12th Special Forces Brigade

Part Formation

On October 24, 1950, in accordance with the Directive of the USSR Ministry of War No. Org / 2/395832, the 85th separate special-purpose company (or military unit 71126) was formed in the city of Yerevan under the headquarters of the 7th Army and 86th as part of the Transcaucasian Military District separate special-purpose company (or military unit 61428) in Baku subordinate to the headquarters of the 4th Army. The personnel of each company was 120 people ^[1] .

On August 9, 1957, the Directive of the Chief of the General Staff OSH / 1/244878 on the enlargement of individual special-purpose companies to individual special-purpose battalions was issued. According to this directive, on the basis of the 85th and 86th companies , the 43rd separate special-purpose battalion (or military unit 32105) was created with 376 personnel ^[2] .

The place for deployment of the 43rd battalion was selected n. Manglisi in the Tetritskaroy district of the Georgian SSR ^[2] .

In connection with the decision of the military leadership to enlarge special forces and increase the number of their personnel, on July 19, 1962, a directive of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces was issued No. 140547 according to which a cropped 12th special-purpose brigade for peacetime states should be formed in the Transcaucasian Military District. The city of Lagodekhi of the Georgian SSR, located on the highway connecting Baku and Tbilisi, was chosen as the location of the new brigade. For the formation of the brigade, servicemen from individual special battalions of different districts were involved. The creation of the brigade began on September 17, 1962 and ended by March 1, 1963. The brigade received the symbol military unit 64406 . At the same time, the personnel of the personnel of the 12th brigade was inferior in numbers to the personnel of the 43rd separate special battalion deployed in the n. Manglisi.

In the autumn of 1963, the 43rd separate special-purpose battalion was redeployed from Manglisi to Lagodekhi, which was soon disbanded and its troops were included in the personnel of the 12th brigade ^[2] .

The day of the formation of the brigade (Part Day) was announced on December 5, 1962 ^[3] .

Formation and development of the team

Since 1964, the brigade personnel began airborne training and parachuting from An-2 and An-12 aircraft.

December 26, 1964, in accordance with the order of the Minister of Defense of the USSR No. 029, the commander of the Transcaucasian Military District, Army General Stutchenko handed the brigade commander a combat banner.

In 1970, the brigade personnel for the successes achieved in combat and political training was awarded the Honorary Diploma of the CPSU Central Committee.

In 1972, the team was awarded the Anniversary Honorary Badge of the CPSU Central Committee.

In February 1973, the brigade was involved in the military training "Snow Pass".

From June 14 to June 20, 1973, brigade servicemen were involved in bilateral military exercises conducted by the USSR Minister of Defense.

In 1973, the brigade was awarded the Certificate of Honor of the Minister of Defense of the USSR.

On April 3, 1978, according to the directive of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces No. 313/02/90, the brigade was assigned the status of "separate", in connection with which the full name of the unit became the 12th separate special-purpose brigade ^[3] .

173rd Special Forces Unit

Due to the worsening political situation in Afghanistan after the change of power, during which the legitimate president of Taraki was killed by his associate Hafizullah Amin , directives were adopted at the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces to create a separate special forces detachment for operations on the territory of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. This unit was supposed to be a combined battalion of 6 company personnel.

By June 1979, the 154th separate special forces detachment was created on the basis of the 15th separate brigade of special forces of TurkVO . The 154th detachment participated in the operation "Storm-333" to eliminate Hafizullah Amin.

After the Soviet troops entered the territory of the DRA, the leadership of the USSR Armed Forces, taking into account the positive experience in the combat use of the 154th detachment , decided to create two more similar detachments, with its subsequent use in the interests of the 40th Army .

One detachment, it was decided to create on the basis of the 22nd separate brigade of special purpose SAVO . The second is based on the 12th ZakVO brigade .

Due to the fact that the personnel of these detachments were recruited mainly from military men nominally practicing Islam , the name Muslim battalions was assigned to these detachments.

The 173rd separate special-purpose detachment (or military unit 94029) was created on the basis of the Directive of the General Staff No. 314/2/0061 of January 9, 1980 on the basis of the 12th separate special-purpose brigade. The formation of the detachment was completed by February 29, 1980.

The staff of detachment 21/19-51 was the same as that of the 177th detachment formed in the 22nd brigade.

Captain Yaldash Sharipov ( Uzbek by nationality) was appointed commander of the detachment. Almost all the officers and warrant officers of the detachment were recruited from motorized rifle and tank troops, with the exception of the only officer - the deputy commander of the detachment for airborne training, a graduate of the RVDKU .

