7th Guards Mountain Air Assault Division (1 Dec 2006 – present) 7th Guards Airborne Division (Sep 1948 – 1 Dec 2006)
Russian:7-я гвардейская десантно-штурмовая (горная) Краснознамённая орденов Суворова и Кутузова дивизия
Great emblem of the 7th Guards Mountain Air Assault Division
Active	1942–1945 (1st formation) 1948–present (2nd formation)
Country	Soviet Union (1942–1991)  Russia (1991–present)
Branch	Russian Airborne Forces
Part of	Russian Armed Forces
Garrison/HQ	Novorossiysk
Mottos	Мужество, отвага, честь! (Courage, valor, honor!)
Engagements	World War II Hungarian Revolution of 1956 Operation Danube Black January First Chechen War Second Chechen War War of Dagestan Russo-Ukrainian War War in Donbas Invasion of Ukraine Southern Ukraine offensive Battle of Kherson[1] Battle of Mykolaiv 2023 Ukrainian Counteroffensive[2]
Decorations	Guards  Order of the Red Banner  Order of Suvorov  Order of Kutuzov
Commanders
Current commander	Col. Aleksandr Kornev?
Notable commanders	Maj. Gen.Dmitry Drychkin Maj. Gen.Andrei Sukhovetsky †

The7th Guards Mountain Red Banner, Orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov Air Assault Division is the onlyelite guards (other than Spetsnaz VDV) division of theRussian Airborne Forces (VDV) (Military Unit Number 61756) responsible for mountain warfare and jungle warfare.

The 7th Guards Airborne Division was formed in September 1948 based on 322nd Guards Rifle Regiment which fought inEastern Europe inWorld War II. In October 1948 the division was relocated toKaunas,Lithuania. During theCold War period, the division served in the suppression of theHungarian andCzech revolutions. In August 1993, the division was relocated toNovorossisk,Russia. It took part in variouscounter-insurgency operations in theCaucasus region. On 1 December 2006 it was renamed as 7th Guards Mountain Air Assault Division.

In 2014 the division's247th Guards Air Assault Regiment took part in thewar in Donbas inUkraine.^[3]

Since February 2022 the division has been heavily engaged in theinvasion of Ukraine with its commanding general having been reportedly killed in action on February 28, 2022.^[4][5]

There were two separately formed 7th Guards Airborne Divisions in theRed Army andSoviet Ground Forces/Soviet Airborne Troops. The first division was formed during the Second World War at Ramenskoye in December 1942.^[6] It fought at Demyansk, Voronezh, Korsun, on the Dnieper River, and at Targul Frumos and Budapest. It ended the war with4th Guards Army of the3rd Ukrainian Front in May 1945. As part of a postwar military reorganization, this division was retitled the115th Guards Rifle Division in June 1945. The second formation of the 7th Guards Airborne Division was started in September 1948 based on 322nd Guards Rifle Regiment.

External images
Generals Reinhart and Drichkin
50th Anniversary Memorial

The first formation of the division was formed during the Second World War at Ramenskoye in December 1942. It fought at Demyansk, Voronezh, Korsun, on the Dnieper River, and atTargul Frumos and Budapest. It gained the honorific "Cherkassy." (Poirer and Connor, p76)

On May 8, 1945, the divisional commander, Major General Dmitrii Aristarkhovich Drichkin,^[7] set up his headquarters in the village ofErlauf, Austria, some 60 miles west of Vienna and 50 miles east of Linz. Anxious to meet the Allies, he sent out scouts. At midnight, he met Major GeneralStanley Eric Reinhart, commander of the U.S.65th Infantry Division.^[8] For the duration of their presence on the Danube river, both commanders continued to cooperate in an unusually effective manner.^[9]

Twenty years later, public affairs officer Captain John J. Pullen described their first cordial encounter for theNational Observer. For the 50th anniversary, Erlauf erected a Soviet-sponsored memorial. It features a local girl, linking arms with a GI on her right, and a Soviet soldier on her left. To this day, an enlarged photo and a small exhibit mark the spot where this historic encounter took place: A life-size Major General Reinhart, smiling at General Drichkin, as they compare their watches one minute past midnight, on 9 May 1945, the moment the unconditional surrender of Germany became effective.

As part of a postwar military reorganization at the end of June 1945, the first formation of the 7th Guards Airborne Division was retitled as the 115th Guards Rifle Division.^[10] The22nd Guards Tank Division was activated on 4 June 1957 inNovomoskovsk (Cherkasskoye), Dnepropetrovsk Oblast, from the 115th Guards Rifle Division.^[11]

The baptism of fire of the second formation division's predecessor regiment took place in 1945, fighting aroundLake Balaton (Hungary) under the37th Guards Rifle Corps,9th Guards Army,3rd Ukrainian Front. On 26 April 1945, the 322nd Guards Rifle Regiment of the103rd Guards Rifle Division was awarded theOrder of Kutuzov, second class, for exemplary performance. In commemoration, the division's official day is 26 April, by an order of the Defense Minister of the USSR.

