The 53rd Guards Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade is a

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-ai ...

brigade 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, ...

. 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 th ...

, the brigade is based at

Kursk Kursk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur (Kursk Oblast), Kur, Tuskar, and Seym (river), Seym rivers. It has a population of Kursk ...

. Formed from an anti-aircraft regiment in 1967 in Armenia, the brigade was transferred to

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 ...

shortly after its formation and served as part of the

Group of Soviet Forces in Germany The Western Group of Forces (WGF), previously known as the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany (GSOFG) and the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSFG), were the troops of the Soviet Army in East Germany. The Group of Soviet Occupation ...

for the remainder of 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 ...

. After the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Germany in 1992, the brigade was relocated to

. A joint investigation team of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

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 ...

has concluded that the brigade provided the unit that shot down

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17/MAS17) was a scheduled passenger flight from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Kuala Lumpur that was shot down by Russian-backed forces with a Buk missile system, Bu ...

which killed 298 people. On 21 February 2023,

Russian president The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation (), is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the Federal State Council and the supreme commander-in-chief of the Russian Armed Forces. I ...

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

awarded the unit the honorary 'Guards' title for its service in the Invasion of Ukraine.

History

Cold War

The 268th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment was formed in 1961 at

Artik Artik () is a town in the Artik Municipality of the Shirak Province of Armenia. As of the 2011 census, the town had a population of 19,534. As per the 2016 official estimate, the population of Artik was around 18,800. As of the 2022 census, the t ...

with the

7th Guards Army The 7th Guards Army was a field army of the Red Army during World War II and of the Soviet Army during the Cold War. History The 7th Guards Army was formed from the 64th Army on April 16, 1943. 64th Army had originally been formed from 1s ...

, equipped with the

SA-2 The S-75 (Russian: С-75; NATO reporting name SA-2 Guideline) is a Soviet-designed, high-altitude air defence system. It is built around a surface-to-air missile with command guidance. Following its first deployment in 1957 it became one of the ...

. On 1 October 1967, it was upgraded into the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, with the 677th, 679th, and the 682nd Separate Anti-Aircraft Missile Battalions. Around this time the brigade received the SA-4 Krug missile system. Between 20 December 1968 and 7 January 1969 it transferred to East Germany. The brigade became part of the

1st Guards Tank Army The 1st Guards Tank Red Banner Army () is a tank army of the Russian Ground Forces (Military Unit Number 73621). The army traces its heritage back to the 1st Tank Army, formed twice in July 1942 and in January 1943 and converted into the 1st ...

Altenburg Altenburg () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located south of Leipzig, west of Dresden and east of Erfurt. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district and part of a polycentric old-industrial textile and metal production region betw ...

. The 677th Battalion was based at Altenburg, the 679th at

Merseburg Merseburg () is a town in central Germany in southern Saxony-Anhalt, situated on the river Saale, and approximately 14 km south of Halle (Saale) and 30 km west of Leipzig. It is the capital of the Saalekreis district. It had a diocese ...

, and the 682nd at

Zeitz Zeitz (; , ) is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the river White Elster, in the triangle of the federal states Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Saxony. History First a Slavic pagan settlem ...

. On 1 October 1970 the 53rd was transferred to the 20th Guards Army but returned to the 1st Guards Tank Army in 1984. In November 1986 the 1578th Separate Anti-Aircraft Missile Battalion was formed at

Oschatz Oschatz () is a town in the district Nordsachsen, in Saxony, Germany. It is located 60 km east of Leipzig and 60 km west of Dresden. Geography Site and climate Oschatz lies in the Saxon Lowland and is located on the river Döllnit ...

after the 677th moved to

Wittenberg Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...

. At this time the brigade was reequipped with the SA-11 Buk missile system. In 1992, the brigade was withdrawn to Kursk and became part of the 20th Guards Army.

Russian Ground Forces service

9A310 self-propelled launch vehicle for Buk-M1-2 Air defence system

Between 1994 and 1998, the 53rd was stationed in

Gudauta Gudauta ( ka, გუდაუთა, ; , ''Gwdowtha''; , ''Gudauta'') is a town in Abkhazia, Georgia, and the capital of the eponymous district. It is situated on the Black Sea, 37 km northwest of Sokhumi, the capital of Abkhazia. It is the ...

as part of the Russian peacekeeping mission in

Abkhazia Abkhazia, officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a List of states with limited recognition, partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and West Asia. It cover ...

. The brigade was repeatedly awarded the prize for being the best air defense brigade in the 20th Guards Army and 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 ...

for its performance during exercises between 2005 and 2008. The brigade participated in the 2008 Moscow Victory Day Parade and the exercises "Zapad-2009", "Zapad-2011", and "Zapad-2014."

The shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17

The brigade was reported by

Bellingcat Bellingcat (stylised bell¿ngcat) is a Netherlands-based investigative journalism group that specialises in fact-checking and open-source intelligence (OSINT). It was founded by British citizen journalist and former blogger Eliot Higgins in Ju ...

and

Correctiv Correctiv (self-styled CORRECT!V) is a German nonprofit investigative journalism newsroom based in Essen and Berlin. It is run by ''CORRECTIV – Recherchen für die Gesellschaft gemeinnützige GmbH'' ("CORRECTIV – Investigations for the Soci ...

as providing the

transporter erector launcher and radar A transporter erector launcher (TEL) is a missile vehicle with an integrated tractor unit that can transport, elevate to a firing position and launch one or more rockets or missiles. History Such vehicles exist for both surface-to-air missiles ...

(TELAR) unit that shot down

on 17 July 2014. According to Bellingcat's January 2016 investigation, the brigade's soldiers were involved in shooting down of the aircraft. On 24 May 2018, the

joint investigation team Joint Investigation Teams (JIT) are law enforcement and judicial teams set up jointly by national investigative agencies of European Union (EU) member states to handle cross-border crime. Joint investigation teams coordinate the investigations and p ...

(JIT) concluded that MH17 was shot down using a

Buk missile system The Buk (; "beech" (tree), ) is a family of self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon, self-propelled, medium-range surface-to-air missile systems developed by the Soviet Union and its successor state, the Russian Federation, and designed to counter ...

belonging to the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade.

Commanders

The brigade has been commanded by the following officers. * Colonel I.P. Popov (19671973) * Colonel A.S. Samoylenko (19731977) * Colonel Y.S. Dudchenko (19771983) * Colonel Yu. A. Yarchak (19831985) * Colonel Yu. V. Filkov (19851991) * Colonel I.P. Kondrashov (19911992) * Colonel G.N. Chernov (19922004) * Colonel Alexander Viktorovich Donets (20052009) * Colonel V.V. Kukushkin (20092011) * Colonel A. Vi. Rokossovski (20112014) * Colonel Sergey Borisovich Muchkayev (2014present)

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

History of the Brigade on Russian MoD PVO Anniversary page
{{Brigades of the Russian Ground Forces Surface-to-air missile brigades of the Russian Ground Forces Surface-to-air missile brigades of the Soviet Ground Forces Military units and formations established in 1967 Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 Military units and formations of Russia in the Russian invasion of Ukraine