The

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

-based 3rd Separate

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 ...

Special-Purpose Brigade (, ), also known as

Military Unit Military organization ( AE) or military organisation ( BE) is the structuring of the armed forces of a state so as to offer such military capability as a national defense policy may require. Formal military organization tends to use hiera ...

3214 and nicknamed the Uruchenskaya Brigade is a formation of the

Internal Troops of Belarus Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus (; ) is a paramilitary law enforcement force in the Republic of Belarus under the national Ministry of Internal Affairs. All personnel are trained in the Internal Troops Faculty of ...

. It is part of the

special police Special police usually describes a law enforcement agency or unit within a such an agency whose duties and responsibilities are significantly different from other forces in the same nation, jurisdiction, or from other personnel within the same agen ...

(

riot police Riot police are police who are organized, deployed, trained or equipped to confront crowds, protests or riots. Riot police may be regular police officers who act in the role of riot police in particular situations, or they may be separate unit ...

) system in the

Ministry of Internal Affairs An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the i ...

. It has the specific role of performing crowd control and anti-terrorism tasks. It is based in the neighborhood of Uruchye in

and is under the command of Vladimir Zhiznevsky, who is under sanctions by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

and was recommended to be sanctioned by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

History

Unit 3214 originates from the 287th Rifle Regiment of the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

, which was created on 6 March 1942 in the city of

Voronezh Voronezh ( ; , ) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the Southeastern Railway, which connects wes ...

on the basis of a battalion of the 73rd Regiment of the . Although originally created for the protection of railway structures, the regiment took part in battles against the invading German

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

in Voronezh, performing in combat missions in the

North Caucasus The North Caucasus, or Ciscaucasia, is a subregion in Eastern Europe governed by Russia. It constitutes the northern part of the wider Caucasus region, which separates Europe and Asia. The North Caucasus is bordered by the Sea of Azov and the B ...

as well. In 1975, the brigade was awarded the

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner () was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. It was the highest award of S ...

by decree of the

Presidium A presidium or praesidium is a council of executive officers in some countries' political assemblies that collectively administers its business, either alongside an individual president or in place of one. The term is also sometimes used for the ...

of the

Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (SSUSSR) was the highest body of state authority of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1936 to 1991. Based on the principle of unified power, it was the only branch of government in the So ...

. The brigade also took part in eliminating the consequences of the

Chernobyl accident On 26 April 1986, the no. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine), exploded. With dozens of direct casualties, it is one of only ...

, as well as settling interethnic conflicts in the

Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh (, ; ) is a region in Azerbaijan, covering the southeastern stretch of the Lesser Caucasus mountain range. Part of the greater region of Karabakh, it spans the area between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik. Its ter ...

region. The modern unit was formed in the 1990s on the basis of the 334th Motor Rifle Regiment of the 120th Guards Motor Rifle Division. A Special Rapid Response Unit was established on 29 June 1999 on the basis of the Unit 3214. On 13 October 2006, by a presidential decree, the 3rd Separate Red Banner Operational Brigade was renamed into the 3rd Separate Red Banner Special Purpose Brigade of the Internal Troops. In 2020, a dormitory was built on the territory of the unit, having 116 studios and 26 one-bedroom apartments. It is primarily meant for single servicemen as well as fourth-year cadets of the Internal Troops Faculty of the

Military Academy of Belarus Military Academy of the Republic of Belarus (, ) is higher military educational institution in the national education system of the Republic of Belarus and the leading institution in the education system of training, retraining and advanced traini ...

Role within the Internal Troops

The number of personnel in the unit ranges from 1500 to 2000 people. The brigade includes special-purpose battalions, a special rapid reaction unit (

SOBR The Special Rapid Response Unit or SOBR (), from 2002 to 2011 known as OMSN (''Otryad Militsii Spetsial'nogo Naznacheniya'', Special Police Unit), is a spetsnaz unit of the National Guard of Russia (Rosgvardiya).With their military equipmen ...

) and support units. SOBR is the youngest rapid response unit in Belarus. In peacetime, the brigade's personnel participate in maintaining public order and often go on missions outside of Minsk. During opposition rallies in the capital, the brigade is usually kept in reserve and used only in the most extreme cases. Members of the Honor Guard Company of the Minsk Military Commandant are also subordinated to the brigade.

2020 protests

The unit became more controversial during the 2020 Belarusian protests, being one of the enforcers of state policy after the Belarusian presidential election along with the

OMON OMON is a system of military special police units within the Armed Forces of Russia. It previously operated within the structures of the Soviet and Russian Ministries of Internal Affairs (MVD). Originating as the special forces unit of the So ...

and

Almaz The Almaz () program was a highly secret Soviet Union, Soviet military space station program, begun in the early 1960s. Three crewed military reconnaissance stations were launched between 1973 and 1976: Salyut 2, Salyut 3 and Salyut 5. To co ...

units. President

Alexander Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (also transliterated as Alyaksandr Ryhoravich Lukashenka; born 30 August 1954) is a Belarusian politician who has been the first and only president of Belarus since the office's establishment in 1994, making hi ...

visited the unit's headquarters days before the election, watching tactical exercises, during which he called on the unit to maintain its combat readiness. The Russian newspaper wrote that the beatings and arrests that occurred on 10 August 2020, were ordered by the retired commander of Military Unit 3214, Dmitry Pavlichenko, who had been previously arrested for serious crimes.

Characteristics

Today, it is the only unit in Belarus that has the right to wear a maroon

beret A beret ( , ; ; ; ) is a soft, round, flat-crowned cap made of hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, wool felt, or acrylic fibre. Mass production of berets began in the 19th century in Southern France and the north of History of Spain (1808 ...

. The symbol of the brigade is the

lynx A lynx ( ; : lynx or lynxes) is any of the four wikt:extant, extant species (the Canada lynx, Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx and the bobcat) within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. The name originated in Middle Engl ...

, a Belarusian predator. Its brigade holiday is on 4 September. A former officer of the brigade described the men in its ranks as "zombies", claiming that they have been brainwashed. According to him, their motto is "I serve the country and the President".

Unit Patches

File:Belarus Internal Troops--Honor Guard Company MU 3214 patch (parade).png,

Honor Guard A guard of honour (Commonwealth English), honor guard (American English) or ceremonial guard, is a group of people, typically drawn from the military, appointed to perform ceremonial duties – for example, to receive or guard a head of state ...

Patch File:Belarus Internal Troops--Special Operations Ensuring Company MU 3214 patch.png, Special Operations Ensuring Company File:Belarus Internal Troops--Technical Support Company MU 3214 patch.png, Technical Support Company patch File:Belarus Internal Troops--Reconnaissance Company MU 3214 patch.png, Reconnaissance Company File:Belarus Internal Troops--Special Forces Company N 5 MU 3214 patch.png, Special Forces Company patch

References