February 7, 1995 in Grozny began an offensive across the river. Sunzha. The 165th regiment of the 55th division of the MP Pacific Fleet advanced in battle order. The reconnaissance groups "Malina-1" and "Malina-2" were sent forward.

As part of "Malina-1" were:

1. Firsov Sergey Alexandrovich, senior lieutenant, deputy commander of the reconnaissance company of the 165th regiment of the MP Pacific Fleet.

2. Vyzhimov Vadim Vyacheslavovich, sailor, driver of the reconnaissance company of the 165th Marine Regiment of the Pacific Fleet.

3. Yury Vladimirovich Zubarev, sergeant, squad leader of the reconnaissance company of the 165th Marine Regiment of the Pacific Fleet.

4. Soshelin Andrey Anatolyevich, senior sailor, radiotelephonist-reconnaissance company of the 165th Marine Regiment of the Pacific Fleet.

5. Serykh Andrei ..., sailor, reconnaissance company of the 165th regiment of the MP Pacific Fleet.

The group advanced in front of the 5th MP company along the street. Batumskaya in the direction of the Zapadny bus station (4 Mikhailova Street), "conducting reconnaissance of the enemy and the area in order to prevent a surprise attack by militants on the main forces."

Deputy commander of the coastal troops of the Pacific Fleet for educational work, Colonel A.I. Mozhaev: "Coming out to the square of the bus station, Senior Lieutenant Firsov S.A., gave a signal to the 5th company to move and began to expect its approach to this line, since the direction of the offensive changed here and its further advance threatened to lose not only visual communication with units advancing behind him, but also fire interaction.As soon as the leading platoon appeared from behind the bend of the street, from the opposite side of the square, from behind commercial stalls, and from the windows of the bus station, machine guns and machine guns of militants hit.The fire was so dense and intense that the company was forced to lie down, and did not have the opportunity, as they say, even to raise her head. To remain in this position was disastrous for her. Then the scouts began to cover the withdrawal of the company, diverting the attention of the enemy and suppressing his firing points. "

The area where the battle took place was a road, to the right of which there was a greenhouse complex fenced with a metal, lattice fence, right in the direction of travel there was a building of an unfinished multi-storey building from which a dense fire was opened on the group, to the left of the road there was a one-story store building, in which the militants also sat down ... Thus, the group of senior lieutenant Sergei Firsov, having fallen into an ambush, practically in an open place, waged a round-robin battle ...

Deputy commander of the coastal troops of the Pacific Fleet for educational work, Colonel A.I. Mozhaev: “The scouts unleashed a flurry of fire on the militants. This made it possible for the company to get out of the fire and take a detour maneuver to help the scouts, but it was also stopped by enemy fire in the other direction. The scouts ended up in a fire bag, cut off from the company and practically on The militants decided to deal with them completely, went into the open, shooting from the belt, obviously were in a drugged state and shouted: "Allah, Akbar. There are still more of us and we will force you to retreat. "For four hours, the reconnaissance group fought with superior enemy forces, and nearby the active units of the regiment unsuccessfully tried to come to their aid. On the NP of the regiment, they heard the voices of our guys, but in that situation they could not do anything to help them, all the forces of the regiment were involved in the battles, and there was no time left for the transfer of forces from other directions. They knew that the group was doomed. Terrible hopelessness ... "

Reconnaissance platoon commander 165 pmp O.B. Zaretsky: “Jr. s-t Yura Zubarev was the first to die. l-t take me! I am tall, the spirits will think that I am the commander, they will kill me first, and you will remain alive! ". Here's how it turns out. Mrs. Vyzhimov Vadim, a young sailor, "dushara", who came to us from the Special Forces of the "Khollulai" fleet, crawled to help Zubarev ". With fragments of a mortar mine, half of his skull was blown off and his foot was torn off. Three fought: Senior Lieutenant Firsov Sergey, Senior Medical Officer Soshelin Andrey, Mrs. Gray. There was no help or cover, there was no communication.

The group commander made the right decision and ... fatal for everyone. The unshakable principle, known from books and textbooks, "The scouts all leave", the HONOR of an OFFICER, the presence of two 200s in the group, did NOT ALLOW him to leave. He sent Mrs. Gray for help - thereby saving the life of at least one. Andrei Soshelin, practically demobilized (from the entire company we brought only 4 divisions to the traffic police, the rest were fired from Mozdok), did not abandon Firsov's "jackal", thereby putting an end to his life and writing his name in golden letters in eternity.

The commander of the rv 165 pmp O.B. Zaretsky: “Our guys lying on the ground no longer showed signs of life. I don’t remember how they shot at us, all thoughts were focused on the bodies of our guys. Later, restoring the chronology of the events of this episode, it turned out that the militants returned fire on our group, it was as if they were constantly pouring peas on the armor of the armored personnel carrier.

Having fallen behind a tree and slashed at the "shooting eye sockets of the house", several bursts covered themselves with smoke and proceeded to evacuate. I ran up to Seryoga Firsov. He was dead. He no longer had a weapon. Only later, during the identification at the evacuation center, they made sure that they had finished him off, and until the last firing squad with him, Chief Engineer Andrey Soshelin ... Chief Engineer Andrey Soshelin was lying almost next to Firsov. Having covered his head with his hands, he was apparently still alive when the Chechens finished off the wounded Firsov, and then himself.

Deputy commander of the coastal troops of the Pacific Fleet for educational work, Colonel A.I. Mozhaev: “Seventy-two bullets were counted in the body of Serezha Firsov. The guys kept the all-round defense to the end. They were shot dead at point-blank range ... One of the women, a witness to that battle, said that the marines were offered several times to surrender, promising to save their lives. " Around lay the bodies of more than three dozen destroyed militants.

Marines died near this curb. Four glasses of vodka and bread, scraps of ammunition, torn bulletproof vests and flowers.

For courage and heroism shown in the performance of military duty, Sergeant Yuri Vladimirovich Zubarev, sailors Vadim Vyacheslavovich Vyzhimov and Andrey Anatolyevich Soshelin were awarded the Order of Courage, and their commander, Senior Lieutenant Sergei Alexandrovich Firsov, was awarded the Decree of the President Russian Federation No. 434 dated May 3, 1995 was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation. Posthumously...

The “Kremlin”, of course, has already forgotten about these guys, as it forgot about everyone before. In all wars, our great-grandfathers, grandfathers, fathers, brothers and sons remained unnecessary for power. And even, having perverted and distorted one's concept of goodness and justice, one can understand it to some extent.

But I cannot call such feats superfluous, empty and unnecessary. Let them be tragic, incomprehensible and terrible, but it was precisely with such small soldier victories bit by bit, grain by grain, that the unshakable RUSSIAN SPIRIT was forged. That SPIRIT that forced to cause fire on itself, rush in the Cossack lava, fight to the last bullet and inspire panic in all our enemies.

Looking at the unblinking eyes of the boys, who looked with sacred awe at the photo of Vadim Vyzhimov, looking at the faces shining with excitement, when Vyacheslav Anatolyevich talked about the last hours of the life of the Malina reconnaissance group, I realized that this SPIRIT is alive and no reforms, no introduced other people's values ​​will not break him. Russia to live!!!

Rusakov Maxim Gennadievich, born in 1969, Yalutorovsk, Tyumen region, senior lieutenant, platoon commander of the engineer company of the 165th Marine Regiment of the Pacific Fleet.Airborne Engineer Platoon Commander, 55th Marine Division. He died on January 22, 1995 in the center of Grozny near the bridge across the river. Sunzha as a result of a direct hit from a grenade launcher. He was buried at home in the city of Yalutorovsk.
Maxim was the first Marine to die from the Pacific Fleet.

From the editorial of the Vladivostok newspaper:

“Pacific warrior died in Chechnya”
“Tragic news from Chechnya: Senior Lieutenant Maksim Rusakov, commander of a marine platoon of the Pacific Fleet, died from a severe shrapnel wound received during another mortar attack. Three more Pacific soldiers were injured and hospitalized. The names of the wounded, unfortunately, are not reported, it is only known that they are sergeants by rank.
The press center of the Pacific Fleet, which transmitted this mournful news, also reported that by January 23, the Marine Corps unit of the Pacific Fleet, together with the formations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, began active operations to clear Grozny from " individual groups gangs." Previously reported. That one of the battalions of the Marine Corps of the Pacific Fleet takes part in the battles for the most "hot spot" - the Grozny railway station.
Official recognition of the participation of the Pacific contingent in active hostilities means the possibility of new victims. But the names of the next brave ones who died defending the “territorial integrity of Russia” in Primorye will be recognized with a long delay: the bodies will be delivered from Grozny for identification to Mozdok, and then to Rostov, where the command of the North Caucasus Military District is located. And only from there an officially confirmed funeral notice will be sent to the homeland of the dead.
No details about the circumstances of the death of senior lieutenant Maxim Rusakov are reported.

Colonel of the reserve Sergei Kondratenko recalls what the marines of the Pacific Fleet encountered in Chechnya in 1995:

- On January 19, when Dudayev's palace was taken, Yeltsin announced that the military stage of restoring the validity of the Russian Constitution in Chechnya had been completed. Just in time for this date, our regiment concentrated in the rear area not far from Grozny. After reading the newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda of January 21, in which this statement of the president was published, I thought: Christmas trees, what the hell were we dragged from the Far East? .. And on the night of January 21-22, the second battalion of the 165th regiment was brought into battle, and already
On January 22, Senior Lieutenant Maxim Rusakov died.
- The first loss of the marines of the Pacific Fleet ...
- When this battle began (the battalion fought, the sailor was wounded), I immediately "jumped" into place. Not only because of the wounded: our communication was lost, the interaction was lost, panic began - all this is called the first battle ... I took with me an engineer, a medic, a signalman, spare batteries for the radio station, and ammunition. We went to the carbide plant, where the units of the second battalion were located. This is Khabarovskaya street - my "native" street. And I almost flew in there - I could have died three times on this first exit. We were given a ten-page card, but we didn’t work with such cards, and I couldn’t “get it” into it. We walked on two armored personnel carriers along Khabarovsk, jumped out to the bridge over the Sunzha, but the bridge was not visible - it was blown up, and it caved in, sank. The spirits placed blocks in front of the bridge. I look through the triplex - nothing is clear, black figures are rushing about with weapons, obviously not our sailors ... We stopped and stood there for a minute or two. If they had a grenade launcher - write wasted. I look around - on the left is some kind of enterprise, on the pipe - a sickle and a hammer. And they told me at the headquarters of the group: a pipe with a sickle and a hammer is “carbide”. I look - the gates are opening, a figure in camouflage is waving. We jumped in there. The second moment: when we drove into the yard, I drove along the wire from MON-200 - directional mines. But it did not explode - ours set a mine for the first time, the tension was weak. And when we passed there, I already opened the hatch, leaned out. It would have been severely cut - the armor would not have been pierced, but the wheels would have been damaged and the head blown off ... And the third. We drove into the yard of the carbide plant, took the wounded away, but there was no other way out. I realized that the spirits had driven us into a mousetrap and would not let us out just like that. Then I drove the armored personnel carriers to the far corner of the yard in order to disperse them as much as possible, turned the KPVT barrels to the left and ordered them to shoot from the left loopholes. I jumped out, they did not have time to shoot at us from a grenade launcher. A second armored personnel carrier immediately followed us. They fired at him, but because of the high speed of the grenade passed by. At this time, Rusakov looked out from behind the gate, and a grenade hit him ... We learned about his death after arriving at the command post of the regiment. When it got dark, I again went to the positions of the second battalion. We managed to take out the body of Maxim only at night - the militants held the gates of the plant at gunpoint.
On March 6, 1995, in the house of naval officers, he, together with the commander of the Pacific Fleet, Admiral Khmelnov, arranged a reception and a festive evening for our wives.

After dinner, going out into the courtyard of the headquarters, we saw a group of sailors who had gathered near the newspaper “Vladivostok” hung on the wall, which was brought by the journalist “V” who had flown in with the governor. It was a newspaper with an article about the death on January 22 of our comrade, senior lieutenant Maxim Rusakov. On the first page of this newspaper, a full-page photograph of the deceased Maxim was printed in a mourning frame. The entire regiment knew that our first dead in Chechnya was Senior Lieutenant Rusakov, but few knew his face. Unless directly subordinates, part of the officers and a small part of the second battalion, which was attached to Maxim's sapper platoon.
The sailors looked at the photo of Maxim Rusakov, involuntarily frozen in a moment of silence for a comrade who died half a month ago. We were very grateful to the editors of the Vladivostok newspaper for the articles about our regiment, about our fallen comrade. At that time in Chechnya, we acutely felt the lack of information, we received only the central newspapers: Krasnaya Zvezda, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, and Rossiyskiye Vesti. In addition, they came to us irregularly and in limited numbers. And so we read with pleasure our "Vladivostok" with coastal news. These newspapers were read not only at the command post of the regiment, although not much, but some of them got directly to the units in combat positions. Approximately half a month later, while in the location of one of the companies, I saw a copy of the Vladivostok newspaper worn to holes by one officer. It was evident that this issue of the newspaper had passed through dozens of hands. From hand to hand, this “information treasure” with coastal news roamed through units and positions. Posthumously awarded the Order of Virtue.

