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25th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)
Encyclopedia
The 25th Rifle Division 'Chapayevskaya' was a Russian, and later Soviet, Red Army
formation formed during the Russian Civil War
. It was named after its civil war commander, Vasily Chapayev
. The division was disbanded and reformed several times until the collapse of the Soviet Union, when it entered service in the Ukrainian Army as the 25th Mechanised Division.
under the command of General Vasily Chapayev. Chapayev previously served in the Imperial Russian Army
during World War I. The division deployed to the Uraks where it fought the Ural Cossacks in the Zavolzhye
region. On October 7, 1918 the division fought at Samara
, on March 11, 1919 it fought at Uralsk
, and on January 2, 1920 the division occupied entered Atyrau
(then Guriev) for the Bolshevik
s.
In May 1920, the division transferred to the Ukrainian front
. It aided the successful defence of Kiev against the Poles
, before moving on to capture Kovel
and participate in further operations along the Southern Bug
. From April 1921 to the end of the war the division was responsible for suppressing Ukrainian independence forces
. Another source indicates it was reestablished at Poltava in 1925.
The division fought in Finland, probably during the Winter War
.
Order #20466 attached the 25th Rifle Division to the 14th Rifle Corps
, 9th Army
, Southern Front
. It took part in the Battle of Odessa
, and was evacuated by sea in October 1941 prior to the city's fall. The division arrived in Sevastopol
in time to prepare for the defence of the port against the oncoming German offensive. The division was destroyed during the following Siege of Sevastopol in July 1942.
The division was subsequently reformed. In 1944 it fought at Zvenigorod
. It was attached to the 4th Rifle Corps of the Belarussian Military District in May 1945. At the end of the war the 25th Rifle Division was merged with the 25th Guards 'Sinelkov-Budapest' Rifle Division (ex 2nd Guards Rifle Brigade, ex 71st Naval Rifle Brigade.) The division's full title became 25th Guards Rifle Sinelkov-Budapest Red Banner Order of Suvorov and B. Khmelnitsky Division named for V.I. Chapayev (.)
.
as the 25th Mechanized Division. The division retained its Soviet-era awards and honorifics. A child formation, the 280th Tank Regiment, was used to form a new armoured brigade, the 1st Armored Brigade
at Honcharivske
. The 25th Mechanized Division was disbanded in 2000.
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
formation formed during the Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
. It was named after its civil war commander, Vasily Chapayev
Vasily Chapayev
Vasily Ivanovich Chapayev or Chapaev was a celebrated Russian soldier and Red Army commander during the Russian Civil War.-Biography:...
. The division was disbanded and reformed several times until the collapse of the Soviet Union, when it entered service in the Ukrainian Army as the 25th Mechanised Division.
Russian Civil War
The division was formed in 1918 at the beginning of the Russian Civil WarRussian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
under the command of General Vasily Chapayev. Chapayev previously served in the Imperial Russian Army
Imperial Russian Army
The Imperial Russian Army was the land armed force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian army consisted of around 938,731 regular soldiers and 245,850 irregulars . Until the time of military reform of Dmitry Milyutin in...
during World War I. The division deployed to the Uraks where it fought the Ural Cossacks in the Zavolzhye
Zavolzhye
Zavolzhye may refer to:*Transvolga, a territory to the east of the Volga River in Russia*Zavolzhye , name of several inhabited localities in Russia...
region. On October 7, 1918 the division fought at Samara
Samara, Russia
Samara , is the sixth largest city in Russia. It is situated in the southeastern part of European Russia at the confluence of the Volga and Samara Rivers. Samara is the administrative center of Samara Oblast. Population: . The metropolitan area of Samara-Tolyatti-Syzran within Samara Oblast...
, on March 11, 1919 it fought at Uralsk
Oral, Kazakhstan
Oral , Uralsk in Russian, formerly known as Yaitsk , is a city in northwestern Kazakhstan, at the confluence of the Ural and Chogan Rivers close to the Russian border. As it is located on the western side of the Ural river, it is considered geographically in Europe. It has a population of 350,000...
, and on January 2, 1920 the division occupied entered Atyrau
Atyrau
Atyrau , known as Guryev until 1991, is a city in Kazakhstan, and the capital of Atyrau Province. It is located at the mouth of the Ural River, 2700 kilometers west of Almaty and 350 kilometers east of the Russian city of Astrakhan. Other transliterations include Aterau, Atirau, Atyraw, Atyraou,...
(then Guriev) for the Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
s.
In May 1920, the division transferred to the Ukrainian front
Southern Front of the Russian Civil War
-Don revolts and formation of the Volunteer Army:Many opponents of the October Revolution and the Bolsheviks fled to the Don region, hoping to gain influence and the support of the Don Cossacks....
. It aided the successful defence of Kiev against the Poles
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
, before moving on to capture Kovel
Kovel
Kovel is a city located in the Volyn Oblast , in northwestern Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Kovelskyi Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast. The current estimated population is around 65,777.Kovel gives its name to one of the...
and participate in further operations along the Southern Bug
Southern Bug
The Southern Bug, also called Southern Buh), is a river located in Ukraine. The source of the river is in the west of Ukraine, in the Volyn-Podillia Upland, about 145 km from the Polish border, and flows southeasterly into the Bug Estuary through the southern steppes...
