Events in Moscow on this day will begin with a festive liturgy in the main church of the Airborne Forces - the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Sokolniki
MOSCOW, August 2. /tass/. Airborne troops (airborne) of the Armed Forces of Russia on Tuesday celebrate 92 years since its formation. Celebrations are traditionally held throughout Russia in honor of this day.
Events in Moscow on this day will begin with a festive liturgy in the main church of the Airborne Forces - the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Sokolniki - which will be attended by the command of the Airborne Forces, veterans and public organizations. Then wreaths and flowers will be laid at the monuments to the legendary commander of the Airborne Forces, Army General V. F. Margelov and the paratroopers who died in the performance of military duty on Suvorovskaya Square and Khoroshevsky Highway. The festive events will continue with a procession along Ilyinka Street to the Frontal Place on Red Square, where the demonstration performances of the honor guard company, the parade ground concert of the combined military band of the Airborne Forces, the ceremonial march of the parade calculations of military paratroopers and pupils of military-patriotic clubs and "Unarmia" will take place.
In St. Petersburg, the celebration of the Airborne Forces Day will open with a solemn funeral rally in the square of Army General Vasily Margelov. The event will be attended by veterans of the Airborne Forces and active paratroopers. Then the ceremony of laying wreaths and flowers to the eternal flame will take place on the Champ de Mars. At the end of the festive program, a concert will be held in the park of the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg, where athletes-parachutists of the Western Military District national team will show their skills.
Solemn events in Pskov will be held in the Green Theater, where dog handlers of the 76th Chernihiv Red Banner Airborne Assault Division will perform, as well as a static display of airborne weapons samples and an interactive display of modern equipment. In Veliky Novgorod, in the park of the 30th anniversary of October, a rally will be held at the memorial sign "Afghanistan hurts in my soul" and competitions among paratroopers and pupils of sports clubs. In the Vologda region, at the DOSAAF airfield in the village of Trufanovo, Vologda district, the Open Sky festival will be held, the program of which includes an exhibition of weapons, aviation, military and rescue equipment.
In Arkhangelsk, on August 2, paratroopers will hold master classes for everyone on the assembly and disassembly of the Kalashnikov assault rifle and combat training, there will also be an exhibition of modern weapons, parachute systems and hats of airborne troops. A solemn rally will be held in Syktyvkar at the monument to internationalist soldiers, then paratroopers competitions will be held in the Kortkeros district of the Komi Republic. In Vorkuta, the opening of the alley of paratroopers and a rally are scheduled for the holiday. A rally will be held in Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, with the laying of flowers at the monument to the internationalist soldiers who died in Afghanistan.
History of the Airborne Forces
The history of the Airborne Troops began in 1930 with 12 volunteer parachutists. On August 2, 1930, an air assault from volunteers of the 11th Aviation Brigade landed near Voronezh at the exercises of the Air Force of the Moscow Military District. Since then, this date has been considered the day of the birth of the Airborne Troops. A full-fledged unit, the first airborne detachment in the USSR, was formed in 1931 in the Leningrad Military District.
In 1932, the formation of airborne units began, which marked the beginning of the mass deployment of this kind of troops. On December 11, 1932, the resolution of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR on the creation of airborne units was adopted. In 1941, corps numbering over 10 thousand people each were organized on the basis of airborne brigades. After its foundation, the Airborne Troops were part of the Air Force of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Red Army).
The airborne brigades participated in the armed conflict on Khalkhin Gol and in the Soviet-Finnish War. At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, all five airborne corps took an active part in the battles with the German invaders. For military services during the war, all airborne formations were awarded the title of Guards. Thousands of soldiers, sergeants and officers were awarded orders and medals, 296 people were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
In 1946, simultaneously with the renaming of the Red Army into the Armed Forces of the USSR, the Airborne Forces were incorporated into the Ground Forces with subordination to the Minister of Defense. For almost a quarter of a century (in 1954-1959 and 1961-1979), the paratroopers were led by Army General Vasily Margelov, under whom the basis of the structure of modern airborne forces was formed, the firepower and mobility of amphibious units were significantly strengthened. Paratroopers have become the elite of the armed forces.
After the collapse of the USSR, the Airborne Forces became an independent branch of the armed forces in the reserve of the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Federation. For the courage and heroism shown by them, in the post-war period, more than 100 paratroopers were awarded the titles of Hero of the Soviet Union and Hero of Russia, about 40 thousand were awarded orders and medals. The paratroopers performed combat missions in Afghanistan, the North Caucasus, Transcaucasia, Central Asia, Yugoslavia, Syria, and Ukraine.
Airborne Forces today
In 2014, in Kubinka, near Moscow, on the basis of the 45th separate special purpose regiment of the Airborne Forces, the 45th Separate Guards of the Orders of Kutuzov and Alexander Nevsky, the special purpose brigade of the Airborne Forces was created. In other formations of the Airborne Forces, additional reconnaissance battalions have been formed. Also, the Airborne Forces includes the 38th separate Airborne Command Brigade (Moscow region), the 150th separate repair and restoration battalion (Moscow region) and the 35th separate medical detachment of the Airborne Forces (Pskov).
In 2016, tank companies (one in each) were formed in six airborne assault formations. At the beginning of last year, three of them were converted into tank battalions. Electronic warfare (EW) companies and drone companies also operate as part of the Airborne Forces. Since 2018, the formation of airborne units of a new, light type is underway.
As the president of the Russian Association of Heroes, the former commander of the Airborne Forces, Hero of Russia Colonel-General Vladimir Shamanov reported in TASS, the development plan of the Airborne Troops of Russia provides for the re-establishment of the fifth division in their composition - the 104th Guards Airborne Assault Division (VDD), which will consist of three regiments. In addition, according to him, it will include artillery and anti-aircraft missile regiments. The timing of the reconstruction of the 104th VDD has not yet been determined.
Since 2016, the Airborne Forces have been armed with BMD-4M amphibious assault vehicles and armored personnel carriers BTR-MDM "Shell", armored vehicles "Lynx" (a localized version of the Iveco LMV in the Russian Federation). Specialized modifications of Mi-8AMTSh-VN helicopters, light buggies and Strela armored vehicles, as well as armored cars with Typhoon-AIRBORNE guns of 30 mm caliber are being introduced for the new type of units. According to the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Army General Sergei Shoigu, in total, the Airborne Forces received almost 500 units of new and modernized equipment in 2021.
Personnel for the Airborne Forces are trained by a number of educational institutions: the Ulyanovsk Guards Suvorov Military School, the Tula Suvorov Military School (revived in 2016), the Omsk Cadet Military Corps, the 242nd training center for junior specialists of the Airborne Forces (Omsk) and the Ryazan Guards Higher Airborne Command School named after Army General V. F. Margelov.
The airborne forces have been taking part in the special operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine since its very beginning. So, units of the Russian Airborne troops on February 24 took full control of the territory near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The Ministry of Defense regularly reports on the units of this kind of troops that destroyed the enemy, its weapons and military equipment, and also publishes footage of their combat work. In addition, doctors of a separate airborne medical detachment provide medical assistance to civilians of the Luhansk People's Republic (LNR) who cannot receive it due to the workload of the healthcare system.
