The 4th Guards Tank Division is a Guards armoured division of the

Russian Ground Forces The Russian Ground Forces (), also known as the Russian Army in English, are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, ...

. The division is named after

Yuri Andropov Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov ( – 9 February 1984) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from late 1982 until his death in 1984. He previously served as the List of Chairmen of t ...

. The division 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 ...

19612 and is one of the key formations of the

Moscow Military District The Order of Lenin Moscow Military District () is a Military districts of Russia, military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Originally it was a district of the Imperial Russian Army until the Russian Empire's collapse in 191 ...

. All of the division's units, as well as headquarters, are based in Naro-Fominsk,

Moscow Oblast Moscow Oblast (, , informally known as , ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). With a population of 8,524,665 (Russian Census (2021), 2021 Census) living in an area of , it is one of the most densely populate ...

, southwest of

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

History

World War II

The direct ancestor of the Division was the

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 ...

's 17th Tank Corps, initially formed in

Stalingrad Volgograd,. geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area o ...

in 1942 shortly after the 1941 start of the German invasion of the Soviet Union during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The 17th Tank Corps commenced combat operations on 26 June 1942, when it deployed to the west 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 ...

, just before the Battle of Voronezh. For distinction in combat during Operation Little Saturn between 17 December and 30 December 1942, the 17th Tank Corps was renumbered the 4th Guards Tank Corps in January 1943. The Corps received the

honorific An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an Honorary title (academic), h ...

''Kantemirovskaya'' after the village of Kantemirovka in Kantemirovsky District,

Voronezh Oblast Voronezh Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Voronezh. Its population was 2,308,792 as of the Russian Census (2021), 20 ...

, which its tank sub-units liberated from

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

occupation in their

baptism of fire The phrase baptism by fire, baptism of fire or baptism with fire is a Christian theological concept originating from the words of John the Baptist in Matthew 3:11. It also has related meanings in military history and popular culture. Christiani ...

. In August 1943, the 4th Guards Tank Corps conducted continuous combat operations on the

Belgorod Belgorod (, ) is a city that serves as the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River, approximately north of the border with Ukraine. It has a population of It was founded in 1596 as a defensiv ...

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

sector of the Kursk Bulge. For the courage and heroism shown during the liberation of cities in

right-bank Ukraine The Right-bank Ukraine is a historical and territorial name for a part of modern Ukraine on the right (west) bank of the Dnieper River, corresponding to the modern-day oblasts of Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Kirovohrad, as well as the western parts o ...

, including

Zbarazh Zbarazh (, ; ; ) is a small city in Ternopil Raion, Ternopil Oblast, western Ukraine. It is located in the historic region of Galicia (Central Europe), Galicia. Zbarazh hosts the administration of Zbarazh urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukr ...

Ternopil Ternopil, known until 1944 mostly as Tarnopol, is a city in western Ukraine, located on the banks of the Seret River. Ternopil is one of the major cities of Western Ukraine and the historical regions of Galicia and Podolia. The populatio ...

, and Shepetovka in April 1944, the Corps 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 ...

. Seventeen

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

s and separate

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

s were awarded honorifics of ''Shepetovsky'', ''Zhitomirsky'', ''Yampolsky'', and ''Tarnopolsky'', in honor of the cities they had taken. The 4th Guards Tank Corps participated in the 1945 battle for

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, for which it was awarded the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

. The corps was among the first Red Army formations to reach the river

Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...

and participate in the capture of

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

in Germany. The Corps redeployed to

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

, where they saw their final fighting of World War II in the suburbs of

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, during the Prague Offensive. For the courage shown by Corps soldiers and officers, military units were awarded 23 awards, the staff of the corps was thanked officially by the supreme commander in chief 18 times, 32 of its members were awarded the Hero of Soviet Union (5 of which are forever enlisted in the unit rolls), and more than 20,000 soldiers received awards and medals, five becoming full chevaliers of the

Order of Glory The Order of Glory () was a military decoration of the Soviet Union established by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet on November 8, 1943. It was awarded to soldiers and non-commissioned officers of the Red Army as well as to aviation ...

