Crimean group of the Russian Armed Forces. The grouping of the Russian Armed Forces in Crimea is being deployed at an accelerated pace

Western media describe the situation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea as if we are talking about a full-scale Russian invasion. “Ukraine says Russia has sent a 16,000-strong contingent to Crimea,” “How can Obama prevent the Russian invasion of Crimea?” - read the headlines of the foreign press.

As the English website RT notes, European and American media prefer to ignore the fact that Russian troops have been on the peninsula for more than ten years.

Russian representative to the UN Vitaly Churkin recalled that the agreement on the Black Sea Fleet allows Russia to station 25 thousand military personnel in Crimea. But the US and Britain simply did not seem to hear this information.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently also emphasized that the Russian military strictly follows the agreements provided for in the agreement on the Black Sea Fleet. In addition, they fulfill the request of the legitimate authorities of the country - in in this case, Government of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

Below we present some historical facts, about which the West today prefers to remain silent.

1. The Black Sea Fleet has been the subject of dispute between Russia and Ukraine since the fall Soviet Union in 1991.

2. In 1997, the parties finally came to an agreement and signed three documents that determined the fate of the fleet and military bases in Crimea. Two years later, in 1999, the agreements were ratified. Russia received 81.7% of the fleet, paying the Ukrainian government $526.5 million in compensation.

3. Moscow annually writes off $97.75 million in debt to Kyiv for the right to use the water area and radar equipment of Ukraine and for possible environmental damage.

4. According to the initial agreement, the Russian Black Sea Fleet was supposed to remain in Crimea until 2017, but later this period was extended for another 25 years.

5. The 1997 agreement allows Russia to maintain a 25,000-strong military contingent in Crimea, 24 artillery systems s with a caliber of less than 100 mm, 132 armored vehicles and 22 military aircraft.

6. In accordance with the agreement, several Russian naval units are stationed in Sevastopol. This includes the 30th Division surface ships. It includes the 11th brigade of anti-submarine ships: the missile cruiser Moskva, the large anti-submarine ship Kerch and the patrol ships Pytlivy, Smetlivy and Ladny, as well as the 197th brigade, consisting of seven landing ships.

Also based in Sevastopol are the 41st brigade of missile boats, the 247th submarine division, the 68th brigade of water area security ships and the 422nd separate division of hydrographic vessels.

7. Moscow has two military air bases in Crimea. They are located in the villages of Kacha and Gvardeyskoye.

8. Russia deployed the 1096th anti-aircraft missile regiment and the 810th brigade in Sevastopol Marine Corps, numbering 2 thousand people.

Let us recall that on March 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin received the consent of the Federation Council to use the Russian Armed Forces to stabilize the situation in Crimea. However, the decision, which the Russian President called a last resort, has not yet been made.

Authorities in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, where more than half the population is Russian, turned to Moscow for help after the self-proclaimed government in Kyiv repealed the law “On State language policy”, which made it possible to give official status to the Russian language.

MOSCOW, March 13 - RIA Novosti, Andrey Chaplygin. A year after joining the Russian Federation, Crimea became one of the key destinations military policy country, an outpost between the west and the east, which, if necessary, the fleet, aviation and ground forces are ready to defend.

To date, Russia has formed in Crimea, according to Sergei Shoigu, “a full-fledged self-sufficient group of troops”: seven new formations and eight military units for various purposes.

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, strengthening troops in Crimea is an adequate response to the aggravated geopolitical situation in the region, in particular the increased activity of NATO and the war in Ukraine.

The transfer of Ukrainian ships started successfully on April 11, when the Priluki missile boat was sent to Ukraine, but already in mid-July the acting. Governor of Sevastopol Sergei Menyailo said that the transfer military equipment was suspended at the initiative of the Ukrainian side, citing the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine to terminate military-technical cooperation with the Russian Federation.

Russia managed to transfer 43 ships and naval vessels, all armored and automotive equipment, as well as some aircraft and helicopters to Ukraine.

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko recently said that Ukraine took all the remaining weapons there from Crimea. These plans of Kyiv, apparently, are not destined to come true - the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Alexander Vitko, noted back in the summer that the transfer of military equipment and warships would not be resumed, since they could be used during the conflict in south-eastern Ukraine.

In addition to ships and military equipment, Ukrainian military personnel also remained in Crimea, many of whom expressed a desire to serve in Russian army.

