The 3rd Vislenskaya Red Banner Motor Rifle Division is a

motorized infantry Motorized infantry is infantry that is transported by trucks or other motor vehicles. It is distinguished from mechanized infantry, which is carried in armoured personnel carriers or infantry fighting vehicles, and from light infantry, which ca ...

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

of the

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 ...

. The 3rd Motor Rifle Division was formed in 1997 from the amalgamation of the 31st and

47th Guards Tank Division The 47th Guards Tank Division () is a tank division of the Russian Ground Forces. It was formed in October 1942, during World War II from the first formation of the 154th Rifle Division as the 47th Guards Rifle Division. It served with the 8 ...

s of 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 ...

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...

, and existed until March 2009, when the division was disbanded and split into the 6th Separate Tank Brigade and the 9th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade. The 3rd Motor Rifle Division was reformed in 2016 and based in the town of Valuyki,

Belgorod Oblast Belgorod Oblast (russian: Белгоро́дская о́бласть, ''Belgorodskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Belgorod. Population: History At the turn of the 17th c ...

, as part of the

20th Guards Army The 20th Guards Combined Arms Army (originally designated as the 4th Tank Army, 4th Guards Tank Army in 1945, 4th Guards Mechanised Army in 1946, and the 20th Guards Army in 1960 within the Soviet Ground Forces) is a field army. In 1991, after t ...

in the

Western Military District The Western Military District (russian: Западный военный округ, Zapadnyy voyennyy okrug) is a military district of Russia. It is one of the five military districts of the Russian Armed Forces, with its jurisdiction primari ...

History

Tank exercise 2017 in Voronezh Oblast 06

The division formed as 3rd 'Vislenskaya (Russian for

Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...

) Red Banner Orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov' Motor Rifle Division by amalgamation of 31st and 47th Guards Tank Divisions at Novy in the

on 1 July 1997 gaining the honours of the 31st Tank Division. The Division was in 2004 under the command of General Major Aleksandr Konnov. Elements of the division, notably the two motor rifle regiments, participated in the First Chechen War and

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 ...

. Warfare.ru notes that 3rd MRD was unit number 54046, and had constant readiness status. In 2000 the division had 10850 personnel, 244 T-80 tanks, 361 BMP/BTR, 36 2S19 Msta-S, 96 2S3 Akatsiya, and 16 Grad multiple rocket launchers. It consisted of the 100th and 237th Tank Regiments, and the 245th and 752nd Motor Rifle Regiments, as well as the 99th Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment. In March 2009 the division was disbanded and reorganised as the 6th Separate Tank Brigade and the 9th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade. V/Ch 54046 became the 9th Separate Motorized Rifle Visla Red Banner Order of Suvorov Brigade. In 2016, the 9th Motor Rifle Brigade moved to

Boguchar Boguchar (russian: Богуча́р) is a town and the administrative center of Bogucharsky District in Voronezh Oblast, Russia, located on the Boguchar River (a tributary of the Don), south of Voronezh, the administrative center of the oblast. ...

. Its transition to the west wasn't easy. The 9th will become the new, reformed 3rd MRD, as announced On 21 October 2016, by Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu. In 2022, the division took part in the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, with its troops later having to be treated for eating poisoned meals, distributed to them by Ukrainian civilians. Among the high ranking officers the division lost Colonel Igor Yevgenyevich Nikolaev, the commander of the 252nd Guards Motor Rifle Regiment. The post-Soviet 3rd MRD should not to be confused with

3rd Guards Motor Rifle Division The 3rd Guards Volnovakha Red Banner Order of Suvorov Motor Rifle Division (Military Unit Number 61415) was a division of the Soviet Army from 1957 to around 1992. It traced its history from the highly decorated 3rd Guards Rifle Division of ...

, active during the Cold War.