Like blood on their body armor...
Cry raspberry, cry, who else will remember,
(From a poem by Lieutenant Vladimir Petrov.)

February 7 The 2nd Battalion of the 165th infantry regiment began moving towards the Zapadny bus station. According to the commander of the rv 165 pmp Oleg Borisovich Zaretsky, "two reconnaissance groups were assigned from the reconnaissance company. One of the groups was headed l-t Alexey U., a couple of days before these events, I came down with a temperature and ... I wake up from the noise, open my eyes and see that l / s is preparing for something. When I asked what happened and why without me, they reassured me, saying that it was okay, the exit time had already been postponed, so ... in general, get well ... Thus, my group was headed by Sergey Firsov, who came to the company and on the 3rd th day sent out."1

The group included:
Air Force Commander Senior Lieutenant Sergei Alexandrovich Firsov2 (callsign "Malina-1" or "Malina-2")
squad leader sergeant Yuri Vladimirovich Zubarev3
scout sailor Vadim Vyacheslavovich Vyzhimov4
scout junior sergeant Andrey Anatolyevich Soshelin5
scout sailor Andrey Serykh

The group advanced in front of the 5th RMP along Batumskaya Street in the direction of the Zapadny bus station (4 Mikhailova Street), "conducting reconnaissance of the enemy and the area in order to prevent a surprise attack by militants on the main forces"6.

Sailor Andrey Serykh: “We crossed the bridge over the river, met our guys from the air assault battalion, they said that everything was calm here. We went further, reached the factory, left the platoon there and went further with the reconnaissance group. we were fired upon. We launched a green rocket, they finished shooting at us. "7

Ambush at the bus station

Deputy commander of the coastal troops of the Pacific Fleet for educational work, Colonel A.I. Mozhaev: "Coming out to the square of the bus station, Senior Lieutenant Firsov S.A., gave a signal to the 5th company to move and began to expect its approach to this line, since the direction of the offensive changed here and its further advance threatened to lose not only visual communication with units advancing behind him, but also fire interaction.As soon as the leading platoon appeared from behind the bend of the street, from the opposite side of the square, from behind commercial stalls, and from the windows of the bus station, machine guns and machine guns of militants hit.The fire was so dense and intense that the company was forced to lie down, and did not have the opportunity, as they say, even to raise her head. To remain in this position was disastrous for her. Then the scouts began to cover the withdrawal of the company, diverting the attention of the enemy and suppressing his firing points. "8

Sailor Andrey Serykh: “After passing the bus station, we went to the right. When we reached the high curb (where the boys died), they opened fire on us from a five-story building. Ahead of the curb were Firsov, Zubarev and the young Vyzhimnov, Soshelin and I covered them a little behind. A sniper wounded Tooth to death immediately. We also opened fire on the enemy. Then a young man was wounded, and Firsov ordered to withdraw. I retreated first, but Soshelin was delayed for some reason ... "9

The commander of the rv 165 pmp O.B. Zaretsky: “Jr. s-t Yura Zubarev was the first to die. l-t take me! I am tall, the spirits will think that I am the commander, they will kill me first, and you will remain alive! ". Here's how it turns out. Mrs. Vyzhimov Vadim, a young sailor, "dushara", who came to us from the Special Forces of the "Khollulai" fleet, crawled to help Zubarev ". With fragments of a mortar mine, half of his skull was blown off and his foot was torn off. Three fought: Senior Lieutenant Firsov Sergey, Senior Metropolitan Andrei Soshelin, Mrs. Serykh. There was no help or cover, there was no connection.
The group commander made the right decision and ... fatal for everyone. The unshakable principle, known from books and textbooks, "The scouts all leave", the HONOR of an OFFICER, the presence of two 200s in the group, did NOT ALLOW him to leave. He sent Mrs. Gray for help - thereby saving the life of at least one. Andrey Soshelin, practically demobilized (out of the entire company we brought only 4 divisions to the traffic police, the rest were fired from Mozdok), did not leave the "jackal" Firsov, thereby putting an end to his life and writing his name in golden letters in eternity. "10

Deputy commander of the coastal troops of the Pacific Fleet for educational work, Colonel A.I. Mozhaev: “The scouts unleashed a flurry of fire on the militants. This made it possible for the company to get out of the fire and take a detour maneuver to help the scouts, but it was also stopped by enemy fire in the other direction. The scouts ended up in a fire bag, cut off from the company and practically on The militants decided to deal with them completely, went into the open, shooting from the belt, obviously were in a drugged state and shouted: "Allah, Akbar. There are still more of us and we will force you to retreat. "For four hours, the reconnaissance group fought with superior enemy forces, and nearby the active units of the regiment unsuccessfully tried to come to their aid. On the regiment's NP they heard [?] the voices of our guys, but in that situation could not help them in any way, all the forces of the regiment were involved in the battles, and there was no time left for the transfer of forces from other directions. They knew that the group was doomed. Terrible hopelessness ... "11

Help Firsov's group

The commander of the rv 165 pmp O.B. Zaretsky: “After some time, the deputy commander of the division, Colonel Kondratenko S., came to the location of the company and ordered to prepare an escort for him to leave. Sitting on the armor of an armored personnel carrier, he asked Colonel Kondratenko about the groups. He confirmed our most terrible, expelled forebodings in every possible way - we had losses. How many, who, how - there were no answers.
We arrived at the 2nd BMP, whose headquarters occupied the complex of buildings of the timber industry, located on the other side of the Sunzha, in the private sector. Dismounted. Already knowing that the groups acted in the interests of this battalion, he began to ask what and how with the group. What was the surprise, mixed with indignation, when I heard the words of the battalion commander, p / p-ka G. addressed to the sailor: "Well, will I eat chicken today?" Colonel Kondratenko must have heard the same thing - he began to "scold" the battalion commander for inactivity. The excuse he heard discouraged: "These are the people of Malina, so let Malina pull them out!" Malina - the call sign of the reconnaissance company, the call signs of the groups were: Malina-1 and Malina-2.
Immediately, through the efforts of colonel Kondratenko, they began to prepare for the evacuation of the group. What happened to the group, what was the severity of its losses - they had no idea - there was no connection with the group, and yet it was some 300-400 meters from the battalion's KNP. When asked by the colonel where the tanks sent to reinforce the battalion, the battalion commander replied that he had sent them to another company.<...>Together with colonel, Kondratenko went to the company, to which tanks were sent to reinforce. We arrived. Found tankers. They explained the situation and the deputy commander of the division ordered to advance 1 tank to the battalion headquarters. The company commander of the tankers rested. Having started the war in its very infancy, participating in the New Year's assault on Grozny, which had already lost half of its original composition and changed its car more than once, one could understand him. The form of the order was replaced by a simple, human request, to which, having set the condition for covering his vehicles with infantry, the tanker agreed.
Returning with a reinforcement - 1 tank, with joy and a vague foreboding, I saw Lieutenant Usachev. Having gathered volunteers and hastily figuring out the order of our actions, we began to advance. On the way we stopped and carried out reconnaissance. Having finally figured out what and how, they came to the conclusion that another tank was needed, and I went for it. The commander of the tankers no longer hesitated, and soon a group of volunteers reinforced by the Shilka ZSU, two tanks and an armored personnel carrier with a landing of volunteers (practically some officers, sailors were not taken intentionally - they did not want to risk it, only the driver of the armored personnel carrier, Mrs. Zinkov Alexey, and they planted the gunner of the KPVT Mrs. Walkers) moved out to rescue the ambushed group.
The only available information about the situation and the situation was the scarce stories of the battalion officers and the incessant shooting from the alleged battlefield ....
At 100 meters from the turn of the road we met a sailor Serykh, one of the fighters of the group that had left with Sergei Firsov. According to him, there were losses in the group, including, to put it in stingy official words, irretrievable losses, but the 2nd: st.l-t Firsov and st. Mrs. Andrey Soshelin were still alive. The r / station was disabled in the first minutes of the battle and Firsov sent him for help, but the snipers who sat in the buildings "chased" him for about an hour, so the information received was somewhat outdated, but still encouraging ... In addition, received from him information somewhat corrected our actions."12

Group evacuation

The commander of the rv 165 pmp O.B. Zaretsky: “We started. The Shilka “jumped out” first at a direct shot distance and fired a cannon at one of the buildings, followed by a tank firing at a high-rise building, an armored personnel carrier and our detachment was closed by a second tank that fired at the store building. , on which the battle took place, was a road, to the right of which there was a greenhouse complex fenced with a metal, lattice fence, right in the direction of travel there was a building of an unfinished multi-storey building from which a dense fire was opened on the group, to the left of the road there was a one-story store building, in where the militants also sat down ... Thus, the group of senior lieutenant Sergei Firsov, having fallen into an ambush, practically in an open area, waged a round-robin battle.
I (and volunteer officers) rode in the troop compartment of an armored personnel carrier and kept the ramp on a tight cable, observing the terrain through the open half. One lying down falls into the field of view, we go further ..., the second, we go further ... Then everything happened very quickly. The column stopped, the Sailor Walking, sitting behind the KPVT, began to shoot, releasing the cable, we jumped out and scattered on the ground.
Our guys lying on the ground showed no signs of life. I do not remember how they shot at us, all thoughts were focused on the bodies of our guys. Later, restoring the chronology of the events of this episode, it turned out that the return fire of the militants on our group was as if they were constantly pouring peas on the armor of the armored personnel carrier.
Having fallen behind a tree and slashed at the "shooting eye sockets of the house", several bursts covered themselves with smoke and proceeded to evacuate. I ran up to Seryoga Firsov. He was dead. He no longer had a weapon. Only later, during the identification at the evacuation center, they were convinced that they finished him off, and until the last firing squad with him, the senior officer Andrey Soshelin ...<...>Senior trooper Andrey Soshelin was lying almost next to Firsov. Covering his head with his hands, he was apparently still alive when the Chechens finished off the wounded Firsov, and then himself."13

Deputy commander of the coastal troops of the Pacific Fleet for educational work, Colonel A.I. Mozhaev: “Seventy-two bullets were counted in Serezha Firsov’s body. The guys kept the all-round defense to the end. They were shot dead at close range ... One of the women, a witness to that battle, said that the marines were offered to surrender several times, promising to save their lives. "fourteen

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1 Memoirs of Oleg Zaretsky, the commander of the reconnaissance platoon of the 165th MP KTOF regiment, about the war. (http://kz44.narod.ru/165.htm)
2 Book of memory of Primorsky Krai. Vladivostok, 2009, p. 18.
3 Memory Book: Memorial edition. Federal State Unitary Enterprise IPK "Ulyanovsk Printing House", 2005. T. 13. P. 107.
4 Book of memory of Primorsky Krai. Vladivostok, 2009, p. 19.
5 Karpenko V.F. Book of Memory. About Nizhny Novgorod soldiers who died in the Chechen Republic. N. Novgorod, 2009. S. 230-231.
6 Bubnov A.V. (From an unpublished book about the Cadets) // N. Firsova's blog. (http://blogs.mail.ru/mail/reklama_fs/673DEA3B82CE43FE.html)
7 Book of memory of Primorsky Krai. Vladivostok, 2009, p. 20.
8 Bubnov A.V. (From an unpublished book about the Cadets) // N. Firsova's blog. (http://blogs.mail.ru/mail/reklama_fs/673DEA3B82CE43FE.html)
9 Book of memory of Primorsky Krai. Vladivostok, 2009, p. 20.
10 Memoirs of Oleg Zaretsky, the commander of the reconnaissance platoon of the 165th MP KTOF regiment, about the war. (http://kz44.narod.ru/165.htm)
11 Bubnov A.V. (From an unpublished book about the Cadets) // N. Firsova's blog. (http://blogs.mail.ru/mail/reklama_fs/673DEA3B82CE43FE.html)
12 Memoirs of Oleg Zaretsky, the commander of the reconnaissance platoon of the 165th MP KTOF regiment, about the war. (http://kz44.narod.ru/165.htm)
13 Memoirs of Oleg Zaretsky, commander of the reconnaissance platoon of the 165th MP KTOF regiment, about the war. (http://kz44.narod.ru/165.htm)
14 Bubnov A.V. (From an unpublished book about the Cadets) // N. Firsova's blog. (

22.09.2019

December 1 marked the 45th anniversary of the formation of the 55th division - now the 155th Separate Marine Brigade of the Pacific Fleet.

