| 20th Guards Motor Rifle Division 8th Guards Mechanised Division 8th Guards Mechanised Corps 3rd Mechanised Corps | |
|---|---|
| 20-я гвардейская мотострелковая Прикарпатско-Берлинская дивизия | |
 Sleeve patch | |
| Active | 3 April 1943–2009; 2021–present |
| Country | Soviet Union (until 1991) Russian Federation |
| Branch | Red Army (until 1945) Soviet Ground Forces (1945-1991) Russian Ground Forces |
| Type | Mechanized infantry |
| Size | Division |
| Part of | 8th Guards Combined Arms Army,Southern Military District |
| Garrison/HQ | Volgograd |
| Nickname | Zaleshchitskaya (Russian:Залещицкая) |
| Engagements | World War II Cold War Russian invasion of Ukraine |
| Decorations |
|
| Honorifics | Carpathian Berlin |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
|
The20th Guards Carpathian-Berlin Motor Rifle Division (Russian:20-я гвардейская мотострелковая Прикарпатско-Берлинская дивизия) is a formation of theRussian Ground Forces, originally formed within theSovietRed Army as the3rd Mechanised Corps. The division was reformed in 2021 from the former 20th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade.[1]
The division was formed as the second formation of the 3rd Mechanized Corps on 18 September 1942 atKalinin in theMoscow Military District. Lieutenant GeneralMikhail Katukov took command. It was initially assigned to the22nd Army of theKalinin Front. It took part inOperation Mars[2] alongside the 22nd Army. At the beginning of Operation Mars 3rd Mechanised Corps consisted of 232 tanks.Hamazasp Babadzhanian, who commanded the 3rd Mechanised Brigade of the corps, mentioned this operation briefly in his memoirs, quoting a conversation with 22nd Army commander,Vasily Yushkevich, who said, "We will conduct a rather serious offensive together with Western Front forces—we must liquidate the enemy Rzhev grouping".[3]
The Corps then fought in theBattle of Kursk, across Ukraine with the Central, Belorussian, and 1st Belorussian Fronts. On 23 October 1943, it was awarded 'Guards' status and re-designated the8th Guards Mechanised Corps. In 1944, it took part in theZhitomir-Berdichev,Korsun-Shevchenkovsky,Proskurov-Chernovits, andLvov-Sandomir battles, gaining the 'Carpathian' honorific in April 1944.[4] It ended the war in Berlin after participating in the Warsaw-Poznan andEast Pomeranian offensives. In June 1945, recognising its role in capturing Berlin, it was awarded the honorific 'Berlin'.[4] As part of the occupation forces, it was assigned to the1st Guards Tank Army (later 1st Guards Mechanised Army).
In the immediate post-war period, the Corps was reorganised as the8th Guards Mechanised Division. In May 1957, it was reorganised as the20th Guards Motor Rifle Division bearing honorifics: Carpathia-Berlin, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov.[5] It was stationed atGrimma in eastern Germany. In 1964, the division was transferred to the8th Guards Army. It took part in the1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia as part of the 1st Guards Tank Army, although when it returned toEast Germany, it reverted to the control of the 8th Guards Army.[citation needed] Became part of 1st Guards Tank Army in 1983, until 1993.[5]
The division was withdrawn from Germany in June 1993, and moved toVolgograd in theNorth Caucasus Military District. There it was under the command of the reduced 8th Guards Army Corps, formerly the 8th Guards Army.
The division remained garrisoned in Volgograd, with parts of the division having taken part in theFirst andSecond Chechen Wars. The division was engaged from December 1994 to February 1995 in theFirst Chechen War.[5] On 31 December 1994, units of the division, together with the131st Motor Rifle Brigade and the81st Guards Motor Rifle Regimententered Grozny.[citation needed] On 13 January 1995, elements of the division began storming the Council of Ministers building. On 16 January, the building of the Council of Ministers was completely taken. On 21 January 1995, the 33rd MRR participated in the seizure of the Press House. On 5 February, the division occupied the Minutka Square. On 11 February 1995, after taking the main militant strongholds in Grozny, the division was withdrawn from the fighting and began to transfer its units to Volgograd. At the end of February 1995, the division was completely withdrawn from Chechnya.
In 1999 key units included the56th Guards Air Assault Regiment; 242nd Guards Motor Rifle Regiment; 255th Guards MRR; 944th Guards Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment; 358th Guards Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment; and the 428th Tank Battalion.
In 2009 the division was renamed the 20th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade.[5]
Order of Battle of the division in 1988:[6][7]
As of 2021, the Brigade was reportedly upgrading to division-level strength once again.[8]
Ceremonies to mark the reformation of the division were held on December 1, 2021.[9] The Division was reportedly planned to re-equip with theT-90M main battle tank.[10] The transformation was reported as likely to be complete in 2022[11] and was reported to incorporate the following reconstituted formations:[12]
 Soviet Union corps | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airborne |
| ||||||
| Artillery | |||||||
| Cavalry |
| ||||||
| Mechanised |
| ||||||
| Rifle |
| ||||||
| Rocket |
| ||||||
| Tank |
| ||||||
| Army corps (1957–1991) |
| ||||||
| Other | |||||||
| Divisions of the Soviet Union 1957–1989 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airborne | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Artillery | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Aviation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Motor Rifle |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rocket | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tank | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Guards units marked inbold unless they are in a Guards section. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
.svg) Divisions of theRussian Armed Forces | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Airborne | |||
| Tank | |||
| Motor rifle | |||
| Rocket | |||
| Aviation | |||
| Air defense | |||
| Unique | |||
| Naval |
| ||
| Naval aviation | |||
Guards units marked inbold. | |||
