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 in Novorossiysk or Kaunas.

Characteristics

• 7th Guards VDD
• military unit 61756

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

Service in the armed forces is a worthy business for real men. Especially when it comes to the most famous formations that have won honor and respect in the battles for the quiet life of their homeland. One of these formations is the 7th division of the Airborne Forces (Novorossiysk), to the units of which Voenpro devotes a number of publications.

Airborne Seven - 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 Kaunas” were the most terrible.

The Seven Airborne Forces became the advanced formations in the troops. Division 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 the tasks assigned by the USSR government in Hungary in 1956 and in Czechoslovakia in 1968. For the operation in Budapest, guards. Captain Kharlamov Nikolai Ivanovich was awarded the title Hero Soviet Union. The paratroopers improved their combat training at numerous exercises: "Shield-76", "West-81", "West-84", "Dozor-86", the exercises "Neman". Wherever the 7th Assault Division was located, everywhere it was distinguished by its coordinated actions 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 formation that were not directly related to participation in military operations. So, on June 23, 1969, 6 PDR of the 108th regiment of the division was supposed to fly to Ryazan from Kaunas. At an altitude of 3000 m, the An-12 with paratroopers on board collided with an Il-14 passenger plane. As a result of the collision, all paratroopers, civilian flight passengers and crew were killed. In total - 121 people, of which 91 servicemen 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. VDD VDV

In August-September 1993, the division is redeployed to the territory of the North Caucasian Military District - first to Maikop, and later to Novorossiysk.

The restless 90s could not bypass the 7th assault division. From 1993 to 1996, the formation carried out tasks to ensure peace and order in Abkhazia, becoming a decisive factor that prevented serious bloodshed.

The 7th Mountain Airborne Assault Division took an active part in the elimination of radical militants in Chechnya. In 1995, the 7th Guards. The VDD is fighting in Grozny and the mountains of the Shatoi and Vedeno regions of Chechnya. We will dwell on the “Chechen” stage of the 7th assault division in more detail 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 fighters were awarded the title Hero of Russia. But the price of the feat of the paratroopers of the 7th division of the Novorossiysk Airborne Forces was high. From 1995 to 2004, the unit lost 87 people in Chechnya.

7th Mountain Air Assault Division today

Today, paratroopers from the Airborne Forces unit in Novorossiysk are busy with combat training in order to successfully complete any tasks again 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 supply, repair, communications battalions and the engineering battalion. At the moment, the division commander is Colonel Solodchuk.

The 7th Guards Air Assault Mountain Division is part of and Russian Federation. The unit was formed at the end of the Great Patriotic War, and received its full name 3 years later.

The division participated in many armed conflicts, a large number of personnel were awarded medals and orders.

Formation

The 7th Guards Air Assault Mountain Division was formed at the end of the winter of 1945. The regiment went west. The unit took up positions in Hungary, where it received its baptism of fire. While all fronts were rapidly advancing, in the area of ​​​​Lake Balaton, the Red Army erected defensive fortifications for the first time in a long time and for the last time in the entire war. This was due to Hitler's order to push back the liberation troops from Vienna. No less significant than the city itself, for the Nazis, there was an oil well. And oil, as you know, is the fuel of war.
The 7th Guards Air Assault Mountain Division took up defense in depth. The plan was developed by the Headquarters of the commander in chief. It was based on the successful experience of the battle on

The beginning of a breakthrough

The Nazis planned to push through the defense Soviet troops fast tank attack. March 6, before dawn, the Nazis launched an offensive. After heavy fighting, they captured the necessary, from a tactical point of view, areas.

The main blow fell between two lakes, where the 7th Guards Airborne Assault Mountain Division was located. There they advanced in close formation and suppressed the Red Army with their superiority in technology. After 2 days, howitzers and MLRS systems thundered. This meant that the main forces of the Reich would soon enter the battle. By 9 o'clock in the morning the SS began to advance.

But the Nazis underestimated the resilience of the Soviet soldiers, and the offensive bogged down, the defense survived. After an unsuccessful attempt at a counteroffensive, the Nazis were no longer able to organize serious pressure on their opponents. The Red Army liberated Vienna, and the road to Berlin was finally opened.

After World War II

The 7th Guards Air Assault Mountain Division ended its participation in the Great Patriotic War, having liberated Czechoslovakia, after which it was deployed in the Baltic states. She participated in the suppression of the attempt of Nazi revanchists to commit a putsch in Hungary. After that, the command sent a division to Czechoslovakia to participate in Operation Danube.