The history of the 55th Marine Division is inextricably linked with the history of the coastal troops of the Pacific Fleet, which dates back to 1806. At that time, the first naval company was formed in the port of Okhotsk, which existed for 11 years. Further development units of the "soldiers of the sea" already dates back to the Soviet era

In 2009, the 55th Marine Division was reorganized into the 155th Marine Brigade of the Pacific Fleet.

2013 was the most difficult and eventful year for the amphibious assault in the last decade in terms of the volume of tasks performed. In the course of combat training, the Pacific Fleet marines made more than 4,500 training parachute jumps of varying complexity. About 300 drills and exercises were carried out, during which more than 400 live fire exercises were performed.

According to the command of the Pacific Fleet, the marines showed themselves well during the Russian-Chinese exercise "Naval Interaction - 2013", which took place this summer in the waters of Peter the Great Bay.
Naval units during a sudden inspection and large-scale exercises of the Pacific Fleet in July-September of this year. made an amphibious landing on the unequipped coast of Sakhalin Island. For the first time in recent history Russian servicemen of the formation from Primorye also landed on the islands of the Kuril chain.

The final episode of the maneuvers was the landing of sea and air assault forces on the coast of Providence Bay. On the coast of Chukotka, a counter battle was played between the marines of Kamchatka and Primorye.

The 1st Mozyr Red Banner Marine Division of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet traces its history back to the 55th Mozyr Red Banner Rifle Division.
Formed in early 1942 as part of the Volga Military District, the 55th Rifle Division began its combat path in the Great Patriotic War on the North-Western Front in the battles to eliminate the Demyansk group of Nazi troops, participated in the Battle of Kursk, fought in Ukraine, in Belarus and the Baltic.
Period of entry into the active army: 04/07/1942 - 03/25/1943; 05/10/1943 - 07/30/1944; 09/13/1944 - 10/10/1944 - as 55th rifle division
12/01/1944 - 05/09/1945 - as 1 dmp KBF
The division was commanded by:
Shevchuk Ivan Pavlovich (12/12/1941 - 05/10/1942), major general;
Zaiyulyev Nikolai Nikolaevich (05/11/1942 - 01/21/1944), colonel;
Andrusenko Korney Mikhailovich (01/22/1944 - April 1945), colonel, Hero of the Soviet Union.
During the winter and spring offensive of 1942 by the troops of the North-Western Front near the villages of Rykalovo and Bolshiye Dubovitsy, Novgorod Region, the 55th Rifle Division inflicted a heavy defeat on the SS division "Dead Head".
Subsequently, two regiments of the 55th division, which broke forward, were cut off from the main forces of the army.
In the summer of 1942, with a stubborn defense south of the Suchan swamp, the division continued to pin down the enemy.
In the autumn of 1942, part of the forces of the front launched an offensive against the Demyansky bridgehead, in which regiments of the 55th division took part.
The fighting took on a protracted character and lasted more than a month on the territory of the Polavsky (now Parfinsky) district of the Novgorod region.
Heavy, bloody battles around the enemy's Demyansk grouping did not stop at all times of the year, they were fought around the clock.
Many settlements changed hands many times.

Subsequently, the division participated in the Battle of Kursk, liberated the left-bank Ukraine, Belarus.
On November 23, 1943, the 55th Infantry (Colonel M.M. Zaiyulyev) participated in the liberation of the Bragin district of the Gomel region.
During the Kalinkovichi-Mozyr operation (January 8–January 30, 1944), on January 14, 1944, the troops of the Belorussian Front liberated the town of Mozyr.
For participation in the liberation of the city of Mozyr, the division received the honorary name "Mozyr", for valor in battle was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

In the summer of 1944, the division took part in the battles on the territory of the Gomel region of Belarus, during which the following were released:
June 29, 1944 Petrikovsky district of the Gomel region: 55th Infantry Division (Colonel K.M. Andrusenko) of the 61st Army of the 1st Belorussian Front;
July 6, 1944 Zhitkovichi district of the Gomel region: 23rd (Colonel I.V. Basteev) rifle division, 55th (Colonel K.M. Andrusenko) rifle division of the 89th rifle corps of the 61st army of the 1st Belorussian front;

July 13, 1944 Leninsky district: (center - Lenin village, now in the Zhitkovichi district) Gomel region: 55th rifle division (Colonel K.M. Andrusenko) of the 89th rifle corps of the 61st army of the 1st Belorussian Front .
At the end of 1944 the division took part in the liberation of Soviet Latvia.
After 61A entered the eastern coast of the Baltic in October 1944, 55th Rifle Division 3 of the Belorussian Front was operationally subordinated to the Red Banner Baltic Fleet and began to guard the coast east of Tallinn (Kunda, Loksa, etc.), where in November 1944 it was reorganized into the 1st Mozyr Red Banner Marine Division of the KBF and redeployed (after an agreement with Finland) to Porkkala-Udd.
During the reformation, both the numbering of the compound and its parts have changed. It consisted of: 1st infantry regiment (former 107th Luninets Red Banner joint venture), 2nd infantry infantry regiment (former 111th Luninets Red Banner joint venture), 3rd infantry infantry regiment (former 228th Pinsk joint venture), 1 -th ap mp (former 84th ap), 1st TP mp (former 185th Leningrad order. Kutuzova detachment). Began engineering equipment positions - bunkers, trenches, wire fences were built, defense knots were created, sapper units of the division mined approaches to positions. Lieutenant Colonel S.S. was appointed head of the base's engineering service. Navagin. 7 batteries were built in Porkkala Udd, two of them in 1945.
In 1948, the division was reorganized into the 1st machine gun and artillery Mozyr Red Banner division.
With the signing in January 1956 of the final protocol on the early transfer by the Soviet Union of this territory to Finland, the unit and its part were disbanded in January 1956.
In 1967, the 55th Mozyr Red Banner Marine Division (Vladivostok, KTOF) was deployed in the Pacific Fleet on the basis of a separate regiment of marines formed in August 1963 at the Pacific Fleet. This newly formed formation inherited the banner of the 1 Mozyr Red Banner Marine Corps Division, which was previously part of the Navy.
The division was formed by:
Division Commander Major General Shapranov Pavel Timofeevich
Chief of Staff - Lieutenant Colonel Babenko Dmitry Korneevich
Head of the Political Department - Lieutenant Colonel Kudaev Georgy Petrovich
Deputy division commander - Colonel Savvateev Arkady Ilyich
Head of Logistics - Colonel Belyaev Fedor Efimovich
Deputy for the technical part - Colonel - engineer Solovyov Petr Georgievich

Regiment commanders:
lieutenant colonel Maslov S.L.
Colonel Timokhin
Lieutenant Colonel Grivnak Ya.V.
Deputies com. regiments
lieutenant colonel Turishchev
lieutenant colonel Skofenko

Battalion commanders:
Major Steblin
lieutenant colonel Berezkin L.K.
Major Shishin
Lieutenant Colonel Mishin

Company commanders:
captain Sergeev G.G.
senior l-t Paderin V.
senior lieutenant Maslov V.

In the first half of the 1990s. The 55th Mozyr Red Banner Marine Division of the Pacific Fleet included the 85th, 106th, 165th Marine Regiments, as well as:
- 26th Tank Leningrad Order of Kutuzov Regiment;
- 417th anti-aircraft missile regiment;
- 84th artillery regiment of the Order of Suvorov.
Among the separate parts of the division were: reconnaissance, airborne engineering, repair and restoration battalions.
The regiment of marines included: three battalions of marines, a tank battalion, a battery of rocket launchers, an ATGM battery, an anti-aircraft missile and artillery battery and other units.
The anti-aircraft missile regiment of the 55th DMP was a regiment of the Osa air defense missile system of the corresponding structure.
In the 1990s The 55th DMP Pacific Fleet was reduced in terms of the personnel of the formation (about 3100 people).
At the same time, one of the "deployed" units of the division - the 165th Marine Regiment - became the "basic" unit for serving the youth of the Ussuri Cossacks.
After organizational changes in the 1990s. the 55th DMP Pacific Fleet included: the 106th, 165th Ussuri Cossack, as well as the 390th (in Slavyanka, southwest of Vladivostok) regiments of the marines; 921st artillery and 923rd anti-aircraft missile regiments. The tank regiment of the division was folded into the 84th separate tank battalion. In addition, the division included the 263rd separate reconnaissance battalion, the 1484th separate communications battalion and other units.
In January - April 1995, the 165th Marine Regiment of the division took part in restoring constitutional order on the territory of the Chechen Republic, distinguishing itself in the battles for Grozny. The regiment twice received gratitude from the Head of the Government of the Russian Federation. In April - June 1995, the consolidated 106th Marine Regiment was also in the North Caucasus, operating against bandits in the foothills and mountainous regions of Chechnya. For bravery and courage, more than 2,400 servicemen were awarded orders and medals, 5 people were posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation. During the fighting, 61 marines of the Pacific Fleet were killed.
After going through a series of reductions and reorganizations, the division in 2005. had a personnel strength of about 3100 people and included the following units:
106 regiment mp,
165 Ussuri Cossack Regiment MP,
390 regiment mp,
921 art regiment,
923 anti-aircraft missile regiment,
84 dept. tank battalion,
263 Guards separate reconnaissance battalion,
708 separate engineer-landing battalion,
1484 battalion of communications and other units of combat and logistics support.
The division was stationed in the tract Snegovaya Pad, Vladivostok
On June 01, 2009, the 55th Marine Division was reorganized into the 155th Separate Marine Brigade of the Red Banner Pacific Fleet, consisting of:
165th "Cossack" regiment of marines - deployed into a brigade
390th Marine Regiment
106th Marine Regiment - Disbanded December 1, 2007
921st Marine Artillery Regiment - disbanded on December 1, 2008, 287 OGSADN was formed on its basis
923rd Marine Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment - disbanded
84th Separate Marine Tank Battalion
263rd Marine Reconnaissance Battalion
1484th Separate Communications Battalion of the Marine Corps

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In 1964, after graduating from the Far Eastern Higher Combined Arms Command School, Lieutenant Viktor Nikolayevich Samsonov arrived in the regiment as a platoon commander; soon became a company commander. In 1969-1972 - a student of the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze; after her - chief of staff of a motorized rifle regiment, regiment commander, chief of staff of a tank division. After graduating from the Military Academy of the General Staff - commander of a motorized rifle division, chief of staff of the army, commander of the army, chief of staff of the Transcaucasian Military District, commander of the troops of the Leningrad Military District (1990).

In December 1991, he was appointed Chief of the General Staff Armed Forces USSR - First Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR, in February 1992 - Chief of Staff for the coordination of military cooperation between the states - members of the Commonwealth of Independent States. In October 1996, he was again appointed Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces (now the Russian Federation).

Since January 1996 - General of the Army.

From April 9, 1965 to July 17, 1967, the regiment was commanded by Colonel Savateev Arkady Ilyich. The regiment's chief of staff since 1963 is Lieutenant Colonel Kharitonov Ivan Yakovlevich. Lieutenant Colonel Nissenbaum Vladimir Yakovlevich was appointed head of the tank technical service in January 1965, by that time he had repeatedly performed harvesting tasks in the consolidated self-supporting separate automobile battalion of the Pacific Fleet, and had already been twice awarded the medal "For the development of virgin and fallow lands", as well as medal "For labor valor".

Colonel Savateev A.I., born in 1924 - participant in the Great Patriotic War 19451-1945 from May 1942, when he, being a cadet of a higher naval school, was sent to the North Caucasian Front as part of the 148th separate battalion of marines.

He began his officer service in 1944 in the Baltic Fleet. Then in the Pacific Fleet: commander of the 982nd coastal artillery battery of the Island sector of the BO of the main base of the Pacific Fleet (1948), commander of the 203rd separate artillery battalion of the Suchansky sector of the BO of the main base of the Pacific Fleet (1954).

He came to the 390th Marine Regiment from the post of commander of the 528th separate coastal missile regiment, armed with the Sopka mobile coastal missile system.

