90th Guards Tank

Vitebsk Vitebsk or Vitsyebsk (, ; , ; ) is a city in northern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vitebsk Region and Vitebsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has 358,927 inhabitants, m ...

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( ; , ; ), also known simply as Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia, being first mentioned in the 9th century. The city lies along the V ...

Twice Red Banner Division (;

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 ...

86274) is a Russian

armoured division A division is a large military unit or formation, usually consisting of between 10,000 and 25,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades; in turn, several divisions typically make up a corps. Histor ...

. The division was formed by December 2016 in the

Central Military District The Order of the Red Banner Central Military District () is a Military districts of Russia, military district of Russia. It is one of the five military districts of the Russian Armed Forces, with its jurisdiction primarily within the centr ...

History

Establishment

The 90th Guards Tank Division was reformed by December 2016 in the

, carrying on the lineage of the 90th Guards Rifle Division. The division inherited the awards and history of the 6th Guards Motor Rifle Division, the former 90th Guards Rifle Division. The division was formed in accordance with an order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the

Russian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military of Russia. They are organized into three service branches—the Russian Ground Forces, Ground Forces, Russian Navy, Navy, and Russi ...

and decree of the Russian Defence Minister dated 13 September 2016. The division is based in the

Chelyabinsk Chelyabinsk; , is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. It is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, seventh-largest city in Russia, with a population ...

and

Sverdlovsk Oblast Sverdlovsk Oblast ( rus, Свердловская область, Sverdlovskaya oblastʹ, p=svʲɪrdˈlofskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subject (an oblast) of Russia located in the Ural Federal District. Its administrative center is the c ...

s. The division was formed form the 7th Separate Guards Tank Brigade, whose traditions were continued by the 239th Guards Tank Regiment, and the 32nd Separate Motor Rifle Brigade, perpetuated by the 228th Motor Rifle Regiment. To continue the heritage of the 30th Ural Volunteer Tank Corps, the tank battalion of the 228th Motor Rifle Regiment was designated as the Ural Tank Battalion. On 19 August 2017, the 90th anniversary of the division and the 76th anniversary of the 239th Guards Tank Regiment were solemnly celebrated. A reconstruction of the seizure of

(in Belarus) was organized, in which the T-34/85 tank was involved. Demonstration performances of the servicemen of the reconnaissance battalion took place. The company of the Guard of Honor of the Central Military District demonstrated combat bearing and possession of weapons. The division's amateur art ensemble performed. On June 30, 2018, an

ukaz In Imperial Russia, a ukase () or ukaz ( ) was a proclamation of the tsar, government, or a religious leadership (e.g., Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' or the Most Holy Synod) that had the force of law. " Edict" and "decree" are adequate transla ...

of President

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 ...

officially conferred the honorifics Guards Vitebsk-Novgorod upon the division, while the 6th Tank Regiment became the 6th Guards

Lvov Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

Tank Regiment and the 400th Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment received the honorific Transylvania.

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

On February 24, 2022, the division participated in the 2022 Kyiv offensive during the initial stage of 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 ...

to the north-east of Kyiv. The 90th Guards Tank Division had two

battalion tactical group A battalion tactical group (, ''batal'onnaya takticheskaya gruppa''), abbreviated as BTG, is a Combined arms, combined-arms manoeuvre unit deployed by the Russian Army that is kept at a high level of readiness. A BTG typically comprises a battali ...

s involved in an engagment near

Brovary Brovary (, ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city in Kyiv Oblast, northern Ukraine, situated to the east of the capital Kyiv and part of the Kyiv metropolitan area. It serves as the administrative centre of Brovary Raion. Brovary hosts t ...

, where the division suffered significant losses in personnel and equipment. The Ukrainian

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

reported on 10 March 2022 that the commander of the 6th Guards Lvov Tank Regiment, Colonel Andrey Zakharov, was killed in the battle. During the night of 11-12 March, Ukrainian sources claimed that up to 80 military vehicles of the division's 228th Regiment were destroyed near

Chernihiv Chernihiv (, ; , ) is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within the oblast. Chernihiv's population is The city was designated as a Hero City of Ukraine ...

, as they attempted to cross a river in order to advance on Kyiv. By late March, the division, along with other Russian units, began a hasty retreat out of

Kyiv Oblast Kyiv Oblast (, ), also called Kyivshchyna (, ), is an Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in central and northern Ukraine. It surrounds, but does not include, the city of Kyiv, which is administered as a city with special sta ...

