7th Guards Airborne Division address. The magnificent seven. Plane crash near Kaluga

Formed on 12/08/1942 on the basis of units of the 5th Airborne Corps. The division includes the 18th, 21st and 29th Guards Airborne Regiments, 10th Guards Artillery Regiments. On August 18, 1943, a group consisting of the motorized division "Gross Germany", the 10th motorized division, two separate battalions of Tiger tanks, four regiments of self-propelled artillery, as well as individual units and units of the 7th, 11th and 19th tank divisions attacked 27 th army. The 166th Infantry Division was the first to bear the blow of a significant part of the forces of this armored mass. Two of its regiments were immediately surrounded, from which they emerged only on the fourth day of fierce fighting. The enemy's tank wedge entered obliquely into the body of the 27th Army and advanced through Okhtyrka to the southeast. The Soviet command knew about the plans of the Nazis. That is why it moved the 4th Guards Army to the threatened area in advance. The 20th Guards Corps, which included the division, was to be the first to take action. On August 18, instructions were received according to which the entire corps, having the 8th and 7th Guards Airborne Divisions in the first echelon, and the 5th in the second, was to occupy a defensive line. To the left and somewhat behind the corps was the 21st Guards Corps. Thus, the entire 4th Guards Army entered into action. On August 25, 1943, at dawn, after a short artillery attack, the division went on the offensive. The guards immediately felt a sharp drop in the combat effectiveness of the Nazis. During the day, units of the division advanced 15 kilometers, liberating dozens of villages and farmsteads. The offensive developed successfully. Three divisions of the 20th Guards Corps rapidly advanced to the southwest - the Battle of Kursk, without any operational pause, developed into the battle for Left Bank Ukraine. There, to the gray Dnieper, the division's guardsmen carried their battle banners. They had to first of all take possession of Kotelva. The Nazis carefully fortified Kotelva. The fighting for it began on August 26 and ended only 14 days later. First, the 7th and 8th Guards Divisions and units of the 3rd Guards Corps were drawn into the battle for Kotelva. 5th Guards The airborne division was unable to overcome the resistance of units of the “Dead Head” tank division, whose fire stopped it at the outskirts of Kotelva on the northern bank of the Kotelevka River, and fought a fire battle. The enemy continuously brought up reinforcements, and soon the struggle took on a positional character. If in the first days the success of the division was determined by the capture of a street or block, then then stubborn, fierce battles took place for every house and yard. However, the command did not allow the guards to get bogged down in powerful enemy defenses. The corps command castled the divisions to the right, along the front, struck here and, bypassing Kotelva, created a threat of encirclement of the 7th German Tank Division. This maneuver, with minimal losses, resulted in a major tactical gain. The Nazis were immediately forced to leave Kotelva. On the evening of September 3, units of the 5th Guards Airborne Division, which became part of the 21st Corps, completed their shift in Kotelva of the 7th and 8th divisions of the 20th Guards. Under the roar of guns lined up on both sides of the corridor, the 7th and 8th divisions emerged from the “Kotelvin horseshoe”, marched along the front line and concentrated to strike the flank of the enemy group. On the night of October 6, 1943, the leading detachments of the division began crossing the Dnieper. Throughout October there were battles for bridgeheads on the Dnieper lines. Neither side achieved decisive success. The front commander took the 7th and 8th divisions from the corps and transferred them to the main sector. Only the 5th remained in the corps, which fought local battles. In the second ten days of October, the 2nd Ukrainian Front launched a strong attack from a bridgehead southwest of Kremenchug. At the same time, north of Kyiv, the 1st Ukrainian Front also went on the offensive. These were not pincers yet, but under favorable circumstances they could become one and “bite off” the enemy group defending on the Dnieper. Regrouping also began in the 4th Guards Army. The commander decided to try again to capture Novo-Georgievsk from an already existing bridgehead in the area of ​​Lipovo, Kalaborok. The 20th Guards was transported here. rifle corps. By the evening of October 22, the 5th and 7th divisions took their starting positions for the attack. At the end of November 1943, the division endured very heavy fighting. Its 18th and 29th regiments reached the eastern outskirts of the city of Cherkassy, ​​cutting off the enemy’s escape routes. Then the Nazis, in turn, surrounded ours with a counterattack from tank and infantry divisions. The division's regiments fought surrounded for five days. On February 11, 1944, the division became part of the 21st Guards. sk 4th Guards A and by 12.2.1944 it entered the Oktyabr-Lysyanka-Maidanovka-Zvenigorodka sector, which made it possible to reliably ensure the junction of the fronts from the breakthrough of the enemy tank group to Lysyanka from the Rubanny Most, Rizino area. On March 5, 1944, at 6.54, the ground shook, the air was shaken by a huge salvo, which then turned into the continuous roar of hundreds of guns. The sharp sounds of Katyusha rockets stood out. The artillery barrage lasted about an hour. At a general signal, the guards went on the attack. The battle developed unevenly. The greatest success occurred in the left flank division, the 7th. She took possession of Olkhovets. 06/13/1945 transformed into the 115th Guards. sd.

When the 7th Guards Airborne Division redeployed from Lithuanian Kaunas to Novorossiysk in 1993, the officers, of course, understood that they were going to an empty place - don’t expect apartments in the near future. And what kind of landing service at sea?.. However, soon everything fell into place. Instead of the sea, the paratroopers received mountains, instead of the beach - war... In Chechnya, guys in vests from the 7th Airborne Division took cities and towns, acted as helicopter landings, and fought surrounded more than once. During the first Chechen campaign, the "seven", fighting for a year and a half with a reinforced battalion of 700 people, lost 28 of them. In August 1999, the division would suffer almost the same losses during a month of fighting in Dagestan. Then the battalion of the 7th Airborne Division essentially took the entire blow of the Basayev and Khattab gangs that invaded mountainous Dagestan. From the first to the last day, Novorossiysk paratroopers will follow the roads of the second Chechen campaign and will honorably complete the task of forcing Georgia to peace in August 2008.