First of all, it is worth noting that the leadership of the Ukrainian fleet went over to Russia. The former head of the Ukrainian Navy, Rear Admiral Denis Berezovsky, pledged allegiance to the Crimean people on March 2 and a month and a half later was appointed deputy commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. His former deputy, Vice Admiral Sergei Eliseev, a few months later also transferred to the service of the Russian Navy and was appointed deputy commander of the Baltic Fleet.

In addition, the decision to voluntarily join the ranks of the Russian Armed Forces was made by more than 70 units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stationed in Crimea, including 25 vessels auxiliary fleet and six warships of the Ukrainian Naval Forces. Also, the ceremony of transition to the Russian flag took place at the Naval Academy of Ukraine named after Nakhimov.

In total, after the entry of Crimea into Russia, more than 9 thousand former Ukrainian military personnel and 7 thousand civilian personnel were accepted into the RF Armed Forces, including 2.7 thousand officers, 1.3 thousand warrant officers and midshipmen, over 5 thousand soldiers, sailors, sergeants and foremen, as well as 191 cadets.

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, out of more than 18 thousand military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who were on the territory of Crimea, less than 2 thousand wanted to go back to Ukraine.

New regions - new troops

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu noted in September 2014 that the aggravation of the situation in Ukraine, the annexation of Crimea to Russia and the increased foreign military presence near the borders of the Russian Federation made “certain adjustments” to the work of the command of the Southern Military District. At the same time, he emphasized that one of the district’s priorities was “the deployment of a full-fledged and self-sufficient group of troops in the Crimean direction.”

With the annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol to Russia, many serious steps were taken in this direction - the development and re-equipment of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, which was obstructed in every possible way by the Ukrainian authorities, received an unprecedented incentive.

In particular, the division of surface ships, abolished under Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, was recreated in the Black Sea Fleet. The division was formed on the basis of a brigade of anti-submarine ships, and in 2015 it will also be replenished with a brigade of frigates.

At the same time, we should not forget that in 2015-2016 the Black Sea Fleet will receive serious reinforcements - six new frigates of Project 11356.3, six stealth submarines of Project 636 Varshavyanka, as well as small missile ships of Project 21631 Buyan-M with the Caliber missile system ". All these new items, undoubtedly, should and will be based in Crimea, making it the main naval bridgehead of the Russian army in the south.

For several decades, Russia has repeatedly raised the issue of replacing the aviation component of the Black Sea Fleet, but Ukraine has ignored these requests. In November 2014, the first 14 Su-27SM and Su-30 multirole fighters finally arrived at the Belbek airfield. But the military department does not plan to stop there - a source in the power structures of Crimea later told RIA Novosti that in the future the Su-27SM fighters will be replaced by newer Su-30SM.

Full provision of security in the skies over the Crimean Peninsula also became possible thanks to the fact that in November the peninsula’s air defense group was replenished with systems long range S-300PMU, as well as the Pantsir air defense system.

Moreover, the Russian army in Crimea has gained an important space component - already in February 2015 on the basis of the Center for Long-Range space communications In Yevpatoria, which came under the jurisdiction of the Russian Ministry of Defense, a military aerospace defense unit was formed. According to the plans of the Ministry of Defense, six new spacecraft control systems will enter service with the unit in 2016.

Dolphins and divers

The coastal group of Black Sea Fleet troops has also strengthened significantly, receiving reinforcement in the form of the latest long-range anti-ship systems “Bal” and “Bastion”, which replaced outdated models of missile weapons. In addition, the Black Sea Fleet in 2014 included a mountain battalion of the coast guard, a regiment of drones for tracking NATO ships, a separate regiment of radiation, chemical and biological defense troops, as well as a new artillery regiment equipped with 300 units of weapons and military equipment.

Due to the tense geopolitical situation around Crimea Special attention should have been given to the development of anti-sabotage units, which was done. The Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, already two months after Crimea became part of Russia, announced that the fleet is exploring the possibility of creating a Center for Navy diving specialists and rescuers on the basis of the Black Sea Fleet Diving School in Sevastopol.

Combat dolphins will help divers ensure the safety of Black Sea Fleet bases and ships. The Sevastopol Oceanarium, where bottlenose dolphins trained in the interests of the Ukrainian Navy, was included in the Russian Navy, and already in November the Black Sea Fleet conducted the first exercise with combat dolphins to search for military equipment at a depth of over 60 meters.

