Russian Airborne Forces
Separate-troops branch of the Russian Armed Forces
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| 2024 | Russian Airborne Forces (VDV) composition is documented, featuring multiple divisions including 7th Guards Mountain Air Assault Division, 44th Air Assault Division, 76th Guards Air Assault Division, 98th Guards Airborne Division, 104th Guards Airborne Division, and 106th Guards Airborne Division, each with multiple regiments and specialized units. |
| 2024 | The regiment began participating in military operations in the Kherson region during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. |
| 2024 | Russian Airborne Forces composition updated, led by Commander Colonel-General Mikhail Teplinsky, with multiple divisions and regiments restructured across various locations in Russia |
| December 9 2024 | The regiment was presented with its Battle Banner. |
| June 24 2024 | By presidential decree, the regiment was awarded the honorary name of Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel General Valery Aleksandrovich Vostrotin. |
| January 3 2024 | Announcement of 20 new military units created in 2023, including the Ulyanovsk air assault division. About 16,000 landing means delivered, with 1,000 more expected in the first quarter of 2024. |
| January 1 2024 | Russian Ministry of Defense reported VDV received over 2,500 units of weapons and military equipment, including T-90M tanks, BMD-4M IFVs, and BTR-MDM and BTR-82A APCs. |
| 2023 | Captain Vladimir Khourda became Director of the Music of the Foreign Legion. |
| 2023 | The regiment was restored by a decision of the Russian Ministry of Defense, reactivating its status as a unit of the Russian Airborne Forces (VDV). |
| 2023 | The 345th Guards Airborne Assault Regiment was formed in Ulyanovsk as part of the 104th Guards Air Assault Division, under the leadership of Guards Colonel P. P. Popov. |
| 2023 | VDV servicemen performing tasks in Ukraine received VKPO 3.0 all-season field uniform kits. |
| 2023 | The 44th Air Assault Division was formed using the 111th and 387th Motor Rifle Regiments from the 1st Army Corps of the Donetsk People's Republic, though military analysts noted it was an air assault division 'in name only'. |
| 2023 | A new 52nd Artillery Brigade was created, marking the first artillery brigade in the VDV's history. |
| 2023 | The 299th and 119th Parachute Airborne Regiments were reestablished, expanding two existing divisions from two to three regiments. |
| November 2023 | The automatic cargo parachute system Junker-DG-250 passed acceptance trials and began to be supplied to the Russian Airborne Forces. |
| September 2023 | Sergey Shoigu claimed VDV received more than 2,000 hardware units and 5,500 landing means, with a new airborne regiment formed. |
| August 2023 | A Russian General reported that 3,500 wounded paratroopers refused to leave the front for treatment, and 5,000 returned to the front after treatment. |
| August 2023 | BBC News Russian and Mediazona documented 1,937 VDV deaths, including 340 officers, by the end of August. |
| August 2 2023 | VDV (Russian Airborne Forces) leadership, led by Teplinsky, announced the expansion of the 31st Air Assault Brigade into the 104th Guards Air Assault Division during the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. |
| June 2023 | According to the UK Ministry of Defence, elements of the 76th and 106th VDV divisions were redeployed to the Bakhmut sector after Wagner forces' withdrawal, with the VDV noted as being significantly degraded from its pre-invasion 'elite' status. |
| 2022 | The Russian Airborne Forces introduced the TOS-1A 220 mm self-propelled 24-barrel thermobaric/incendiary unguided rocket launcher. |
| 2022 | Approximately 30,000 Russian paratroop forces were deployed to Ukraine, with UK intelligence estimating 50% killed or wounded by summer 2023. |
| June 19 2022 | Putin dismissed Commander Serdyukov for the failed Hostomel airfield invasion, where few invading soldiers survived. Colonel General Mikhail Teplinsky was appointed as his replacement. |
| June 16 2022 | Mikhail Teplinsky takes over command of the Russian Airborne Forces from Andrey Serdyukov as Colonel general. |
| March 18 2022 | Colonel Sergei Sukharev and Deputy Major Sergei Krylov of the 331st Guards Airborne Regiment were killed during fighting in Mariupol. |