Don't die, but win
When the situation in the North Caucasus sharply deteriorated at the end of 1994, the combat readiness of the airborne division, which had just begun to settle down in the Black Sea region, left much to be desired: a shortage of conscripts, an almost complete lack of combat training. The regiments did not have even three gunner-operators who could shoot. The main task was to survive: they built the barracks themselves. Everything changed dramatically with the aggravation of the situation in Chechnya. “It’s unlikely to get by there without us,” the division headquarters immediately decided. A full-blooded battalion was assembled from the entire formation, reinforced by a reconnaissance company, artillery and other “specialists” necessary in war. An intensive process of combat training began under the leadership of Deputy Divisional Commander Colonel Alexander Protchenko. All the division's fuel was sent to the battalion. Three weeks of unprecedented training were interrupted by the signal “Gathering!”
On January 13, a train with a reinforced battalion of Novorossians arrived in Grozny. Before they had time to unload, Protchenko was called to headquarters, they “cut up” a piece of the city and drew the line: “So that they can take it by morning!”
The colonel objected: until he conducts reconnaissance, until they do everything that is required according to the Combat Regulations, his paratroopers will not budge.
The next morning, having chosen two dilapidated buildings on the outskirts of the city, we began to practice capturing houses and fighting in the city in the curriculum. Only on the third day, having finally made sure that the actions to capture the buildings had acquired clarity and coherence, Alexander Ivanovich gave the command: “Forward!” Novorossiysk residents lost two people in those hellish January days of 1995. And how much they could!
On March 7, Protchenko was replaced by the division chief of staff, Colonel Vladimir Shamanov. About a month of relative calm - mainly artillery and reconnaissance fought - was again devoted to intensive combat training. The result was reflected in the very first major combat operation. At first, the task assigned to the battalion seemed impossible. The road to the mountains was closed like a blind gate by a huge cement plant. In front of him is a river and a village. The approaches to the complex, which stretched for kilometers, not covered by the river, were well mined. Motorized riflemen have already tried to take the plant twice. Both assaults brought only losses. Novorossiysk paratroopers took the plant in four hours without losing a single person.
In the mountains and surrounded
May 1995. The war has entered the mountains. The Novorossians are thrown near Serzhen-Yurt to help the advancing motorized riflemen and marines. The militants, realizing that help would definitely come to our people, waited for it in ambushes on the roads. The paratroopers walked through the forested mountains. They hit suddenly. At the height of the battle, combat vehicles also opened fire. The Dudayevites fled.
Blowing up and cutting down trees, dragging equipment for more than a day along an impassable mountain greenery - probably only paratroopers could come up with this.
Then the Novorossians, who had proven themselves in mountain battles, began to be used as helicopter landing forces.
During one of these operations, having mounted their hill, the group of Major Sergei Kharchuk took up defensive positions. And soon she found herself on the road along which help from Bamut reached Shatoi. For three days, about two hundred Dudayev’s men attacked the paratroopers’ trenches, first from one side, then from the other. Three dozen of us fought to the death. When the parties exhausted themselves in battle, a verbal altercation began. Then the firefight resumed again. Squeezing the encirclement, the militants were getting closer. The paratroopers, they understood, would finally run out of ammunition. And they really were already running out. When, in front of the paratroopers, the militants shot down a helicopter arriving with ammunition, it was time to completely despair. But the landing party continued to fight, refuting the axiom of military science, which assigns those surrounded the role of the doomed. Meanwhile, for the second day already, an armored group was walking through the mountains to help. When the twice-wounded Major Yevgeny Rodionov finally brought the combat vehicles to the battlefield and the paratroopers united, the bandits had to save themselves.
It was the Novorossiysk paratroopers, led by Lieutenant Colonel Arkady Yegorov and Major Alexei Romanov, who landed from helicopters and took the main mountain stronghold of the separatists - Shatoy.
When the landing party is sad
January 1996. A battalion of Ulyanovsk paratroopers walked along the mountain road to Shatoy. Ahead were three infantry fighting vehicles from Novorossiysk intelligence officers - they knew these places well and undertook to guide the Ulyanovsk residents. The cover that one of the motorized rifle regiments was supposed to provide, as it turned out later, was not there. But there was an ambush, ready to shoot the battalion. The road along the slope of the peak turned sharply up the mountain. On the left is a slope covered with greenery, on the right is a cliff. In the first vehicle is the reconnaissance company commander, Senior Lieutenant Viktor Gnyp. On the second - a hundred meters behind - the chief of reconnaissance of the combined battalion of the 7th Airborne Division, Major Yevgeny Rodionov. Feeling something was wrong, Rodionov stopped the car and approached Gnyp on foot. At that moment, the militants opened fire. For six hours, two dozen paratroopers courageously fought with the bandits who were at a commanding height and outnumbered them. Rodionov will die immediately, Gnyp, wounded in the head, throwing off his bloody helmet, will direct the battle for another half hour and give target designations to the gunner-operator of his BMD directly from the tower under heavy fire. Having made two attempts to get through the cliff to Rodionov, senior lieutenant Mirzatoev, who is on the third BMD, will be shell-shocked, but will still carry out the body of his comrade. These would be the worst losses of the 7th Division in the first Chechen war - four killed in one battle.
Spring. Mountain campaign, capture of Bamut - the last bastion of militants. Surrounding this village turned into a fortress from the mountains, the new commander of the Ministry of Defense group, Major General Vladimir Shamanov, “through acquaintance,” outlined the most distant and difficult route for his people. The paratroopers will not be left without work even after. Landing from helicopters, they will comb the mountains in search of hidden Dudayev bases. The war was inevitably coming to an end. The tragedy will occur in early August 1996. Having infiltrated Grozny, guarded by the forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the surviving militants, having gathered into exactly the last gang, will almost completely take over the city in two days. Of the army units in Grozny at this time, there will be only one - consisting of recently arrived replacement soldiers from the company of the 7th Airborne Division.