The Sevastopol Presidential Cadet School, which is intended to become a real source of personnel for the Navy, deserves special mention. The initiative to create a school was supported by high level— it was founded on March 20, 2014 by order of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The school accepted its first intake of 360 cadets on September 1, 2014, and in 2015 it is planned to complete a full intake of 840 cadets.

The impressive list of military innovations on the Crimean peninsula allows us to say with confidence: the order of the Minister of Defense was fulfilled, as Shoigu himself stated when summing up the results of 2014. According to him, a “self-sufficient group of troops” was created in Crimea - seven formations and eight military units for various purposes were formed on the peninsula, in addition to the existing forces.

Black Sea residents are returning home

With the entry of Crimea into the Russian Federation, hope arose that the extensive network of bases and military facilities, built in Soviet times and left without due attention throughout for long years as part of Ukraine, will finally find a new life.

The first step in this direction was taken on April 2, when Vladimir Putin signed the law “On the termination of agreements relating to the presence of the Russian Black Sea Fleet on the territory of Ukraine.” The law was later adopted by the State Duma and approved by the Federation Council.

As a result, the Russian-Ukrainian agreement on the parameters of the division of the Black Sea Fleet of May 28, 1997, the agreement on the status and conditions of the presence of the Black Sea Fleet on the territory of Ukraine, the agreement on mutual settlements related to the division and stay of the Black Sea Fleet, as well as the Kharkov agreement on the presence of the Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine ceased to operate dated April 21, 2010. With the denunciation of the latter, Ukraine simultaneously lost the discount on Russian gas.

The adoption of this law allowed the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, Viktor Chirkov, to confidently declare that the Black Sea Fleet will have an extensive basing system on the Crimean Peninsula. According to the commander-in-chief, Russia will station ships not only in Sevastopol, but also in Feodosia, Donuzlav (180 kilometers northwest of Sevastopol), and aircraft in Mirny near Yevpatoriya and in Belbek.

As if to confirm these words, already in July 2014, the Black Sea Fleet Logistics Support Center was created in Crimea and by August it was fully staffed, the area of ​​​​responsibility of which included all formations and military units stationed on the peninsula.

By the beginning of December, the Crimean naval base of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol was recreated, giving way to the Southern Naval Base of Ukraine in 1996. Captain 1st Rank Yuri Zemsky was appointed commander of the newly formed Crimean Naval Base.

Serious changes also affected the procedure for repairing ships - the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy set the ship repair yards of the Ministry of Defense in Sevastopol the task of ensuring the repair of all ships of the Black Sea Fleet, including those that began to enter the fleet only in 2014. It was also decided to carry out repairs in Sevastopol on all ships serving as part of the permanent operational formation of the Navy in the Mediterranean Sea.

Nevertheless, there are still many issues to be resolved in the development and restoration of the military infrastructure of Crimea, which is confirmed by the words of Sergei Shoigu. At a meeting of the military department, he noted that the Black Sea Fleet will receive more than 86 billion rubles by 2020 in accordance with the Federal Target Program “Creation of a basing system for the Black Sea Fleet on Russian territory in 2005-2020.”

According to the minister, with the entry of Crimea and Sevastopol into the Russian Federation this program requires significant adjustments, since the last changes were made to it back in 2008, when such a rapid development of the Russian army in Crimea was difficult to imagine even in the wildest dreams.

