Author: David Batashvili

 

Russian Military Transformation Tracker has been reporting structural changes in the Russian military since August 2018. You can see all issues of the Tracker at this page. For a comprehensive geographic view of the Russian military structure see our Interactive Map of the Russian Military Forces.

 

Information below does not include the Russian units, usually created with mobilized individuals or volunteers, that do not belong to the core Russian armed forces structure and are likely meant to exist only till the end of the current Russo-Ukrainian War.

 

General

On 26 February 2024, the Western Military District was divided in two, with Moscow Military District (HQ in Moscow) and Leningrad Military District (HQ in Saint Petersburg) established on its basis. The larger part of the former Western MD was included in the Moscow MD, while the former District’s north went to the Leningrad MD.

Out of the Western Military District’s armies, 1st Tank Army and 20th Army were included in the Moscow MD, while 6th Army was included in the Leningrad MD.

At the same time, the Northern Fleet Joint Strategic Command (HQ in Severomorsk, Murmansk Oblast) was stripped of its military district-equivalent status, its land units becoming part of the Leningrad Military District. Also, 11th Army Corps, which had been under the Baltic Fleet command, was transferred to the Leningrad MD.

The territory of Ukraine occupied by Russia in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson Oblasts was added to the Southern Military District.

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In late 2023, Russia’s four Fleets and the Caspian Flotilla were removed from the command of respective military districts and placed directly under command of the Russian navy.

 

Central Russia and Volga Region

A new 27th Mechanized Division was reported in March 2024 to be in the process of being established on the basis of 21st Mechanized Brigade (Totskoye, Orenburg Oblast) of the 2nd Army (HQ in Samara).

The new division was set to include: 433rd Mechanized Regiment, 506th Mechanized Regiment, 589th Mechanized Regiment, 907th Separate Recon Battalion, 268th Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment, 1107th Separate Anti-Tank Artillery Battalion, and 838th Separate Anti-Aircraft Missile Battalion. Formation of the division was planned to be completed in 2024.

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A new 34th Artillery Division was reported to be in the process of being established within the Moscow Military District in January 2024. The division was reportedly set to include the new 273rd Artillery Brigade and 303rd Artillery Brigade.

 

The Western Frontier (Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, and the Russian border area with the first two countries)

Existence of a newly established 263rd Mechanized Brigade was reported in January 2024. It was unclear to which larger units the new brigade belonged, or which base in Russia had been assigned to it. The brigade was deployed on the border with Ukraine.

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Russian sources reported in April 2024 that 169th Mechanized Brigade and 73rd Artillery Brigade had been established in 2023.

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88th Mechanized Brigade of the 2nd Army Corps (HQ in Luhansk, occupied part of Ukraine), existence of which had previously been noted in November 2023, was reported by Russian sources in April 2024 to actually have been established by September 2022.

They also reported establishment of 85th Mechanized Brigade by September 2022.

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It emerged that 4th Mechanized Brigade (Alchevsk, Luhansk Oblast, occupied part of Ukraine) of the 2nd Army Corps had been renamed into 124th Mechanized Brigade.

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In March 2024, Russia announced it had recently established the Dnieper Flotilla in the south of Ukraine’s Russian-occupied territory. That same month, the Russian media reported existence of a self-propelled coastal artillery unit within the flotilla, armed with Bereg self-propelled coastal artillery guns. According to the same report, naval infantry and special forces units were in the process of being established under the flotilla’s command.

In April 2024, the Russian media reported plans to transfer military transport planes and helicopters to the Dnieper Flotilla.

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52nd Artillery Brigade, established within the Russian Airborne Forces in the first half of 2023 as indicated in Issue 8 of the Tracker, was reported to be based in Krasnodar Krai.

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On 12 June 2024, the head of Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency, Kyrylo Budanov, stated that Russia had placed some of the new S-500 surface-to-air missile systems in occupied Crimea, Ukraine.

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Existence of 474th Separate Anti-Aircraft Missile Battalion within the 18th Army’s 70th Mechanized Division (Rostov Oblast) was noted in unofficial Russian sources in January 2024.

