The 40th Separate Guards Krasnodarsko-Kharbinsky Twice Red Banner Naval Infantry Brigade is a

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military unit, military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute ...

of the

Russian Marines The Russian Naval Infantry (), often referred to as Russian Marines in the West, operate as the naval infantry of the Russian Navy. Established in 1705, they are capable of conducting amphibious operations as well as operating as more traditiona ...

. It is based in

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (, ) is a city and the administrative center of Kamchatka Krai, Russia. It is located in the Far East of the country and lies along the coast of Avacha Bay by the Pacific Ocean, nearby Khalaktyrskoye Lake. As of the 2021 ...

in the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East ( rus, Дальний Восток России, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in North Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asia, Asian continent, and is coextensive with the Far Easte ...

and has the

Military Unit Number A Military Unit Number (Russian: войсковая часть, в/ ч; Ukrainian: військова частина, в/ ч) is a numeric alternate designation for military units in the armed forces and internal troops of post-Soviet ...

(в/ч) 10103. It is part of the North-East Group of Troops and Forces, a joint command directed by the headquarters of the Navy's

Kamchatka Flotilla The Kamchatka Military Flotilla () is a flotilla of the Russian Navy. On December 14, 1849, in accordance with the Decree of Emperor Nicholas I, the Okhotsk military flotilla was transferred to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in Kamchatka. Thus December ...

History

The brigade has a rather unusual history, in that it can trace its origins to a

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

division formed in 1918, which became best known as the 22nd Rifle Division (not to be confused with the

22nd Guards Rifle Division The 22nd Guards Rifle Division was a division in the Soviet Armed Forces. The division was unique in being the only Guards rifle division formed twice during the Second World War. It was first formed from the 363rd Rifle Division (Soviet Union), 36 ...

Historical names

2nd Infantry Division
Nikolayevsky Infantry Division
30th Nikolayevsky Soviet Infantry Division
3rd Separate Naval Infantry Regiment
40th Separate Naval Infantry Brigade
40th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade
22nd Motor Rifle Division
22nd Rifle Division

Early history

The division was first formed on 22 September 1918, as the 2nd Infantry Division. It was based on guerrilla groups from

Nikolayevsk Nikolayevsk () is a town and the administrative center of Nikolayevsky District in Volgograd Oblast, Russia, located on the left (eastern) shore of the Volga River. Population: History It was founded in 1747 as the ''khutor'' of Dmitriyev (), ...

(in the

Volga region The Volga region, known as the ( , ; rus, Поволжье, r=Povolžje, p=pɐˈvoɫʐje; ), is a historical region in Russia that encompasses the drainage basin of the Volga River, the longest river in Europe, in central and southern European ...

Novouzensk Novouzensk ( rus, Новоузе́нск, p=nəvəʊˈzʲensk) is a town and the administrative center of Novouzensky District of Saratov Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Bolshoy Uzen River at its confluence with the Chertanly Ri ...

(in

Samara Governorate Samara Governorate () was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR, located in the Volga Region. It existed from 1850 to 1928; its capital was in Samara Samara, formerly known as Kuybyshev ...

) and Malousensk Volost (Samara Governorate), and two volunteer workers' units, from Balashov and

Penza Penza (, ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Penza Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Sura (river), Sura River, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Russian census, 2010 Census, Penza had ...

(both in the Volga region). From 2 October 1918 it was known as the Nikolayevsky Infantry Division, from 24 November 1918 as the 30th Nikolayevsky Soviet Infantry Division and from 13 January 1919 as the Nikolayevsky Infantry Division. After the previous redesignations, on 25 March 1919, it was named the 22nd Rifle Division. After the end of the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

, the division was stationed in Krasnodar. A few years later, the 74th Taman Territorial Rifle Division (1921–1942) separated from the division. For military services on February 21, 1931, the division was awarded the Honor of the

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 ...

. In 1937, the division was relocated to the Far East, where a military conflict with the Japanese was brewing. In the summer of 1938, the 195th Yeisk rifle regiment of the division took part in the

Battle of Lake Khasan The Battle of Lake Khasan (), also known as the Changkufeng Incident (Chinese and Japanese: zh, s=張鼓峰事件, labels=no; Chinese pinyin: zh, hp=Zhānggǔfēng Shìjiàn, labels=no; Japanese romaji: ), was an attempted military incursion b ...