US intelligence “slept through” the large-scale landing of Russian troops in Crimea a year ago, for which several high-ranking American generals lost their posts. A military expert explains the reasons for the success of the army operation. “Russia, acting quite harshly in Crimea a year ago, proceeded from the possibility of developments there, as now in the Donbass, and worked proactively,” President Vladimir Putin said in one of the episodes documentary film Andrey Kondrashov: “Crimea. Path to the Motherland”, shown on the channel “Russia 1”. According to Putin, Moscow’s goal was not to “annex” the peninsula, but to give its residents the opportunity to “express an opinion” about their future fate during a general referendum. An unusual revelation and shiny cards The American television channel CNN, even before the official premiere of the film, called the interview of the Russian President for a documentary about the return of Crimea an “unusual revelation,” RT reports. In particular, they were surprised by the statement Russian leader that the issue of returning the peninsula was resolved back in February. On March 16, 2014, a referendum on the status of autonomy was held in Crimea, more than 96% of the participants were in favor of the region joining Russia. On March 21, the President of Russia signed a law ratifying the treaty on the entry of Crimea and Sevastopol into Russia, as well as a decree on the formation of the Crimean Federal District. “The entry of Crimea into Russia became one of the most striking military operations in the history of the Russian army, the main goal of which was not only taking control of a vast territory, but doing it without shedding a single drop of blood,” military expert Viktor Baranets expressed his opinion to the ZVEZDA TV channel. - This goes beyond all past operations, doctrines and strategies. It is obvious. And if we talk about a hybrid war, then what happened can be attributed to its brilliant embodiment.” Former commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet Igor Kasatonov agrees with the same opinion. According to the admiral, “in Crimea, NATO intelligence missed everything that was possible and impossible. One of the reasons lies in the regime of strict radio silence during the period of concentration of the group, as well as the skillful use of the Sevastopol base, transport combat vehicles that delivered the Armed Forces to Crimea,” the admiral emphasized. The United States believes that the Russian armed forces skillfully used military tactics XXI century. This assessment of the actions of the Russian army was given by the former commander of NATO forces in Europe, retired Admiral James Stavridis. In his opinion, the key to a successful campaign in Crimea was skillfully combined techniques of cyber warfare, active information support and good training of troops special purpose. All this allowed Russia to seize the initiative from the West. Stavridis also drew attention to the fact that the actions of the Russian army have changed significantly since the Chechen campaign in 2000. “The approach of the Russian ground forces to solving the tasks assigned to them has changed significantly. They played their cards brilliantly,” Western publications quote the admiral. Empty trains in the Urals and camouflage to divert eyes Viktor Baranets believes that the uniqueness of the operation to support the population of Crimea at the time of the referendum is largely due to the premonition the right moment. In the film “Crimea. The Path to the Motherland” Vladimir Putin directly admits that Moscow’s goal was not to “annex” the peninsula, but to provide its residents with the opportunity to “express an opinion” about their future fate and prevent possible bloodshed. These fears were not in vain, if we recall the events coup d'etat in Kyiv, during which hundreds of citizens died and look at Donetsk and Lugansk, where under artillery and missile strikes Ukrainian army killed thousands of civilians. “The Supreme Commander-in-Chief and the General Staff accurately guessed the moment when the redeployment large mass Russian troops will completely disorient foreign intelligence services,” says Baranets. - If you remember, grandiose exercises of airborne troops in the Arctic were scheduled for the month of March in the Russian army. There was even an airborne landing... In parallel with this, they were sent beyond the Urals a large number of military echelons... Only upon their arrival at their final destinations did the foreigners learn that they were empty! Both of these operations became an excellent example of strategic cover for the true goals of the regrouping of Russian troops.” News Agency Medusa quotes the words of Oleg Teryushin, a sergeant of the 31st separate Guards Air Assault Brigade from Ulyanovsk, about how the operation to transfer troops to Crimea actually took place. According to the military man, they were sent to Crimea to ensure security during the referendum and “demonstration of the strength of Russian troops” in front of the Ukrainian army. “We were one of the first on the Crimean peninsula, on February 24, 2014,” says the sergeant. “Two days before, we were alerted in the barracks. They were formed into battalion tactical groups and sent by plane to Anapa. From Anapa on KamAZ trucks we were transferred to Novorossiysk, from where on a large landing ship we sailed to Sevastopol. No one except the command had any idea about the operation to return Crimea to Russia. We were simply put in the hold compartments of the ship. And in the morning we went out on deck and realized that we were somewhere in Sevastopol at the naval base of the Black Sea Fleet. As soon as we got off the ship on the ground, we were ordered to take off all state symbols and insignia of troops, so as not to advertise our presence on the peninsula and not sow panic. We were all given green balaclavas, dark glasses, knee pads and elbow pads. That's all the uniform. I think we were one of the first to be called "polite people." Patches with Russian flag and the army emblem was allowed to be returned only after a referendum. On the day of the referendum, March 16, increased vigil was announced. From early morning we entered checkpoints and tied white ribbons on our sleeves as a sign that we are peacekeepers and are not here with the goal of unleashing military aggression.” Double order from Kyiv: how Russian intelligence confused the Ukrainian Armed Forces Stephen Blank former expert on the Russian Armed Forces of the Army War College says: "The Russian military has become much more sophisticated, and this reflects the evolution of the Russian military, its training, operational thinking and strategy." Thus, to invade Crimea, Russia used the concentration of large groups of troops near the eastern border of Ukraine. To some extent it was a red herring. After this, specially trained detachments without the insignia of the Russian army quickly entered Crimea and captured key points. In addition, they cut telephone cables, disrupted communications and used cyber warfare to cut off Ukraine's armed forces on the Crimean Peninsula. Photo: Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation“They separated the Ukrainian troops in Crimea, fenced them off from control and command posts,” says the commander of the NATO armed forces, General Philip Breedlove. Viktor Baranets recalls that it was not the Russian landing force that “took the cities,” but, first of all, the self-defense units of the peninsula: the Cossacks and militias. According to the military expert, it was they who blocked the Ukrainian military units. The former head of the Crimean self-defense units, Mikhail Sheremet, who in April 2014 became deputy head of the Council of Ministers of Crimea, stated that the self-defense units numbered about 5 thousand people, including 1.5 thousand in Simferopol. Local residents recall that the militia consisted of men “from 16 to 55.” Russian paratroopers and GRU special forces units were “the second hoop of defense,” a factor of support and confidence for the Crimean militia, notes Baranets. And finally, the military expert gives a completely conspiratorial version of events to neutralize the Ukrainian military on the peninsula. “Intelligence worked superbly,” says Baranets, “when the order came from Kyiv to open fire to kill. At that moment, our people were in the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and were able to produce certain documents and send them to parts of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the peninsula with mutually exclusive orders. This confused Ukrainian commanders. While they were figuring out “to shoot or not to shoot,” the issue of neutralizing units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was closed.” However, the term “neutralization” is not entirely correct. The Crimean militia and the Russian military practically did not use weapons when occupying Ukrainian military units. All Ukrainian military personnel were offered to surrender and, if desired, take the Russian oath and remain to serve in their own units. The military expert notes that the high discipline of the Russian military also played a certain role in achieving success. “Every officer and soldier had mobile phone, says Baranets. “But based on the interceptions of Russian military communications, Western intelligence services were unable to draw conclusions about the redeployment and the start of a force operation. IN modern conditions this is just fantastic! Just like the actions of the naval personnel of the Black Sea Fleet, who managed to weather conditions secretly and quickly transfer significant military forces of the Russian army to the peninsula.” The result of the peacekeeping operation on the Crimean peninsula is known: 96% of Crimeans supported joining Russia. At first they tried to attribute these results to “Russian propaganda” or “forceful pressure.” But in February of this year, a similar study public opinion conducted by Ukrainian sociologists from GfK Ukraine at the request of the Ukrainian company Berta Communications (headed by the well-known Ukrainian political scientist Taras Berezovets) with the support of the Canadian Fund for Local Initiatives. Survey result: 82% of Crimean residents fully support the annexation of the peninsula to Russia. At the same time, another 11% of respondents said they were rather supportive. And only 4% were against it. Photo: Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS As for the actual “military” and “military-political” results of the company, its results were the resignation of eight high-ranking American generals, according to Viktor Barants, sent to the reserve allegedly for the failure of American intelligence in Ukraine. Photo: Polite people/VKontakte