| March 2 2022 | Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky of the 7th Guards Mountain Air Assault Division was killed in action in Ukraine, reportedly by sniper fire near Mariupol or Hostomel during the Kyiv offensive. |
| March 2 2022 | During the Battle of Kharkiv, VDV paratroopers landed in Kharkiv and attempted to raid a local military hospital but were repelled by Ukrainian forces. |
| February 2022 | VDV Airborne troops launched an attempt to secure Hostomel Airport in northern Kyiv using Mi-8 and Mi-17 helicopters, aiming to create a forward 'air bridge' for rapid Russian force deployment. Ukrainian National Guard's 4th Rapid Reaction Brigade, with Ukrainian Air Force support, initially encircled and recaptured the airport. |
| February 27 2022 | VDV troops with BMD-2s and BTR-Ds were seen advancing south of Hostomel in Bucha. The VDV and Ground Forces units were struck by Bayraktar air strikes, with the Ukrainian government claiming over 100 units of enemy equipment were destroyed. |
| 2021 | Moscow adopts a current massed band arrangement that combines old and new traditions, mixing historical parade formations. |
| 2021 | Two air assault regiments were established in Pskov and Crimea as part of air assault divisions. |
| August 2021 | Acceptance of Kamaz Typhoon armored infantry transports after modifications. Demonstration of various military vehicles including RKhM-6 chemical reconnaissance vehicle and Sarmat-2 light tactical buggy during Zapad-2021 drill. |
| 2020 | Yekaterinburg reinstated field snare drummers in their massed bands formation for major national holidays. |
| April 2020 | Russian Airborne Forces performed the world's first HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) paradrop from the lower border of the Arctic stratosphere, landing over 10 km in Arctic latitudes. |
| May 2019 | Victory Day parade in Ufa, Bashkortostan, uses a modified form of the Imperial and early Soviet massed bands formation. |
| 2018 | Sevastopol introduced field snare drummers in their massed bands formation for major national holidays. |
| 2018 | Supply of 150 T-72B3 tanks to the Russian Airborne Forces, upgraded with Andromeda automatic control system and some equipped with top-attack defence screens. |
| May 2018 | State tests were completed for a new Bakhcha-U-PDS parachute platform for BMD-4M and BTR-MDM vehicles. |
| 2017 | Khabarovsk introduced field snare drummers in their massed bands formation for major national holidays. |
| 2017 | Russian Airborne Forces receive two battalion sets of BMD-4M combat airborne vehicles and BTR-MDM APCs, along with over 80 Rys' and UAZ Pickup armored automobiles. |
| May 2017 | Shamanov announced formation of a battalion in Feodosiya by 1 December 2017, to be part of the 7th Guards Mountain Air Assault Division and expanded to the 97th Air Assault Regiment by late 2019. |
| 2016 | The Russian Airborne Forces started replacing ZU-23-2 air-defence guns with the newest versions of the Buk missile system. |
| October 4 2016 | Colonel General Andrey Serdyukov was appointed commander of the Russian Airborne Forces, replacing Vladimir Shamanov. |
| August 2016 | Russian paratroopers won 1st place in the Airborne Platoon competition during the International Army Games, defeating teams from China, Iran, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. |
| April 2016 | Russian Defense Ministry officially adopts the BMD-4M. The first regiment is equipped with BMD-4Ms and BTR-MDMs. |
| 2015 | First production batch of 24 new armored vehicles (12 BMD-4M and 12 BTR-MDM 'Shell') transferred to the Russian Airborne Forces. |
| July 2015 | Completion of returning airborne brigades to VDV command. Plans announced to expand the 31st Airborne Brigade into the 104th Guards Airborne Division by 2023. |
| 2014 | Major General Volodymyr Derkach ended his tenure as Senior Military Director of the Military Music Department of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. |
| October 2013 | Three airborne brigades under military district control were reported to be returned to VDV command, including brigades in the Eastern and Southern Military Districts. |
| 2011 | The Russian Airborne Forces began replacing some ZU-23-2 23 mm air-defence guns with Strela-10M3/MN missile systems. |
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This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles 345th Independent Guards Airborne Regiment, Russian Airborne Forces & Russian military bands, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.