The 80th Separate Arctic Motor Rifle Brigade ''(80-я отдельная мотострелковая бригада)'' (
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 ...
: 34667) is a specialist
arctic warfare
Cold-weather warfare, also known as cold-region warfare, arctic warfare or winter warfare, encompasses military operations affected by snow, ice, Mud season, thawing conditions, or cold, both on land and at sea, as well as the strategies and t ...
formation of the
Coastal Troops of the Russian Navy
The Coastal Troops () are a service arm of the Russian Navy. Their missions are to protect Russian fleets' forces, personnel, and seashore objects from enemy surface ships; to defend naval bases and other important facilities of the Fleets from l ...
formed in 2014.
History
Formation
The brigade was formed on 31 December 2014, and its battle flag presented on 17 January 2015 by the commander of the
Northern Fleet
The Northern Fleet (, ''Severnyy flot'') is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Arctic.
According to the Russian ministry of defence: "The Northern Fleet dates its history back to a squadron created in 1733 to protect the terri ...
, Admiral
Vladimir Korolev
Vladimir Ivanovich Korolyov (; born 1 February 1955) is a retired Russian admiral who was Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy from 2015 to 2019. Before that, he was commander of the Northern Fleet from 2011 to 2015 and commander of the Norther ...
. The brigade was formed to be the second specialized arctic brigade in the Arctic, along with its sister unit the
200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade.
As of 2020, the brigade falls under the command of the specially formed
14th Army Corps, itself part of the
Northern Fleet Joint Strategic Command
The Northern Fleet Joint Strategic Command (), was a Military districts of Russia, military district of the Russian Armed Forces, with its jurisdiction primarily within the northern region of European Russia and the Arctic Ocean.
The Northern F ...
. The brigade's mission is to patrol the border and protect permanent locations along the Russian-Norwegian Border. The brigade is based in the village of
Alakurtti in the
Murmansk Oblast
Murmansk Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an oblast) of Russia, located in the northwestern part of the country, with a total land area of . Its only internal border is the Republic of Karelia to the south, and it is bor ...
.
Recruits of the new brigade undergo severe psychological, physical, and arctic training and testing.
Russian invasion of Ukraine
It took part in 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 ...
. It was sent to the
Donbas
The Donbas (, ; ) or Donbass ( ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. The majority of the Donbas is occupied by Russia as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War.
The word ''Donbas'' is a portmanteau formed fr ...
region at the end of June 2022.
In July 2023, the
Russian Ministry of Defense
The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (; MOD) is the governing body of the Russian Armed Forces. The President of Russia is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Commander-in-Chief of the forces ...
awarded service members of the brigade for destroying Ukrainian military equipment in
Kherson Oblast
Kherson Oblast (, ; ), also known as Khersonshchyna (, ), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in southern Ukraine. It is located just north of Crimea. Its administrative center is Kherson, on the northern or right bank ...
.
It was reported by the newspaper ''
Izvestia
''Izvestia'' ( rus, Известия, r=Izvestiya, p=ɪzˈvʲesʲtʲɪjə, "The News") is a daily broadsheet newspaper in Russia. Founded in February 1917, ''Izvestia'', which covered foreign relations, was the organ of the Supreme Soviet of th ...
'' on July 4, 2023, that the
200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade and the 80th Arctic Motor Rifle Brigade would merge to form a new motor rifle division, the first component of the
14th Army Corps' elevation into a combined arms army.
In September 2024, ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...
'' reported that the 80th Arctic Motor Rifle Brigade suffered 80 percent casualties around the
Dnieper–Bug estuary
The Dnieper–Bug estuary (), also called the Dniprovska Gulf, is an open estuary, or liman, of two rivers: the Dnieper and the Southern Bug (also called the Boh River). It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea and is separated from it ...
the previous April.
Composition
Many recruits tend to want to join these new "specialist units." The arctic brigades are significantly smaller than the
Table of Organization and Equipment
A table of organization and equipment (TOE or TO&E) is the specified organization, staffing, and equipment of Military unit, military units. Also used in acronyms as 'T/O' and 'T/E'. It also provides information on the mission and capabilities of ...
of other motor rifle brigades. These brigades also have new arctic equipment.
Two sources in 2017 and 2020 give some of the following units as part of an Arctic motor rifle brigade:
* Brigade Headquarters
* Commandant's Company (HQ Company)
* Communications Battalion
* Electronic Warfare Company
* Reconnaissance Battalion
* 1st Arctic Motor Rifle Battalion
* 2nd Arctic Motor Rifle Battalion
* Snipers Company
* Self-Propelled Artillery Battalion
* Anti-Aircraft Missile Battalion (other Motor Rifle Brigades (MRBs) can have a battalion)
* Engineer Company (other MRBs can have a battalion)
* Logistics Company (see above note)
* Maintenance Battalion
* Medical Company
* CBRN Protection Company
* UAV Company
Equipment
The brigade's transport equipment consists mainly of
MT-LBVMK AFVs, articulated tracked vehicles like
DT-10,
DT-30 and TTM-4902, snowmobiles A-1 and TTM-1901 "Berkut" with a heated cabin and all-wheel drive
Ural and
KAMAZ trucks, adapted to extremely low temperatures.
The brigade is also armed with
2S1 Gvozdika
The 2S1 ''Gvozdika'' (, "Dianthus caryophyllus, Carnation") is a Soviet Self-propelled artillery, self-propelled howitzer introduced in 1972 and is in service in Russia and other countries . It is based on the MT-LBu multi-purpose chassis, mount ...
self-propelled howitzers.
Footnotes
*DAvid Axe
Russia's Reindeer Brigade is fighting for its survival in Southern Ukraine Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
, 7 October 2022
{{Brigades of the Russian Ground Forces
Military units and formations established in 2014
Mechanised infantry brigades of Russia
Military units and formations of Russia in the Russian invasion of Ukraine