According to Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, six submarines, frigates of Project 11356 and coastal missile systems "Bal" and "Bastion" on the peninsula are far from news, so Moscow has publicly declared that it has created a practically autonomous army. It can act separately from " big land" - it has a fleet, aviation, missile forces, ground units and special forces.

To be more specific, in Crimea there is a naval base, an army corps, an air defense division and the 27th mixed aviation division. All units are equipped with the latest Russian weapons and equipment. These are the S-400 and the latest Su-34 bombers with a combat radius of 1 thousand 100 kilometers. And, as mentioned above, the frigates "Admiral Grigorovich" and "Admiral Essen". Scarce ships Navy RF. But for Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol they were not spared.

The Kyiv authorities still hope to return Crimea. And in any way. As a separate country, Ukraine is unlikely to be able to do anything to oppose the Russian army, but if NATO countries intervene in the dispute, it will not be easy to defend the peninsula, since it will actually be behind enemy lines. The Kerch bridge, through which reinforcements could arrive, will be destroyed by NATO aircraft first. Nearby is the Turkish Incirlik airbase. For bombers, this is not a distance. Plus, warships of the Turkish Navy can join.

On the western coast of the Black Sea, the picture is also gloomy for the Russian command. Romania and Bulgaria will be completely controlled by the United States, and Transnistria will quickly be occupied by American Marines. Alliance strike forces will also attack from Ukraine and enter through Poland. Donbass will become a kind of buffer zone. From the East, Russia can greatly interfere with guests from the West. But if the territory of Donbass is completely controlled by the Kyiv authorities, it will be extremely difficult to defend Crimea. The territory now controlled by the DPR and LPR will have to be occupied with fighting.

