List of military units in the 2014 Crimean crisis

Last updated

This is a list of military units in the 2014 Crimean crisis . At the date of writing (May 2014) this includes (a) the Armed Forces of Ukraine units stationed in Crimea at the time the crisis began, (b) the Russian units stationed in the Crimea at the time the crisis began, and (c) the Russian units that entered Crimea until the peninsula was formally annexed by the Russian Federation.

Contents

Russia

By governmental treaty, Russia was allowed to station a limited number of troops in Crimea, specifically 25.000. During the conflict, there appeared numerous fully equipped soldiers, who bore no military rank insignia or cockade. The official position of the Russian government was that Russia was uninvolved in events on the peninsula and that these troops did not belong to the Russian federation, but were based on the local initiatives. [1]

Many vehicles used by unmarked soldiers have Russian license plates. [1] [2] Ukrainian troops reported that the pro-Russian forces stated they were Russian, [1] spoke perfect Russian, and in one case arrived in Russian planes [2]

Commanders

Land force

Ukraine

On 19 March 2014, the Ukrainian military announced plans to withdraw all personnel and their families (up to 25,000 people) from the Crimean peninsula. [11]

Units that RUSI identified in the Crimea: [12]

Air force

On 19 March, Russian media reported that the Russian flag flew over 189 Ukrainian military units, and that there were no naval vessels in Crimea still flying the Ukrainian flag. [15]

Southern Naval Base (Ukraine)

The Ukrainian fleet was largely surrounded by the Russian fleet and thus inoperable by the Ukrainian command. On the Donuzlav Lake since the night between 5 and 6 March, seven Ukrainian vessels were blocked by sunken Russian vessels. Lutsk (U205), Vinnytsia (U206), Chernihiv (U310), Cherkasy (U311), Henichesk (U360), Kirovohrad (U401) and Konstyantin Olschansky (U402) [16]

Sevastopol Naval Base

Two Ukrainian vessels were trapped in the Bay of Sevastopol at the Streletska bukhta, a submarine Zaporizhzhia (U01) and a small anti-submarine vessel Khmelnytskyi U208.[ citation needed ]

Land forces

Internal Troops of Ukraine

Source: [17]

  • 9th Independent Interior Troops Brigade, Simferopol
  • 42nd Independent Interior Troops Brigade, Sevastopol
  • 47th Independent Interior Troops Brigade, Feodosia
  • 15th Independent Interior Troops Battalion, Yevpatoria
  • 18th Motor Police Battalion, Gaspra

State Border Guard Service

  • Independent Special Purpose Border Guard Battalion, Yalta

Autonomous Republic of Crimea

Crimea was controlled by a mixture of militias and unmarked, pro-Russian soldiers. The new authorities in Crimea announced the creation of the independent Armed Forces of Crimea, which as of 10 March apparently included about 186 soldiers. [18]

Related Research Articles

Spetsnaz are special forces in many post-Soviet states. Historically, this term referred to the Soviet Union's Spetsnaz GRU, special operations units of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Soviet General Staff (GRU). Today it refers to special forces branches and task forces subordinate to ministries including defence, internal affairs, or emergency situations in countries that have inherited their special purpose units from the now-defunct Soviet security agencies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russian Naval Infantry</span> Naval infantry arm of the Russian Navy

The Russian Naval Infantry, often referred to as Russian Marines in the West, operate as the naval infantry of the Russian Navy. Established in 1705, they are capable of conducting amphibious operations as well as operating as more traditional light infantry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moscow Military District</span> One of the operational strategic commands of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation

The Order of Lenin Moscow Military District is a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Originally it was a district of the Imperial Russian Army until the Russian Empire's collapse in 1917. It was then part of the Soviet Armed Forces. The district was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1968. In 2010, it was merged with the Leningrad Military District to form the new Western Military District. In December 2022, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu proposed to reestablish it along with the Leningrad Military District, a decision confirmed in June 2023 by Deputy Chief of the General Staff Yevgeny Burdinsky. The district was formally reconstituted on 26 February 2024 by a Presidential Decree №141, after the Western Military District was split.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siberian Military District</span> Military unit

