The 42 Guards

Russian Guards

Guards or Guards units were and are elite military units in Imperial Russia, Soviet Union and the Russian Federation. The tradition goes back to the retinue of a knyaz of medieval Kievan Rus' and the streltsy, the Muscovite harquebusiers formed by Ivan the Terrible by 1550...

 Motor Rifle Division was formed originally as the 111th Rifle Division in Vologda

Vologda

Vologda is a city and the administrative, cultural, and scientific center of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the Vologda River. The city is a major transport knot of the Northwest of Russia. Vologda is among the Russian cities possessing an especially valuable historical heritage...

 in 1940, and became 24th Guards Rifle Division in March 1942 Based in the North Caucasus

North Caucasus

The North Caucasus is the northern part of the Caucasus region between the Black and Caspian Seas and within European Russia. The term is also used as a synonym for the North Caucasus economic region of Russia....

 following World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, it seems to have become 42nd Guards MRD in 1957, while at Grozny

Grozny

Grozny is the capital city of the Chechen Republic, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the preliminary results of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 271,596; up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Census. but still only about two-thirds of 399,688 recorded in the 1989...

.

In 1987 it became 173 Guards District Training Centre, and it comprised in 1991 of three motor rifle regiments, one tank regiment, one Guards training artillery regiment and one air defence regiment. These regiments were the 70th Motor Rifle Regiment; 71st Motor Rifle Regiment; 72nd Motor Rifle Regiment; 392nd Tank Regiment; 50th Guards Training Artillery Regiment; and the 1203rd Anti-aircraft Missile Regiment. In November 1990 it had a total of 219 tanks, 187 being T-55s. By June 1993 173 Guards Training Centre had been disbanded and had handed over half its weapons to the Chechens in order to evacuate the other half unhindered.

The Division did not reform until the late 1990s. Following the beginning of the Second Chechen War

Second Chechen War

The Second Chechen War, in a later phase better known as the War in the North Caucasus, was launched by the Russian Federation starting 26 August 1999, in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade ....

 it was announced in December 1999 as the permanent garrison force for Chechnya

Chechnya

The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...

 and various military districts started raising its regiments separately in 2000. The division was intended to have 15,500 men. The Division's headquarters was established ed at Khankala

Khankala

Khankala is a settlement in Groznensky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia, located to the east of Grozny, the republic's capital. Population:...

 outside Groznyy, with the 71st Motor Rifle Regiment also at the same base. 71st MRR was raised in the Volga Military District. 70th Motor Rifle Regiment was formed in the Urals MD and located at Shali

Shali

Shali is a town and the administrative center of Shalinsky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia. Population: On January 3, 1995, during the course of the First Chechen War, Shali was repeatedly bombed with cluster bombs by Russian jet aircraft....

. 72nd MRR, raised from the 2nd Guards Tamanskaya Motor Rifle Division

2nd Guards Tamanskaya Motor Rifle Division

The 2nd Guards Motor Rifle 'Tamanskaya' Order of October Revolution, Red Banner,, Order of Suvorov Division named after M.I. Kalinin, also known as the Tamanskaya Division, Taman Division and Taman Guards The 2nd Guards Motor Rifle 'Tamanskaya' Order of October Revolution, Red Banner,, Order of...

 in the Moscow Military District

Moscow Military District

The Moscow Military District was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2010 it was merged with the Leningrad Military District, the Northern Fleet and the Baltic Fleet to form the new Western Military District.-History:In the beginning of...

 was established at Kalinovskaya, and 291st Motor Rifle Regiment, originating in the Leningrad Military District

Leningrad Military District

The Leningrad Military District was a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2010 it was merged with the Moscow Military District, the Northern Fleet and the Baltic Fleet to form the new Western Military District.-History:...

, was set up at Borzoy.

On 1 July 2000, the Russian military leadership announced that a different place had been selected for stationing one of the regiments of the 42nd Division. Deputy Defence Minister Col-Gen Aleksandr Kosovan says that they have decided on the area of the Borzoy settlement instead of the planned Itum-Kale for its motor rifle regiment. He also said that three of the regiments of the 42nd Division were going to be equipped "to the maximum" by the end of the year. Orr noted that the 291st MRR had been relocated 'when the tactical vulnerability of the position [originally Itum-Kale] was appreciated.' The division was equipped with T-62s, with at least one regiment having BMP-1

BMP-1

The 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...

s.

The 42nd Division included two Chechen battalions, the Vostok and Zapad units

Special Battalions Vostok and Zapad

Special Battalions Vostok and Zapad were two Spetznaz units of Russian military intelligence based in Chechnya. The overwhelming majority of personnel were ethnic Chechens, while the command personnel were mixed Russian and Chechens....

. The two battalions are apparently GRU

GRU

GRU or Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye is the foreign military intelligence directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation...

 Spetsnaz

Spetsnaz

Spetsnaz, Specnaz tr: Voyska specialnogo naznacheniya; ) is an umbrella term for any special forces in Russian, literally "force of special purpose"...

units but under the operational command of 42nd Division.