Subsequently, since 1967 - Deputy Commander of the 55th Marine Division, Head of the Coastal Rocket and Artillery Troops of the Baltic Fleet, Major General of Artillery. During the period of hostilities, he was awarded the Orders of the Red Star and the Patriotic War II degree, medals "For Courage", "For Military Merit", "For the Defense of Stalingrad", "For the Defense of the Caucasus", "For the Defense of Leningrad", and "For Victory over Germany" ". In peacetime, he was awarded the Orders of the Red Banner of Labor and Combat, the Order of the Patriotic War II degree, "For Service in the Armed Forces of the USSR" III degree and many medals.

In August 1965, the 390th separate regiment of the Marine Corps made a trip on landing ships with the development of combat training tasks along the route Slavyanka, Sovetskaya Gavan, also South Sakhalin, Slavyanka. And in October he, like

217 parachute regiment, was checked by the Chief Inspector of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR, Hero of the Soviet Union Marshal of the Soviet Union Moskalenko K.S.

According to the results of the inspection by the commission of the Main Inspectorate of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR, the regiment was rated "good". For good results in combat and political training of the 390th separate regiment of marines, the Minister of Defense of the USSR was commended; regiment commander Colonel Savateev A.I. was awarded a personalized wrist watch.

In 1966, a graduate of the Far Eastern Higher Combined Arms Command School, Lieutenant Sheregeda Alexander Arsentevich, came to serve in the regiment, and in 1967, Lieutenant Kanishchev Nikolai Ivanovich.

Sheregeda A.A.

Due to the lack of positions of platoon commanders of the Marine Corps, Lieutenant Sheregeda A.A. is appointed to the post of commander of a mortar platoon of a mortar battery, becomes a battery commander; then appointed to the post of chief of staff of a battalion of marines. From this position, he enters the combined arms military academy named after M.V. Frunze. Then he continues to serve in the 336th Separate Guards Marine Regiment of the Baltic Fleet: he becomes regiment commander, deputy and commander of the 336th Separate Guards Marine Brigade, head of the BRAV and MP of the Northern Fleet, and already a major general in 1988 comes to the post of chief of the Coastal Forces of the Pacific Fleet.

Kanishchev N.I. commanded a platoon and a company of marines, was replaced for service in the Carpathian military district. In 1984 Kanishchev N.I. - Chief of Staff of the division in the Leningrad Military District. After serving in Syria as a military adviser, he is appointed to the post of military commissar of the Vologda region. Discharged from military service in 2000. In 2005, he was gone.

The formation of the regiment took place in the conditions of a significant aggravation of international relations in the zone of responsibility of the Pacific Fleet.

From April 17, 1967, in accordance with the directive of the General Staff of the Navy 390, a separate regiment of marines is transferred to the direct subordination of the Head of the Coastal Rocket and Artillery Troops and Marines (BRAV and MP) of the Pacific Fleet. From April 16, 1965, this position was filled by Colonel (then Major General of Artillery) Chirkov Viktor Fedorovich - a graduate of the Naval Coastal Defense School named after the Lenin Communist Youth Union of Ukraine, a participant in the defense of Sevastopol. Subsequently, in 1974-1987, he was the head of the Department of Coastal Artillery and Ground Forces Tactics at the Naval Academy.

On May 12, 1967, in accordance with the directive of the USSR Ministry of Defense, the formation of the 55th Marine Division (3458 military personnel and 56 employees) began, with its subordination to the Head of the BRAV and MP Pacific Fleet and the end of the formation on December 1, 1968. The regiment is deprived of the name "separate" and is part of the division.

The formation of division units is carried out in several places: in the Gnev Valley, on the coast of Gornostai Bay and in the Snegovaya Pad of the city of Vladivostok - division headquarters, 165th Marine Regiment and 150th Tank Regiment; near the positions of 305mm of the 122nd tower artillery division of the 125th oap (“Voroshilov battery”) and in the village of Ayaks of the Russian island of the city of Vladivostok - 129th jet, 331st self-propelled artillery and 336th anti-aircraft separate divisions.

In the garrison of the village of Slavyanka, the 509th separate engineer-landing battalion and a separate medical and sanitary company are being formed; the formation of the 106th Marine Regiment begins (it completed the formation already at 6 km of the city of Vladivostok).

Lieutenant Sergey Alexandrovich Remizov, who arrived from the Baltic 336th Separate Guards Marine Regiment to the 106th Marine Regiment, shares his impressions: “The orders in the 390th regiment were quite tough. Regiment commander Colonel Savvateev A.I. achieved such a state of military discipline in which the sergeant was actually right hand officer. The sailors, passing by the sergeant, saluted him. The duty officer for the battalion was a sergeant, and he was both a king and a god and a military commander for the rank and file of the battalion.

With the beginning of the formation of the 55th Marine Division, Colonel Savateev Arkady Ilyich continues to serve as deputy division commander.

1st Marine Division Commander

major general
Shapranov Pavel Timofeevich

On July 17, 1967, the command of the 390th Marine Regiment was taken by the regiment's chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Kharitonov Ivan Yakovlevich; he commands

July 27, 1970 In the post of chief of staff of the regiment, he is replaced by Lieutenant Colonel Dziuba Petr Petrovich.

According to available information, Colonel I. Ya. Kharitonov was soon dismissed from the Armed Forces for health reasons.

Commander of the Pacific Fleet, Admiral Nikolai Ivanovich Smirnov (since September 1974 - 1st Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the USSR Navy, since February 17, 1984 - Hero of the Soviet Union), Head of the BRAV and MP Pacific Fleet, Major General of Artillery Chirkov Viktor Fedorovich and commander of the 55th Marine Corps General Major Kazarin Pavel Fedorovich.

From July 27, 1970 to August 1974, the 390th Marine Regiment was commanded by Colonel Timokhin Albert Semenovich; later he headed the Baranovichi United City Military Commissariat in the Brest region.

First left - Colonel Timokhin A.S.

(Better photo not found)

In August 1974, Colonel Timokhin A.S. was replaced by major (at the time of appointment - captain) Petrushchenkov Mikhail Nikolaevich, born in 1939. Interestingly, from the moment of appointment and until the actual arrival in the regiment, Captain Petrushchenkov M.N. was sent on leave to wait for the assignment of the military rank of "major".

He began his service, including as an officer after the Kharkov Tank School, in the Baltic Fleet.

After graduating from the academy, he was appointed to the Directorate of the BRAV and MP of the Pacific Fleet.

After commanding the 390th Marine Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Petrushchenkov M.N. served as Chief of Staff of the 55th Marine Division;

after graduating from the military academy of the General Staff, he commanded the 41st Guards Tank Division of the 1st Combined Arms Army of the Red Banner Kiev Military District in the city of Cherkassy, ​​was chief of staff - first deputy commander of the 1st Guards Army in the city of Chernigov, chief military adviser in Nicaragua (senior Miguel Vargas) when he was President of the Republic Daniel Ortega, at his own request for family reasons - the military commissar of the Chernihiv region.

Currently, retired major general Petrushchenkov M.N. - First Secretary of the Chernihiv City Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine and a member of the Bureau of the Chernihiv Regional Organization.

In 1976, the 390th infantry regiment was declared the best marine regiment of the BRAV and MP of the Pacific Fleet (regiment commander - Major Petrushchenkov Mikhail Nikolaevich; his deputy for political affairs - Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Pavlovich Novikov).

The regiment at that time was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Amirkhanyan Vladimir Stepanovich.

Former senior teacher-commander of the training company 299 of the Marine Corps Training Center of the Black Sea Fleet, after graduating from the military academy named after M.V. Frunze, he arrived at the position of deputy chief of the operational department of the headquarters of the 55th marine division.

Having gained experience in staff work and the practice of preparing and conducting regimental exercises, at the end of 1977, Major Amirkhanyan V.S. was promoted to the post of commander of the 390th Marine Regiment.

Subsequently, he commanded a training battalion of the Higher Naval School of Radio Electronics named after A.S. Popov, where he switched to teaching.

In 1980, apparently in connection with the re-equipment on the BMP-1, Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Pavlovich Trofimenko arrived at the post of commander of the 390th Marine Regiment from the 150th Tank Regiment of the 55th Marine Division. He began his officer service, gained experience in long-distance sea voyages as a commander of a tank platoon in the 336th Separate Guards Bialystok Order of Suvorov and Alexander Nevsky Marine Regiment. From there he entered the military academy. armored forces named after Marshal of the Soviet Union R. Ya. Malinovsky. After graduating from the academy, he was appointed to the post of chief of staff of the 150th tank regiment of the 55th marine division.

In 1983, Colonel Trofimenko V.P. assumed the position of chief of staff

55th Marine Division.

In 1986, he was appointed division commander in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (renamed the Western Group of Forces in 1989). In 1992, when the Western Group of Forces was withdrawn from Germany, from the post of chief of staff of the corps (in the city of Volgograd) and in the military rank of major general, he was appointed military commissar of the Krasnodar Territory.

After his dismissal from the Armed Forces, he headed the Krasnodar regional branch of the All-Russian public organization of marines "Typhoon".

In 1979, Major Shilov Pavel Sergeevich, born in 1948, a graduate of the Baku Higher Combined Arms Command School in 1970, arrived at the post of deputy regiment commander from the M.V. Frunze Military Academy. He began his officer service as a platoon commander of the 810th Marine Regiment of the Black Sea Fleet. Before entering the academy, he served as a teacher at the 299th Marine Corps Training Center of the Navy "Saturn". With the re-equipment of the regiment on the BMP-1, the main efforts are concentrated on the construction of the director of the BMP and the creation of an appropriate training and material base. As a result of "hardware" decisions, vacating the post of deputy regiment commander for the commander of the 2nd Marine Battalion "Red Banner", Lieutenant Colonel Ushkov V.K., who distinguished himself in combat service, Major Shilov P.S. in 1981, he moved to the post of chief of staff of the same, 390th Marine Regiment.

In 1982, he accepted the post of commander of the 106th Marine Regiment (cadre) of the 55th Marine Division, and in 1983 he returned to the village of Slavyanka again as the commander of the 390th regiment.

From 1986 to 1990, Colonel Shilov P.S. - Chief of Staff of the 55th Marine Division; from 1990 to 1997 - Deputy Chief of Staff and Chief of Staff of the Coastal Forces of the Russian Navy. From 1997 to 2003 Major General (since 1998 Lieutenant General) Shilov P.S. - Head of the ground and coastal troops of the Navy of the Russian Federation.

In 1971 and 1972 he served in the Egyptian Port Said as a platoon commander of the 810th Marine Regiment of the Black Sea Fleet. In 1980, as deputy commander of the 390th Marine Regiment, he led the landing force in combat service and at international exercises aboard the BDK project 1174 "Ivan Rogov". He took part in both Chechen companies.

He was awarded the orders: "For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" III degree, "For Military Merit" and the Order of Courage.

After his dismissal from the Armed Forces in 2004, Shilov P.S. elected Vice-President of the All-Russian Public Organization of the Marine Corps "Typhoon". Since 2007, he has been working as the head of the Approval Department of the Marins Group Union.

In 1980, a graduate of the Leningrad Higher Artillery Command School named after Red October, Lieutenant Pleshko Mikhail Grigorievich, born in 1959, came to the regiment as commander of a mortar platoon. He commands a platoon, a mortar battery and, in the end, is appointed to the combined arms position of chief of staff of a marine battalion.

In 1990, Captain Pleshko M.G. enters the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze. After graduating from the academy in 1993, he returned to the village of Slavyanka to the post of chief of staff of the 390th Marine Regiment.

From 1998 to 2000 he commanded a regiment.

In 2000, he was appointed to the post of chief of staff of the 55th Marine Division; since 2002 - the commander of the same division.

On July 3, 2004, Konstantin Borisovich Pulikovsky, Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Far Eastern Federal District, congratulated Colonel Pleshko M.G. with the assignment of the rank of senior officers "major general". Since 2005, Major General Pleshko M.G. - Chief of the Coastal Troops of the Pacific Fleet. From this position, he departs as a military adviser to the Republic of Nicaragua.

Since June 1986, the 390th Marine Regiment has been commanded by Lieutenant Colonel

(from January 30, 1990 - Colonel) Vitaly Semenovich Kholod - grew up from lieutenant shoulder straps in the system of the Coastal Forces of the Pacific Fleet.

A graduate of the Far Eastern Higher Combined Arms Command School named after Marshal of the Soviet Union Rokossovsky K.K. in 1971, he was initially appointed commander of a machine gun platoon of the 253rd separate machine gun company of the 1st UR Pacific Fleet; from November 1975 to September 1978 he commanded this company. For diligence in the installation of defensive structures of the fortified area, he was awarded the medal "For Military Merit".