The militants will be one of the first to try to capture the government building. The Novorossiysk soldiers guarding him entered into their first battle in their lives and fought back. At night, Dudayev’s men repeated the attack, but only covered the approaches to the building with their bodies. 4-5 assaults were repelled every day. The night from August 7 to 8 was especially difficult, when the militants brought two captured tanks under direct fire. Taking grenade launchers, Kilchenko and his soldiers, under fire, made their way to the roof of a nearby building and destroyed the tanks. Only when on the fourth day, using flamethrowers, the militants set fire to the building, would Kilchenko make a breakthrough. And he will lead the company out without losing a single person the entire time. For this battle and feat of command, Captain Sergei Kilchenko will be nominated for the title of Hero of Russia. The show will be lost. Then it will be repeated several more times. But they will forget about the officer... Someone, apparently, will find it unethical to give a Hero for a lost war. Although Captain Kilchenko did not lose the war. He won his fight. He survived himself and kept all his soldiers alive. Only the courage of the paratroopers did not save the country from a common tragedy.
The Novorossians left Chechnya with bitter feelings. It was difficult to understand why the army was not allowed to destroy the bandits in Grozny.
The Caucasus did not let them go
During the first Chechen campaign, the 7th Airborne Division decided to add firepower by adding an anti-aircraft missile regiment, a tank battalion and a division of BM-21 multiple launch rocket launchers to the standard composition of the formation. The "Seven" was supposed to be the first, let's say, heavy airborne division. Having received the 345th regiment stationed in Abkhazia, the division became a three-regiment, the artillery regiment received the promised 18 Grads. They were about to receive a tank battalion. But after the end of hostilities in Chechnya, the reform of the 7th Airborne Division unexpectedly for the paratroopers went in a completely different direction. By directive of the Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces, the “seven” was transformed into a brigade and withdrawn from the Airborne Forces! Then there was the Airborne Forces Military Council, strong arguments in support of the G7.
As a result, it was decided at the top that the 7th would remain an airborne division. But at the same time, according to the directive, it lost the tank battalion it had almost received, all the Grad installations (which the paratroopers had already mastered), and even two parachute regiments. True, the air assault regiment (former airborne assault brigade) located in Stavropol was added to the division. And here Chechnya again reminded us of the role of the G7.
In December 1997, Khattab’s militants launched a sensational foray into Buynaksk, carrying out a fire raid on the park of the 136th motorized rifle brigade. The situation in the North Caucasus was clearly getting out of control.
In January 1998, executing a special decree of the President of Russia, the military maneuver group of the 7th division - about 600 paratroopers - moved to confront Khattab in the Botlikh area.
For six months, from January to June 1998, the confrontation lasted, a kind of “cold war” between the Novorossians and Khattab, who was located across the hill - 10 kilometers away. The paratroopers' task is to cover Dagestan police posts located on the border with Chechnya. Twice a week - training with armored groups traveling to the border and deploying into battle formation, in front of Khattab’s militants, who had become so accustomed during the post-war 1997 to the role of unchallenged masters of the area. The militants then did not dare to measure their strength.
On the heights near Botlikh
On August 2, when the Novorossians, being in Kaspiysk, like all the “blue berets”, celebrated the day of the “winged infantry,” one and a half thousand militants under the command of Basayev and Khattab invaded the territory of Dagestan. The situation was becoming critical.
The capture of the Botlikh regional center by militants could become a critical mass for the explosion of separatism in the republic. Russia was essentially saved from the big war in Dagestan by a battalion of Novorossiysk paratroopers sent to Botlikh by the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
Having covered more than 200 kilometers of difficult mountain roads in a day, the military maneuver group (VMG) of the 7th Airborne Division reaches Botlikh, seven hours ahead of the Chechen militants. Near the regional center, the serenely walking terrorists were met by an entrenched battalion under the command of Major Sergei Kostin. When planning the invasion of Dagestan, the terrorist leaders clearly did not take into account the training of the Novorossiysk paratroopers.
Having taken up defensive positions along the mountain heights, the militants seemed to have everything figured out: the rocky ground would protect them from combat helicopters and artillery, and mountains of trained mines would be carried away from the attacking heights that had been pre-targeted with mortars. But this plan also did not provide for the main thing - the courage of the paratroopers and their commanders. For several days there will be fighting for the key height of Donkey's Ear, which is passing from hand to hand, on which battalion commander Sergei Kostin will die heroically.
Led by Lieutenant Colonel Oleg Rybalko, who will be seriously wounded, the paratroopers will take the heights, opening their account of the second Chechen war with hundreds of killed “spirits”.
Heavy fighting will unfold on August 22, when scouts Captain Igor Khomenko and Sergeant Yuri Chumak accomplish their feat. Acting under the guise of militants, the officer’s group obtained valuable information about the positions and forces of the separatists, transferring them to the group’s headquarters, but was discovered. Seeing that there was a threat of complete encirclement, Captain Khomenko and Sergeant Chumak together took the fight, detaining the bandits and allowing the group to leave. The paratroopers held out until the last.
Majors Eduard Tseev and Sergei Kostin, captain Igor Khomenko and sergeant Yuri Chumak will be awarded the high title of Hero of Russia for those August battles. The last three were posthumous.