In 1968, the government of Czechoslovakia in the majority betrayed the ideas of socialism and wanted to ask for help from NATO. In response, countries decided to militarily suppress the coup attempt. The preparation and planning of the operation took place in the strictest secrecy. The commanders on the ground did not know about specific targets and combat missions until the last minute. On August 21, Allied troops crossed the border of Czechoslovakia and occupied key political and military installations. The operation was successful, with virtually no casualties or battles.

Chechen wars

During both Chechen campaigns, the 7th Guards Airborne Assault Mountain Division was assigned various tasks. The fighters fought in the hottest spots in the North Caucasus. In 1995, they stormed Grozny, where fierce battles were fought for every lane.

Also, the 7th Guards Airborne Assault Mountain Division carried out the tasks of cleaning up the Vedeno and Shatoi districts. This is a mountainous area where the infamous Argun Gorge is located. There, the militants of the Arab mercenary Khattab defeated a convoy of federal troops during the first campaign.

Also, the combat biography of the division includes peacekeeping operations in Abkhazia and the suppression of protests in Azerbaijan during the collapse of the USSR. The personnel of the military formation is five and a half thousand people. Basic equipment - combat vehicles landings and armored personnel carriers. The nickname of the 7th division is "Buffaloes".

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, 10th Guards Artillery Regiments. On August 18, 1943, a grouping consisting of the Great Germany motorized division, the 10th motorized division, two separate battalions of tiger tanks, four regiments of self-propelled artillery, as well as separate units and subunits of the 7th, 11th and 19th tank divisions attacked 27 th army. The blow of a significant part of the forces of this armored mass was the first to take over the 166th rifle division. Two of her regiments immediately fell into an encirclement, from which they emerged only on the fourth day of fierce fighting. The enemy tank wedge entered obliquely into the body of the 27th Army and advanced through Akhtyrka to the southeast. The Soviet command knew about the plans of the Nazis. That is why it moved the 4th Guards Army into the threatened area in advance. The 20th Guards Corps, which included the division, was to be the first to enter the business. On August 18, instructions were received, according to which the entire corps, having the 8th and 7th Guards Airborne Division in the first echelon, and the 5th Guards in the second, was to occupy the line of defense. To the left and somewhat behind the corps, the 21st Guards Corps marched in a ledge. Thus, the entire 4th Guards Army entered into action. On 25/8/1943 at dawn, after a short artillery attack, the division went on the offensive. The guards immediately felt a sharp drop in the combat capability of the Nazis. During the day, parts of the division advanced 15 kilometers, freeing dozens of villages and farms. The offensive developed successfully. Three divisions of the 20th Guards Corps were rapidly moving southwest - Battle of Kursk without any operational pause, it developed into a battle for the Left-bank Ukraine. There, to the gray Dnieper, the guardsmen of the division carried their battle flags. First of all, they had to take possession of Kotelva. The Nazis carefully fortified Kotelva. The fighting for her 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 VDD could not overcome the resistance of parts tank division"Dead Head", the fire of which she was stopped at the outskirts of Kotelva on the northern bank of the Kotelevka River, and fought a firefight. The enemy continuously brought up reinforcements, and soon the struggle took on a positional character. If in the early days the division's success was determined by the capture of a street or quarter, then later the fights, stubborn, fierce, were already for every house and yard. However, the command did not allow the guardsmen to get bogged down in a powerful enemy defense. The command of the corps castled the divisions to the right, along the front, struck a blow here and, bypassing Kotelva, created a threat of encirclement of the 7th German Panzer Division. This maneuver, with minimal losses, gave 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 Army. Under the roar of guns lined up on both sides of the corridor, the 7th and 8th divisions left the "Kotelvinskaya horseshoe", marched along the front line and concentrated to strike at the flank of the enemy grouping. On the night of October 6, 1943, the leading detachments of the division began crossing the Dnieper. The whole of October the Dnieper borders there were fights for bridgeheads. Neither side has 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 decade of October, the 2nd Ukrainian Front dealt a strong blow from the bridgehead, which is southwest of Kremenchug. At the same time, north of Kyiv, the 1st Ukrainian Front also went on the offensive. These were not yet pincers, but under favorable circumstances they could become them and “bite off” the enemy grouping defending on the Dnieper. A regrouping began in the 4th Guards Army. The commander decided to try again to capture Novo-Georgievsky from the already existing bridgehead in the Lipovo, Kalaborok area. The 20th Guards was transferred here. rifle corps. By the evening of October 22, the 5th and 7th divisions took up their starting positions for the offensive. At the end of November, the 43rd division withstood very heavy fighting. Its 18th and 29th regiments reached the eastern outskirts of the city of Cherkasy, cutting off the enemy's retreat. Then the Nazis, in turn, surrounded ours with a counterattack of the tank and infantry divisions. The regiments of the division fought for five days surrounded. On February 11, 1944, the division is part of the 21st Guards. 4th Guards A squadron and by 12.2.1944 reached the Oktyabr-Lysyanka-Maidanovka-Zvenigorodka section, which made it possible to reliably ensure the junction of fronts from the enemy’s tank grouping breakthrough to Lysyanka from the Rubanny Most, Rizino area. On March 5, 1944, at 6:54 a.m., the earth trembled, the air stirred up a huge volley of force, which then turned into a continuous roar of hundreds of barrels. The sharp sounds of "Katyushas" stood out. The artillery preparation lasted about an hour. At the general signal, the guards went on the attack. The battle developed unevenly. The greatest success was indicated in the left flank division, the 7th. She took possession of Olkhovets. 06/13/1945 was transformed into the 115th Guards. sd.