Since September 1978, Captain Kholod V.S. - battalion commander of the 106th Marine Regiment 55 DMP. In September 1980, he graduated from the Higher Officer Courses "Shot" in the city of Solnechnogorsk near Moscow. In February 1981, he was appointed commander of the airborne assault battalion of the 165th Marine Regiment; in the same year he enters the Frunze Military Academy M.V. After graduating from the academy, he returns to the division to the post of chief of staff of the 165th Marine Regiment.

In October 1985, Lieutenant Colonel Kholod B.C. appointed commander of the 106th Marine Regiment.

He commands the 390th Marine Regiment until September 1990 - until his appointment as deputy commander of the 55th Marine Division. On May 14, 1990, Colonel Kholod V.S. For great services in maintaining high combat readiness of the troops, he was awarded the Order "For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" III degree.

On January 5, 1994, Colonel Kholod V.S. appointed commander of the 55th Marine Division of the Pacific Fleet. From December 1994 to May 1995, in the course of hostilities during the restoration of constitutional order in Chechnya, he led a group of marines. On February 22, 1995, by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 189, Colonel Kholod V.S. was awarded the military rank of Major General. For the skillful leadership of personnel, personal courage, diligence and high professionalism, shown in the performance of tasks to disarm illegal armed groups on the territory of the Chechen Republic, Major General Kholod B.C. was awarded a nominal firearm - a PM pistol.

In the history of the Marine Corps, he remains a competent, demanding, caring and highly cultured officer. Demanding on himself and a developed sense of self-esteem allowed him to maintain self-control and respect for others in any situation.

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Commander of the 390th Infantry Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Dosugov A.S. Slav.

Captain Anatoly Sergeevich Dosugov, after completing tasks as part of a limited contingent of troops in Afghanistan, in 1981 served as chief of staff of the 2nd battalion of the 390th marine regiment.

In 1982 he was transferred to the post of deputy chief of staff of the regiment

From this position in 1984, he, in the military rank of "major", entered the military academy named after M.V. Frunze.

After graduating from the academy in 1987, Lieutenant Colonel Dosugov A.S. returned

in the 55th Marine Division as commander of the 106th Marine Regiment (frame); in 1990 he was transferred to the post of commander of the 390th Marine Regiment.

In 1992 he was appointed to the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. He was awarded the military rank of Major General.

After his dismissal from the Armed Forces, retired Major General Dosugov A.S. worked in the Moscow public organization of veterans of the Marine Corps "Saturn".

The regiment during the period of "creation", "reform", "modernization", "optimization" and "giving a new look"

Indiscriminate reductions in the units of the division began already in 1991. The officers began to serve the equipment, to serve as guards. There was a moment when the number of sailors, sergeants, ensigns and officers equaled the number of the regiment - 390.

Cases of sending officers to field guards to escort equipment handed over by the 55th Marine Division have become more frequent.

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Since 1992, the 390th Marine Regiment has been commanded by the former deputy commander of the regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Konstantinovich Rusakov. He graduated from the Leningrad Suvorov Military School in 1971, a graduate of the Leningrad Higher Combined Arms Command School named after S.M. Kirov in 1975, he began officer service in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany - in the 197th Guards Tank Vapnyar-Warsaw Order of Lenin Red Banner Orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov Regiment of the 47th Guards Tank Division.

He continued in the Far Eastern Military District, in the village of Cheremkhovo, Amur Region, not far from the city of Blagoveshchensk. In 1985 he entered the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze.

After graduating from the academy in 1988, he joined the 55th Marine Division as deputy commander of the 390th Marine Regiment.

The most important milestone in the career of the regiment commander Rusakov V.K. began to carry out activities to form units in the 165th and 106th regiments of the marine corps, departing for the Chechen Republic, to ensure their coordination and combat training.

In 1993, after completing his studies at the academy, Major Pleshko M.G. arrived at the post of chief of staff of the regiment.

In 1998, Colonel Rusakov V.K. retired to the reserve and from 1998 to 2000 the regiment was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Pleshko M.G.

In 1992, having graduated with honors from the Far Eastern Higher Combined Arms Command School named after Marshal of the Soviet Union K.K. Rokossovsky, Lieutenant Biryukov Oleg Vladimirovich arrived in the regiment. Until 2002, he successively served as commander of a platoon and company of the Marine Corps, chief of staff and commander of a battalion of the Marine Corps.

As a commander of a marine corps company as part of the 165th Marine Regiment, he participated in the restoration of constitutional order on the territory of the Chechen Republic.

In 2002 Biryukov O.V. entered and in 2004, also with honors, graduated from the Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Upon completion of training, Major Biryukov O.V. For several months he served as Deputy Chief of Operations at the Headquarters of the 55th Marine Division and in April 2005 was appointed Chief of Staff of the 390th Marine Regiment.

From 2007 to 2009, Lieutenant Colonel Biryukov O.A. - Senior Officer of the Operational Directorate of the Volga-Urals Military District. After being transferred to the reserve on February 20, 2010, at a general meeting he was elected Chairman of the Board of the Sverdlovsk regional public organization "Union of Marines" in the city of Yekaterinburg

The 390th Marine Regiment did not officially participate in the hostilities on the territory of Chechnya. However, ninety percent of the officers, warrant officers, sergeants and sailors of the regiment were part of and participated in the hostilities of the 165th and 106th regiments of the 55th Marine Division of the Pacific Fleet. So: the 165 regiment entered without changes

9 company of marines; The 1st battalion of the 390th Marine Regiment was simply renamed the Airborne Assault Battalion of the 106th Regiment.

In connection with the refusal of the full-time commander, the airborne assault battalion of the 165th Marine Regiment was commanded by the commander of the battalion of the 390th Marine Regiment, Major Oleg Nikolaevich Khomutov, for the entire period of the regiment's tasks in the Chechen Republic.

From February 1995 until the end of the regiment's stay in Chechnya, the chief of staff of the 390th Marine Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Pleshko M.G. replaced Lieutenant Colonel Rytikov A.V. as chief of staff of the belligerent 165th Marine Regiment.

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In the performance of military duty they gave their lives:

• Senior Lieutenant Bukvetsky Andrey Georgievich, born in 1968, graduate of the Far East Higher Educational Institution of Higher Education in 1991 - company commander of the 2nd Marine Battalion; awarded the Order of Courage (posthumously);
• Senior Lieutenant Bolotov Oleg Yuryevich, born in 1969, graduate of the Poltava Air Defense Forces in 1992 - commander of an anti-aircraft artillery platoon;
• Sailor Golubov Oleg Ivanovich - machine gunner; Previously, he was awarded the Medal for Courage.
• Senior warrant officer Desyatnik Alexander Vasilyevich, born in 1971 - senior technician of the company of the 1st battalion of the Marine Corps;
• Sailor Zhuk Anton Aleksandrovich, born in 1976 - senior gunner; awarded the Order of Courage (posthumously);
• Senior Sergeant Komkov Evgeny Nikolaevich, born in 1975 - deputy platoon commander;
• Sergeant Lysenko Yury Yuryevich, born in 1975 - deputy platoon commander;
• Senior Lieutenant Sergey Ivanovich Skomorokhov, born in 1970, graduate of the Far East Higher School of Higher Education in 1992 - company commander of the 1st Marine Battalion; awarded the Order of Courage (posthumously).

In 1998, Hero of the Russian Federation Major Gushchin Andrey Yuryevich, who graduated with honors from the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze, arrived to the post of chief of staff of the regiment.

The title of Hero of the Russian Federation, he, the first of the marines who performed military duty in Chechnya, was awarded by Decree of the President of Russia dated

A graduate of the Leningrad Higher Combined Arms Command School twice Red Banner named after S.M. Kirov in 1988, by 1995 he was the commander of the 874 separate battalion of the 61 separate Kirkenes Red Banner Marine Brigade of the Northern Fleet, who received the military rank of “captain” ahead of schedule, was awarded the medal “For Distinction in the Military service", he agreed to act in the Chechen Republic as deputy commander of the 874th separate marine battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Yury Vikentevich Semenov.

In January 1995, commanding a combined detachment of marines, he successfully completed the task of taking possession of a number of buildings of the Council of Ministers of the Republic; during the defense of the coast of the Sunzha River, the detachment reliably forbade the use of the bridge across the river by the militants. Only in a day twelve enemy attacks were repelled; in just five days of fighting, a detachment under the command of Captain Gushchin A.Yu. destroyed more than three hundred Dudayevites, their tank, infantry fighting vehicles and MTLB. Of the hundred and fifty Marines, sixty-two survived. Captain Gushchin A.Yu. after a spinal injury and three concussions, he was evacuated to the hospital.

Since 2000, having replaced Lieutenant Colonel Pleshko M.G., until 2003 he became commander of the 390th Marine Regiment.

From 2003 to 2006 Gushchin A.Yu. - Commander of the 336th Separate Guards Bialystok Order of Suvorov and Alexander Nevsky of the Marine Corps Brigade. In 2006, he entered and in 2008, again with honors, he graduated from the military academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Until 2009, Colonel Gushchin A.Yu. serves in the General Staff, and since 2009 he has been appointed to the post of Chief of the Coastal Forces of the Northern Fleet. On June 9, 2012, Colonel Gushchin A.Yu. By Decree of the President of Russia No. 800, he was awarded the title of the highest officer staff "major general".

In 2003, Lieutenant Colonel Khomutov Oleg Nikolaevich was appointed commander of the regiment. A graduate of the Far Eastern Higher Combined Arms Command School named after Marshal of the Soviet Union K.K. Rokossovsky in 1984, before being appointed to the post of chief of staff of the division, he served as an officer in one 390th Marine Regiment. In 1995, due to the refusal of the regular commander, the commander of the battalion of the 390th Marine Regiment, Major Khomutov O.N. headed the airborne assault battalion of the 165th Marine Regiment for the entire period of the regiment's tasks in the Chechen Republic.

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In the near future, the Banners will be transferred to the Central Museum of the Armed Forces for eternal storage.

quietly dying. "Officers were fired, and new ones were extremely scarce; the draft contingent came in less and less and already without any proper selection; the implementation of all existing plans for its development, adopted in 1989, were stopped.

The first, apparently, "died" a separate unit in the Caspian, however, in 1994, the 332nd separate battalion of the MP in Astrakhan was re-formed there.

The 175th was also disbanded in 1992-93 separate brigade MP of the Northern Fleet. The rest of the compounds lived out their days poorly. But the war broke out and the successful actions of the marines in Chechnya again attracted attention to it. The marines were transferred to Chechnya by aircraft, carrying only light portable weapons. Military equipment (armored personnel carriers, tanks, artillery) was delivered by echelons in 10-15 days. Major General A. Otrakovsky commanded the Marine Corps.

From January to March 1995, the following are fighting in Chechnya: 876th airborne infantry brigade of the 61st brigade of the Northern Fleet, 879th airborne infantry brigade of the 336th guards. brmp BF and 165th infantry regiment of the 55th dmp of the Pacific Fleet.

On January 9, 1995, units of the Marine Corps of the KBF and the Northern Fleet entered Grozny. The Marines had to act as assault groups and detachments, which successively took possession of buildings and quarters, sometimes having no neighbors on the right and left, or even completely isolated. The fighters of the 876th Specialized Brigade of the Northern Fleet fought especially effectively and competently in the city. On the direction of their actions were serious points of resistance of the militants: the building of the Council of Ministers, the Main Post Office, the Puppet Theater, and many high-rise buildings. Soldiers of the 2nd Airborne Assault Company (DSHR) of the battalion stormed the Council of Ministers. The fighters of the 3rd dshr battalion fought for the building of a nine-story house, which occupied a dominant position and was turned by the militants into a powerful stronghold, blocking the exit to one of the main centers of resistance - the building of the Main Post Office.

On January 14, the building of the Council of Ministers, the high-rise building and the Main Post Office were occupied by marines. On January 15, assault groups of the 3rd company captured the Puppet Theater.

But the hardest part was ahead. The federal troops gradually advanced towards the center of Grozny - to the presidential palace, the buildings of the Council of Ministers and the Kavkaz hotel. The buildings located in the center of the city were defended by elite detachments of militants, in particular the so-called "Abkhazian battalion" of Sh. Basayev.

On the night of January 17, the 3rd dshr to advance in the direction of the Council of Ministers On Komsomolskaya Street, the advance groups of the company were ambushed by 6oeviks. The bandits tried to surround one of the groups of marines. Sergeant V. Molchanov ordered his comrades to retreat, while he himself remained to cover them. The regrouped marines drove the militants back. Bandits were killed around the position where Molchanov remained with a machine gun. The sergeant himself was killed.