Unlike the previous two detachments, the military personnel of which were the peoples of Central Asia and Kazakhstan, the 173rd detachment ( 3rd Muslim battalion ) was mainly staffed by indigenous ethnic groups of the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia , nominally Muslims.

On September 24, 1982, in the 12th separate special-purpose brigade, the personnel totaled 485 people and 498 in the personnel of the 173rd detachment ^[4] .

Another distinguishing feature of the “3rd Muslim Battalion” is that it was not introduced to Afghanistan in its original composition. The combat training of the detachment lasted 4 years until February 10, 1984, when it was prepared for the transfer to Afghanistan. By this time, in connection with the rotation of personnel, the detachment no longer corresponded to the original conditional name.

Upon entering Afghanistan in April 1984, the 173rd Detachment was assigned a zone of responsibility in the southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand, where the squadron was liquidated, supplying the opposition with weapons and ammunition.

In 1985, due to the increase in the number of special forces in Afghanistan, the 173rd detachment included the composition of the 22nd separate special forces brigade, also relocated to southern Afghanistan ^{[5] [4]} .

The composition of the brigade in the late 80's

The composition of the 12th separate special-purpose brigade at the end of the 80s (all units of the brigade were stationed in the city of Lagodekhi) ^[1] :

• Management of the brigade - military unit 64406 and units attached to it:

• detachment of special radio communications;
• mining company;
• logistics company;
• commandant platoon.

• 33rd Separate Special Forces;
• 220th separate detachment of special forces;
• 236th separate special forces unit;
• 337th Separate Special Forces;
• 374th Separate Special Forces.

The brigade before the collapse of the USSR

After the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, the 173rd separate special-purpose detachment remained part of the 22nd separate special-purpose brigade, which, due to the upcoming liquidation of the Central Asian military district, and also due to the growing aggravation of the political situation in Transcaucasia, was transferred to n. P. Perekishkul , 25 km from Baku, Azerbaijan SSR . Thus, in the Transcaucasian Military District in 1988, at the same time, 2 brigades of special purpose appeared simultaneously: the 22nd brigade in the vicinity of Baku and the 12th brigade in Lagodekhi.

In November-December 1988, the 12th brigade was involved in the restoration of constitutional order in the city of Zakatala of the Azerbaijan SSR .

During 1989, units of the 12th brigade were involved in the search and destruction of illegal training centers for the preparation of illegal armed groups in the cities of Kirovakan , Leninakan , Pambak .

In April 1989, brigade personnel were engaged to prevent ethnic clashes in the South Ossetian Autonomous Region of the Georgian SSR.

For exemplary performance of military duty more than 150 troops of the brigade were presented to government awards.

The brigade for the entire period of being part of the Transcaucasian Military District 16 times was awarded the challenge Red Banner of the Military Council of this district ^[3] .

Team Relocation

After the collapse of the USSR, the situation in Transcaucasia became extremely aggravated. During the division of military units and formations between the former Soviet republics, the formation of special intelligence in the former Transcaucasian military district fell under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation.

By the summer of 1992, the armed confrontation of Azerbaijan and Armenia switched to large-scale hostilities in the territory of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

Due to the complicated situation in the territory of Transcaucasia, the leadership of the RF Armed Forces in August decided to urgently withdraw the 12th separate special forces brigade from Georgia and transfer it to the Ural Military District by September 3, 1992 with a permanent deployment center in Asbest, Sverdlovsk Region . During the redeployment, the brigade received a new conventional name ( military unit 25642 ) ^{[3] [6]} .

12th Special Forces Brigade Participation

First Chechen War

In early January 1995, on the basis of the 33rd special forces detachment of the 12th brigade, a combined detachment was formed, which included military personnel from all over the brigade. The detachment participated in hostilities in Chechnya. The detachment was transported by military transport aircraft to Mozdok in North Ossetia , where it received armored personnel carriers with crews from motorized rifle units and moved to Grozny and reached it by January 14.

Together with parts of the 19th motorized infantry division of the 33rd detachment, he took part in the liberation of Grozny from militants.

In March-April 1995, the 33rd detachment took part in the battles to liberate Gudermes.

In April 1995, the 33rd detachment was withdrawn from Chechnya and returned to the station of permanent deployment ^[3] .

In total, for three months of hostilities, the losses of the 33rd detachment amounted to 7 people killed ^[6] .