The Siberian Military District was a Military district of the Russian Ground Forces. The district was originally formed as a military district of the Russian Empire in 1864. In 1924 it was reformed in the Red Army. After the end of World War II the district was split into the Western and Eastern Siberian Military Districts. In 1956 the western district's name was changed back to Siberian Military District, and in 1998 the Transbaikal Military District was merged into it. In 2010 it was divided between the two newly formed Central and Eastern Military Districts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">79th Air Assault Brigade (Ukraine)</span> Ukrainian Air Assault Forces unit

The 79th Separate Tavrian Air Assault Brigade of Mykolaiv is a formation of the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces. The paratrooper brigade is based in Mykolaiv.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">25th Airborne Brigade (Ukraine)</span> Ukrainian Air Assault Forces formation

The 25th Separate Airborne Brigade "Sicheslav" is an airborne formation of the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">45th Guards Spetsnaz Brigade</span> Russian Airborne Troops unit

The 45th Guards Spetsnaz Detached Brigade is the only spetsnaz unit of the Russian Airborne Forces (VDV), based near Moscow. It was formed in 1994 as the 45th Independent Spetsnaz Regiment, and expanded to a brigade in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spetsnaz GRU</span> Russian and Soviet special forces unit

Spetsnaz GRU, formally known as Special Forces of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, is the special forces (spetsnaz) of the GRU, the foreign military intelligence agency of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sevastopol International Airport</span> Military airfield in Belbek, near Sevastopol, Crimea

A military airfield in Belbek, a village near Sevastopol, Crimea, was also used for civil aviation, named Sevastopol International Airport Belbek, for six years from 2002 to 2007 under Ukrainian administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Military District</span> Former operational strategic command of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation

The Western Military District was a military district of Russia, in existence from 2010 until its abolishment as a unitary military command on February 26, 2024, succeeded by the newly reconstituted Moscow Military District and Leningrad Military District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Military District</span> Russian military district

The Order of the Red Banner Southern Military District is a military district of Russia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade</span> Military unit

The 200th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Pechenga Order of Kutuzov Brigade is a military formation of the 14th Army Corps, part of the Leningrad Military District, based at Pechenga in Murmansk Oblast. The brigade was formed from the 131st Motor Rifle Division in 1997 and was one of the two Russian Arctic warfare brigades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yuliy Mamchur</span> Ukrainian colonel and politician

Yuliy Valeriyovych Mamchur is a colonel in the Ukrainian Air Force who, for three weeks in March 2014, refused to abandon his post in Belbek, Crimea amidst the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation while surrounded and outnumbered by Russian forces. Mamchur is also credited for restraining amiably and diplomatically both his soldiers and pro-Russian forces from escalating tensions further, asking both sides not to shoot each other while the situation defuses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Guard of Ukraine</span> Internal troops and militarised police force of Ukraine

The National Guard of Ukraine is the Ukrainian national gendarmerie and internal military force. It is part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, responsible for public security. Originally created as an agency under the direct control of the Verkhovna Rada on 4 November 1991, following Ukrainian independence, it was later disbanded and merged into the Internal Troops of Ukraine in 2000 by President Leonid Kuchma as part of a "cost-saving" scheme. Following the 2014 Revolution of Dignity, amidst the Russian intervention, the National Guard was re-established, and the Internal Troops were disbanded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Moscow Victory Day Parade</span>

The 2014 Moscow Victory Day Parade took place in Red Square on 9 May 2014 to commemorate the 69th anniversary of the capitulation of Nazi Germany in 1945, which formally ended hostilities in the Second World War in Europe. The annual parade marks the Allied victory in the Great Patriotic War on the same day as the signing of the German act of capitulation to the Allies in Berlin, at midnight of May 9, 1945. President of Russia Vladimir Putin delivered his eleventh holiday address to the nation on this day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">27th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade</span> Military unit

The 27th Separate Guards Sevastopol Red Banner Motor Rifle Brigade "60th Anniversary of the USSR" is a tactical formation of the Russian Ground Forces. Its Military Unit Number (V/Ch) is 61899. It is part of 1st Guards Tank Army of the Western Military District, stationed in Mosrentgen, Novomoskovsky Administrative Okrug of Moscow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">110th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade</span> Military unit

