Wikipedia

331st Guards Airborne Regiment

The 331st Guards Airborne Regiment is a formation of the Russian Airborne Troops. The regiment, a part of the 98th Guards Airborne Division, was considered to be one of Russia's elite units,[3] but suffered large losses during the Russian invasion of Ukraine that started in February 2022.[4][5]

331st Guards Airborne Regiment
(1946–present)
331st Guards Rifle Regiment
(1944–1946)
Russian: 331-й гвардейский парашютно-десантный Костромской полк
331st Guards Airborne Regiment shoulder sleeve insignia
Active1944–present
Country Soviet Union
 Russia
Branch Russian Airborne Forces
SizeRegiment
~2000 servicemen with ~200 vehicles[1]
Part of98th Guards Airborne Division
Garrison/HQKostroma
MUN 71211
EngagementsFirst Chechen War

Second Chechen War
Russo–Georgian War
Russo-Ukrainian War

History

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Soviet era

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The regiment was formed in 1946 at Kostroma from the 331st Guards Rifle Regiment. It was part of the 105th Guards Vienna Airborne Division. In 1960 it was transferred to the 106th Guards Airborne Division. Between 1988 and 1990 the regiment participated in peacekeeping duties in the Caucasus.[6]

1990s

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In 1992 the regiment was sent to Yugoslavia. In August 1993 it became part of the 98th Guards Airborne Division and then fought in the First Chechen War. In 1999 the regiment was sent to Kosovo. Afterwards it fought in the Second Chechen War.[6]

War in Donbas

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In 2014–2016 the regiment participated in the war in Donbas.[7]

Battle of Ilovaisk

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Main article: Battle of Ilovaisk

In August 2014 the unit fought in the Battle of Ilovaisk. On 24 August, around 12:15 AM, a column of BMD-2s of the regiment was hit by a Ukrainian anti-tank squad of the 51st Mechanized Brigade near Kuteinykove village, 13 km West of Amvrosiivka town. Two BMD-2s were destroyed.[8]

The paratroopers left their vehicles and took cover in nearby trees. Several hours later, around 5 PM, they left their cover and were captured by the reconnaissance group of the 51st Mechanized Brigade near Dzerkalne village, the Ukrainian tactical group's field headquarters. Ten paratroopers were captured.[9][10]

The Russian military stated that the captured paratroopers had crossed the border "by accident".[11][12] During a briefing held on 5 August 2015, the Ukrainian General Military Prosecutor revealed that the captured paratroopers were exchanged between 29 and 30 August 2014 for 200 Ukrainian soldiers and civilians detained by Russia and pro-Russian forces.[citation needed]

Between 29 and 31 August the regiment's paratroopers guarded Ukrainian prisoners captured in the Ilovaisk pocket after the failed Ukrainian breakthrough attempt near Ilovaisk.[13] After the battle, the regiment was held responsible by Ukrainians for killing hundreds of retreating Ukrainian soldiers, in breach of a ceasefire agreement.[14][4]

Paratroopers of the 331st Airborne Regiment were spotted in other regions of Ukraine occupied by pro-Russian forces: in Stanitsa-Luhanska village in March 2015,[15] and in Donetsk in August 2016.[16]

Russo-Ukrainian War

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Russian invasion of Ukraine from 2022

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The regiment participated in the Russian invasion of Ukraine that started in February 2022. Regimental commander Colonel Sergey Sukharev[17] was reported killed in action on 17 March 2022.[2] As of 2 April 2022, the BBC had verified the deaths of 39 soldiers from the regiment, but noted that "since none of those fatalities is more recent than the 13 March, it can be supposed that dozens more will emerge in the coming weeks".[14] On 29 June 2022, the BBC reported that the death toll for the Regiment had been verified by local Russian media as 80 since the war began, a higher figure than the 56 soldiers that the Regiment lost during the decade long war in Afghanistan. BBC Newsnight's Mark Urban reported on 29 June 2022 that the actual figure of dead was likely to be far higher than the 80 reported, estimating that the total casualties—dead, missing in action, captured, and seriously wounded—likely totalled 500, half the pre-war strength of the regiment.[18][19]

Urban reported in April 2023 that the confirmed dead had reached 94, but that "The actual number of 331st's dead is probably much higher", with several hundred casualties. Urban estimated that the regiment might number no more than 300-400 at the front, surviving as small detachments able to spearhead certain missions, possibly with just three airborne infantry combat vehicles designated as BMD-2 (during the parachute landing, these vehicles are eject from the transport planes with the complete crew inside the vehicle). [5] Compiling information involved the BBC checking accounts on V'Kontakte—the Russian "Facebook"—and local media reporting, then cross-referencing with satellite and Google Street View images. For example, a cluster of death announcements on Kostroma social media in February indicated that elements of the 331st had been engaged in Kreminna.