Motto: "Courage, Courage, Honor"

Historical reference

The 7th Guards Airborne Division was formed on the basis of the 322nd Guards Airborne Order of Kutuzov, 2nd Class, 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 the elite units of the "SS" of Nazi Germany. On April 26, 1945, the formation was awarded the Order of Kutuzov, 2nd degree, for exemplary performance of command assignments at the front.

After the destruction of the Nazi group near Balaton, the personnel of the division 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 Nazis were taken prisoner, and a large number of military equipment and weapons were also captured. Units and divisions of the division crossed the border with Czechoslovakia and already on its territory carried out the tasks assigned by the command. The division finished the fighting in the city of Trezhbon (Czechoslovakia) on May 12, 1945, having successfully completed the last order Supreme Commander in the Great Patriotic War.

During the war years, the division was declared six thanks to the Supreme Commander, 2065 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 city of Kaunas and Marijampol of the Lithuanian SSR. Veterans of the Great Patriotic War, who were strictly in the military, took an active part in the arrangement of the compound at the new location. They also played an important role in the education of young recruits, instilling in them front-line landing traditions. The personnel of the compound were repeatedly involved in blocking and destroying fascist accomplices from among the Lithuanian nationalists who had settled in the forests.

In 1956, the connection participated in the Hungarian events. Fulfilling military duty, the guards 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. Acting in the most dangerous and difficult areas, the personnel coped with the assigned 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 Airborne Regiment of the 7th Airborne Division was tasked with flying from Kaunas to Ryazan. In Ryazan, the personnel of the company had to show their combat skills when operating on airborne combat vehicles to the Minister of Defense of the USSR 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 personnel of the company and the command of the battalion were located (a total of 91 people - soldiers and officers of the Airborne Forces), collided with an Il-14 passenger plane, which arbitrarily occupied an echelon 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 crash, all personnel on board were killed.

The commander of the Airborne Forces, General of the Army V.F. Margelov, decided to erect a monument at the site of the fall of the paratroopers. In all formations and units of the Airborne Forces, mainly through parachute jumps, funds were collected for the manufacture of the monument. In total, about 250 thousand rubles were collected. Of the money raised, 75 thousand rubles were spent on the construction of the monument, 125 thousand rubles on the construction of a 13 km road to the monument, 50 thousand rubles were spent on organizing the delivery and accommodation of the relatives of those who died 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 heroes-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 platform where 96 marble slabs have been laid (91 for paratroopers and 5 for pilots). One of the slabs is engraved with the name of a paratrooper officer and signed "Son Albert 4 years old" at the bottom. His father took him with him to take him to relatives in Ryazan.

Four sapper battalions and local road organizations laid a paved road to the monument in April and May. The monument was opened exactly one 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, tested a number of new parachute systems D-5, D-6. For the first time, the personnel of the division performed a practical landing after a flight at altitudes of 6-8 thousand meters using oxygen devices.

The paratroopers of the formation were repeatedly involved in such large exercises and maneuvers as "Shield-76", "Neman", "West-81", "West-84", "Dozor-86". The division was awarded the Pennant of the Minister of Defense of the USSR "For courage and military prowess" for the demonstrated combat skills during the "West-81" exercises. In the course of the last three exercises, airborne combat vehicles were landed along with their crews.

