant Grigory Chichev moving their 45 mm anti-tank gun to the frontline, 1943

The 18th Guards Motor Rifle Division was formed originally as the 133rd Rifle Division at Novosibirsk in 1939. The division was part of 1st Shock Army on 1 December 1941 during the Battle of Moscow. It was redesignated as the 18th Guards Rifle Division in March 1942 with the 51st, 53rd, 58th Guards Rifle Regiments and 52nd Guards Artillery Regiment. The division fought in the East Prussian Offensive. The unit became 30th Guards Mechanised Division in 1945 as part of the 11th Guards Army. In 1965 it was renumbered as 18th Guards Motor Rifle Division. It was stationed in the Kaliningrad enclave with 11th Guards Army before entering Czechoslovakia in 1968, joining the Central Group of Forces.

In 1991 the division was withdrawn back to Gusev, Kaliningrad Oblast. The division was reorganised as a cadre strength formation, as part of the third-line reserves of the Russian Ground Forces. In 2002, it became the 79th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade (Russian: 79-я отдельная гвардейская мотострелковая бригада).[1] The division was reformed from the 79th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade in Kaliningrad in December 2020 as part of the 11th Army Corps.[2] In 2022, elements of the division were reportedly heavily engaged in combat in from the start of the invasion of Ukraine.[3][4][5]

Structure (1990s)

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  • 210th Motor Rifle Regiment;[1]
  • 275th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment;
  • 278th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment;
  • 280th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment;
  • 52nd Guards Artillery Regiment

Honorifics are Insterburgskaya Krasnoznamennaya and Order of Suvorov.

Structure (2020/21)

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  • 275th Motorized Rifle Regiment[6]
  • 280th Motorized Rifle Regiment[6]
  • 79th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment (former 79th Independent Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade re-formed as a regiment)[7]
  • 11th Independent Tank Regiment (Gusev, Kaliningrad Oblast)[8] (Military Unit Number V/Ch (в/ч) 41611) (Equipped with T-72B Main Battle Tanks (upgrades of T-72s to B3M-standard underway as of 2019/20[9][10][11])
  • 20th Separate Reconnaissance Battalion (forming 2020/21; Orlan-10 UAVs and "Sobolyatnik"[12] and "Fara-VR" reconnaissance radars)[13]
  • 22nd Guards Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Tor M1/M2), in Kaliningrad[14][15][16]

References

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  1. ^ a b Holm, Michael. "18th Guards Motorised Rifle Division". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  2. ^ "Rondeli Russian Military Digest: Issue 77, 1 March - 7 March 2021".
  3. ^ vasgri (2 April 2022). "Russian units of 18th MRD transferred from Kaliningrad Oblast to the east of Ukraine". InformNapalm.org (English). Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  4. ^ "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, December 12". Institute for the Study of War. 12 December 2022. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  5. ^ "Ukraine's Counteroffensives in Kharkiv and Kherson and the Road Ahead | FDD's Long War Journal". www.longwarjournal.org. 16 September 2022. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Rondeli Russian Military Digest: Issue 81, 29 March - 9 May 2021".
  7. ^ "Rondeli Russian Military Digest: Issue 82, 10 May - 23 May 2021".
  8. ^ "Танковый полк Балтфлота привлечён к манёврам в Калининградской области -".
  9. ^ "Fortress Kaliningrad- Ever Closer to Moscow" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 June 2020.
  10. ^ "Russia increases number of tanks in Kaliningrad". 28 January 2019.
  11. ^ "Russia adds firepower to Kaliningrad exclave citing NATO threat". Reuters. 7 December 2020.
  12. ^ "Russian Airborne forces receive Sobolyatnik portable radar | June 2020 News Defense Global Security army industry | Defense Security global news industry army 2020 | Archive News year".
  13. ^ "В тылу сражений: Калининград защитят сверхдальние разведчики". 10 March 2021.
  14. ^ "Baltic Fleet's Tor-M2 missile systems down maneuvering fast-speed targets in drills".
  15. ^ "A look at the Baltic Fleet and the defense of Kaliningrad". 6 April 2020.
  16. ^ Harris, Catherine; Kagan, Frederick W. "Russia's Military Posture: Ground Forces Order Of Battle" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 March 2018.

Further reading

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