. From April 1921 to the end of the war the division was responsible for suppressing Ukrainian independence forces
Ukrainian War of Independence
The Ukrainian War of Independence was a series of military conflicts between Ukrainian, Anarchist, Bolshevik, the Central Powers forces of Germany and Austria-Hungary, the White Russian Volunteer Army, and Second Polish Republic forces for control of the territory of modern Ukraine after the...
. Another source indicates it was reestablished at Poltava in 1925.
The division fought in Finland, probably during the Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
.
World War II
On June 24, 1941, STAVKAStavka
Stavka was the term used to refer to a command element of the armed forces from the time of the Kievan Rus′, more formally during the history of Imperial Russia as administrative staff and General Headquarters during late 19th Century Imperial Russian armed forces and those of the Soviet Union...
Order #20466 attached the 25th Rifle Division to the 14th Rifle Corps
Rifle corps (Soviet)
A rifle corps was a Soviet military organization of the mid-twentieth century. Rifle corps were made up of a varying number of rifle divisions, although the allocation of three rifle divisions to a rifle corps was common during the latter part of World War II.Unlike army corps formed by Germany...
, 9th Army
9th Army (Soviet Union)
The 9th Army of the Soviet Union's Red Army was a Soviet field army, active from 1939 – 43, and then after the war from 1966 to 1989.It was active during the Winter War against Finland as part of the Leningrad Military District, beginning operations at the end of November 1939 under ComKor M.P....
, Southern Front
Soviet Western Front
The Western Front was a Front of the Red Army, one of the Red Army Fronts during the Second World War. This sense of the term is different from the more general usage of military front which indicates a geographic area in wartime, although a Soviet Front usually operates within designated...
. It took part in the Battle of Odessa
Battle of Odessa (1941)
The Siege of Odessa was part of the Eastern Front area of operations in 1941, it was primarily conducted by Romanian forces and elements of the German Army's 11th Army...
, and was evacuated by sea in October 1941 prior to the city's fall. The division arrived in Sevastopol
Sevastopol
Sevastopol is a city on rights of administrative division of Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 . Sevastopol is the second largest port in Ukraine, after the Port of Odessa....
in time to prepare for the defence of the port against the oncoming German offensive. The division was destroyed during the following Siege of Sevastopol in July 1942.
The division was subsequently reformed. In 1944 it fought at Zvenigorod
Zvenigorod
Zvenigorod is an old town in Moscow Oblast, Russia. Population: -History:The community has existed since the 12th century, although its first written mention is dated 1338. The town's name is based either on a personal name or on a hydronym Zvenigorod is an old town in Moscow Oblast, Russia....
. It was attached to the 4th Rifle Corps of the Belarussian Military District in May 1945. At the end of the war the 25th Rifle Division was merged with the 25th Guards 'Sinelkov-Budapest' Rifle Division (ex 2nd Guards Rifle Brigade, ex 71st Naval Rifle Brigade.) The division's full title became 25th Guards Rifle Sinelkov-Budapest Red Banner Order of Suvorov and B. Khmelnitsky Division named for V.I. Chapayev (.)
Cold War service
The division was reorganized as a Motor Rifle Division in 1957, and eventually transferred to the 1st Guards Army in the Kiev Military DistrictKiev Military District
The Kiev Military District was a Russian unit of military-administrative division of the Imperial Russian Army and subsequently of the Ukrainian Army, RKKA, and Soviet Armed Forces...
.
Ukrainian service
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union the division became part of the Ukrainian Ground ForcesUkrainian Ground Forces
The Ukrainian Ground Forces are the land force component of the Military of Ukraine. They were formed from Soviet Army formations, units, and establishments, including three military districts , that were on Ukrainian soil when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990-92.Between the fall of the USSR and...
as the 25th Mechanized Division. The division retained its Soviet-era awards and honorifics. A child formation, the 280th Tank Regiment, was used to form a new armoured brigade, the 1st Armored Brigade
1st Armored Brigade (Ukraine)
The 1st Guards Armored Brigade is a formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces.The Brigade is located in Honcharivske.Full name of the Brigade is 1st Separate Guards Armored Novohrad Orders of the Red Banner, Kutuzov, Bogdan Khmelnitsky, Alexander Nevsky and Red Star Brigade, -History:The Brigade was...
at Honcharivske
Honcharivske
Honcharivske is an urban-type settlement in Chernihiv Oblast of Ukraine. It's the administrative center of Chernihivsky Raion. 1st Armored Brigade is stationed in the settlement....
. The 25th Mechanized Division was disbanded in 2000.
Order of Battle, 25th Guards Motor Rifle Division, 1988-9
- 25th Guards Motor Rifle 'Sinelko-Budapest' Order of the Red BannerOrder of the Red BannerThe Soviet government of Russia established the Order of the Red Banner , a military decoration, on September 16, 1918 during the Russian Civil War...