In 1971 and 1972, the division was awarded the challenge Red Banner of the Airborne Troops.

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.

In the period from 1979 to 1989, the vast majority of officers and ensigns of the division went through the harsh school of Afghanistan. Most of them have been awarded state awards, and Senior Lieutenant V. Zadorozhny became a Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously).

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

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

From January 1995 to October 1996, a separate combined paratrooper battalion of the division with reinforcements carried out a government assignment in the Chechen Republic. The paratroopers took part in many military operations and acted courageously and decisively everywhere. The personnel of the battalion under the leadership of Colonel Shamanov V.A. especially distinguished themselves in the battles in the south of Chechnya. For most of the operations carried out, the personnel were highly appreciated by the Joint Command. 499 servicemen were awarded for their courage and heroism in carrying out the assigned tasks, 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 personnel of the division has been performing a special task in the republics of Dagestan and Chechnya. The destruction of Chechen fighters on the territory of Dagestan became a special test for the soldiers of the unit. A golden line in the history of not only the formation, but also of all the Airborne Forces is inscribed the feat of the paratroopers at the height of "Donkey's Ear". The division of the guards under the command of Major Sergei Kostin repulsed the attacks of the far superior militant forces. Ammo ran out, avalanche after avalanche of brutalized crowds of terrorists rolled, 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 paratroopers of the guard, Major S. Kostin. It was his military skill, which instilled confidence in his subordinates, that helped him to survive and win. The landing party survived, but their commander did not see this. He died a hero's death, fulfilling to the end the duty of a commander, a real Russian officer and citizen.

By decree of the President of the Russian Federation, 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 landing almost on the heads of militants taken aback by surprise. As a result of this battle, the bandits were completely destroyed, and two strategically important bridges defended by them were captured safe and sound, which made it possible to complete the task of the entire group of troops. During the operation, the paratroopers did not lose a single person.

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

The division includes the 108th Guards Airborne Regiment. On February 23, 1968, the regiment was awarded the Order of the Red Star for the successful completion of command assignments. For courage and military prowess, the successful completion of combat training tasks and the high discipline shown at the same time, in 1968 and in 1984 the regiment was awarded the pennant of the Minister of Defense of the USSR "For courage and military prowess"

Novorossiysk guardsmen are always ready to perform tasks of any degree of complexity, because it is not for nothing that the motto of the paratroopers is: "Courage. Courage. Honor."

During the existence of the division, it was commanded by:

guards major general	Polishchuk Grigory Fedoseevich	1945-1952
guards colonel	Golofast Georgy Petrovich	1952-1955
guards major general	Rudakov Alexey Pavlovich	1955-1956
guards colonel	Antipov Petr Fedorovich	1956-1958
guards colonel	Dudura Ivan Makarovich	1958-1961
guards major general	Chaplygin Petr Vasilievich	1961-1963
guards major general	Shkrudiev Dmitry Grigorievich	1963-1966
guards major general	Gorelov Lev Nikolaevich	1966-1970
guards major general	Kuleshov Oleg Fedorovich	1970-1973
guards major general	Kalinin Nikolay Vasilievich	1973-1975
guards major general	Kraev Vladimir Stepanovich	1975-1978
guards major general	Achalov Vladislav Alekseevich	1978-1982
guards colonel	Yarygin Yurantin Vasilievich	1982-1984
guards major general	Toporov Vladimir Mikhailovich	1984-1987
guards major general	Sigutkin Alexey Alekseevich	1987-1990
guards major general	Khatskevich Valery Frantsovich	1990-1992
guards major general	Kalabukhov Grigory Andreevich	1992-1994
guards major general	Solonin Igor Vilevich	1994-1997
guards major general	Krivosheev Yury Mikhailovich	1997-2002
guards major general	Ignatov Nikolay Ivanovich	2002-2005
guards colonel	Astapov Viktor Borisovich	since 2005

Photos provided by:

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

The 7th air assault division stationed in the Kuban with regiments in Novorossiysk and Stavropol is a participant in all three military operations, which in recent history Russia led in the Caucasus. During the "" consolidated battalion of the "seven" relocated from the Baltic to the Kuban took Grozny, Vedeno and Shatoi. Only the paratroopers of this division acted in the spring of 1995 as tactical helicopter assault forces.

