80th Arctic Motor Rifle Brigade

The 80th Separate Arctic Motor Rifle Brigade (80-я отдельная мотострелковая бригада) (Military Unit Number: 34667) is a specialist arctic warfare formation of the Coastal Troops of the Russian Navy formed in 2014.

80th Separate Arctic Motor Rifle Brigade
80-я отдельная мотострелковая бригада
Brigade badge
Active2014–Present
Country Russia
Branch Russian Navy
TypeMechanized infantry
RoleArctic Warfare
SizeBrigade
Part of14th Army Corps
Garrison/HQAlakurtti, Murmansk Oblast

History

The brigade was formed on 31 December 2014, and its battle flag presented on 17 January 2015 by the commander of the Northern Fleet, Admiral Vladimir Korolev. The brigade was formed to be the second specialized arctic brigade in the Arctic, along with its sister unit the 200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade.[1][2][3][4]

As of 2020, the brigade falls under the command of the specially formed 14th Army Corps, itself part of the Northern Fleet Joint Strategic Command. The brigade's mission is to patrol the border and protect permanent locations along the Russian-Norwegian Border. The brigade is based in the village of Alakurtti in the Murmansk Oblast.[2][4][5]

Recruits of the new brigade undergo severe psychological, physical, and arctic training and testing.[4]

It took part in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. It was sent to the Donbas region at the end of June 2022.[6]

In July 2023, the Russian Ministry of Defense awarded service members of the brigade for destroying Ukrainian military equipment in Kherson Oblast. [7]

It was reported by the newspaper Izvestia on July 4, 2023, that the 200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade and the 80th Arctic Motor Rifle Brigade would merge to form a new motor rifle division, the first component of the 14th Army Corps' elevation into a combined arms army.[8]

Composition

Many recruits tend to want to join these new "specialist units." The arctic brigades are significantly smaller than the Table of Organization and Equipment of other motor rifle brigades. These brigades also have new arctic equipment.[2][4][9][10][11][12]

Two sources in 2017 and 2020 give some of the following units as part of an Arctic motor rifle brigade:[5][10][11][13][14]

  • Brigade Headquarters
  • Commandant's Company (HQ Company)
  • Communications Battalion
  • Electronic Warfare Company
  • Reconnaissance Battalion
  • 1st Arctic Motor Rifle Battalion
  • 2nd Arctic Motor Rifle Battalion
  • Snipers Company
  • Self-Propelled Artillery Battalion
  • Anti-Aircraft Missile Battalion (other Motor Rifle Brigades (MRBs) can have a battalion)
  • Engineer Company (other MRBs can have a battalion)
  • Logistics Company (see above note)
  • Maintenance Battalion
  • Medical Company
  • CBRN Protection Company
  • UAV Company

Footnotes
  1. "Первой в России арктической бригаде Северного флота вручили Боевое знамя соединения". ТАСС. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  2. "Арктическую бригаду мотострелков Северного флота подняли по учебной тревоге". ТАСС. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  3. "Олени и ледоколы — Россия начинает "Большую игру" в Арктике?". Цезариум (in Russian). 2017-02-06. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  4. "Войсковая часть 34667 (80-я ОМСБр)". Воинские части России (in Russian). 2016-10-26. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  5. "Арктическая бригада провела стрельбы в приграничье". The Independent Barents Observer (in Russian). Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  6. Mäkelä, Petri [@pmakela1] (July 5, 2022). "Russian army has sent at least one BTG from the 80th Arctic motorized rifle brigade to Ukraine. Previously the 80th, stationed close to the Finnish border at Alakurtti, has only sent a recce company to Ukraine. 80th was the last untapped unit in the North" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  7. Stepanenko, Kateryna; Bailey, Riley; Wolkov, Nicole; Barros, George; Evans, Angelica; Kagan, Frederick (1 July 2023). "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, July 1, 2023". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 2 July 2023. The Russian MoD also demonstratively awarded servicemen of the 80th Arctic Motorized Rifle Brigade (14th Army Corps, Northern Fleet) - a unit within the Russian 'Dnepr' Group of Forces - for destroying Ukrainian military equipment in Kherson Oblast.
  8. Hird, Karolina; Mappes, Grace; Wolkov, Nicole; Evans, Angelica; Kagan, Frederick W. "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, July 4, 2023". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  9. "Минобороны: арктическая мотострелковая бригада впервые участвует в проверке боеготовности". ТАСС. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  10. tvzvezda.ru, Редакция (2015-10-07). "Арктические стрелки уничтожили "террористов" на Новой Земле". Телеканал «Звезда» (in Russian). Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  11. "Арктическая мотострелковая бригада получит более 100 единиц военной техники". ТАСС. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  12. Giles, Keir. "Assessing Russia's Reorganized and Rearmed Military". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  13. "Арктическая бригада Северного флота провела стрельбы из ЗРПК "Панцирь-С1" на Котельном". ТАСС. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  14. "80 ОМСБр: Арктическая мотострелковая бригада". Цезариум (in Russian). 2017-05-16. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
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