The 110th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, is a unit of the Russian Ground Forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russian 126th Coastal Defence Brigade</span> Russian Coastal Troops formation

The 126th Separate Guards Gorlovskaya Twice Red Banner, Order of the Suvorov Coastal Defense Brigade is a formation of the Coastal Defence Troops of the Russian Navy. Its Military Unit Number is 12676. It was granted the "Guards" honorific after suffering heavy losses in an unsuccessful attempt to capture Voznesensk, southern Ukraine, during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The brigade is part of the 22nd Army Corps, Coastal Forces of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. The brigade's garrison is located in Perevalne, in the Simferopol region of the Russian-occupied Republic of Crimea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">810th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade</span> Military unit

The 810th Separate Guards Order of Zhukov Naval Infantry Brigade named for the 60th Anniversary of the Soviet Union(810 gv. obrmp) is a brigade of the Russian Naval Infantry. Based in Sevastopol with one battalion in Temryuk, the brigade is the naval infantry brigade of the Black Sea Fleet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">204th Tactical Aviation Brigade</span> Military unit of the Ukrainian Air Force

The 204th Sevastopol Brigade of Tactical Aviation named after Oleksandr Pokryshkin is a fighter aviation unit of the Ukrainian Air Force. The brigade is stationed at the Lutsk Air Base.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Andrew Osborn; Alastair Macdonald (14 March 2014). "Russia brings trucks, armor into Ukraine's Crimea by ship". Reuters. Sevastopol, Ukraine. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  2. 1 2 Loiko, Sergei (4 March 2014). "Some 'local' forces in Crimea look a lot like Russian military http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-local-forces-crimea-russian-military-20140304,0,41184.story#ixzz2wnMdsBIL" . Retrieved 23 March 2014.{{cite news}}: External link in |title= (help)
  3. Russian units in the Crimea are commanded by the deputy chief of the Southern Military District of the Russian Federation Igor Turchenyuk. RBK Ukraine. March 2, 2014
  4. "В Джанкое находятся войска Чеченской Республики | медиа центр "IPC - Джанкой"". Ipc-dzhankoy.org. Archived from the original on 2015-07-10. Retrieved 2014-03-11.
  5. twower 11 октября, 2011. "Денис Мокрушин - 18-я мотострелковая бригада. Условия службы". Twower.livejournal.com. Retrieved 2014-03-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. 1 2 "Ukraina: Krimmis on Tšetšeeniast ja Uljanovskist pärit Vene sõdurid" [Ukraine: Russian soldiers from Chechnya and Ulyanovsk in Crimea], Postimees , EE, 5 March 2014
  7. 1 2 3 Bowden, Andrew (15 March 2015). "Will Russia risk an all-out invasion of Ukraine?". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  8. "Ukraine says Russian Marines ring coast guard base". Huffington Post. Associated Press. 28 March 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  9. "Ukraine Live", The Daily Telegraph, 3 March 2014, archived from the original on March 3, 2014
  10. "Ukraine Crisis: On Crimea's new border the Russian Army waits". The Daily Telegraph. 3 March 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  11. David M. Herszenhorn; Andrew E. Kramer (19 March 2014). "Ukraine plans to withdraw troops from Russia-occupied Crimea". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  12. A Fragile Opportunity: The 2013 Iranian Election and its Consequences Archived 2014-04-04 at the Wayback Machine
  13. Oliphant, Roland (4 March 2014). "'I'm sick of living at gunpoint. Who do they think they are?'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  14. Oliphant, Roland (23 March 2014). "Ukraine crisis: the inevitable fall of Belbek". The Telegraph. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  15. "Ukrainian Navy Flagship Hoists Russian Flag". RIA Novosti. Sevastopol. 23 March 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  16. Военно-морская национализация | Hubs
  17. Galeotti, Mark; Hook, Adam (2019). Windrow, Martin (ed.). Armies of Russia's war in Ukraine. Elite. Oxford New York, NY: Osprey Publishing. pp. 11–12. ISBN   978-1-4728-3344-0.
  18. Aksenov began to form a new army in the Crimea for protection of referendum. TSN. March 10, 2014