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.
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]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2014) |
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]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2014) |
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]
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]
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 ]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2014) |
Source: [17]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2014) |
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]
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The 25th Separate Airborne Brigade "Sicheslav" is an airborne formation of the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Order of the Red Banner Southern Military District is a military district of Russia.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The 110th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, is a unit of the Russian Ground Forces.
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.
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.
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.
{{cite news}}
: External link in |title=
(help){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)