. On 14 June 1945, the 4th Guards Tank Corps became the 4th Guards Kantemirovskaya Tank Division. On 13 September 1945, the division was assigned to the

. The division was re-deployed to Naro-Fominsk outside of Moscow, where it maintains its

garrison A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...

Cold War period

On 11 September 1946, the Division participated in the

Day of Tankmen Day of Tankmen () is a professional military holiday in Russia and the former Soviet Union, celebrated every second Sunday of September. It celebrates the service and sacrifices of tank crews and commanders in armored formations since the Russian ...

's parade on

Red Square Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', p=ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːɪtʲ) is one of the oldest and largest town square, squares in Moscow, Russia. It is located in Moscow's historic centre, along the eastern walls of ...

in Moscow. On 23 May 1953, the Division's 3rd Guards Motor Rifle Regiment became the 119th Guards Mechanized Regiment. The 275th Guards Artillery Battalion was formed from the 264th Guards Mortar Regiment and the

Howitzer The howitzer () is an artillery weapon that falls between a cannon (or field gun) and a mortar. It is capable of both low angle fire like a field gun and high angle fire like a mortar, given the distinction between low and high angle fire break ...

Artillery Battalion. The 76th Separate Motorcycle Battalion was converted into a

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

battalion. The 120th Guards Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment became the 538th Guards Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment in April 1955. The 14th Guards Tank Regiment was disbanded in June 1957. At the same time, the 43rd Guards Heavy Tank Self-Propelled Regiment became the 43rd Guards Heavy Tank Regiment and the 119th Guards Mechanized Regiment was redesignated the 423rd Guards Motor Rifle Regiment. In 1960, the division's tank training battalion was disbanded. In early 1962, the 43rd Guards Heavy Tank Regiment became a regular tank regiment. In February 1962, the 196th Separate Equipment Maintenance and Recovery Battalion and the 339th Separate Missile Battalion were activated. The 106th Separate Sapper Battalion became the 330th Separate Engineer-Sapper Battalion in 1968. In 1972 the separate Chemical Defence Company became the 616th Separate Chemical Defence Battalion. The motor transport battalion was renamed the 1088th Separate Material Supply Battalion in 1980. In February 1984, the division received the honorific name "in the name of

", the Soviet

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

at the time. In 1989, the 43rd Guards Tank Regiment was replaced by the 14th Guards Tank Regiment. During the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, the division was maintained at 80% strength. The division was one of the two major divisions deployed in Moscow in August 1991 as part of the failed hardline coup against Soviet President

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

Russian Federation

Following 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 ...

in December 1991, the 4th Guards Tank Division became a part of the

, the

land forces Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of Earth not submerged by the ocean or another body of water. It makes up 29.2% of Earth's surface and includes all continents and islands. Earth's land surface ...

of the Russian Federation. During the 1993 constitutional crisis of Boris Yeltsin's premiership, the division was one of several key divisions that had given their support to Yeltsin by October 4, the decisive point in the crisis. T-80UD tanks of the Kantemirovsky division took part in the shooting of the White House. In the early 1990s, the division came under the command of the 1st Guards Tank Army, along with the 144th Guards Motor Rifle Division. The 1st GTA had relocated from

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

when the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany was disbanded at the beginning of the 1990s. It was disbanded in 1998, as was the 144th MRD. The Kantemirovskaya Division came under the command of the 20th Guards Army. The division's units participated in the

First Chechen War The First Chechen War, also referred to as the First Russo-Chechen War, was a struggle for independence waged by the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria against the invading Russia, Russian Federation from 1994 to 1996. After a mutually agreed on treaty ...

of 19941996, and personnel took part in

peacekeeping operation Peacekeeping comprises activities, especially military ones, intended to create conditions that favor lasting peace. Research generally finds that peacekeeping reduces civilian and battlefield deaths, as well as reduces the risk of renewed w ...

s in

South Ossetia South Ossetia, officially the Republic of South Ossetia or the State of Alania, is a landlocked country in the South Caucasus with International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, partial diplomatic recognition. It has an offici ...