Plus, a dozen business trips of the G7 paratroopers to North Ossetia and Kabardino-Balkaria to cover these regions from restless neighbors. In a word, the Caucasus has long been considered “their” region in the 7th AD. Of course, they were not without them during last year's operation to force Georgia to peace.

The 108th and 247th air assault regiments stationed in Novorossiysk and Stavropol formed the basis of the group operating in the Abkhaz direction Russian troops, commanded by Lieutenant General Shamanov. Outlining in previous material the chronology of her actions, we continue the theme with the memories of the officers of the division. After all, no one better than the participants in those events can describe the nature of that fleeting, but redrawn political map Caucasus war.

Commander of the 7th Air Assault Division Colonel Vladimir Kochetkov:

- Our first units went to Abkhazia in early April: having settled down near the Georgian border, the battalion tactical group of the 108th regiment became the combined arms reserve of the command of the collective peacekeeping forces. On the morning of August 8, we received the task of preparing three more of the same armored personnel carriers for dispatch, and in the afternoon at 18.30 we began loading the first of them onto large landing ships for transfer to Abkhazia by sea. All calculations and preparatory activities were carried out in advance, so the first big landing craft"Caesar Kunikov", having taken on board 150 people and 20 pieces of equipment, at 19.00 already set sail from the coast, freeing the berth for the larger large landing ship "Saratov", which takes on board up to 450 paratroopers and more than 100 pieces of equipment. Loading it took several hours.

On the night of August 11, the first to cross the border and marched to our peacekeeping battalion stationed in Georgia was the battalion of Lieutenant Colonel Vishnivetsky. In the morning, the battalion of Lieutenant Colonel Rybalko, the BTGr of the 31st brigade and artillery went along his route. Well, after Shamanov presented an ultimatum to the enemy, Vishnivetsky's battalion moved to Senaki. The main forces, having crossed the border, also immediately go to Senaki. There was no resistance from the Georgian side.

At 22.00 on August 11, everyone concentrated north of Senaki. On August 12, we enter the air base and the brigade's town, and send the 2nd battalion to Poti, where it guards the railway and road bridges. On August 13, I receive the task of inspecting the naval base. Taking a reconnaissance platoon of the 108th regiment, 2 special forces groups and an air assault company from the Rybalko battalion, I move to the port. Nothing is known about the Georgians. We only know that some special unit is stationed at the naval base - "fur seals". Only these “cats”, apparently, turned out to be cowardly and fled before we arrived.

But at the pier, 4 light warships were moored, armed with small-caliber guns and rocket launchers. And a white border ship that contrasted with them. If those were already, as they say, not the first freshness, in some places with rust, then this one, stuffed with expensive equipment, is brand new! I would flood them right away, but I took TNT with me - just a box. After all, they were not sent to blow up ships.

Having dismantled the weapons that they could remove (and for some reason some of the ship's guns were already lying on the shore), they put TNT checkers on the remaining guns and rocket launchers and blew them up. But, having damaged the ships, they, of course, could not sink them. Therefore, we returned to this base the next day. That's when, having taken a sufficient amount of explosives, they already blew up this entire fleet properly with overhead charges. And with special diligence, of course, a white ship. Then they saw these ships already in a semi-submerged state.

At this base, as on the previous day in Senaki, no one offered us resistance. They fled like rabbits. Moreover, they fled in obvious haste. We understood this when we entered the first building, where we found fresh bread, three uncorked boxes with MANPADS and two ATGMs ready for use. Then they also found an ammunition depot, in which there are only Shturm ATGMs - more than 1,000 pieces. Never seen so many of them. They preferred to run away, having such an arsenal of weapons ...

Well, the strongest impression is the base itself. How could a small state create such an impressive military infrastructure in such a short time?! Gym, swimming pool, chic headquarters building. And everything is built on the most advanced technologies! Trying to get into the headquarters of the naval base, for example, they could not open the glass doors for a long time, which the bullet did not take! But with the help of a universal key called "sledgehammer" they still opened it. And in the secret part of the brigade they found plans to capture Abkhazia.

The 2nd and 3rd motorized infantry brigades were supposed to participate in the operation, and the forces of the 5th were supposed to occupy the Kodori Gorge. These are all regular units, for the capture of which Abkhazia was given no more than 42 hours. After that, it was planned to introduce a division from mobilized reservists into the Gali region. Well, with the help of light landing boats we had pierced, it was supposed to land troops in Sukhum and Gudauta. It turns out that our battalion sent to Abkhazia in April forced them to redraw all their plans.