If the enemy does not surrender
Others already entered Chechnya - the Stavropol battalions of the 7th Airborne Division, advancing through Kizlyar along the Nogai steppes. A regimental tactical group under the command of Colonel Yuri Em reached the village of Shelkovskaya in a quick, sudden maneuver. In panic, which was clearly felt on the air, the militants hurried to leave beyond the Terek.
Knowing the terrain well, the bandits always preferred ambush actions to head-on collisions. On October 14, returning from reconnaissance in the Terek area, the paratroopers heard on the radio that they had been ambushed and taken into battle by special forces performing their tasks nearby. The Stavropol residents immediately turned their combat vehicles around and rushed towards the sounds of battle. The bandits clearly did not expect an attack on the move. Under the cover of paratroopers of Senior Lieutenant Mikhail Minenkov, the special forces managed to escape the ambush, evacuating the wounded from the battlefield. The officer who acted competently and selflessly in that battle, who was seriously wounded while covering special forces, will also later become a Hero of Russia.
Then there will be the blockade and liberation of the second largest city in Chechnya - Gudermes. The militants of the field commanders of the Yamadayev brothers will surrender without a fight. And the matter, of course, will not only be about their disagreements with the Wahhabis Basayev and Khattab. Thanks to the competent tactical decision of Colonel Yuri Em, a gang of fifty bayonets will be destroyed in the Dzhalki area. While combing the forest, the paratroopers will go completely from the direction where the militants were preparing to meet them. Moreover, it is clearly not shepherds who will oppose them, but mercenaries who are experienced in their field. Then there will be Argun and Shali. The militants will also have a hard time at Vedeno in February. Acting as part of a helicopter landing force, the Stavropol residents will exhaust the detected militants, successfully directing aircraft and artillery at the enemy. And then, having taken advantageous positions, they will completely destroy the separatists who were trying to escape from the fire bag in close combat. For skillful leadership of his subordinates, competent planning of operations and personal courage, Colonel Yuri Em will be awarded the title of Hero of Russia.
In the spring, the time will come again for another regimental tactical group to fight - the Novorossiysk one under the command of Colonel Vladimir Tretyak. The paratroopers will long remember the mountains where, in unbearably difficult conditions, they blocked militants in the areas adjacent to the Argun Gorge. Pushing their way through a meter-thick layer of snow, two battalions under the command of Lieutenant Colonels Alexei Osinovsky and Pyotr Kalyn will straddle the Dargenduk ridge. There you will have to fight not only the enemy, frost, snow, but often hunger. Due to bad weather, helicopters were sometimes unable to drop food for many days in a row. But no matter how difficult it was, there were no heights that could not be conquered by the landing force. Conducting an active defense, they hunted down the militants. Directing artillery and aviation, the Novorossians exterminated the irreconcilable. And by finding and blowing up their bases, they took away the last hope from the surviving militants to start a large-scale guerrilla war with the onset of summer. One day, more than 70 exhausted and wounded militants entered the regiment’s area of ​​responsibility and surrendered. Their spirit was broken by the landing will.
The battalion tactical group of the division was among the last units of the Ministry of Defense to leave the territory of the Chechen Republic after the end of the active phase of hostilities. The Novorossiysk paratroopers went home not with a feeling of revenge for the first Chechen war, but with the satisfaction of real men who did their job well. They put a period after the word “war”.
If you want peace, prepare for war
The peaceful life was stunned by the silence and lack of tension from the constant feeling of danger. But the heady joy of ending the war quickly gave way to sober calculation - service in the Caucasus did not promise a long peaceful life. Therefore, the main attention was paid to creating a material base that would make it possible to teach soldiers everything that would be needed in war, not just on their own, but in conditions as close as possible to combat. With such tasks in mind, we approached the reconstruction of the training ground base. At first, the work was carried out on their own, then the reconstruction became an organized and stably financed process through the Federal Target Program. Done. Suffice it to say that the training ground available to the formation today is the only one in the Airborne Forces that allows test firing exercises, including from the weapons of combat vehicles, in mountainous terrain. For several years now, the 7th Division's training ground has not seen any downtime. From morning to evening in Raevskoye everything is thundering and shooting. Drivers passing by the test site have long been no longer frightened by clouds of smoke and explosions.
Thanks to the reconstruction of old and newly created elements of the rear zone, the capacity of the combined arms shooting range has increased. There are more than 20 different training places here, which allow you to practice standards, solve fire tasks, study and improve the fundamentals and rules of shooting. The creation of a closed training cycle from theory to practice made it possible, through the use of internal reserves on the same terrain, to increase the capacity of the shooting range significantly.
To practice the initial shooting course, a shooting range was built right at the point of permanent deployment. Now, to instill primary shooting skills, you don’t need to go 15 km to the firing range. Time began to be spent exclusively on shooting.
The commissioning of a training class for the training of gunners-operators of combat vehicles made it possible to bring the training of these specialists to a qualitatively new level. In conditions as close as possible to combat, intensive work is underway here to increase the training of personnel in weapons operations without using the motor resources of equipment and ammunition. This point is also important in training other crew members to achieve interchangeability.
They reconstructed (almost rebuilt) the tankodrome and the autodrome, and equipped a waterdrome. Moreover, all this work was carried out without a reduction, but on the contrary, with an increase in the volume of training as new facilities were commissioned. Thus, for several years now, the unit has been almost 100 percent trained in driving combat vehicles afloat by driver mechanics and officers of units armed with combat vehicles. But just five years ago such classes were conducted only theoretically or as educational demonstrations.