Second Chechen War

Since August 14, 1999, a combined detachment from the 12th brigade, also created on the basis of the 33rd separate special forces detachment, was involved in military operations against gangs invading the territory of Dagestan .

Especially fierce clashes with the enemy among the military personnel of the 33rd detachment took place at the village Botlikh of the Botlikh region . In the battles, 5 were killed and 17 soldiers were injured. For the successful completion of combat missions, 120 troops of the detachment were awarded government awards.

Since April 1, 2000, the 33rd detachment participated in hostilities in the vicinity of the village Engenoy Nozhai-Yurt district of Chechnya.

In total, in 2000, the loss of the 33rd detachment amounted to 7 people killed and 29 wounded. In 2001, the casualties were 13 killed and 14 wounded.

By 2002, the 33rd detachment was returned to the station of permanent deployment ^{[3] [6]} .

Participation in international exercises

In August 2004, servicemen of the 12th Brigade participated in the international exercises "Frontier-2000" in the territory of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan ^[7] .

From April 4 to 6, 2005, the personnel of the 12th brigade (337th detachment) took part in the international exercises "Frontier 2005" in the Republic of Tajikistan ^[8]

The composition of the brigade for 2009

Composition of the 12th separate special-purpose brigade before disbandment (all units and military units were deployed in Asbest):

• Management brigade - military unit 25642 and units attached to it

• Special Radio Unit
• logistics company
• curfew company

• 33rd Special Forces Unit - military unit 54843
• 220th Special Forces - n / a
• 337th Special Forces - n / a
• 374th Special Forces - n / a

Brigade Disbandment

In December 2008, the military leadership announced information about the upcoming reform of the GRU special intelligence units and formations. According to the reform plan, the 12th and 67th separate special-purpose brigades were subject to dismantlement, and the 3rd separate special-purpose brigade was subject to reduction.

All the planned reforms by the military leadership were associated with the reform policy of the Armed Forces , initiated by the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation A.E. Serdyukov ^[9] .

The Governor of the Sverdlovsk Region, who learned about the plans of the command, Eduard Rossel made the following statement ^[10] :

... There is already a decision of the Ministry of Defense to create a quick reaction regiment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in place of the 12th Special Forces Brigade in Asbest. I suggested using this place for the placement of this regiment ...

- True info. March 31, 2009

On August 29, 2009, the personnel of the 12th separate special forces brigade said goodbye to the Battle Banner of the unit ^[9] .

6 soldiers of the 12th separate special forces brigade participating in the first and second Chechen war were awarded the title Hero of Russia ^{[9] [3]} :

  Dolonin Vladislav Aleksandrovich - senior lieutenant , commander of the reconnaissance group of the 33rd separate special detachment. The title was awarded on October 13, 1995 (posthumously) ^[11] .

  Shektaev Dmitry Aleksandrovich - junior sergeant , sniper reconnaissance of the 33rd separate special detachment. The title was awarded July 26, 2000 (posthumously) ^[12] .

  Churkin Mikhail Konstantinovich - captain, commander of the reconnaissance group of the 33rd special detachment. The title was awarded on July 26, 2000 (posthumously) ^[13] .

  Kokinaev Shamil Zhalilovich - major , deputy commander of the 33rd separate special forces detachment. The title was awarded on July 27, 2000 ^[14] .

  Uzhentsev, Sergey Viktorovich - captain , commander of the reconnaissance company of the 33rd separate special detachment. The title was awarded on October 24, 2000 ^[15] .

The full list of commanders of the 12th brigade ^[3] :

• Geleverya Ivan Ivanovich - 1963-1968;
• Makarkin Nikolay Egorovich - 1968-1974;
• Yarosh Vitaliy Yaroslavich - 1974-1980;
• Fisyuk Alexander Ivanovich - 1980-1986;
• Miroshnikov Valery Georgievich - 1986-1989;
• Novoselov Alexander Vasilievich - 1989-1990;
• Masalitin Mikhail Petrovich - 1990-1993;
• Murskov Igor Borisovich - 1993-1995;
• Eremeev Vladislav Vasilievich - 1995-2001;
• Rantsev Vladislav Vasilievich - 2001-2005;
• Yanochkin, Yuri Anatolyevich - 2005-2009.

• GRU of the USSR
• General Directorate of the General Staff
• 22nd Special Forces Brigade

• Site of the Sverdlovsk Regional Organization of the All-Russian Public Organization "Russian Union of Afghanistan Veterans"