When we entered Georgia, we were, to be honest, tuned in for battles and were ready to attack Kutaisi, but it turned out to be something like a command-staff exercise with a real enemy. But the division was shaken up well, they checked the capabilities of both people and equipment. They also saw all our problems, the most acute of which was with communications, which the Georgians successfully jammed, which made it necessary to control the units using cell phones.

Commander of the 247th Air Assault Regiment, Colonel Alexei Naumets:

- At dawn on August 12, they began to march through Georgian territory until locality Haishi. The task is to close the Kodori Gorge from Tbilisi. The test was not easy: I had to follow serpentine roads and go through 6 tunnels. At the same time, the layout of the march order was such that when moving along mountain roads, the column was ready to engage in battle with the enemy at any moment. Walking at the head of the column, I looked out and informed the chief of artillery of the places where an artillery battery could be deployed in order to support us with fire in the event of an attack by the Georgians. After all, army aviation did not participate in our cover, and, as we were oriented, there were up to 2.5 thousand Georgians in the gorge. Therefore, they went in readiness for battle, and at any moment several guns were on duty on one of the sections of the path, which then caught up with the column. At the same time, there is no riding on armor - everyone is in the landing, in readiness for battle.

Undermining was ruled out: the sappers were checking the road, and a constantly working noise generator would not allow the radio-controlled landmine to be put into operation. Moreover, the road is paved - you can’t put a landmine. On the morning of 13, when the Georgians came to their senses, the gorge was already blocked. And they, throwing their weapons and dressing in clothes, apparently confiscated from the local population, ran. Who on what, never, for example, imagined that eight people could be accommodated in the Zhiguli. And we were driving. Then the UN officers appeared, who began to take out the civilian population. What kind of population it was, it was easy to guess. For example, a family is driving in a UN car, and in it are ten men 25-30 years old, short-haired, and even wearing army boots with high berets peeking out from under civilian trousers.

Well, the strongest impression that remained after those events was the captured Buks, which, despite the fact that they were carefully hidden, we found at their air base in Senaki. Having plowed the runway of this air base with the help of explosives, they blew up two combat helicopters and an attack aircraft abandoned by the Georgians. But the radar used not only in the military, but also for civilian purposes, was not touched. Moreover, so that Saakashvili would not say later that the Russians had broken him, they left two Georgian specialists in the control room. By the way, as soon as this locator, used in the interests of the Georgian air defense, was turned off, they immediately yelled from Tbilisi on the phone: who turned off the radar there, on what basis? Taking the phone from a Georgian specialist, one of our fighters answered a question from Tbilisi: “Private Svidrigailo turned off the radar. Airborne troops of Russia. Claims should be sent to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov.

Well, as trophies I brought from that war a plastic sign from the headquarters of the 2nd motorized infantry brigade and certificates of honor one of their officers. From the Ukrainian ambassador to Iraq and the governor of the US state of Kansas. Both - for success in combat training. By the way, leaving their brigade, one of our fighters with a sense of humor left an inscription as a keepsake: “Comrade Georgians, learn military science in a real way. We'll come and check it out!"

Deputy Commander of the 247th Air Assault Regiment Lieutenant Colonel Yuri Grishko:

- The most difficult test during this campaign for us was the 120-kilometer march along the mountain roads to Khaishi. In some places they walked along such narrow serpentines that the sides of the combat vehicles literally hung over the abyss.

Having solved the problem in the gorge and leaving one company there, on August 15 they reunited in Senaki with the entire group, taking the airfield and the town under guard
2nd Motorized Infantry Brigade. Consisting of light-walled, prefabricated structures, the barracks, headquarters and residential areas of this town were a copy of the typical US Army camp familiar from the peacekeeping mission in the Balkans.

Having fled, the Georgians threw a huge amount of all kinds of trophies, according to which it was possible to judge the weapons and equipment of their army, as well as how seriously it was preparing for the invasion of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. So, in addition to the American M-16 rifles, the brigade's arsenals contained a sea of ​​Soviet-style small arms - machine guns, machine guns, RPG-7 grenade launchers, as well as Ukrainian-made ammunition for them, moreover, manufactured mainly in 2007. From the air base alone, we took out more than 40 Urals of various aviation ammunition - from shells to aircraft cannons to aircraft missiles and ATGMs. And at positions around the airfield, we alone found about thirty Igla MANPADS. The main regimental trophy, of course, was the army air defense battery discovered by our scouts, consisting of two Buk anti-aircraft missile systems. Again, Ukrainian production.