The improvement of the educational and material base and training grounds coincided with an increase in the intensity of training of units. Not so long ago, the formation’s priority task was to prepare battalion tactical groups to replace each other on the territory of the Chechen Republic. With the transition to peaceful combat training, everything changed radically. Since 2003, field exits have been practiced for all units and divisions of the formation. This applies not only to parachute and air assault battalions, but also to support units. So, for example, the repair and restoration battalion under the command of Denis Chefonov twice a year sets up a collection point for damaged equipment directly at the training ground during field trips and organizes its repair.
Intensive combat training at the high-quality base of the Raevskoye training ground could not fail to bring the expected results. The formation's paratroopers participate in large-scale exercises "Caucasus-2006" and "Caucasus-2007" and receive the highest praise from the command of the North Caucasus Military District and the Airborne Forces command for their training.
But service in the Caucasus again prepared the G7 paratroopers for the most important test of combat maturity. Examination by a new war... It was August 2008.
Five days and nights
The Caucasus has long been considered “their” region by the 7th Airborne Division. Of course, the operation to force Georgia to peace was not complete without it. The air assault regiments stationed in Novorossiysk and Stavropol formed the basis of the group of Russian troops operating in the Abkhaz direction, commanded by Lieutenant General Vladimir Shamanov.
The first units of the division went to Abkhazia in early April. Located near the Georgian border, the battalion tactical group of the 108th regiment became the reserve command of the Collective Peacekeeping Forces. And on the morning of August 8, the commander of the guard division, Colonel Vladimir Kochetkov, was given the task of preparing three more similar armored personnel carriers for dispatch. But in the afternoon a new command was received - to begin loading the first of them onto large landing ships for transfer to Abkhazia by sea.
The first to cross the border on the night of August 11 and march to our peacekeeping battalion stationed in Georgia was the battalion of Lieutenant Colonel Vishnivetsky. In the morning, Lieutenant Colonel Rybalko’s battalion, armored personnel carriers of the 31st brigade and artillery followed his route. Well, after Shamanov presented an ultimatum to the enemy, Vishnivetsky’s battalion moved towards Senaki.
On the evening of August 11, everyone concentrated north of Senaki. And on August 12, the Novorossians immediately captured the air base and the town of the Georgian brigade. The 2nd battalion reached Poti, where it guarded the railway and road bridges. On August 13, the paratroopers receive a new task - to inspect the naval base. Nothing was known about the Georgians. All they knew was that some kind of special unit, the Navy SEALs, were stationed at the naval base. Only these “cats” fled before the paratroopers arrived.
But four light warships armed with small-caliber guns and rocket launchers were moored at the pier. They were destroyed. At this base, as on the previous day in Senaki, no one offered resistance to our paratroopers. They fled. Moreover, the Georgians fled in obvious haste. The paratroopers realized this when they entered the first building, where they found fresh bread, three uncorked boxes with MANPADS and two ready-to-use ATGM installations. Then they found an ammunition warehouse, in which there were more than 1,000 Sturm ATGMs alone.
And in the secret part of the brigade, the paratroopers found plans for the capture of Abkhazia. The 2nd and 3rd Georgian motorized infantry brigades were to participate in the operation, and the forces of the 5th were supposed to occupy the Kodori Gorge. These are all regular units, which Abkhazia was given no more than 42 hours to capture. After which it was planned to introduce a division of mobilized reservists into the Gali region. With the help of light landing boats it was planned to land troops in Sukhum and Gudauta. But these plans were not allowed to come true.
Well, the strongest impression that remained with our paratroopers after those events was the captured Buks, which, despite the fact that they were carefully hidden, were found at the air base in Senaki. Having plowed up the runway of this air base with the help of explosives, the paratroopers blew up two combat helicopters and an attack aircraft there abandoned by the Georgians. But the radar used not only for military purposes, but also for civilian purposes, was not touched. Moreover, so that Saakashvili would not later declare that the Russians had broken him, our paratroopers left two Georgian specialists in the control room. By the way, as soon as they turned off this radar used in the interests of the Georgian air defense, people from Tbilisi immediately screamed on the phone: who turned off the radar there, on what grounds? Taking the phone from a Georgian specialist, our soldier answered a question from Tbilisi: “The radar was turned off by Private Svidrigailo. Russian Airborne Forces."
Keep the gunpowder dry
Novorossiysk paratroopers confirmed their high combat training last year. During the Caucasus-2009 exercise, their actions at the mountain range were observed by the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Army General Nikolai Makarov. Summing up the results of the maneuvers, he highly appreciated the military work of the winged infantrymen. Well, the most important and memorable exam of last year for the paratroopers was the visit of the formation by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces, President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev. Leaving the location of the air assault regiment, he emphasized that the paratroopers would soon become the basis of Russia's mobile forces. The president briefly expressed his impression of what he saw to the commander of the Airborne Forces: “I thank you for the courageous and professional actions of your subordinates and competent leadership. I am pleased with the visit to the division.”
After 17 years of service in the Black Sea region, most of which paratroopers of the 7th Guards Air Assault Red Banner, Order of Kutuzov Division (mountain) carried out tasks in the North Caucasus, everyone here understands well what the difference is between the concepts of “relaxing” and “serving” in Black Sea. But seriously, the Novorossiysk page of the history of the “seven” brought it to the number of the most combat units of the Russian army.

