18th Guards Motor Rifle Division explained

Unit Name:	133rd Rifle Division (I Formation) (1939–1942)----18th Guards Rifle Division (1942–1945)----30th Guards Mechanised Division (1945–1965)----18th Guards Motor Rifle Division (1965 – c. 2001, 2020 – present)
Native Name:	18-я гвардейская мотострелковая Инстербургская Краснознамённая, ордена Суворова дивизия
Dates:	1939–present
Country:	(until 1991) (1991–2001; 2020–)
Branch:	(until 1991) (1991–2001; 2020–)
Type:	Mechanized infantry
Size:	Division
Command Structure:	11th Army Corps, Baltic Fleet
Garrison:	Gusev and Sovetsk
Battles:	World War II Battle of Moscow East Prussian Offensive Russian Invasion of Ukraine 2024 Kharkiv offensive
Decorations:	2nd class
Battle Honours:	Insterburg
Notable Commanders:	Grigory Karizhsky

The 18th Guards Insterburg Red Banner Order of Suvorov Motor Rifle Division, is an active division of the Russian Ground Forces.

History

The 18th Guards Motor Rifle Division was formed originally as the 133rd Rifle Division at Novosibirsk in 1939. The division was part of 1st Shock Army on 1 December 1941 during the Battle of Moscow. It was redesignated as the 18th Guards Rifle Division in March 1942 with the 51st, 53rd, 58th Guards Rifle Regiments and 52nd Guards Artillery Regiment. The division fought in the East Prussian Offensive. The unit became 30th Guards Mechanised Division in 1945 as part of the 11th Guards Army. In 1965 it was renumbered as 18th Guards Motor Rifle Division. It was stationed in the Kaliningrad enclave with 11th Guards Army before entering Czechoslovakia in 1968, joining the Central Group of Forces.

In 1991 the division was withdrawn back to Gusev, Kaliningrad Oblast. The division was reorganised as a cadre strength formation, as part of the third-line reserves of the Russian Ground Forces. In 2002, it became the 79th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade (Russian: 79-я отдельная гвардейская мотострелковая бригада).^[1] The division was reformed from the 79th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade in Kaliningrad in December 2020 as part of the 11th Army Corps.^[2] In 2022, elements of the division were reportedly heavily engaged in combat in from the start of the invasion of Ukraine.^{[3] [4] [5]}

Structure (1990s)

• 210th Motor Rifle Regiment;
• 275th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment;
• 278th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment;
• 280th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment;
• 52nd Guards Artillery Regiment

Honorifics are Insterburgskaya Krasnoznamennaya and Order of Suvorov.

Structure (2020/21)

• 275th Motorized Rifle Regiment^[6]
• 280th Motorized Rifle Regiment
• 79th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment (former 79th Independent Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade re-formed as a regiment)^[7]
• 11th Independent Tank Regiment (Gusev, Kaliningrad Oblast)^[8] (Military Unit Number V/Ch (в/ч) 41611) (Equipped with T-72B Main Battle Tanks (upgrades of T-72s to B3M-standard underway as of 2019/20^{[9] [10] [11]})
• 20th Separate Reconnaissance Battalion (forming 2020/21; Orlan-10 UAVs and "Sobolyatnik"^[12] and "Fara-VR" reconnaissance radars)^[13]
• 22nd Guards Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Tor M1/M2), in Kaliningrad^{[14] [15] [16]}

Further reading

• Советская Военная Энциклопедия: [В 8 томах] / Пред. Гл. ред. комиссии Н. В. Огарков – М.: Воениздат, 1977. Т. 4. 1977, 656 с., ил. "Инстербургско-Кёнигсбергская операция" стр. 471—472.
• Book: Галицкий К. Н.. Галицкий, Кузьма Никитович. Глава двенадцатая. Последние бои. Разгром группы "Земланд". В боях за Восточную Пруссию: Записки командующего 11-й гвардейской армией . 40 000 экз. М.. 1970 . Наука. 500 . Вторая мировая война в исследованиях, воспоминаниях, документах .
• Book: Lobanov, V.V.. Восемнадцатая гвардейская.. Kaliningradskoye knizhnoye izdatel'stvo. 1975. Kaliningrad. ru. Eighteenth Guards.
• В. И. Феськов К. А. Калашников В. И. Голиков "Красная Армия в победах и поражениях 1941-45 гг" Часть I.
• "Боевой состав Советской Армии. Часть III. (январь — декабрь 1943 г)., Москва, Военное изд. Мин. Обороны, 1972 г.",

External links

• http://wikimapia.org/7820871/79th-Separate-Guards-Motor-Rifle-Brigade

Notes and References

1. Web site: 18th Guards Motorised Rifle Division . Holm . Michael . www.ww2.dk . 2016-04-06.
2. Web site: Rondeli Russian Military Digest: Issue 77, 1 March - 7 March 2021.
3. Web site: vasgri . 2022-04-02 . Russian units of 18th MRD transferred from Kaliningrad Oblast to the east of Ukraine . 2023-01-22 . InformNapalm.org (English) . en-US.
4. News: 12 December 2022 . Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, December 12 . Institute for the Study of War . 22 January 2023.
5. Web site: 2022-09-16 . Ukraine's Counteroffensives in Kharkiv and Kherson and the Road Ahead FDD's Long War Journal . 2023-01-22 . www.longwarjournal.org . en-US.
6. Web site: Rondeli Russian Military Digest: Issue 81, 29 March - 9 May 2021.
7. Web site: Rondeli Russian Military Digest: Issue 82, 10 May - 23 May 2021.
8. Web site: Танковый полк Балтфлота привлечён к манёврам в Калининградской области -.
9. Web site: Fortress Kaliningrad- Ever Closer to Moscow. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200617105856/http://aei.pitt.edu/102361/1/Report_Fortress_Kaliningrad_net_0.pdf . 17 June 2020 .
10. Web site: Russia increases number of tanks in Kaliningrad . 28 January 2019.
11. News: Russia adds firepower to Kaliningrad exclave citing NATO threat . Reuters . 7 December 2020.
12. Web site: Russian Airborne forces receive Sobolyatnik portable radar | June 2020 News Defense Global Security army industry | Defense Security global news industry army 2020 | Archive News year.
13. Web site: В тылу сражений: Калининград защитят сверхдальние разведчики. 10 March 2021.
14. Web site: Baltic Fleet's Tor-M2 missile systems down maneuvering fast-speed targets in drills.
15. Web site: A look at the Baltic Fleet and the defense of Kaliningrad. 6 April 2020.
16. Web site: Harris. Catherine. Kagan. Frederick W.. Russia's Military Posture: Ground Forces Order Of Battle. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20180314210531/http://www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/Russian%20Ground%20Forces%20OOB_ISW%20CTP_0.pdf . 14 March 2018 .