Well, in the brigade warehouses they found a huge number of dry rations, specially made for Georgians in Turkey. Of course, we tried them, having come to the conclusion that they cannot be compared with our “green” dry rations, so beloved by the paratroopers since the second Chechen campaign (individual food rations of the Oboronprodkomplekt company. - Approx. Aut.)

Neither the residential town, nor the headquarters buildings, nor the barracks area, nor the pool, which has become the object of our envy, the likes of which are not only in the regiment, but also in Stavropol, we not only did not touch, but also protected from marauders. Because, unlike the United States, which bombed a lot of civilian objects in Yugoslavia, they carried out a humane, let’s say, operation, without destroying “peaceful” objects located even at enemy military bases, not to mention bridges and tunnels. Although from the point of view of tactics, by blowing up, for example, the same tunnels leading from the Georgian side to the Kodori Gorge, it was possible to deprive Georgia of passage to this mountainous region for several years.

And we did not reach Kutaisi some 57 kilometers. By the way, when we learned that Shamanov would be in command of the group, we thought that we could reach the Georgian capital. Only war in the classical sense did not happen in our direction. The work of American military instructors for several years went down the drain: the Georgians fled the battlefield.

Commander of the 108th Air Assault Regiment, Colonel Sergei Baran:

- One of our battalions, as you know, arrived in Abkhazia back in April. For the first time, the paratroopers who came to the republic saw Abkhazia as a half-ruined country, whose well-being is a thing of the past. The powerful walls and giant arched windows of houses scattered along the mountain slopes eloquently spoke of the former prosperity of this region with fabulously beautiful nature. Well, the scale of the devastation caused by the collapse of the USSR was evidenced by hundreds of empty houses and the state of the railway track, which withstood the passage of only our first echelon: the second and third were no longer unloaded in Ochamchira, the closest to the deployment area, but at the Dranda station located near Sukhum.

Already on the third day, Georgian unmanned reconnaissance aircraft appeared over our camp. In just three months, Abkhazian air defense systems shot down 5 Georgian UAVs in the area of ​​the BTGr camp. But they solved their problem: on the captured Georgian maps, as it turned out later, our camp was drawn in detail.

On August 8, when the Georgians attacked Tskhinval, the regiment received the task of forming another battalion tactical group on the basis of the 2nd airborne assault battalion to be sent to Abkhazia. The first BTG was commanded by the commander of the 3rd battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vishnivetsky, the second - by the commander of the 2nd Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Sergei Rybalko.

At 16.00 on August 8, we received the task of moving to the port for loading onto large landing ships. And although most of the battalion was at that time at the Raevskoye training ground, we met the shortest deadlines: at 20.30 all the equipment was already at the loading site. However, it was possible to start loading the main forces onto the large landing ship "Saratov" only after two and a half hours: the task of transferring the landing force to Abkhazia "Saratov" received, performing the transition with cargo to Sevastopol, and now, before taking us on board, he needs was to unload. Loading onto the “two-story” BDK turned out to be, frankly, not an easy task, because the regiment had no experience of such sea voyages.

The passage by sea to Sukhum took more than 15 hours, and the unloading, which began at about 22.00 on August 9, turned out to be even more difficult than loading. Moreover, the process was no longer complicated by the specifics of the ship, but by the local landscape: on a pebble beach, the equipment kept taking off its shoes, losing tracks.

At 0630 hours, Lieutenant Colonel Rybalko's armored personnel carrier began marching to Lieutenant Colonel Vishnivetsky's armored personnel carrier deployment area, and by noon on August 10, both battalion tactical groups of the regiment were concentrated in the camp. On the same day, Vishnivetsky's armored personnel carrier began its first combat mission: having crossed the bridge over the Enguri, the battalion entered the base area of ​​the peacekeeping battalion located on Georgian territory. In the next two days, we entered the town of the 2nd Georgian motorized infantry brigade in Senaki and the naval base of their naval forces in Poti. And there were no Georgian soldiers there, but there were many signs of their flight. In addition to abandoned armored vehicles, we found a huge amount of small arms and ammunition in the warehouses and barracks of the brigade, abandoned banners of the brigade and its battalions in the headquarters, and fresh bread and half-peeled chicken eggs in the canteen.