during 1997, in

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

from 1998 to 2002, and later participating in the

Second Chechen War Names The Second Chechen War is also known as the Second Chechen Campaign () or the Second Russian Invasion of Chechnya from the Chechens, Chechen insurgents' point of view.Федеральный закон № 5-ФЗ от 12 января 19 ...

of 19992009. During the period, the division was one of the Russian Army's "constant readiness" divisions, with at least 80%

manpower Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include ...

and 100% equipment holdings at all times. In May 2005, eight T-80BV tanks from the division took part in the parade in Moscow to mark the 60th anniversary of

VE Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945; it marked the official surrender of all German military operations ...

. In December 2005 the Russian Defence Minister, Sergei Ivanov, visited the Division. In early 2006, the division's 13th Tank Regiment participated, along with other 20th Guards Army units, in the joint Russian

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 ...

ian "Shield of Union" military exercises. Kantemirovsky Street in Moscow is named in honour of the 4th Guards Tank Division. In 2009, the division was reduced to the 4th Separate Guards Tank Brigade later that year, still stationed at Naro-Fominsk. In May 2013, the Kantemirovskaya division was reformed from the tank brigade. , two years after the division was reconstituted, the Russian Armed Forces planned to rebuild the famous Soviet-era 1st Guards Red Banner Tank Army by including both the 4th Guards Tank Division and the

2nd Guards Motor Rifle Division The 2nd Guards Mikhail Kalinin, M. I. Kalinin Taman Motor Rifle Division is a Russian Guards, Guards Mechanized infantry, mechanised infantry Division (military), division of the Russian Ground Forces. Its Military Unit Number is 23626. The 2nd ...

as well as one tank and rifle brigade (from the 1990s up to its 1998 disbandment the 4th Guards TD formed part of the army).

Russo-Ukrainian War

On 24 February 2022, Russia launched its invasion of

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. The 1st Guards Tank Army was tasked with the capture of Ukraine's capital,

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, while the 4th Guards Tank Division was tasked with occupying Ukraine's second most populous city,

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

. During the opening hours, the division failed to isolate the city, which was later criticized by western intelligence officers as "hesitant and amateurish." According to a Russian casualty log, the division's parent unit lost 131 tanks as well as 409 troops. Some sources estimated that, because of losses and mechanical issues, that only 1 out of 10 of the division's tanks remained operational. Following the failure to capture Kharkiv, 1st Guards Tank Army commander General-Lieutenant Sergey Kiel was suspended. On 3 May 2022, the division returned to Russia for refitting.

Columns A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

of tanks from the 4th Guards Tank Division passed through the city of Trostianets in

Sumy Oblast Sumy Oblast (), also known as Sumshchyna (), is an oblast (province) in northeast Ukraine. The oblast was created in its modern-day form, from the merging of raions from Kharkiv Oblast, Chernihiv Oblast, and Poltava Oblast in 1939 by the Presid ...

on 24 February 2022, and units of the division including the 12th and 13th Guards Tank Regiments are reported to have been among the Russian forces which occupied the city. On 13 May 2022, the division became the first Russian formation to be individually singled out as having allegedly committed war crimes in the invasion. That day, the first war crimes trial began in Kyiv of a soldier from the division who had been ordered to shoot an unarmed civilian in Chupakhivka, Sumy Oblast, reportedly to avoid the chance that he would report Russian troop positions. By September 2022, the division, while deployed as part of the 1st Guards Tank Army, despite not having fully reconstituted during its rest and refit, was hit by the Ukrainian Kharkiv counteroffensive. Before this, Ukrainian deep strikes on the division's supply lines, coupled with the lack of close air support along the front, contributed to the division's divided, demoralized, and damaged force structure. At the beginning of the counteroffensive, the Ukrainian 4th Tank Brigade attempted to encircle 4th Guards Tank Division units outside of

Izium Izium or Izyum (, ; ) is a city on the Donets River in Kharkiv Oblast, eastern Ukraine that serves as the administrative center of Izium Raion and Izium urban hromada. It is about southeast of the city of Kharkiv, the oblast's administrative cen ...