Of course, NATO will not interfere in the conflict with Russia until the last minute; the consequences could be catastrophic for both sides. But this option also needs to be calculated. The option of a so-called hybrid war cannot be ruled out, when fighting are being carried out by someone else's hands. In the future, Washington can supply the Ukrainian Armed Forces with lethal weapons and use the Ukrainians as a striking force, sitting on the sidelines. The American contingent will be limited to military advisers and special forces. By analogy with Iraq, where the Pentagon well armed the government army.

Therefore, it is in Russia’s interests to strengthen Crimea in such a way that no one even thinks of encroaching on it. Because if this is not done, in someone's dark head there may be a temptation to return it.

At the end of October, the head of the Russian Guard, Viktor Zolotov, announced the formation of a new military unit - a special naval brigade to guard the bridge across the Kerch Strait. The Southern Military District, created in 2010, with headquarters in Rostov-on-Don, is constantly strengthening. By the way, it also includes units stationed in Crimea.

The self-sufficient group on the peninsula that Gerasimov spoke about plays the role of a deterrent force. Russia makes it clear that it is not going to attack anyone, but it will not give up its land either.

Date of publication: 07/13/2016

Russian Federation, March 18 – News. Who watched the movie “Crimea. Path to the Motherland,” most likely they paid attention to Putin’s words that the Crimean peninsula has become an impregnable fortress, “protected from both land and sea.” How justified is such optimism, and what kind of troops does Russia have in Crimea today?

It is clear that in general the strengthening of the defense of the Federal District of Crimea is proceeding according to the plans that were approved at the board of the Military Department Russian Federation in April 2014. The document that appeared on that day became conventionally called the “Crimean defense plan.” But gradually significant changes began to be made to it.

The Ministry of Defense has developed a draft plan until 2020, which includes equipping with promising and modern models of military equipment and weapons, increasing combat capability and combat readiness, as well as the level of training of military units and all formations stationed in the region. Moreover, judging by the statements of some participants in the board of the RF Ministry of Defense, all this was not supposed to be done at a hasty pace.

What troops does Russia have on the ground in Crimea?

The main land group on the Crimean Peninsula is the 126th Coastal Defense Brigade of the Black Sea Flotilla, which is located in the village of Perevalnoye between Alushta and Simferopol. In the recent past - the 36th Mechanized Coast Guard Brigade of the Ukrainian Army. In fact, all weapons have been completely written off. Not a single Ukrainian tank (T-64) remained; they were all replaced by new Russian T72B3 combat vehicles.

The 126th Brigade's personnel consists of 2,000 officers and soldiers, 90 percent of whom are contract soldiers.

It is worth noting that Perevalnoye has become the largest garrison in Crimea, because the 8th Artillery Group of the Fleet (formerly the 406th Artillery Regiment of the Ukrainian Navy), numbering 700 people, and 60 artillery systems in service are still stationed there. Among them are 152-mm Msta-S howitzers, Khrizantema anti-tank systems equipped with an automated homing system, as well as Tornado-G rocket systems. The main part of the regiment is today at the entrance to Crimea and in positions near Dzhankoy.

What air forces does Russia have in Crimea?

More recently, the air defense and air force on the peninsula represented insignificant forces of the Black Sea Flotilla. Among the strike assets are 4 tactical reconnaissance aircraft of the 43rd Naval Attack Aviation Regiment (Su-24MR) and 18 Su-24 front-line bombers. A air enemy could only withstand 18 old Osa-AKM air defense systems of the 810th Marine Brigade. Now everything has changed dramatically. The 27th mixed aviation division was formed in Crimea.

The “backfires” on the peninsula will most likely comprise the 943rd Naval or 5th Guards Missile Aviation Regiment. Since it was in this composition that these regiments were stationed in Soviet times at the now abandoned Crimean airfields “Oktyabrskoye” and “Veseloye”, where the 2nd Guards Sevastopol Naval Missile Aviation Regiment was based.

Let us take into account that, in addition to helicopters and aircraft of the 27th Air Division, aviation from the Black Sea Fleet is capable of taking to the skies of the peninsula. That is, several An-26 transport helicopters, 8 Mi-8 jamming helicopters, 30 Ka-27 helicopters, as well as 4 Be-12 amphibious aircraft.

Today, the air defense of the Crimean Peninsula looks very impressive. Its basis is the 31st Air Defense Division (headquarters in Simferopol). The division includes two anti-aircraft missile defense units - the 18th and 12th.