. Afterwards, the division redeployed to Eastern Ukraine, receiving BMPT Terminator tank support combat vehicles to join the

Russian Airborne Forces The Russian Airborne Forces () is the airborne separate combat arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It is a rapid response force and strategic reserve that is under the President of Russia, reporting directly to the Chief of the General Staff, and ...

fighting in

Lysychansk Lysychansk ( , ; , ; , ) is a city in Sievierodonetsk Raion, Luhansk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. It is located on the high right bank of the Donets River, approximately from the administrative center of the oblast, Luhansk. It faces Sievierodonet ...

. On Friday 9th December 2022, the British government sanctioned the commander of the division (Colonel Ramil Rakhmatulovich Ibatullin) along with 30 other individuals. The sanctions, co-ordinated with international allies, were taken to mark

International Anti-Corruption Day International Anti-Corruption Day has been list of minor secular observances#December, observed annually on 9 December since the passage of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption on 31 October 2003 to raise public awareness for anti- ...

on Friday and

Human Rights Day Human Rights Day (HRD) is list of minor secular observances#December, celebrated annually around the world on 10 December every year. The date was chosen to honor the United Nations General Assembly's adoption and proclamation, on 10 December ...

on Saturday.

Composition and equipment in 2024

;Composition * Headquarters ** 26th Separate Medical Battalion ** 30th Separate Reconnaissance Battalion ** 33rd Separate Signal Battalion ** 351st Separate Engineer Sapper Battalion ** 1122nd Separate Supply Battalion * Sleeve patch of the 6th Guards Tank Regiment

Sleeve patch of the 6th Guards Tank Regiment

Sleeve patch of the 80th Guards Tank Regiment

87441 (Chebarkul). The regiment traces its history to the 80th Tank Brigade of the 20th Tank Corps. NKO Directive No. 723190ss of January 21, 1942, ordered its establishment at Sormovo,

Gorky Oblast Nizhny Novgorod Oblast () is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Nizhny Novgorod. It has a population of 3,119,115 as of the 2021 Census. From 1932 to 1990 it was known as Gorky Oblast (). The oblast ...

. It fought among the ranks of the Active Army for five periods from April 1942 to 1945. It gained the "Guards" title after the beginning of the

2022 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 ...

. *

Sleeve patch of the 228th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment

* 239th Guards Tank Red Banner Order of Suvorov, Kutuzov, Alexander Nevsky Orenburg Cossack Regiment * 400th Guards Transylvania Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment * 438th Motor Rifle Regiment * 232nd Guards Rocket Artillery Brigade. Awarded the "Guards title" on October 31, 2022. * Anti-Aircraft Regiment ;Equipment Equipment in 2018: T-72A/B/BA/B3,

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 ...

BTR-82A The BTR-80 () is an 8×8 wheeled 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 deployed during the ...

, Grad MLRS,

TOS-1 TOS-1 Buratino (, Heavy Flamethrower System) is a Soviet 220 mm 30-barrel (original system, Object 634 or TOS-1M) or 24-barrel (Object 634B or TOS-1A Solntsepyok) multiple rocket launcher capable of using thermobaric warheads, mounted on a ...

, 2S12,

2S3 The SO-152 (Russian: СО-152), usually known by its GRAU designation 2S3 (), is a Soviet 152.4 mm self-propelled gun developed in 1968, as a response to the American 155 mm M109 howitzer. Development began in 1967, according to the Res ...

Commanders

* Colonel/Major General (Guards) Denis Igorevich Lyamin (2016–2017)Воссозданная 90-я танковая дивизия ЦВО приступила к боевой учебе
(in Russian) * Major General (Guards) Vyacheslav Nikolayevich Gurov (2017–2019) * Major General (Guards) Vitaly Petrovich Gerasimov (2019–2020) * Colonel (Guards) Ivan Mikhailovich Shkanov (Septembre 2020 – July 2021) * Colonel (Guards) Ramil Rakhmatulovich Ibatullin (since July 2021) * ?

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:90th Guards Tank Division (2016-present) Tank divisions of Russia Military units and formations established in 2016 Military units and formations awarded the Order of the Red Banner Military units and formations of Russia in the Russian invasion of Ukraine uk:90-та танкова дивізія (РФ)