Motto: "Courage, Courage, Honor"

Historical reference

The 7th Guards Airborne Division was formed on the basis of the 322nd Guards Parachute Landing Order of Kutuzov, 2nd degree regiment of the 8th Guards Airborne Corps in the city of Polotsk, Belarusian Military District.

The unit received its baptism of fire in the area of ​​Lake Balaton (Hungary) in 1945 as part of the 9th Army of the 3rd Ukrainian Front. There, in bloody battles, demonstrating unparalleled courage and heroism, the paratroopers stopped and then destroyed selected SS units of Nazi Germany. On April 26, 1945, for the exemplary performance of command tasks at the front, the formation was awarded the Order of Kutuzov, 2nd degree.

After the destruction of the fascist group near Balaton, the division's personnel were given the task of turning north and moving towards the Czechoslovak border. Pursuing the retreating enemy, the division captured many settlements and bridges. crossings, strategically important roads. Thousands of fascists were captured, and a large amount of military equipment and weapons were also captured. Units and subunits of the division crossed the border with Czechoslovakia and already on its territory carried out the tasks assigned by the command. The division ended the fighting in the city of Trezbon (Czechoslovakia) on May 12, 1945, having successfully carried out the last order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief in the Great Patriotic War.

During the war years, the division received six commendations from the Supreme Commander-in-Chief; 2,065 soldiers, sergeants and officers were awarded orders and medals of the USSR for courage and heroism.

On October 14, 1948, the division was redeployed to the cities of Kaunas and Marijampole, Lithuanian SSR. Those who were strictly veterans of the Great Patriotic War took an active part in arranging the unit at the new location. They also played a major role in educating young recruits, instilling in them front-line landing traditions. The personnel of the unit were repeatedly involved in blocking and destroying fascist collaborators from among the Lithuanian nationalists who had settled in the forests.

In 1956, the unit took part in the Hungarian events. While performing their military duty, the guardsmen showed courage and heroism. About a thousand paratroopers were awarded orders and medals for their bravery in carrying out assigned tasks.

In 1968, the division took part in the Czechoslovak events. Operating in the most dangerous and difficult areas, the personnel completed their tasks with honor, for which about two hundred people were awarded high government awards.

On June 23, 1968, the parachute company of the 108th Guards Parachute Regiment of the 7th Airborne Division was tasked with flying from Kaunas to Ryazan. In Ryazan, the company personnel had to show their combat skills while operating on airborne combat vehicles to the USSR Minister of Defense A. Grechko.

A group of three An-12 aircraft took off from Kaunas early in the morning. The flight took place at an altitude of 4 thousand meters. When approaching the city of Kaluga, the plane, where the company personnel and battalion command were located (a total of 91 people - soldiers and officers of the Airborne Forces), collided with an Il-14 passenger plane, which unauthorizedly occupied the flight level at an altitude of 4 thousand meters. When the An-12 crashed (near the village of Vypolzovo, 35 km from Kaluga), a powerful explosion occurred, which was heard even in Kaluga. As a result of the plane's crash, all the personnel on board were killed.

The commander of the Airborne Forces, Army General V.F. Margelov, decided to erect a monument at the site where the paratroopers fell. All formations and units of the Airborne Forces, mainly through parachute jumps, collected funds for the production of the monument. In total, about 250 thousand rubles were collected. Of the money collected, 75 thousand rubles were spent on the construction of the monument, 125 thousand rubles on the construction of a 13 km long road to the monument, 50 thousand rubles were spent on organizing delivery and accommodation for relatives of those killed at the opening of the monument (599 people arrived at the opening).

The monument is a complex of a stele and a wall 8 meters long. It was built by a team from Vuchetich’s workshop. There is an inscription on the wall: “Eternal memory to the heroic paratroopers and pilots.” In addition, two bas-reliefs are depicted on the wall: the figure of a kneeling mother and the figure of a paratrooper. Next to the monument is a site where 96 marble slabs were laid (91 for paratroopers and 5 for pilots). On one of the plates the surname of a paratrooper officer is engraved and “Son Albert, 4 years old” is signed below. His father took him with him to take him to relatives in Ryazan.

Four sapper battalions and local road organizations paved a paved road to the monument in April and May. The monument was opened exactly a year after the plane crash - June 23, 1969.

The division's units were the first in the Airborne Forces to master parachute jumps from AN-8, AN-12, AN-22, IL-76 aircraft, and tested a number of new parachute systems D-5, D-6. For the first time, the division's personnel carried out a practical landing after a flight at altitudes of 6-8 thousand meters using oxygen devices.

The formation's paratroopers were repeatedly involved in such major exercises and maneuvers as Shield-76, Neman, Zapad-81, Zapad-84, and Dozor-86. For the demonstrated combat prowess during the Zapad-81 exercise, the division was awarded the Pennant of the USSR Minister of Defense “For Courage and Military Valor.” During the last three exercises, airborne combat vehicles and their crews were landed.

In 1971 and 1972, the division was awarded the Challenge Red Banner of the Airborne Forces.

On May 4, 1985, for success in combat and political training and in connection with the 40th anniversary of the Victory, the division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

Between 1979 and 1989, the vast majority of the division's officers and warrant officers went through the harsh school of Afghanistan. Most of them were awarded state awards, and senior lieutenant V. Zadorozhny became a Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously).