Structure

1997

* Headquarters (Novy) * 100th Tank Częstochowa Regiment ( Dzerzhinsk) * 237th Tank Regiment (Dzerzhinsk) * 245th Guards Motor Rifle Gniezno Regiment ( Mulino) *

752nd Guards Motor Rifle Regiment The 752nd Guards Petrokovskaya twice Red Banner, Orders of Suvorov, Kutuzov and Bogdan Khmelnitsky Motor Rifle Regiment is a mechanized infantry regiment of the Russian Ground Forces. Its first forebears were the 6th Guards Mechanised Regiment, ...

(Novy settlement,

) * 99th Guards Self-Propelled Artillery Pomeranian Regiment (Mulino) * 1143rd Anti-Aircraft Oder Regiment (Novy) * 159th Separate Anti-Tank Battalion (Mulino) * 84th Separate Reconnaissance Battalion (Nizhny Novgorod) * 145th Separate Engineer Sapper Battalion ( Seyma) * 692nd Separate Signal Battalion (Novy) * 9th Separate Electronic Warfare Battalion ( Bor) * 625th Separate NBC protection Battalion * 152nd Separate Maintenance Battalion * 911th Separate Supply Battalion * 231st Separate Medical Battalion

2017

* Headquarters ( Valuyki) * 237th Guards Tank Regiment (Soloti) * 252nd Guards Motor Rifle Stalingrad-Korsun Regiment (

) *

(Valuyki, Soloti) * 99th Guards Self-Propelled Pomeranian Regiment (Boguchar) * 1143rd Anti-Aircraft Oder Regiment * 84th Separate Reconnaissance Battalion (Valuyki) * 159th Separate Anti-Tank Artillery Battalion * 692nd Separate Signal Battalion (Valuyki) * 337th Separate Engineer-Sapper Battalion (Boguchar) * 911th Separate Supply Battalion (Boguchar) * 231st Separate Medical Battalion (Boguchar) * Separate

UAV An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controlle ...

Company * Separate EW Company * Separate

NBC protection Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defence (CBRN defence) are protective measures taken in situations in which chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear warfare (including terrorism) hazards may be present. CBRN defence consis ...

company

Combat regiments/battalions of the division, 2021

* 237th Tank Regiment (Valuyki and Soloti, Belgorod Oblast,

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 ...

91726) * 245th Motorised Rifle Regiment ( Soloti, established in December 2021) * 252nd Motor Rifle Regiment (Boguchar, Voronezh Oblast, MUN 91711) *

(Valuyki and Soloti, Belgorod Oblast, MUN 34670) * 84th Reconnaissance Battalion (Valuyki and Soloti, Belgorod Oblast, MUN 22263) * 1143rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Belgorod Oblast) * 99th Self-propelled Artillery Regiment (Boguchar, Voronezh Oblast, MUN 91727) * 159th Anti-Tank Battalion (Boguchar, Voronezh Oblast, MUN 81989)

Commanders

* 2008-2010? Major General Konstantin Georgyevich Kastornov * 25.10.2011–after June 2014 Colonel Sergei Semyonovich Nyrkov * ... * 2016–2019 Major General Andrei Yuryevich Ruzinskiy * 12.01.2019–present Colonel/Major General Aleksei Vyacheslavovich Avdeyev

Sources

*June 1998 report by Andrew Duncan in

Jane's Intelligence Review ''Jane's Intelligence Review'' is a monthly journal on global security and stability issues published by Jane's Information Group. Its coverage includes international security issues, state stability, terrorism and insurgency, ongoing conflicts, ...

* {{Russian divisions

003 003, O03, 0O3, OO3 may refer to: *003, fictional British 00 Agent *003, former emergency telephone number for the Norwegian ambulance service (until 1986) *1990 OO3, the asteroid 6131 Towen * OO3 gauge model railway *''O03 (O2)'' and other related ...

Military units and formations established in 1997 Military units and formations disestablished in 2009 Military units and formations established in 2016 Military units and formations awarded the Order of the Red Banner