On January 19, marines, in cooperation with scouts of the 68th separate reconnaissance battalion (ORB) and motorized riflemen of the 276th MRR, captured presidential palace. A group of Baltics led by the deputy commander of the battalion Guards. Major A. Plushakov hoisted the Naval and Russian state flags over the palace.

Then, after the fall of Grozny, the 105th combined marine infantry regiment was formed in Chechnya on the basis of the 1st battalion of the 106th regiment of the 55th marine division, according to a separate marine battalion from the Baltic (877 military regiment) and Northern fleets, engineering sapper unit from the OMIB (separate marine engineering battalion) of the Baltic Fleet, which for another two months, until June 26, 1995, destroyed militants in the Vedensky, Shali and Shatoi regions of Chechnya. During the fighting, more than 40 settlements were liberated from militants, destroyed and captured a large number of heavy weapons and military equipment. But here, unfortunately, there were losses, although they were much smaller. In total, during the fighting in 1995 on the territory of Chechnya, 178 marines were killed and 558 were injured of varying severity. 16 people received the title of Hero of Russia (six - posthumously).

In 1994, on the basis of the disbanded 77th Guards. DBO was an attempt to form a new 163rd division. MP brigade. However, the brigade was never deployed and, in fact, resembled the BVHT. In 1996 it was disbanded.

In 1995-96, the 810th Marine Brigade of the Black Sea Fleet was reorganized into the 810th Separate Marine Regiment, while the 382nd Separate Marine Battalion and a separate tank battalion were separated from it. Both allocated battalions were redeployed to the village of Temryuk (the coast of the Sea of ​​Azov, Krasnodar region Russia). It should be noted that in the period 1990-91. this brigade did not have a tank battalion at all, and the newly recreated one (originally on T-64A / B tanks) was initially deployed in the village of Temryuk.

In many respects, the command managed to achieve high coherence and combat skills of the marines due to the transition in the first half of the 1990s to a new organizational structure, which meant: each company, each battalion, unlike the ground ones, should be able to perform tasks independently, in isolation from the main forces, which is due to the very purpose and nature of the actions of the Marine Corps. For example, artillery, a mortar platoon, and a communications unit were assigned to the Marine Corps battalions on a permanent basis, which ultimately turned a typical Marine Corps battalion into a kind of "regiment in miniature." All this made it possible to use the units of the Marine Corps in the Caucasus with high efficiency.

It also helped the "black berets" that the units of the Marine Corps as a whole constantly worked out and continue to work out elements of combat on different terrain and in different areas at the training grounds. various conditions, since the experience of the Marine Corps has accumulated sufficient. Indeed, it is not known in advance under what conditions and on what coast the marines will have to land as part of the landing, where they will have to fight, in what conditions: in mountainous terrain, on the plain, in the jungle, in the desert or in settlements. Even in Russia, amphibious landings in rocky or mountainous terrain are possible in several areas - in the North, the Far East or on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus. The same can be said about combat in urban areas, since even the experience of the Great Patriotic War and the Korean War showed that the marines can and should land directly in the port city, seize a bridgehead and hold until the main landing forces approach.

It is interesting that Colonel Yuri Yermakov, former head of the Marine Corps of the Russian Navy, recalled: in the 1990s, the Marines of Great Britain and the United States were actively interested in the experience of the Russian Marine Corps in urban combat in the 1990s. This was not accidental - subsequently, the knowledge gained was applied by the British and American Marines in practice in Yugoslavia, Iraq and Afghanistan.

In the period from 1996 to 1998, the composition of the 55th Marine Division of the Pacific Fleet underwent changes:

• the 85th regiment of the MP was disbanded, and instead the newly formed 390th separate regiment of the MP with deployment in the village was introduced into the division. Slavyanka, which is southeast. Vladivostok (apparently, initially, it was formed as a separate one and introduced into the 55 dmp later);
• The 26th tank regiment was reorganized into the 84th separate tank battalion;
• The 165th MP regiment was additionally referred to as "Cossack";
• The 84th artillery regiment was renamed the 921st, and the 417th anti-aircraft missile regiment - the 923rd.

In 1999, a decision was made to form a new marine brigade in the Caspian Sea with a permanent deployment in the city of Kaspiysk (Dagestan). For this, specially formed units from various fleets were transferred to the region, incl. 414th OMB (according to other sources - odshb) from the Baltic. However, the outbreak of the Second Chechen War prevented the calm formation of the unit and it was finally formed only by the middle. 2000 The 414th and 600th MP battalions joined the brigade. The brigade received its number and honorary titles as a legacy from the very well-deserved 77th Guards. motorized rifle division and is referred to as the 77th Guards Red Banner Moscow-Chernigov horde. Lenin and Suvorov separate brigade of marines.

After the invasion of Wahhabi extremists into the territory of Dagestan and the start of the counter-terrorist operation, the reinforced 876th detachment from the 61st Marine Brigade of the Northern Fleet departed for the North Caucasus from September 10 to 20, 1999. The battalion was transferred to the Caucasus in full strength, with reinforcements. On September 30, after the combat coordination of the units, the battalion marched first to Khasavyurt, and then along the route with the final destination, the village of Aksai. The march took place in conditions of almost constant fire contact with the enemy, the first dead and wounded appeared in the battalion. But the onslaught of the marines did not weaken, and in November one of the main strongholds of the militants, the city of Gudermes, was taken.

In November 1999, the marines carried out combat missions on the plains of Chechnya. In December, marine units were transferred to the mountainous part of the republic - to the Vedeno region. A grouping of marines was formed there under the command of Major General A. Otrakovsky. The main burden of military operations in the Vedeno region fell on the 876th Specialized Brigade of the Northern Fleet under the command of Lieutenant Colonel A. Belezko. The actions of the marines under the settlements of Kharacha, Vedeno, at the Khaarami pass and the Andean Gates, the operation to seize the dominant heights over the settlements of Dzhana-Vedeno, Vyshne-Vedeno, Oktyabrsky and Dargo deserved the best marks from the command of the United Forces. During one of the operations in the Vedeno Gorge, the marines seized mothballed military equipment of bandits as a trophy: BMD, BMP, tank T-72, an artillery mount based on an armored personnel carrier, a GAZ-66 car filled with artillery shells. The brigade suffered the greatest losses in the course of mastering the height of 1561.1 (Mount Gizcheny, according to other sources, Mount Gulchany) in the Vedeno Gorge. At the end of December 1999, the 1st PDR, the 2nd DSHR and the mortar battery of the 876th Airborne Battalion came to Mount Gizcheny, turned by militants into a well-fortified stronghold. The mountain was of great strategic importance for the further advance of the troops of the group to the settlements of Vedeno, Dargo and Kharachoy. The 1st PDR secretly took up positions on one side of the Vedeno Gorge, stretching out in a line. The 1st and 2nd paratrooper platoons (pdv) of the company were practically opposite Gizcheny. 3rd airborne company under the command of art. lieutenant A. Abadzherov was located on the right flank, opposite the height of 1406, from which it was separated by a gorge. On December 30, the Marines were tasked with capturing the height of Gizcheny. The idea of ​​the operation was as follows: on the morning of December 31, the 1st and 2nd Airborne Forces advance on the height from the bottom up, squeezing out the militants from there. The 3rd airborne division was supposed to bypass Gizcheny from the rear along the gorge and arrange a fire ambush on the way of the displaced enemy. At the same time, Abadzherov’s platoon was to withdraw to the height of 1406 the platoon of Lieutenant Yu. Kuryagin from the 2nd DSHR and the Black Sea reconnaissance group, who needed to take positions at this height in order to provide support from the right flank in the upcoming operation, without letting militants through here. Abagerov's platoon, performing this task, carefully checked the entire route for the presence of the enemy and successfully led Kuryagin's platoon and reconnaissance group (up to 40 people) to height 1406. the heights of Gischeny. When the marines began to descend to the bottom of the gorge, on the contrary, at a height of 1406, fierce shooting and explosions of hand grenades were heard (it was later established that on the morning of December 31, militants numbering up to 200 people made a surprise attack on Kuryagin's group). Hearing the sounds of battle Lieutenant Abadzherov decided to stop the main task and go to the aid of Lieutenant Kuryagin. At the bottom of the gorge, Abadzherov's platoon ran into an ambush of militants, which they shot down on the move, while capturing a disguised cache where equipment and ammunition were located. At the top of height 1406, which in shape resembled the number eight, that is, as if divided into two halves, Abadzherov’s platoon climbed first, ahead of the militant detachment returning back by several minutes. The marines took up positions on the left half of the G8, on a small hill, and met the bandits with intense fire from small arms and grenade launchers. A detachment of militants, having met unexpected resistance, suffering losses in killed and wounded, hastily retreated, but from the neighboring mountain of Gizcheny, aimed fire from a machine gun and sniper rifles was opened on Abadzherov’s platoon, and the retreating militants made an attempt to bypass the marines from the flanks (height 1406 gently sloping from three sides, only the left side is almost sheer). For four hours, Abadzherov's platoon fought an unequal battle with a numerically superior enemy. Support for the Marines was provided by radio-call helicopters and artillery (up to 30 militants were destroyed by artillery fire). When reinforcements approached Hill 1406, the bandits finally retreated. During the battle on December 31, 1999, 12 people from the Kuryagin group died, two were seriously injured (one later died), the rest, who were on guard, survived, Abadzherov's platoon had no losses killed. Mount Gizcheny, where the fortified point of the militants was located, was taken a few days later, in early January 2000. Taking advantage of difficult weather conditions, the 1st PDR under the command of Art. lieutenant S. Lobanova with a surprise attack captured an important strategic height, inflicting heavy damage on the bandits in manpower and weapons.

Then there were the settlements of Botlikh, Alleroy, Andes and others. In addition to the Severomors, the reconnaissance company of the 810th Marine Corps of the Black Sea Fleet and the 414th Marine Corps of the Caspian Flotilla took part in the counter-terrorist operation of 1999-2000 on the territory of Chechnya and Dagestan. During the operation, 36 Marines were killed and 119 were injured. Five "black berets" were awarded the title of Hero of Russia, including three posthumously. Moreover, four Heroes and all three who received this title posthumously were servicemen of the 61st Separate Marine Brigade of the Northern Fleet, and in just two Chechen wars only the Marine Corps of the Northern Fleet lost one general, seven junior officers, a senior warrant officer and 73 sailors and sergeants killed or died on a combat post.

After the grouping of forces of the marine corps created in the Caucasus completed its tasks, the units began to withdraw from Chechnya one by one, the group was disbanded. Of the marines, only the Caspian battalion remained there, but it was also withdrawn at the end of September 2000. However, already in April 2001, by decision of the command, the battalion of the Caspian Marine Brigade was sent to block the border between Dagestan and Chechnya, and from June 2001 to February 2003, the battalion tactical group of the created Caspian Marine Brigade operated on a permanent basis in the mountainous regions of Chechnya and Dagestan , reinforced by Chernomorsk scouts. And even after the withdrawal of the bulk of the troops from the republic, which took part in the last counter-terrorist operation, for another six months, the mountainous sections of the administrative border of Chechnya and Dagestan, as well as the state Russian-Georgian border, were covered by a battalion tactical group from the composition of the youngest brigade of the Navy MP. For a long time, the Caspians had to operate almost completely autonomously, in isolation from the main forces and supply bases. But the "black berets" coped with the task assigned to them. Subsequently, the number of marines operating on a permanent basis in the Chechen Republic was reduced from a battalion to a company, and then the “black berets” completely returned to their place of permanent deployment.

