The Russian Airborne Forces is the airborne forces branch of the Russian Armed Forces. It was formed in 1992 from units of the Soviet Airborne Forces that came under Russian control following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
The 106th Guards Tula Red Banner Order of Kutuzov Airborne Division, more generally referred to as the Tula Division, is one of the four airborne divisions of the Russian Airborne Troops, the VDV. Based in the city of Tula, to the south of Moscow, it is administratively located within the Western Military District.
The Soviet Airborne Forces or VDV was a separate troops branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. First formed before the Second World War, the force undertook two significant airborne operations and a number of smaller jumps during the war and for many years after 1945 was the largest airborne force in the world. The force was split after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, with the core becoming the Russian Airborne Forces, losing divisions to Belarus and Ukraine.
The 79th Air Assault Brigade is a formation of the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces. The paratrooper brigade is based in Mykolaiv.
The 80th Air Assault Brigade is an airmobile formation of the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces. The brigade traces its history back to the 80th Airborne Regiment of the Soviet Union, formed in 1955 as part of the Soviet airborne's 7th Guards Airborne Division. Four years later, the regiment transferred to the 104th Guards Airborne Division. It participated in Operation Whirlwind in 1956 and Operation Danube in 1968. In 1979, the regiment was disbanded and used to form the 39th and 40th Separate Air Assault Brigades of the Soviet Army. The 39th Separate Air Assault Brigade became the 224th Training Center after transfer back to the Soviet airborne in 1990. The training center was taken over by Ukraine in 1992 with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and became the 6th Separate Airmobile Brigade in 1995. In 1999, the brigade was reorganized into the 80th Airmobile Regiment, part of the 13th Army Corps. In 2013, the regiment was upgraded and became a brigade. The brigade fought in the War in Donbass, and was redesignated as an air assault brigade in 2015.
The 76th Guards Chernogov Red Banner Air Assault Division is a division of the Russian Airborne Troops based in Pskov. The division traces its lineage back to the 76th Guards Rifle Division, formed in March 1943 from the 157th Rifle Division for that division's actions during the Battle of Stalingrad. The division fought in the Battle of Kursk, the Battle of the Dnieper, Operation Bagration, the East Pomeranian Offensive, and the Berlin Offensive. Postwar, it was converted into an airborne division.
The 45th Guards Spetsnaz Detached Brigade is a special reconnaissance and special operations military unit of the Russian Airborne Troops (VDV), based near Moscow. It was formed in 1994 as the 45th Independent Spetsnaz Regiment, and expanded to a brigade in 2015.
The 7th Guards Mountain Air Assault Division is an elite guards division of the Russian Airborne Troops.
The Southern Military District is a military district of Russia.
The 31st Separate Guards Order of Kutuzov 2nd class Air Assault Brigade is an airborne infantry brigade of the Russian Airborne Troops, based in Ulyanovsk. The brigade was formed in 1998 from the 104th Guards Airborne Division. The brigade fought in the Second Chechen War and the Russo-Georgian War. During the Crimean crisis 2014 elements of the brigade entered Ukraine's Crimean peninsula. In August 2014 brigade's units participated in the war in Donbas. The brigade fought in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, beginning with the Battle of Antonov Airport in which they suffered heavy losses.
The 103rd Separate Guards Airborne Brigade is an airborne brigade of the Belarusian Special Forces. Its predecessor unit was the 103rd Guards Airborne Division, which was a division of the Soviet Airborne Troops. It was established in 1946 and disbanded in 1993, a year after its transfer to the Armed Forces of Belarus. The division was formed from the 103rd Guards Rifle Division, which fought as infantry during the final months of World War II in the Vienna Offensive following its formation in late 1944.
The 104th Guards Airborne Division was a division of the Soviet Airborne Troops during the Cold War that briefly became part of the Russian Airborne Forces after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It was originally formed as the 11th Guards Airborne Division during World War II. In December 1944, the 11th Guards Airborne Division became the 104th Guards Rifle Division. On 7 June 1946, the division was renamed the 104th Guards Airborne Division. It was reduced to the 31st Guards Airborne Brigade in May 1998.
The 11th Guards Air Assault Brigade is an airborne brigade of the Russian Airborne Troops, currently based at Sosnovy Bor near Ulan Ude in Buryatia. The brigade was first formed in 1968 as the 11th Separate Air Assault Brigade and two of its helicopter regiments fought in the Soviet–Afghan War. The brigade formed in 1968 at Mogocha as the 11th Separate Airborne Brigade. In 1971 it became the 11th Air Assault Brigade. In 1988, the brigade became an airborne brigade again. It moved to Ulan Ude in May 1993. The brigade became an air assault brigade in 1998. The brigade received the Guards title in 2015.
The 83rd Guards Air Assault Brigade is an airborne brigade of the Russian Airborne Troops, first formed in 1986. It is currently based in Ussuriysk.
The 247th Guards Air Assault Regiment is a regiment of the Russian Airborne Troops, currently part of the 7th Guards Mountain Air Assault Division. It was first formed in 1973 as the 21st Air Assault Brigade and was transferred to the Soviet Airborne Troops in 1990, becoming the 21st Airborne Brigade. The brigade was renamed the 247th Air Assault Regiment in 1998. In 1998, it also gained the title 'Caucasian Cossack', although it is not all composed of Cossacks. In 2013 it became a Guards regiment. The unit fought in the First Chechen War, the War of Dagestan, the Second Chechen War, the Russo-Georgian War, the war in Donbas, and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The 35th Guards Air Assault Brigade is an airmobile brigade of the Kazakh Air Assault Forces. It is currently based in Kapchagay. The brigade traces its history back to the Soviet Union as the 111th Guards Airborne Regiment, formed in 1948 as part of the 11th Guards Airborne Division. After the 11th Guards Airborne Division was disbanded in April 1955, the regiment became part of the 105th Guards Vienna Airborne Division. The 105th Guards Airborne Division was broken up in the fall of 1979 and the regiment became the 35th Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade. After the Dissolution of the Soviet Union, the brigade became part of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan and was renamed to the 35th Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade.
The 108th Guards Kuban Cossack Air Assault Regiment is a regiment of the Russian Airborne Troops' 7th Guards Airborne Division, based at Novorossiysk. The regiment fought in the suppression of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, the War in Abkhazia, the First Chechen War, the War of Dagestan and the Second Chechen War, and the Invasion of Ukraine of 2022.
Alexey Vasilievich Naumets is a Russian Airborne Troops major general. He served with the airborne troops from 1986 and fought in the Second Chechen War and Russo-Georgian War. Naumets was severely injured in a car accident with Russian Airborne Troops commander Vladimir Shamanov in October 2010 while acting commander of the 106th Guards Airborne Division. In February 2013, he was appointed commander of the 76th Guards Air Assault Division at Pskov. He was promoted to major general in June 2014. Naumets was placed on the European Union sanctions list in September 2014 for his command of the 76th Guards Air Assault Division in Crimea.
The Coastal Troops are a service arm of the Russian Navy, designed to guard Russian fleets' forces, personnel, and seashore objects against exposure to enemy surface ships; to defend naval bases and other important facilities of the Fleets from the land, including against amphibious and air assaults; to be landed and act in the course of amphibious and air assaults; to support the Russian Ground Forces in the course of defence against airborne and amphibious assaults; to destroy surface ships, boats and amphibious transport means within the fire envelope.
The 152nd Independent Air Assault Battalion, known simply as the Airborne Forces of Turkmenistan is the official paratrooper unit of the Armed Forces of Turkmenistan.
Soviet Union (1943–1991) 
Russia 
Airborne Troops 