Commanders

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The following officers commanded this unit:

References

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  1. ^ "空降兵：俄军快反力量的中坚" [Airborne troops: the backbone of the Russian fast reaction force]. 中国军网 (China Military Network of the PLA) (in Simplified Chinese). January 20, 2022.
  2. ^ a b "В Украине погиб командир костромского полка ВДВ" [The commander of the Kostroma Airborne Regiment died in Ukraine,]. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (in Russian). March 17, 2022. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  3. ^ Liakos, Chris (March 18, 2022). "Russian state TV confirms death of regional airborne forces commander in Ukraine". CNN. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  4. ^ a b Axe, David (April 3, 2022). "The Ukrainians have nearly destroyed one of the Russian army's best regiments". Forbes. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
  5. ^ a b Urban, Mark (5 April 2023). "The cost of the Ukraine war for one Russian regiment". BBC News.
  6. ^ a b "331st Guards Parachute Regiment". ww2.dk. February 21, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  7. ^ Sutyagin, Igor (March 2015). "Briefing Paper: Russian Forces in Ukraine" (PDF). Royal United Services Institute: 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 11, 2021.
  8. ^ Askai [@askai707] (November 20, 2015). "Остатки российской БМД-2 у Кутейниково. 2014-й. Судя по форме и расположению тактич. знака, БМД была из 331-го ПДП" [Wreckage of a Russian BMD-2 near Kuteinykove, 2014. Judging by the shape and location of the tactical insignia, the BMD belonged to the 331st RAP] (Tweet) (in Russian). Retrieved April 2, 2022 – via Twitter.
  9. ^ Burov, Yuri (December 8, 2015). "Капитан, который изменил ход войны" [A captain who changed the course of the war]. censor.net (in Russian). Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  10. ^ Butusov, Yuri (October 5, 2015). "Сержант Владимир Козак: "Российские десантники были, "як телятко на пасовищі"". Когда и как взяли в плен десять российских десантников 24 августа 2014 года?" [Sergeant Vladimir Kozak: "Russian paratroopers were like a calf on a flock". When and how were the ten Russian paratroopers captured on August 24, 2014?]. censor.net (in Russian). Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  11. ^ "Captured Russian troops 'in Ukraine by accident'". BBC News. August 26, 2014. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  12. ^ Oliphant, Roland (August 26, 2014). "Capture of Russian paratroopers in Ukraine overshadows talks with Russia". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved April 2, 2022.(subscription required)
  13. ^ Tinchenko, Yaroslav (September 15, 2015). "Серпень 2014 року. Іловайськ. Частина V. Вихід "південної" групи. - Суспільство - Український тиждень, Тиждень.ua" [August 2014. Ilovaisk. Chapter 5. Exit of the "Southern" group.]. The Ukrainian Week (in Ukrainian). Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  14. ^ a b c Urban, Mark (April 2, 2022). "The heavy losses of an elite Russian regiment in Ukraine". BBC News. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  15. ^ "A Russian Paratrooper from the 98th Airborne Division Posing in Stanytsia-Luhanska Raion of Ukraine". Inform Napalm. March 24, 2015. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  16. ^ "Paratroopers from Kostroma "Got Lost" in Ukraine Again". Inform Napalm. August 31, 2016. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  17. ^ "Новому командиру Костромского парашютно-десантного полка Ивановского соединения ВДВ вручили Георгиевское знамя части" [A new commander of the Kostroma [331st] Аirborne Regiment of the Ivanovо [98th] Airborne Division took the Regiment's St. George standard]. Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (in Russian). October 15, 2021. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  18. ^ "Elite Russian regiment fights for public support". BBC News. 2022-06-30. Retrieved 2022-07-01.
  19. ^ Revealing the hidden casualties of one elite Russian regiment in Ukraine (video). BBC Newsnight. 2022-06-30.
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