The dynamics of the composition of the Marine Corps and coastal defense formations in the period 1991-2000 is as follows:

Name		Dislocation		Notes. Additions. Armament (as of 01.01.2000)
Marines.
55 dmp		Pacific Fleet. district of Vladivostok.		Regalia: Mozyr Red Banner. For 2000, it included: 106, 165 and 390 pmp, 921 ap, 923 srp, 84 otb, 263 orb, 1484 obs.
61 obrmp		SOF. Sputnik village (Northern Murmansk)		Regalia: Kirkene Red Banner. It includes 876 odshb ... Armament: 74 T-80B, 59 BTR-80, 12 2S1 Gvozdika, 22 2S9 Nona-S, 11 2S23 Nona-SVK, 134 MT-LB, etc. Lich. composition - 1270 h.
163 obrmp		SOF. district of Arkhangelsk		Formed in 1994 on the basis of the 77th Guards. dbo and lasted less than two years - until 1996, when it was disbanded.
175 obrmp		SOF. Serebryanskoye or Tumanny settlement (Murmansk region)		Disbanded in 1992-93. or, according to other sources, cropped.
336 Guards. obrmp		BF. Baltiysk (Kaliningrad region)		Honorary title and regalia - Bialystok orders of Suvorov and Alexander Nevsky. The composition includes the 879th odshb, 877th and 878th military units ... Armament: 26 T-72, 131 BTR-80, 24 2S1 "Gvozdika", 22 2S9 "Nona-S", 6 2B16 "Nona-K", 59 MT-LB and others. Lich. composition - 1157 h.
810 opmp		Black Sea Fleet. p. Cossack (region of Sevastopol)		In its composition it has the 882nd odshb. Around 1995-96, it was reorganized into an opmp. At the same time, she singled out the 382nd military and otb. Armament: 46 BTR-80, 52 BMP-2, 18 2S1 "Gvozdika", 6 2S9 "Nona-S", 28 MT-LB, etc. Lich. composition - 1088 h.
390 opmp		settlement Slavyanka, Khasansky district, Primorsky region		Formed in the 90s. as a separate one, and was soon introduced to 55 dmp instead of 85 pmp.
414 odshb		Kaspiysk		The battalion was created on the basis of the 336th Guards. obrmp in 1999 Armament: 30 BTR-70, 6 D-30, 6 2B16 "Nona-K" and others. Lich. composition - 735 h.
382 obmp		settlement Temryuk, Krasnodar Territory		Withdrawn (actually re-formed) from the 810th Marine Corps when it was reorganized into a regiment - 1995 Armament: 61 BMP-2, 7 BTR-80, 6 MT-LB and others. Lich. composition - 229 h.
332 obmp		Astrakhan		Formed in Aug. 1994. In 1998 it was renamed to 600 obmp.
600 rpm		CFL, Astrakhan, then - Kaspiysk.		Renamed from 332 obmp. Transferred to Kaspiysk (Dagestan) in 1999. Armament: 25 BTR-70, 8 2B16 "Nona-K" and others. Lich. composition - 677 h.
coastal defense
77 Guards. dbo		SOF, district of Arkhangelsk and Kem		Disbanded in 1994
3 Guards dbo		BF, district of Klaipeda and Telshai		Disbanded in 1993
40 dbo		Pacific Fleet, pos. Shkotovo (Vladivostok district)		Disbanded in 1994
126 dbo		Black Sea Fleet, district of Simferopol and Evpatoria.		It was disbanded in 1996. Its weapons and military equipment were divided in half between Russia and Ukraine.
301 ABR		Black Sea Fleet, Simferopol		As part of the Black Sea Fleet from 01.12.89. until 1994 Disbanded in 1994
8 Guards oap		BF, Vyborg		Disbanded.
710 oap		BF, Kaliningrad		Converted to BHVT.
181 opula		BF, Fort "Krasnaya Gorka"		Disbanded.
1 arrbo		BF, Vyborg		Apparently they were created on the basis of one of the motor rifle divisions on the Karelian Isthmus and the disbanded 77th Guards. dbo, respectively. They did not last long.
52 opbo		SOF, Arkhangelsk district		no info.
205 oob PDSS				no info.
102 oob PDSS				no info.
313 oob PDSS				no info.

At present, despite the reform and downsizing, the marines still remain one of the most important components of the Russian Navy. Organizationally, it is part of the coastal troops of the Russian Navy, and the direct management of its activities in peacetime and wartime is carried out by the head of the Marine Corps. There are units of the Marine Corps in all fleets - in a separate brigade of the Marine Corps, in the Caspian Flotilla (individual battalions) and even in Moscow (subdivisions of escort of military cargo and security of the Main Staff of the Navy), they report locally to the heads of departments of the coastal troops of the Baltic, Black Sea, Northern and Pacific Fleets.

Years of underfunding and constant reform of the Armed Forces also affected the Marine Corps. The states are literally cut to the quick, there are not enough professionals, including contract soldiers in sailor positions, the ranks of armored vehicles are thinning and, even more threateningly, the number and combat potential of the fleet's landing forces are declining.

For example, Russian marines today actually do not have floating armored vehicles capable of landing on an unequipped shore in the first echelon of amphibious assault, afloat, ensuring the suppression of fortified points and positions of enemy fire weapons (including conducting accurate fire from the water). All that today can “float” from military equipment is armored personnel carriers of the BTR-80 family and armed with MT-LB machine gun mounts (it’s probably not worth mentioning floating transporters armed with machine guns). A very good armored vehicle, the BMP-3F, which is armed with not only small arms and cannon, but also missile weapons - a 100-mm cannon and an ATGM launcher, a 30-mm automatic cannon and three machine guns, - until the Marine Corps has not yet reached. But it received high reviews from the military ground forces of the UAE. The 125-mm self-propelled anti-tank gun 2 S25 Sprut-SD, which has been tested in the Marine Corps and put into service, is also missing in the required quantities.

According to the recognition of the command staff of the Russian marines, so far a worthy replacement for the retired amphibious tank PT-76, capable of not only landing afloat, but also firing from the water, has not appeared. The existing tanks of the T-72 family, as you know, can be landed from landing ships only at an emphasis or in an equipped port - as well as self-propelled installations "Gvozdika" and "Nona-S" and "Nona-SVK", mobile air defense systems and other military equipment.

Some time ago, it seemed that a solution had been found - the Moscow-based JSC Special Engineering and Metallurgy proposed an option for upgrading the PT-76, which included installing a new turret with a weapon system with a 57-mm automatic cannon placed in it (alteration of the ship's gun mount AK -725 was carried out by the Nizhny Novgorod Design Bureau "Burevestnik"), a new automated control system and a two-plane weapon stabilizer. The combined sight, developed by one of the Belarusian opto-mechanical enterprises, was equipped with a built-in rangefinder, and the new weapon system would provide the modernized PT-76 B tank with a threefold increase in firepower compared to its predecessor. So, for example, when firing an armor-piercing tracer at a distance of 1250 m, the gun pierces armor 100 mm thick.

In addition, in order to increase the mobility of the new tank on land, the specialists of the Design Bureau of the Volgograd Tractor Plant developed a program for the modernization of its power plant: a more powerful diesel engine UTD-23 and a transmission used on the BMD-3, as well as new caterpillar tracks with the best grip properties and a long service life. A special system for scanning and detecting optical devices, which is similar to devices for detecting snipers, is designed to give an additional opportunity for the survival of the upgraded vehicle on the battlefield. True, so far the matter has not gone further than proposals here either.

However, if the technology Lately at the very least went to the marines, then some of the actions of the reformers in the field of reorganization of the organizational structure of the marines of the Russian Navy simply defy any logic. For example, the 77th Separate Guards Moscow-Chernigov Order of Lenin, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov, 2nd Class Marine Corps Brigade of the Caspian Flotilla, created in 1996 on the basis of the 600th Guards and 414th Separate Marine Battalions, was disbanded. On December 1, 2008, the brigade ceased to exist, and its personnel, equipment and materiel, with the exception of two battalions of marines with bases in Kaspiysk and Astrakhan, were transferred to a separate brigade of marines newly formed as part of the Black Sea Fleet.

The fact that on the basis of the 810th OPMP in 2008 the Black Sea Marine Brigade (810 OPMP), reduced exactly 10 years before, was recreated, cannot but rejoice, but is it really reasonable to do this by destroying another formation, and at such an important direction, like the Caspian Sea, where so far Russia has not been able to reach an understanding on the issue of delimiting influence on the sea with its neighbors in the region? Many experts have long referred to the Caspian as a “sea of ​​discord”…

A similar, not entirely positive, reorganization was carried out in relation to the Marine Corps of the Pacific Fleet. Not only was it decided a dozen years ago that the 55th Marine Division, located in the Far East, did not need a separate tank regiment at all, so a decision was made relatively recently to reduce the division itself - from June 1, 2009 it was reorganized to the 165th Separate Marine Brigade of the Pacific Fleet. Moreover, it is necessary to take into account the fact that one of the primary tasks of the Pacific Marines was to capture the strait zones in order to ensure access to the open ocean of the main forces of the Pacific Fleet, which, with the exception of those ships and submarines that are based in Kamchatka and in some other "open » to the ocean areas of the coast, literally locked in the Sea of ​​Japan.

However, the situation in other fleets is also no better - in the Russian Navy today there are only four brigades of marines left: the already mentioned 165th brigade, the 336th separate guards Bialystok Orders of Suvorov and Nakhimov brigade of the marines of the Baltic Fleet, 61 -I separate Kirkenes Red Banner Marine Brigade of the Northern Fleet and the 810th Separate Marine Brigade of the Black Sea Fleet, as well as several separate regiments, battalions and companies. And this is for the entire fleet, whose task is to defend the vast coastline of Russia from the sea and assist the ground forces in conducting operations in the coastal theater of operations.

Only recently, encouraging news began to appear, allowing us to hope for the restoration of the former power of the Russian marines. Far Eastern Higher Military Command School named after K.K. Rokossovsky (DVVKU), which trains commanders of the Marine Corps, in 2013, for the first time after many years, conducted a full-fledged recruitment. More than 300 cadets have started training, while the previous intakes did not go beyond a few dozen.

At the same time, in 2013, the 3rd Marine Regiment was again reorganized into the 40th Brigade. Landing training began to be carried out in this, until recently, land formation. In the coming years, the fleet will receive landing helicopter-carrying dock ships Vladivostok and Sevastopol. A new combat vehicle for the Marine Corps is being developed (NIR code "BMMP Platform"). Such a machine is really necessary, since the Marine Corps has long been in need of a combat vehicle that has good seaworthiness.

The BMP-3F, designed specifically for marines, was received not by ours, but by Indonesian sailors. And our fleet, unfortunately, expects the arrival of a new amphibious vehicle only "in the long term." This is all the more strange that the Commander-in-Chief of the Airborne Forces still managed to achieve the adoption of the BMD-4M. But the problem of updating the fleet of vehicles and strengthening the firepower of the marines is no less acute.

The other day, the head of the Coastal Forces of the Navy (the marines still belong to them, although we have actually already withdrawn from the CFE Treaty), Major General Alexander Kolpachenko said that in 2014 the 61st Marine Regiment of the Northern Fleet will again be reorganized into a brigade. I would like to hope that these are only the first steps towards the restoration and development of the power of the naval landing forces of the fleet, capable of hitting the enemy on its territory.

February 09, 2011

Location of events

Colonel Sergei Kondratenko recalls what the marines of the Pacific Fleet faced in Chechnya in 1995

I think I won’t be mistaken if I classify Colonel Kondratenko (we have known him for more than a year) as the type of Russian officer-intellectual that we know from Lermontov and Tolstoy, Arseniev and Gumilyov. From January to May 1995, Kondratenko was in Chechnya with the 165th Marine Regiment of the Pacific Fleet and kept a diary there, recording by the day, and sometimes by the minute, what was happening around. I hope someday these notes will be published, although Sergei Konstantinovich himself believes that the time has not yet come to speak aloud about everything.

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the start of the war in Chechnya, Sergei Kondratenko and my colleague, the editor-in-chief of Novaya v Vladivostok, Andrey Ostrovsky, have already published the fourth edition of the Book of Memory of the Primorsky Territory, which names all the Primorsky people who died in the North Caucasus over the years (and those called up from Primorye) . New names were entered into each reprint, each time hoping that these additions were the last.

I will preface the conversation, the occasion for which was this non-holiday anniversary, with a brief background. Sergei Kondratenko was born in 1950 in Khabarovsk, graduated from the Far Eastern Higher School of Education in Blagoveshchensk. From 1972 to 2001, he served in a division (now a brigade) of the Marine Corps of the Pacific Fleet, having retired from the post of deputy division commander. Later he led the regional search and rescue service, headed the organization of veterans of local wars "Contingent", now he is the chairman of the council of veterans of Vladivostok. He was awarded the Order of Courage and "For Military Merit".

The Pacific in the Caucasus: "Everything was learned on the spot"

Sergei Konstantinovich, all your life you have been studying and teaching others to fight, and with an external enemy. Remember, they told me how, as a cadet of the Far Eastern Military District in March 1969, during the battles on Damansky, you occupied positions in Blagoveshchensk on the Amur embankment ... Then it worked out. And the marines were not sent to Afghanistan. You had to fight only a quarter of a century later - already a mature man, a colonel. Moreover, the war broke out on the territory of our own country ...