At the end of the war, the 322nd Guards Rifle Regiment was in the city ofTřeboň,Czechoslovakia.^[12] During the war, the regiment was thanked on six occasions by theStalin, theSupreme Commander. In all 2,065 of its soldiers, sergeants and officers were decorated for valor and heroism by theSoviet Union.

The 7th Guards Airborne Division (second formation) was established on 15 October 1948 on the basis of the 322nd Guards Air Landing Regiment of the103rd Guards Airborne Division^[13] atPolotsk in theBelorussian Military District, becoming part of the8th Guards Airborne Corps.^[14] The division was relocated to the cities ofKaunas andMarijampolė,Lithuanian SSR. Personnel from these bases took part in actions againstLithuanian partisans.^[15]

Units in this premier division of airborne troops have mastered the landing of AntonovAn-8,An-12,An-22, andIl-76 aircraft, tested a number of new parachute systems (D-5 andD-6), all generations ofBMD, and2S9 Nona artillery systems.

In 1956, the division was involved in "Operation Whirlwind", the suppression of theHungarian revolution. On 3 November 1956, the 108th Parachute Regiment landed at theTököl airbase inIl-12 andLi-2 aircraft, capturing and disabling six antiaircraft batteries, then positioning themselves to defend the base. On 4 November 1956 the regimental staff, together with fighters from the 119th Parachute Regiment, entered the city ofBudapest and took part in street fighting until the city was secured on 7 November.

In 1968, the division participated inOperation Danube to suppress thePrague Spring uprising. The 108th Regiment distinguished itself in the most dangerous and difficult missions, for which about two hundred of its personnel received high government awards.^{[citation needed]}

On 23 June 1969, troops of the 108th Airborne Regiment were tasked to fly fromKaunas toRyazan, where they were to demonstrate their vehicle assault landing skills to the Minister of Defence of the USSR,Andrei Grechko. The group of three An-12 aircraft took off early in the morning, reaching a cruising altitude of 3,000 metres (9,800 ft). Approaching the city of Kaluga, a plane carrying the staff of a company and battalion command (91 officers and men) collided with anIlyushin Il-14 passenger plane that was at 3000 meters without clearance, with the loss of all aboard.

The division was involved in many major exercises and maneuvers, such as "Shield-76", "Neman", "West-81" (Exercise Zapad-81), "West-84" and "Watch-86", in the latter three exercises dropping airborne combat vehicles with crews, and receiving the Minister of Defence of the USSR Pennant "for courage and military prowess" during West-81.

In 1971 and 1972, the division was awarded the Red Banner of the Airborne Troops. On 4 May 1985, for success in military training and in connection with the 40th anniversary of the Victory in World War II, the division was awarded theOrder of the Red Banner.

In 1988–1989, elements of the division took part in theBlack January events inBaku.

In 1993–1996, personnel from the 108th Regiment served on peacekeeping missions inAbkhazia to deal with the aftermath of theWar in Abkhazia of 1992–1993.

At some point after 1990 the division was given the 'Mountain' designation.

Between January 1995 and April 2004, the 108th Regiment fought in the North Caucasian region, notably in the August 1999 battle for the "Donkey's Ear" heights inDagestan. In 1997, the division's 97th Guards Airborne Regiment was disbanded.^[16]

In August 2014 the division's247th Guards Air Assault Regiment fought in theBattle of Ilovaisk during thewar in Donbas, Ukraine.^[3][17] The division was subsequently awarded theOrder of Suvorov in May 2015.^[18]

In December 2016,Vladimir Shamanov announced that a separate battalion of the division's 97th Air Assault Regiment would be formed inDzhankoy, with the rest of the regiment reformed from the battalion in the future.^[16] The regiment was reported forming in 2021 in Novostepove Crimea.^[19] In the same year, it was announced that the56th Guards Air Assault Brigade would also be re-deployed to Crimea where it would reform as a regiment and perhaps further augment the strength of the 7th Division.^[20] This plan to integrate the regiment into the 7th division was reportedly later confirmed by the Russian defence ministry.^[21] In that same month, and in the context of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, the 247th Regiment of the division was also reported to have been forward deployed in Crimea.^[22]

In the initial stages of theinvasion of Ukraine, and in circumstances that were not immediately made clear, the former commanding general of the division, Major-GeneralAndrei Sukhovetsky, was reportedly killed by a Ukrainian sniper^[4] nearMariupol on 28 February 2022.^[5]

The division's equipment includes theBMD-1,BMD-2 andBTR-D vehicles, with the anti-aircraft BTR-ZD and anti-tank BTR-RD "Robot" variants of the BTR-D. The BTR-RD was equipped with the9М111 "Bassoon" anti-tank rocket systems (capable of firing twelve 9М111 "Bassoon" or9М113 "Competition" anti-tank guided missiles at a time). Artillery vehicles include the 2S9 "Nona" 120 mm self-propelled artillery vehicle and the 1В119 reconnaissance and fire-control vehicle.