In 1988-1989, units of the division carried out a special government task in the republics of Transcaucasia. Since August 1993, the division has been deployed on the territory of the North Caucasus Military District.

In 1993-1996, units and units of the 7th Guards Airborne Division carried out peacekeeping missions in Abkhazia, showing great composure and composure. Many soldiers and officers were awarded orders and medals for the courage and heroism shown during peacekeeping missions, and Guard Sergeant V. A. Wolf was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.

From January 1995 to October 1996, a separate combined parachute battalion of the division with reinforcements carried out a government mission in the Chechen Republic. The paratroopers took part in many combat operations and acted courageously and decisively everywhere. The battalion personnel under the leadership of Colonel V.A. Shamanov especially distinguished themselves in battles in the south of Chechnya. For most of the operations carried out, the personnel received high praise from the Unified Command. For their courage and heroism in carrying out assigned tasks, 499 military personnel were awarded, and senior lieutenant V. Savchuk was awarded the title of Hero of Russia. Major E. Rodionov was awarded the title of Hero of Russia "posthumously".

Since January 1998, the division's personnel have been performing special missions in the republics of Dagestan and Chechnya. A special test for the unit’s soldiers was the destruction of Chechen militants on the territory of Dagestan. The feat of the paratroopers at the Donkey Ear height is inscribed as a golden line in the history of not only the formation, but also the entire Airborne Forces. A unit of guardsmen under the command of Major Sergei Kostin repelled attacks by much superior forces of militants. The cartridges ran out, avalanche after avalanche rolled in brutal crowds of terrorists, but time after time they fled, covering the slopes of the mountain with their corpses. And everywhere, where it was most dangerous, there was the commander of the guard paratroopers, Major S. Kostin. It was his military skill, which instilled confidence in his subordinates, that helped them survive and win. The landing party survived, but their commander did not see it. He died a hero's death, having fully fulfilled his duty as a commander, a true Russian officer and citizen.

By decree of the President of the Russian Federation, Guard Major S. Kostin was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation (posthumously).

One of the classic examples of courage, valor and military skill was the landing of a night helicopter assault almost on the heads of militants who were taken aback by surprise. As a result of this battle, the bandits were completely destroyed, and two strategically important bridges they defended were captured unharmed, which allowed the entire group of troops to complete the task. During the operation, the paratroopers did not lose a single person.

The soldiers of the formation completed all assigned tasks in a guards manner. For the courage and heroism shown during the counter-terrorist operation in Chechnya, almost all personnel were awarded orders and medals, and the seven who most distinguished themselves were awarded the high title of Hero of the Russian Federation.

The division includes the 108th Guards Parachute Regiment. For the successful completion of command tasks, on February 23, 1968, the regiment was awarded the Order of the Red Star. For courage and military valor, the successful completion of combat training tasks and the high discipline shown in 1968 and 1984, the regiment was awarded the pennant of the USSR Minister of Defense "For Courage and Military Valor"

Novorossiysk guardsmen are always ready to perform tasks of any degree of complexity, because it is not without reason that the paratroopers’ motto is: “Courage. Courage. Honor.”

During the existence of the division it was commanded by:

Photos provided:

Airborne Forces Headquarters (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10);
- From the author’s personal archive (1, 2);

The 7th Guards Airborne Division (VDD) was formed on the basis of the 322nd Guards Parachute Landing Order of Kutuzov Regiment of the 8th Guards Airborne Corps in the city of Polotsk, Belarusian Military District.

She received her baptism of fire in the area of ​​Lake Balaton (Hungary) in 1945 as part of the 9th Army of the 3rd Ukrainian Front.

On April 26, 1945, for the exemplary performance of command tasks at the front, the formation was awarded the Order of Kutuzov, II degree, 6 commendations from the Supreme Commander-in-Chief were announced, 2065 soldiers, sergeants and officers were awarded orders and medals of the USSR for battles. April 26 was established as the day of unification by order of the USSR Minister of Defense.

On October 14, 1948, the division was redeployed to the cities of Kaunas and Marijampol, Lithuanian SSR. In 1956, the unit took part in the Hungarian events, and in 1968 - in the Czechoslovak ones.

The division's units were the first in the Airborne Forces (Airborne Forces) to master parachute jumps from AN-8, AN-12, AN-22, IL-76 aircraft, and tested a number of new parachute systems D-5, D-6. For the first time, the division's personnel carried out a practical landing after a flight at altitudes of 6-8 thousand m using oxygen devices.

The formation's paratroopers were repeatedly involved in such major exercises and maneuvers as “Shield-76”, “Neman”, “Zapad-81”, “Zapad-84”, “Dozor-86”, etc. For demonstrating high combat skill during During the Zapad-81 exercise, the division was awarded the Pennant of the USSR Minister of Defense “For Courage and Military Valor.” During the last three exercises, airborne combat vehicles and their crews were landed.

On May 4, 1985, for success in combat and political training and in connection with the 40th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

Between 1979 and 1989 the overwhelming majority of officers and warrant officers of the division honorably fulfilled their international duty in the Republic of Afghanistan. Many of them have been awarded state awards.

Since August 1993, the division has been deployed on the territory of the North Caucasus Military District. In 1993-1996. military units and units of the 7th Guards. The Airborne Forces carried out peacekeeping tasks in Abkhazia.

From January 1995 to April 2004, a separate combined parachute battalion of the division with reinforcement equipment carried out tasks to establish constitutional order on the territory of the Chechen Republic.