Yes, many of us in the marines wrote reports, asked to be sent to Afghanistan, but we were told: you have your own combat mission. But, by the way, then our landing groups were constantly on ships in the Persian Gulf ...

June 1995 Sergei Kondratenko after returning from Chechnya

When we arrived in Chechnya, saw the destroyed Grozny, talked to civilians, we realized that there really was a genocide of the Russian population. Not only Russians spoke about this, but also the Chechens themselves, especially the old people, and we ourselves saw it all. True, some said that we should not have interfered - they themselves, they say, would have figured it out. I don't know... Another thing is that the decision to send troops was hasty, that's 100 percent.

As the division's deputy commander, I was appointed chief of the division's task force. This group is created for the convenience of control when the regiment operates at a distance from the division. Its commander was in charge of the regiment itself, and I was the first to “jump out” to the rear area, to Grozny, agreed with the Baltic marines to transfer the tent camp to us ... During the hostilities, I ensured the interaction of the “regiment - grouping”. Then he took over the exchange of prisoners, the collection of weapons from the population. I traveled through departments. If some kind of emergency, skirmish, death, always jumped out, sorted it out on the spot. On February 18, I received a barotrauma - four of our comrades died in battle that day ... In general, I did not sit idle.

- When did you find out that you were going to fly to the Caucasus?

The fighting in Chechnya began on December 11, 1994, and on December 22, I came back from vacation and found out that a directive had come: to complete the 165th regiment to wartime states and conduct combat coordination - we have such an expression, the computer emphasizes this word. It was clear that they were preparing for Chechnya, but then I thought: just in case, the reserve is not the first echelon ... They began to give us people from ships and parts of the fleet. Of these, 50 percent were eliminated, if not more. Firstly, this is an old army tradition: they always give the very “best”. Secondly, they did not take anyone who said: "I will not go." Or if there are health problems.

At the Bamburovo and Clerk training grounds, we managed to carry out almost everything that was supposed to be done: shooting, driving ... On January 10, when it became clear that the New Year's assault on Grozny had failed, we were given the command to go to Chechnya.

- Shooting, driving - it's clear, but was the preparation of another plan? Let's say cultural?

This just did not happen, and this is a huge omission. Everything had to be found out on the spot. I loved history, but I still did not know much when I went to the first negotiations with the Chechens. At a meeting with the inhabitants of Belgatoy, an old man comes out and hugs me. I was confused at first. And then it was like that all the time - hugging a man who could kill me in half an hour. It is so customary there - the elder hugs the elder.

- What were the “black berets” not ready for?

You know, general impression like this: we were taught one thing, but there everything was different. We did not expect much, starting with the mud and mess and ending with the use of units. Learned on the go.

- Among you were combatants?

The commander of the 165th regiment, Colonel Alexander Fedorov, commanded a motorized rifle battalion in Afghanistan and applied this combat experience. In general, our percentage of losses was the lowest. Including because we were understaffed mainly at the expense of our own. I knew all the officers of the regiment from company commanders and above, many platoon officers. Few of the officers were outside. We were given people from ships and parts of the fleet, but the Marines were still the basis.

In general, the marines were well prepared. Approximately a third of our dead are non-combat losses, but in the same 245th regiment (245th Guards motorized rifle regiment Moscow military district, replenished by the Far East. - Ed.) non-combat losses were more than half. "Friendly fire" has been and will be in all wars, but much depends on the organization. In the same Book of Memory, we did not always write exactly how a person died. You can’t tell his parents that, for example, he took drugs ... And there all the vices of a citizen crawl out. In general, in war the threshold of legality is lowered. A man walks with a machine gun, his finger is on the trigger, if he doesn’t shoot first, they will shoot at him ...

- Did the Marines have any special tasks?

No, they were used as regular infantry. True, when we "forced" Sunzha, our PTS participated there - a floating conveyor. We joked: the marines are used for their combat mission!

First fight: “I could have died three times that day”

- Could you imagine then how long all this will drag on, what will result in?

On January 19, when Dudayev's palace was taken, Yeltsin announced that the military stage of restoring the operation of the Russian Constitution in Chechnya had been completed. Just in time for this date, our regiment concentrated in the rear area not far from Grozny. After reading the newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda of January 21, in which this statement of the president was published, I thought: Christmas trees, what the hell were we dragged from the Far East? .. And on the night of January 21-22, the second battalion of the 165th regiment was brought into battle, and already
On January 22, Senior Lieutenant Maxim Rusakov died.

- The first loss of the marines of the Pacific Fleet ...

When this battle began (the battalion fought, the sailor was wounded), I immediately "jumped" into place. Not only because of the wounded: our communication was lost, interaction was lost, panic began - all this is called the first battle ... I took with me an engineer, a medic, a signalman, spare batteries for the radio station, and ammunition. We went to the carbide plant, where the units of the second battalion were located. This is Khabarovskaya street - my "native" street. And I almost flew in there - I could have died three times on this first exit. We were given a ten-page card, but we didn’t work with such cards, and I couldn’t “get it” into it. We walked on two armored personnel carriers along Khabarovsk, jumped out to the bridge over the Sunzha, but the bridge was not visible - it was blown up, and it caved in, sank. The spirits placed blocks in front of the bridge. I look through the triplex - nothing is clear, black figures are rushing about with weapons, obviously not our sailors ... We stopped and stood there for a minute or two. If they had a grenade launcher - write wasted. I look around - on the left there is some enterprise, on the pipe - a sickle and a hammer. And they told me at the headquarters of the group: a pipe with a sickle and a hammer is “carbide”. I look - the gates are opening, a figure in camouflage is waving. We jumped in there. The second point: when we drove into the yard, I drove along the wire from MON-200 - directional mines. But it did not explode - ours set a mine for the first time, the tension was weak. And when we passed there, I already opened the hatch, leaned out. It would have been severely cut - it would not have pierced the armor, but the wheels would have been damaged and the head blown off ... And the third. We drove into the yard of the carbide plant, took the wounded away, but there was no other way out. I realized that the spirits had driven us into a mousetrap and would not let us out just like that. Then I drove the armored personnel carriers to the far corner of the yard in order to disperse them as much as possible, turned the KPVT barrels to the left and ordered them to shoot from the left loopholes. I jumped out, they did not have time to shoot at us from a grenade launcher. A second armored personnel carrier immediately followed us. They fired at him, but because of the high speed of the grenade passed by. At this time, Rusakov looked out from behind the gate, and a grenade hit him ... We learned about his death after arriving at the command post of the regiment. When it got dark, I again went to the positions of the second battalion. We managed to take out the body of Maxim only at night - the militants held the gates of the plant at gunpoint.

Ruined Grozny

I drank a glass that evening, I remembered that my patron was Sergius of Radonezh. I decided that I had chosen my limit: it flew by three times, which means it won’t kill me anymore. But he drew conclusions. And then in such cases I always analyzed and predicted.

- By the way, is “spirits” an Afghan word?

Yes, from Afghanistan, but we used it. "Bandits" - no one said. And the "Czechs" - it's already gone.

- How was life organized? What was the mood like? Were you sick?

At first it was hard - and accommodation, and food, and heating. Then people got used to it. At first, there was lice, and then baths were set up in each unit: in tents, dugouts, wagons ... Morale - at first it was very difficult, I even wonder how the sailors withstood it. After all, I was already 44 years old, I had service experience, physical training, but it was also difficult. And for the sailors... During the battle, everyone cursed terribly - they just talked obscenities during this stressful period. Then they got used to it.

At first, I had a lot of colds. The mud is terrible, the cold, and they sent us more rubber boots... We then threw them away. The second is skin diseases. But then they screwed up again. At first I got sick myself, I lay in bed for a day, and then, no matter how much I dangled - my legs were wet, cold, - there was nothing, not even snot.

- Did the locals complain about your fighters?

It was like that, I had to sort it all out. There was a case - after the death of senior lieutenant Skomorokhov, the guys took five drops in the evening, and the Chechens violated the curfew: movement after 18 hours was prohibited, and here a man and a young guy were driving a tractor. The man ran away, and the guy got under a hot hand - ours slapped him. The next day - booze. I understood that the Chechens had also violated, but still it was impossible to touch them ... I went to the elder - this guy's uncle, and asked for forgiveness. He offered to gather the residents, he was ready to publicly apologize, but they told me: no, you asked for forgiveness - in an hour the whole village will know.

- What were the militants armed with besides small arms? How were they with tactical literacy?

I personally once was under fire from an 82-mm mortar - a great car! Another time, I came under fire from the Grad - they poured about half a package somewhere, since there were no dead. There was an anecdote - a sailor-signaller was hiding from the "Grad" in a tent ... Then they forced everyone to dig in.

The militants knew the area well. And then, ours changed, and those remained in place. Those who survived were very well prepared. They had assertiveness, impudence... We couldn't change people like that - they come unfired, not knowing the situation... There was a sad experience with the introduction of the 9th company into battle, which at first remained in Mozdok at the command post of the grouping, performed commandant functions. After that, we made it a rule: an officer comes to replace him - let him first sit, listen, grow into the situation. I know this from my own experience - I couldn’t even “get it” into the map right off the bat. Or the same triplex - you can't see anything through it. Then it's always - the hatch is open, you look. If the situation is very disturbing, you look into the gap between the hatch and the armor. When I went to the first exit - I put on a helmet, a bulletproof vest ... As a result, I could not climb an armored personnel carrier - the sailors pushed me like a medieval knight! It’s somewhere on the block you can sit in a bulletproof vest ... On January 22, I put on a bulletproof vest and a helmet for the first and last time and I don’t regret it. All comes with experience.

War and Peace: “Maskhadov even invited me to visit”

- The military were dissatisfied with the February truce ...

We considered such a decision inappropriate. The initiative was on the side of our troops, and by this time Grozny was completely controlled by us. Peaceful respite was beneficial only to the militants.

During that period, I met a lot with local residents and militants. He was engaged in the collection of weapons in the villages of Belgatoy and Germenchuk, carried out the exchange of prisoners.

- I had to become a diplomat... Later you supported Troshev's negotiations with Maskhadov - how did they go?

Maskhadov's talks with Major-General Troshev, commander of the grouping of our troops in Chechnya, took place on April 28 in Novye Atagi, in the house of a local resident. At first, field commander Isa Madaev and I discussed the details. Already on the day of the negotiations, security was provided. On the other side were Aslan Maskhadov and his assistant Isa Madaev, Deputy Prime Minister of Dudayev's government Lom-Ali (I don't remember his last name), Shamil Basaev's elder brother Shirvani Basaev. Our side was represented by General Troshev, lieutenant colonel of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the captain of the FSB and myself.

Negotiations in Novye Atagi. Center - Isa Madaev, Gennady Troshev, Aslan Maskhadov.Photo from the archive of S.K. Kondratenko

Troshev came in a camouflage cap, and Maskhadov in an astrakhan cap. Troshev asks: “Aslan, why haven’t you switched to a summer uniform yet?” He replies: "And I am like Makhmud Esambaev." There was no firmness in Maskhadov's behavior, he looked unsure of himself - then they were pressed down ... Troshev clearly dominated - he joked, behaved assertively. Maskhadov understood that he was in a losing position, but his own people would not understand him if he accepted our conditions. Therefore, the main goals of the negotiations were not achieved (they wanted us to withdraw our troops, we wanted them to disarm). On the other hand, they agreed on the release of the bodies of the dead, on the exchange of prisoners. Maskhadov even invited me to visit. I told General Babichev, the commander of the Zapad group, about this, and he said: “Don’t even think about it.” Although I am sure that if I went there with Isa Madaev, everything would be fine.

In your notes you call the Khasavyurt peace shameful and tantamount to capitulation. And the second war - could you do without it?

I don't think so. First, we left our prisoners and dead there. Secondly, Chechnya has turned into a real hotbed of banditry. All these former "brigadier generals" carried out raids on the surrounding territories. Dagestan in 1999 was the last straw.

May 5, 1995, Knevichi, return from Chechnya. Left: Governor of Primorye Yevgeny Nazdratenko

As for the first war, I think it could have been avoided. In the same Ingushetia, it was also on the verge, but Ruslan Aushev (President of Ingushetia in 1993-2002 - Ed.) was awarded the rank of lieutenant general and so on. It was possible to agree with Dudayev.

The war itself does not start. And it is not the military who start it, but the politicians. But if a war starts, let the professionals, the military, deal with the war, and not in such a way that they fought, then stop - they kissed, then start again ... The most important thing is that the deaths of people could have been prevented, it was not necessary to bring to such a conflict. The war in Chechnya is the result of the collapse of the Soviet Union. And what is happening now in Ukraine has the same roots.