Second World War

At the start of

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...

in June 1941, the 22nd Rifle Division was stationed in the Far East. It did not take part in the battles with Germany, but between 1941 and 1943, the division sent 6086 soldiers to the Western Front. In May 1945, the 22nd Rifle Division became part of the

1st Red Banner Army The 1st Red Banner Army () was a Red Army field army of World War II that served in the Soviet Far East. Before 1941 The 1st Army was created in July 1938 under the name of the 1st Coastal Army (or, depending on translation, 1st Maritime Army) i ...

, an independent coastal formation, in the

. It saw active service during the

Soviet invasion of Manchuria The Soviet invasion of Manchuria, formally known as the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation or simply the Manchurian Operation () and sometimes Operation August Storm, began on 9 August 1945 with the Soviet Union, Soviet invasion of the Emp ...

Cold War

In late 1945, the 22nd Rifle Division became part of the

137th Rifle Corps 137th may refer to: *137th (Calgary) Battalion, CEF, unit in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War * 137th Air Reconnaissance Regiment, air reconnaissance and guidance regiment, part of the SFR Yugoslav Air Force * 137th Speci ...

Kamchatka The Kamchatka Peninsula (, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and western coastlines, respectively. Immediately offshore along the Pacific ...

. It was re-designated from 22nd Rifle Division to 22nd Motor Rifle Division in 1957, part of the 43rd Army Corps.Feskov et al 2013, pp. 597–598 In 1980 it became part of the new

25th Army Corps The 25th Army Corps was an army corps of the Soviet Ground Forces active from 1957–1960 and 1980–89. In its first period of existence it was in the Odessa Military District, and in its second period of existence it garrisoned the remote Kamchatk ...

.Feskov et al 2013, pp. 596597 In 1982, its 168th Tank Regiment became the 59th Separate Tank Battalion. During the late 1980s, the division included the following units: *Division Headquarters ( Chapayevka) *59th Separate Tank Battalion *211th Motor Rifle Regiment ( Dolinovka) *246th Motor Rifle Regiment ( Rodygino) *304th Motor Rifle Regiment *996th Artillery Regiment *1006th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment *309th Separate Rocket Battalion *795th Separate Anti-Tank Battalion *784th Separate Reconnaissance Battalion *765th Separate Engineer-Sapper Battalion *124th Separate Communications Battalion *591st Separate Chemical Defense Battalion *197th Separate Equipment Maintenance and Recovery Battalion *24th Separate Medical Battalion *1251st Separate Material Support Battalion *Military Counterintelligence Department

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union

Until 1 June 2002, it was designated the 22nd Motor Rifle Division. It then became the 40th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade. In September 2007 it became the 40th Separate (twice Red Banner) Krasnodar-Harbin twice Red Banner Naval Infantry Brigade. This situation lasted until March, 2009 when it became the 3rd Naval Infantry Regiment. In 2013, the regiment was redesignated back to become the 40th Naval Infantry Brigade. It is reported that its current commander (when?) is Colonel Valery Zhila. Today it is reported to include: *Assault (Airborne) Battalion *Naval Infantry Battalion *Artillery Battery *186th NI Engineer Battalion The brigade also incorporates a tank battalion which reportedly re-equipped with the T-80BV main battle tank in 2021. It was reported on 19 March 2022 that the brigade was transferred to Belarus to replenish Russian losses after the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. By May 19, 2022, it was in active combat in Ukraine. The brigade was involved in the defence of Urozhaine during the

2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive In early June 2023, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine launched a Counter-offensive, counteroffensive against Russian forces Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, occupying its territory with a goal of breaching the front lines ...

and was actively involved in the

2024 Velyka Novosilka offensive A military engagement between the Russian Armed Forces and Ukrainian Armed Forces for control over the Ukrainian town of Velyka Novosilka and the nearby area began in November 2024 and ended with the Russian capture of the town in January 2025. ...

On 20 July 2023 the unit was awarded the "Guards" title. On 29 November 2024, elements of the 40th Naval Infantry Brigade, along with the

37th Motor Rifle Brigade The 37th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Don Cossack Budapest Red Banner Order of the Red Star Brigade named after Ye. A. Shchadenko is a Mechanized infantry, motor rifle brigade of the Russian Ground Forces (Military Unit Number 69647). It is statione ...

of Russia, raised the flag in the center of Rozdolne and seized control of the settlement.

References

* * Carey Schofield, 'Inside the Soviet Army', Headline Book Publishing, 1991, 114, 120–121.

External links

*http://warfare.be/?lang=&catid=321&linkid=2234 {{Soviet Union divisions Naval infantry brigades of Russia Military units and formations established in 2002 Military units and formations of Russia in the Russian invasion of Ukraine