The 38th Separate Guards

Red Banner In politics, a red flag is predominantly a symbol of left-wing ideologies, including socialism, communism, anarchism, and the labour movement. The originally empty or plain red flag has been associated with left-wing politics since the French ...

Air Assault Brigade is a

Special forces Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

brigade of the

Armed Forces of Belarus The Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus are the military forces of Belarus. It consists of the Ground Forces and the Air Force and Air Defence Forces, all under the command of the Ministry of Defence. As a landlocked country, Belarus has ...

. It is currently based in Brest. The brigade was originally formed from the elements of the disbanded 105th Guards Vienna Airborne Division in 1979 as the 38th Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade. In 1990, it was transferred to the

Soviet airborne The Soviet Airborne Forces or VDV (from ''Vozdushno-Parachuting, desantnye voyska SSSR'', Russian: Воздушно-десантные войска СССР, ВДВ; Air-landing Forces) was a military branch, separate troops branch of the Soviet ...

and renamed the 38th Separate Guards Airborne Brigade. In January 1992, it was taken over by

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

and was later renamed the 38th Guards Mobile Brigade. The brigade was renamed the 38th Guards Air Assault Brigade in 2016.

History

The 38th Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade was formed in October 1979 from the headquarters of the 105th Guards Airborne Division in Brest, part of the

Belorussian Military District The Byelorussian Military District (; alternatively Belarusian; ) was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces. Originally formed just before World War I as the Minsk Military District out of the remnants of the Vilno Military District an ...

. The official day of formation is considered to be 10 November. The brigade was composed of three airborne battalions, an air assault battalion, an artillery battalion and an antiaircraft artillery battalion. From 4 to 12 September 1981, the brigade participated in the exercise "West-81". Between August 1987 and June 1989, the brigade was commanded by Vitaly Raevsky. Due to the

First Nagorno-Karabakh War The First Nagorno-Karabakh War was an ethnic conflict, ethnic and territorial conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern Azerbaijan, between the majority ethnic Armenians of Nag ...

, the brigade was deployed to

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

in January 1990. On 1 June 1990, the brigade was transferred to the

Soviet Airborne Forces The Soviet Airborne Forces or VDV (from ''Vozdushno- desantnye voyska SSSR'', Russian: Воздушно-десантные войска СССР, ВДВ; Air-landing Forces) was a separate troops branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. First formed b ...

and renamed the 38th Separate Guards Airborne Brigade. Its air assault battalion was disbanded and the antiaircraft artillery battalion became a battery. After the

Dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

, the brigade was transferred to the

. On 1 September 1995, the brigade transferred to the Mobile Forces of the Republic of Belarus and was renamed the 38th Separate Guards Mobile Brigade. From 2002 to 31 January 2003, the brigade was part of the Ground Forces. On 1 February, it moved to the Belarusian Army

Spetsnaz SpetsnazThe term is borrowed from rus, спецназ, p=spʲɪtsˈnas; abbreviation for or 'Special Purpose Military Units'; or () are special forces in many post-Soviet states. Historically, this term referred to the Soviet Union's Spet ...

. Between 2008 and 2011, the brigade was commanded by Vadim Denisenko, who later became commander of the Special Forces of Belarus. On 3 June 2015, it was reported that the brigade had been brought to full combat readiness on the Ukrainian border. Between 15 and 27 June, it was announced by China and Belarus that the two countries would stage Exercise Dashing Eagle 2015 with PLA paratroopers and the 38th's 382nd Mobile Battalion participating. On 2 August 2016, the brigade was renamed the 38th Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade, restoring its original name. The brigade received the honorific Brest after its base location on 14 January 2020. The brigade was used to suppress the 2020 Belarusian protests in Brest in August of that year.

Commanders

*Lieutenant Colonel

Valery Sakhashchyk Valery Stepanovich Sakhashchyk (, ; born 13 August 1964) is a former commander of the Belarusian 38th Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade. Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sakhashchyk launched video appeals calling for Belarus ...

(1999-2002) * Vadim Denisenko (2008-2011) *Colonel Dmitry Ptashnik (since )

References

{{Military units and formations of the Armed Forces of Belarus Brigades of Belarus Military units and formations established in 1979 Airborne infantry brigades Special forces of Belarus Air assault brigades of the Soviet Ground Forces