, Order of SuvorovOrder of SuvorovThe Order of Suvorov is a Soviet award, named after Aleksandr Suvorov , that was established on July 29, 1942 by a decision of the Presidium of Supreme Soviet of the USSR. This decoration was created to award senior army personnel for exceptional leadership in combat operations...
and Order of Bogdan KhmelnitskyOrder of Bogdan KhmelnitskyOrder of Bogdan Khmelnitsky may refer to:* Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky , state military award in the Soviet Union* Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky , state military award in Ukraine...
Division named for V.I. Chapayev (LubnyLubnyLubny is a city in the Poltava Oblast of central Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Lubensky Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast...
)- 132nd Guards Red Banner Order of Suvorov and Kutznesov Regiment (Lubny): 10 T-64T-64The T-64 is a Soviet main battle tank, introduced in the early 1960s. It was used solely by the Soviet Army in its front-line divisions and was a more advanced counterpart to the T-62...
; 9 BTR-60BTR-60The BTR-60 is the first vehicle in a series of Soviet eight-wheeled armoured personnel carriers. It was developed in the late 1950s as a replacement for the BTR-152 and was seen first time in public in 1961...
, 4 BMP (2 BMP-1BMP-1The BMP-1 is a Soviet amphibious tracked infantry fighting vehicle. BMP stands for Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty 1 , meaning "infantry fighting vehicle". The BMP-1 was the world's first mass-produced infantry fighting vehicle...
, 2 BMP-1К); 12 D-30; 1 PRP-3, 3 1V18, 1 - 1V19; 5 R-145BM, 2 PU-12; 1 MT-55A - 136th Guards Motor Rifle Red Banner Regiment (Lubny): Equipment is identical to that of the 132nd Regiment
- 426th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment (Lubny): 10 Т-64; 21 BMP (19 BMP-1, 2 BMP-1К); 3 BTR-60" 12 - 2S1 "Gvozdika"2S1The 2S1 Gvozdika, ; is a Soviet 122-mm self-propelled howitzer that resembles the PT-76 but is essentially a version of the MT-LB APC, mounting the 2A18 howitzer. "2S1" is its GRAU designation. An alternative Russian designation is SAU-122 but in the Russian Army it is commonly known as Gvozdika...
; 2 BMP-1K, 1 PRP-3, 3 RHM, 2 MTP-2; 4 R-145BM, 2 PU-12; 1 MTU-20, 1 MT-55А - 280th Tank Regiment (Goncharovskoe): 31 Т-64; 4 BMP (2 BMP-1, 2 BMP-1К); 12 - 2S1 "Gvozdika"; 2 BMP-1K, 1 PRP-3, 2 R-145BM, 2 PU-12; 2 МТ-55А; 29 МТ-LBT
- 53rd Guards Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment (Lubny): 12 BM-21BM-21The BM-21 launch vehicle , a Soviet truck-mounted 122 mm multiple rocket launcher, and a M-21OF rocket were developed in the early 1960s. BM stands for boyevaya mashina, ‘combat vehicle’, and the nickname means ‘hail’. The complete system with the BM-21 launch vehicle and the M-21OF rocket...
"Grad"; 2 PRP-3, 3 - 1ВV18, 1 - 1V19; 22 МТ-LBT - 1175th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment
- 132nd Guards Red Banner Order of Suvorov and Kutznesov Regiment (Lubny): 10 T-64
Awards
- Order of the Red BannerOrder of the Red BannerThe Soviet government of Russia established the Order of the Red Banner , a military decoration, on September 16, 1918 during the Russian Civil War...
, the division along with 9 separate regiments. - Order of LeninOrder of LeninThe Order of Lenin , named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was the highest decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union...
- 78 of the division's personnel were awarded the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet UnionHero of the Soviet UnionThe title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...
Famous People of the Division
- Dmitri FurmanovDmitri FurmanovDmitry Andreyevich Furmanov was a Russian writer. During the Russian Civil War he joined the Red Army and served as a Bolshevik commissar. He is well-known for his novel Chapayev about Vasily Chapayev, a Red Army officer and a hero of the Civil War. The novel is available in English translation.In...
- Sydir KovpakSydir KovpakSydir Artemovych Kovpak , June 7, 1887December 11, 1967) was a prominent Soviet partisan leader in Ukraine.-Biography:Kovpak was born to a poor peasant family in Ukrainian village near Poltava . For his military service in the World War I he was awarded two Crosses of St...
- Ivan Yefimovich Petrov
- Ivan PanfilovIvan PanfilovNot to be confused with Major General Alexei Pavlovich Panfilov, who is known for negotiating the creation of the Anders Army.In Allen Paul's book Katyn: Stalin's Massacre and the Triumph of Truth , page 172, it is written that the name of the assistant chief of the General Staff of the Red Army...
- Lyudmila PavlichenkoLyudmila PavlichenkoLyudmila Mykhailivna Pavlichenko was a Soviet sniper during World War II, credited with 309 kills, and is regarded as the most successful female sniper in history.-Early life:...