, leading the division to retreat east across the Oskil River towards Lyman, lacking almost all of its heavy equipment and vehicles. Following the losses sustained at

, western analysis marked 90 to 100

T-80U List of models and variants of the T-80 main battle tank. Command tanks with additional radio equipment have ''K'' added to their designation for ''komandirskiy'' ("command"), for example, ''T-80BK'' is the command version of the T-80B. Version ...

losses, half its strength at the time, with many abandoned tanks still intact.

Structure

The 4th Guards Tank Division consists of a division headquarters, two tank regiments, one motor rifle regiment, an artillery regiment, an anti-aircraft missile regiment, a reconnaissance battalion, and several directly subordinated combat support and

combat service support The term combat service support (or CSS) is utilized by numerous military organizations throughout the world to describe entities that provide direct and indirect sustainment services to the groups that engage (or are potentially to be engaged) ...

battalions and companies. According to a report from the

Institute for the Study of War The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) is an American nonprofit research group and advocacy think tank founded in 2007 by military historian Kimberly Kagan and headquartered in Washington, D.C. ISW provides research and analysis of modern arm ...

in March 2018, the division contained: * Division Headquarters based in Naro-Fominsk commanded by

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Oleg Tulinov (

19612) ** 137th Reconnaissance Battalion, Naro-Fominsk ** 165th Medical Battalion, Naro-Fominsk ** 413th Communications Battalion, Naro-Fominsk ** 330th Engineering Battalion, Naro-Fominsk ** 1088th Logistics Battalion, Naro-Fominsk * , Naro-Fominsk * 13th Guards Tank Regiment, Naro-Fominsk * 423rd Guards Motor Rifle Regiment, Naro-Fominsk * 275th Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment, Naro-Fominsk * 538th Guards Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment, Naro-Fominsk Catherine Harris and Frederick Kagan list the 49th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade at

as part of the division, but the division has a different anti-aircraft rocket regiment and assignment of two such units would be non-standard in terms of Russian division organization. Russian websites do not list the 49th AARB as part of the division. In 2008, the 4th Guards Tank Division had approximately 12,000 personnel in active service.Moscow Military District, warfare.ru, Russian Military Analysis. Retrieved on 1 September 2008.
/ref>

Commanders

* Major General Nikolai Filippenko (1952–1957) * Major General Boris Kurtsev (1957–1960) * Major General Vladimir Dorodnov (1960–1965) * Major General Nikolay Lapygin (1965–1968) * Major General Aleksandr Shalkin (1974–1977) * Major General Yury Momotov (1979–1982) * Major General Vladimir Kartmazov (1982–1985) * Major General Ivan Denisov (1985–1987) * Major General Nikolay Loktionov (1987–1989) * Major General Vladimir Chuzhikov (1989–1991) * Major General Boris Nikolayevich Polyakov (1991–1994) * Major General Alexander Denisov (1995–1998) * Major General Yevgeny Fuzhenko (1999–2002) * Major General Anatoly Yolkin (2002–2003) * Major General Alexander Romanchuk (November 2003 – July 2006) * Major General Sergey Kuralenko (July 2006 – June 2009) * Colonel Sergey Youriévitch Nekrasov (June 2009 - Octobre 2010) * Colonel Andrey Mordvichev (April 2011 – March 2012) * Major General Sergei Kombarov (March 2012 – August 2015) * Major General Andrey Kolesnikov (August 2015 – August 2018) * Major General Vladimir Zavadsky† (August 2018 – June 2021) * Colonel Yevgeny Nikolayevich Zhuravlyov (June 2021 – present)

Unit decorations

Traditions

Anniversaries

The anniversary of the formation of the division is celebrated on June 29 every year, with festive events in Naro-Fominsk. On the divisional parade ground, servicemen are awarded state and departmental awards. Participants see demonstration performances from cadets of the Moscow Higher Military Command School, as well as visit the exhibition of weapons and military equipment.

celebrations are held by the division.