From February 1998 to September 1999, the military maneuver group (VMG) of the 7th Airborne Division carried out missions to combat terrorists in the Botlikh region of the river. Dagestan. In August 1999, the personnel of the VMG of the 7th Airborne Division were the first to take on the blow of detachments of Chechen militants who invaded the territory of the Botlikh region.

From 1999 to April 2004, the division's personnel took an active part in the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus.

More than 2.5 thousand paratroopers of the division were awarded for their courage and heroism while performing combat missions during the counter-terrorism operation.

In August 2008, the formation's paratroopers took part in an operation to force Georgia to peace.

In 2012, the division, in cooperation with units of the Southern Military District and federal law enforcement agencies, took part in conducting a counter-terrorism operation in the mountainous part of the Republic of Dagestan.

By Decree of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation No. 201 dated April 20, 2015, the division was awarded the Order of Suvorov.

On May 14, 2015, the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Army General Sergei Shoigu, received the Order of Suvorov for his services and exemplary service to the Fatherland. The division at that time became the fifth recipient of the Order of Suvorov in the modern history of Russia.

Since the creation of the division, 10 people have been awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. More than 2 thousand paratroopers were awarded orders and medals. For the successful completion of combat missions, courage, bravery and heroism, 18 military personnel were awarded the title of Hero of Russia.

In August 2016, the team of the 7th Guards Airborne Assault Division (G) took 1st place in the International Army Games Airborne Platoon 2016, where representatives of airborne troops from 6 countries such as China, Venezuela, Belarus, Iran, Kazakhstan, and Egypt took part.

In 2017, paratroopers took part in the International Army Games in the “Airborne Platoon” competition, which was held on the territory of the People’s Republic of China.

Currently, the airborne unit is equipped with the most modern weapons, military equipment, landing and communications equipment.

Today, paratroopers of the 7th Guards Red Banner Order of Suvorov and Kutuzov of the 2nd degree Air Assault Division (Mountain) continue to improve their combat training and are ready to carry out any assigned tasks!

Flag of the 7th Guards The Airborne Forces Airborne Forces will be an unexpected and pleasant gift for everyone who served in the Airborne Forces unit in Novorossiysk or Kaunas.

Characteristics

• 7th Guards VDD
• military unit 61756

Flag of the Airborne Forces of the 7th Guards. VDD

Serving in the armed forces is a worthy endeavor for real men. Especially when we are talking about the most illustrious formations that gained honor and respect in battles for the quiet life of their homeland. One of these formations is the 7th Airborne Division (Novorossiysk), to whose units Voenpro devotes a number of publications.

Airborne Forces Semerka - a proud name

The first “home” for the 7th Division of the Airborne Forces was the city of Polotsk in Belarus, where the formation of the formation took place. In 1948, the division was redeployed to the Lithuanian SSR, to Kaunas and Marijampole. At that time, the so-called “forest brothers” operated on the territory of this Soviet republic, for whom the words “Airborne Forces Kaunas” were the most terrible.

The Seven Airborne Forces became the advanced formations in the troops. The division's units served as a testing ground for the introduction of new types of transport aircraft, parachutes, airborne armored vehicles and various types of weapons into the Airborne Forces.

The 108th Airborne Regiment (Kaunas) took part in fulfilling the tasks set by the USSR government in Hungary in 1956 and in Czechoslovakia in 1968. For the operation in Budapest, Guards. Captain Nikolai Ivanovich Kharlamov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. The paratroopers improved their combat training at numerous exercises: “Shield-76”, “Zapad-81”, “Zapad-84”, “Dozor-86”, and “Neman” exercises. Wherever the 7th Assault Division was located, everywhere it was distinguished by its coherence of action and the highest results. In 1985 he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

There were also tragic episodes in the history of the unit that were not directly related to participation in combat operations. So, on June 23, 1969, the 6th PDR of the 108th regiment of the division was supposed to fly to Ryazan from Kaunas. At an altitude of 3000 m, an An-12 with paratroopers on board collided with an Il-14 passenger plane. As a result of the collision, all paratroopers, passengers of the civilian flight and crews were killed. In total - 121 people, of which 91 military personnel 6 pdr. The plane crash near Kaluga will forever go down as a sad page in the history of the Airborne Forces.

Part of the Airborne Forces in Novorossiysk - 7th Guards. Airborne Forces Airborne Forces

In August-September 1993, the division was redeployed to the territory of the North Caucasus Military District - first to Maykop, and later to Novorossiysk.

The turbulent 90s could not ignore the 7th Assault Division. From 1993 to 1996, the unit carried out tasks to ensure peace and order in Abkhazia, becoming a decisive factor in preventing serious bloodshed.

The 7th Mountain Airborne Assault Division took an active part in eliminating radical militants in Chechnya. In 1995, 7th Guards. The Airborne Forces fight in Grozny and the mountains of the Shatoi and Vedeno regions of Chechnya. We will go into more detail on the “Chechen” stage of the 7th assault division in a special material. Now it is worth saying that during the fighting, 499 paratroopers of the division were awarded medals and orders. 18 commanders and soldiers were awarded the title Hero of Russia. But the price of the feat of the paratroopers of the 7th Airborne Division of Novorossiysk was high. From 1995 to 2004, the unit lost 87 people in Chechnya.

7th Mountain Airborne Division today

Nowadays, paratroopers from the Airborne Forces unit in Novorossiysk are busy with combat training in order to again successfully complete any tasks when the interests of the Motherland require it. Today the 7th Assault Division consists of the following units: 108th Guards. DShP, 247 DShP, 1141 Artillery Regiment, 162 ORR, as well as from the support, repair, communications and engineer battalions. The current division commander is Colonel Solodchuk.