Taken by the Novorossiysk and operating in the forefront of both BTG groups special forces of the Airborne Forces trophies in Senaki and Poti - more than 40 armored vehicles, 5 thousand small arms, hundreds of MANPADS, more than a thousand Shturm anti-tank guided missiles, 5 small warships and 20 light landing craft for 25-30 paratroopers. At the same time, not only the quantity, but also the quality of these trophies was impressive: their BTR-80, for example, had heavy-duty Italian-made engines, and the T-72 tanks had Israeli night sights, which made it possible to conduct effective fire at night and in conditions of poor visibility.

For some reason, Georgian bulletproof vests turned out to be more comfortable than Russian ones, and their boots with high berets, outwardly not much different from ours, had not one, but two layers of leather, due to which they did not get wet and were significantly softer. But what struck me the most was the brigade base. Small buildings made of light-walled structures were more comfortable and more convenient than our five-story "kubrick" barracks built according to the Federal Target Program. Leaving, many officers, not to mention the fighters, thought: after what the Georgian military had done in Tskhinvali, it would not be a sin to undermine this base. However, they did not do this.

Commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 108th Air Assault Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vishnivetsky:

Our battalion tactical group has been in Abkhazia since April as a combined-arms reserve of the KSPM. Therefore, it was we who were the first to cross the Enguri on the night of August 10-11 along the 300-meter bridge. Having made a night march, by 6 in the morning we reached the Urta area, where one of our peacekeeping battalions was stationed. And at 9.00 they received the following task: to be ready for combat use in the event of the enemy’s 2nd motorized infantry brigade refusing to disarm. But the brigade actually fled. The clothes scattered in all the barracks clearly indicated not an organized withdrawal, but a hasty flight.

Apparently, when we started the march from Urta to Senaki, the police warned the local military that paratroopers were coming towards them, and the Georgians decided not to tempt fate. Although, judging by the arsenals of captured equipment and weapons, they had something to meet us with. Why did they run away without accepting a fight? They probably knew that it would be very expensive for them. Although twice we were oriented to the reflection tank attack Georgian. Once it was at night. To prevent Georgian tanks with good night sights from approaching imperceptibly, we highlighted the direction of their approach with illuminating mines and shells. But they did not wait for the enemy tanks. Although the pilots said they saw these tank columns. Maybe their troops were going to hold the defense near Kutaisi.

Speaking about the lessons of August last year, I would note the work of their unmanned systems and electronic warfare systems. Passing through the settlements, for some reason, we always practically remained without communication. And only then did they realize that in every police station they had equipment that suppressed our communication. Well, on their maps, our field camp, thanks to the means of unmanned reconnaissance, was literally lined up to a meter - just take it and organize shelling according to this plan.

The commander of the 1st company of the 247th air assault regiment, Captain Timofey Rasskazov:

After the departure of the main forces of the regiment, my company and I remained to control the entrance to the Kodori Gorge near the settlement of Khaishi. One night, a shabby-looking man came out to us. He said that he was from Kharkov and in 1986 he came to Kodori to work, but the local residents - Svans - took his passport away from him, and all this time he, in fact, was in their slavery, working for drink and food. He said that at several bases in the gorge there were about 2.5 thousand Georgian military and a large amount of equipment, including tanks, Shilka, American Hummer SUVs and mortars.

And that all winter the Georgians with the help of equipment cleared the road leading to the Kodori Gorge, so that reinforcements and ammunition could be transferred there at any moment. Local residents, according to the narrator, did not like the Georgian soldiers standing next to them for looting: they, having entered any yard, now and then demanded food and alcohol. And they drank all the time, and the commission that came from Tbilisi gave them a good beating, finding the mortars rusty. When the war began, the Georgians, according to this peasant, did not expect that the Russians would go into the gorge not from the side of Abkhazia, but from the side of Georgia. And when a couple of Russian bombers passed over the gorge, the Georgians, leaving their base, equipment and weapons, fled. At the same time, they fled not on foot, but on cars and tractors confiscated from the Svans.

We did not clash with the local Svans who sympathized with Tbilisi, but after the truce they grew bolder, became impudent, continually asking when we would leave. And as if explaining their neutrality, they said, if only there were 50 thousand of us like you! Of course, we did not answer anything to this, although it was tempting to say that there were not 50 of us, but only 3 thousand!

Konstantin RASHCHEPKIN, Viktor PYATKOV, "Red Star".