The Day of the Russian Ground Forces is celebrated annually on October 1. The corresponding order was signed by the President in 2006.
The roots of the holiday go back to the events that took place five centuries ago. According to historical archives, on October 1, 1550, Tsar Ivan the Terrible ordered to gather in Moscow "a thousand serving people" who would later go down in the annals under the name of oprichniks. This was the beginning of the creation of the first permanent army in Russia, which had the signs of a regular army.
For a long time, the Ground Forces were the only armed force of the country and often played a decisive role in achieving victory over the enemy.
The historical past of the Ground Forces cannot be overestimated. It includes the feat of arms of Alexander Peresvet and Andrei Oslyabi in the Battle of Kulikovo, strategic and tactical decisions of Field Marshal Sheremetev during the Northern War, reforms in the Russian army of Field Marshal Potemkin ahead of time, the famous "Brusilov breakthrough", the heroic defense of 28 Panfilov, the Battle of Rzhev, Kursk and Stalingrad.
Ground forces, as a type of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, are designed to conduct combat operations mainly on land. Currently, these are motorized infantry soldiers, tankers and gunners, scouts and signalmen, military personnel of the air defense forces, engineering troops, radiation, chemical and biological protection troops.
Within the framework of the state program, a comprehensive re-equipment of the Ground Forces for new and modern models of weapons and military equipment was carried out. Thus, military air defense units are actively using the upgraded S-300V4 air defense systems, Buk-M2 (M3), Tor-M2 (M2U) air defense systems, and new portable anti-aircraft missile systems.
Iskander-M complexes, Tornado-G(S) multiple launch rocket systems, and Msta-S self-propelled howitzers are on combat duty in rocket and artillery units.
Communication units use modern means of communication of the tactical management level. They are equipped with upgraded models of armored weapons and equipment — T-72B3 (M), T-80BVM and T-90M tanks, BTR80 and BTR-82A (M) armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles — BMP-1, BMP-2, BMP-3.
Soldiers of the Ground Forces also have modern combat equipment. All available samples of weapons, military and special equipment in service with the Ground Forces have been tested in combat conditions during the military operation in Syria and other modern local conflicts and are now being successfully used in the course of their own.
In recent years, several dozen new formations have been formed as part of the Ground Forces, the regulatory framework has also been improved, and the combat regulations of the Ground Forces have been updated. In the new guidance documents, much attention is paid to the individual training of military personnel.
On September 30, Izvestia told about the history and tradition of the Day of the Russian Ground Forces .
On the same day, the Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces, Army General Oleg Salyukov, pointed out the effectiveness of the Igla and Willow MANPADS in the special operation. According to him, they shot down about a third of the manned aircraft of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).
In addition, he pointed out that the greatest burden on covering troops during a special operation lies on medium- and short-range air defense systems. In particular, modern anti-aircraft missile systems S-300V4, Buk-M2 (M3) and Tor-M2 (M2U) showed the greatest effectiveness.
On September 28, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation showed the work of the new Buk-M3 air defense system during a special operation. The new Buk-M3 is equipped with advanced electronics and new anti-aircraft missiles, the number of which has increased to six. Calculations of the anti-aircraft missile brigade, armed with the latest Buk-M3 complexes, regularly shoot down shells of the HIMARS multiple launch rocket system.