• Guards Major General Dmitrii Aristarkhovich Drychkin (1943–1945);
• Guards Major General Gregory Fedoseevich Polishchuk (1945–1952);
• Guards Colonel Georgy Golofastov (1952–1955);
• Guards Major General Alexei Pavlovich Rudakov (1955–1956);
• Guards Colonel Peter Fëdorovich Antipov (1956–1958);
• Guards Colonel Ivan Makarovich Dudura (1958–1961);
• Guards Major General Peter Vasilevich Chaplygin (1961–1963);
• Guards Major General Dmitry Grigorevich Shkrudiev (1963–1966);
• Guards Major General Lev Nikolaevich Gorelov (1966–1970);
• Guards Major General Oleg Fyodorovich Kuleshov (1970–1973);
• Guards Major GeneralNikolai Vasilevich Kalinin (1973–1975);
• Guards Major General Vladimir Stepanovich Kraev (1975–1978);
• Guards Major GeneralVladislav Aleksyeevich Achalov (1978–1982);
• Guards Colonel Yurantin Vasilyevich Yarygin (1982–1984);
• Guards Major General Vladimir Mihailovich Toporov (1984–1987);
• Guards Major General Aleksey Aleksyeevich Sigutkin (1987–1990);
• Guards Major General Valery Frantsovich Hatskevich (1990–1992);
• Guards Major General Grigory Andryeevich Kalabuhov (1992–1994);
• Guards Major General Igor Vilevich Solonin (1994–1997);
• Guards Major General Yuri Mihaĭlovich Krivoshyeev (1997–2002);
• Guards Major GeneralNikolai Ivanovich Ignatov (2002–2005);
• Guards Major GeneralViktor Borisovich Astapov (2005–2007);
• Guards Colonel Vladimir Anatolyevich Kochetkov (2008–2010);
• Guards Major General Aleksandr Yurevich Vyaznikov (2010–2012);
• Guards Major GeneralValery Nikolayevich Solodchuk (2012–2014);
• Major General Roman Aleksandrovich Breus (2014–2019);
• Guards Major GeneralAndrei Aleksandrovich Sukhovetsky (2019–2021);
• Guards Colonel Aleksandr Kornev (November 2021–present)^[23]

• Division HQ (Military Unit Number 61756)
  • 3rd Anti-aircraft Missile Regiment (94021)
  • 6th Maintenance and Recovery Battalion
  • 162nd Intelligence Battalion (54377)
  • 185th Military Transport Aviation Squadron (Krymsk,Krasnodar Krai)
  • 286th Courier Station Mail Service
  • 629th Engineer-Sapper Battalion (96404)
  • 743rd Guards Signal Battalion (96527)
  • 967th Landing Support Company
  • 1681st Material Support Battalion (Anapa)
  • 3995th Military Hospital (airmobile)
• 97th Air Assault Regiment (with 171st Separate Air Assault Battalion of the Regiment deployed in Crimea)^[19][24] (status of the 97th Air Assault Regiment unclear in 2022)
• 56th Guards Air Assault Regiment (located inFeodosia,Crimea and integrated into the division effective in December 2021)^[21]
• 108th Guards Airborne Regiment (Novorossiysk)^[25] (42091).
• 247th Guards Air Assault Regiment (Stavropol; reported forward deployed to Crimea as of December 2021)^[22] (54801)
• 387th Motor Rifle Regiment (Tula) (tbd); Subordinated to the 7th at least from July - October 2023, core of the newly forming44th Air Assault Division^[26]
• 1141st Guards Artillery Regiment (Anapa) (40515)

• 
  7th Guards Airborne Division shoulder sleeve insignia (1993–2006)^[27]
• 
  7th Guards Airborne Division shoulder sleeve patch

• Feskov, V.I.; Golikov, V.I.; Kalashnikov, K.A.; Slugin, S.A. (2013).Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской [The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II: From the Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land Forces] (in Russian). Tomsk: Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing.ISBN 9785895035306.

• 108th Guards paraborne regiment of 7th air-landing division (YOUTUBE.COM)
• "Память народа::Поиск документов частей".pamyat-naroda.ru. Retrieved2017-09-01.

• Airborne divisions of Russia
• Airborne divisions of the Soviet Union
• Military units and formations established in 1943
• Military units and formations awarded the Order of the Red Banner
• Military units and formations of Russia in the war in Donbas
• Military units and formations of Russia in the Russian invasion of Ukraine

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