Parades

The division participates in both the ground and mobile columns of the Moscow Victory Day Parade on

, representing the forces of the Western Military District in the former. The division took part in a parade in 2013, days after its recreation. As a result of its participation in the

Moscow Victory Parade of 1945 The 1945 Moscow Victory Parade (), also known as the Parade of Victors (), was a victory parade held by the Soviet Armed Forces (with the Color Guard Company representing the First Polish Army) after the defeat of Nazi Germany. This, the longest ...

it received the honorific of ''Kantemirovka''. The unit's participation in the three-hour Tankmen Day parade in 1946 was decreed by Soviet leader

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

Divisional museum

Naro-Fominsk hosts a Museum of Military Glory of the tank division. After restoration work in 2017, the exhibition halls were enlarged. The exhibition consists of over 3,000 exhibits, including military equipment and weapons. More than 10,000 people visit the museum annually, and over the years, the museum was visited by the military leadership as well as representatives of over 100 foreign delegations from

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

The Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.'' Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sin ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. Since 1987, a museum of the division was made part of

Omsk Omsk (; , ) is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia and has a population of over one million. Omsk is the third List of cities and tow ...

's Boarding School No. 14.

Equipment

The division's principal vehicles are the

, T-80BV, and T-80BVM

main battle tank A main battle tank (MBT), also known as a battle tank or universal tank or simply tank,Ogorkiewicz 2018 p222 is a tank that fills the role of armour-protected direct fire and maneuver in many modern armies. Cold War-era development of more po ...

s and the

BMP-2 The BMP-2 (''Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty'', , literally "combat machine/vehicle f theinfantry") is an amphibious infantry fighting vehicle introduced in the 1980s in the Soviet Union, following on from the BMP-1 of the 1960s. Development his ...

infantry fighting vehicle An infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), also known as a mechanized infantry combat vehicle (MICV), is a type of armoured fighting vehicle and armoured personnel carrier used to carry infantry into battle and provide direct fire, direct-fire suppo ...

. It makes limited use of the

BTR-80 The BTR-80 () is an 8×8 wheeled Amphibious vehicle, amphibious armoured personnel carrier (APC) designed in the Soviet Union. It was adopted in 1985 and replaced the previous vehicles, the BTR-60 and BTR-70, in the Soviet Army. It was first de ...

and

MT-LB The MT-LB (, literally "multi-purpose towing vehicle light armored") is a Soviet Union, Soviet multi-purpose, fully amphibious vehicle, amphibious, tracked Armoured fighting vehicle, armored fighting vehicle in use since the 1970s. It was also ...

armoured personnel carrier An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world. Acc ...

s, as well as the 2S19 Msta-S

self-propelled artillery Self-propelled artillery (also called locomotive artillery) is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move toward its firing position. Within the terminology are the self-propelled gun, self-propelled howitzer, self-propelled mo ...

system, BM-21 ''Grad,'' and

BM-27 The BM-27 Uragan (; GRAU index 9P140) is a Self-propelled artillery, self-propelled 220 mm multiple rocket launcher designed in the Soviet Union to deliver cluster munitions. The system began its service with the Soviet Army in the late 197 ...

"Uragan" MLRS. The division's two tank regiments are equipped with the T-80U and smaller numbers of the T-80UE-1. The division's motor rifle regiment is equipped with a mix of T-80BVs and the upgraded T-80BVMs which it began to receive in company-sized batches in 2020."Броня крепка! Обзор состояния танковых войск Вооружённых сил России," soldat.ru, Retrieved 19 March 2022.
/ref> Equipment Summary*

References

* *

Notes

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Russian 4th Guards Tank Division Tank divisions of Russia

004 004, 0O4, O04, OO4 may refer to: * 004, fictional British 00 Agent * 0O4, Corning Municipal Airport (California) * O04, the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation * Abdul Haq Wasiq, Guantanamo detainee 004 * Junkers Jumo 004 turbojet engine * La ...

Military units and formations established in 1942 Military units and formations disestablished in 2009 1942 establishments in the Soviet Union Military units and formations awarded the Order of the Red Banner Military units and formations of Russia in the Russian invasion of Ukraine