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A number of the Black Sea Fleet’s ships were destroyed by the Ukrainians in the process of the Russo-Ukrainian War.

Project 22800 Karakurt class corvette Tsiklon, which had just joined the Russian navy and the Black Sea Fleet in July 2023, was destroyed at the Sevastopol naval base by a Ukrainian ATACMS strike on 19 May 2024.

Tarantul / Project 12411 class corvette R-334 Ivanovets was sunk by Ukrainian maritime drones near the western coast of Crimea on 1 February 2024.

Project 22160 class large patrol ship Sergey Kotov, which had joined the Russian navy and the Black Sea Fleet in May 2022, was sunk by Ukrainian maritime drones near Kerch, occupied Crimea, on 5 March 2024.

Ropucha / Project 775 class landing ship Caesar Kunikov was sunk by Ukrainian maritime drones near the coast of Crimea on 14 February 2024.

Ropucha / Project 775 class landing ship Novocherkassk was destroyed by the Ukrainian air force while at the Feodosia naval base in Crimea in late December 2023.

 

The North-Western Frontier (the Baltic region and Karelia)

The following units were reported in January 2024 as being established within the Leningrad Military District:

68th Mechanized Division with a mechanized regiment and a self-propelled artillery regiment within it.

69th Mechanized Division with a mechanized regiment and a self-propelled artillery regiment within it.

44th Army Corps with its 72nd Mechanized Division and a tank regiment within this division.

The 44th Corps was being established in Karelia. Besides the 72nd Division it also reportedly was set to include newly established 128th Mechanized Brigade and 70th Missile Brigade. In April 2024, the Russian media reported that a new missile brigade armed with Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile systems had been established in Karelia. It is likely that the report was referring to 70th Missile Brigade.

In May 2024, existence of 30th Mechanized Regiment within a mechanized division of 44th Army Corps was reported. It was unclear whether the division in question was the 72nd Mechanized.

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Buyan-M / Project 21631 class missile corvette Naro-Fominsk and Alexandrit / Project 12700 class minesweeper Lev Chernavin joined the Baltic Fleet on 25 December 2023.

 

The Caucasus

In April 2024, the Russian media noted existence of a newly established 49th Air Assault Brigade within the 58th Army (HQ in Vladikavkaz).

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40th Army Corps, established in 2023 as indicated in Issue 8 of the Tracker, was reported to have headquarters in Kabardino-Balkarian Republic.

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On 12 June 2024, Azerbaijan announced that Russian military forces had completed their withdrawal from the country. Thus the Russian Peacekeeping Force in Nagorno-Karabakh, headquartered in Khankendi and consisting of two mechanized battalions from the 15th Mechanized Brigade (Roshchinsky, Samara Oblast) of the 2nd Army (HQ in Samara), ceased to exist with its forces returning to Russia and ending the Russian military presence in Azerbaijan.

 

The Arctic

On 25 December 2023, the Russian media revealed that a mixed Arctic aviation corps had been established within the Northern Fleet.

The new corps consists of the already existing 279th Separate Shipborne Fighter Regiment, 100th Separate Shipborne Fighter Regiment (both – Severomorsk-3 air base, Murmansk Oblast), 403rd Mixed Aviation Regiment and 830th Separate Shipborne Anti-Submarine Helicopter Regiment (both – Severomorsk-1 air base, Murmansk Oblast).

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Admiral Gorshkov / Project 22350 class frigate Admiral Golovko joined the Northern Fleet on 25 December 2023.

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On 31 January 2024, Project 677 Lada class diesel submarine Kronshtadt joined the Northern Fleet.

Another submarine of the same class, Sankt Peterburg, also belonging to the Northern Fleet, was reported to have been decommissioned and set to be scrapped in near future on 5 February 2024.

 

The Far East

As reported in May 2024, 41st Missile Brigade had been established in the Eastern Military District in December 2023. The brigade is armed with Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile systems.