25th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name=25th 'Chapayevskaya' Rifle Division (1918-1945)
Merged with 25th Guards Rifle Division, 1945
25th Guards Rifle Division (1945-57)
25th Guards Motor Rifle Division (1957-1992)
25th Mechanised Division (1992-c.2000)


caption=Soldiers of 25th rifle division near Odessa, 1941
dates=1918-1942
country=Soviet Union
branch= Army
type= Infantry
command_structure=
nickname=Chapayevskaya
battles=Russian Civil War
Kiev Offensive (1920)
Battle of Odessa (1941)
Battle of Sevastopol
battle_honours=Order of the Red Banner
Order of Lenin
notable_commanders=Vasily Chapayev (Civil War)
identification_symbol=
identification_symbol_label=Division sleeve patch
identification_symbol_2=
identification_symbol_2_label=Guards unit
identification_symbol_3=
identification_symbol_3_label=Mechanized branch insignia
identification_symbol_4=
identification_symbol_4_label=

The 25th Rifle Division 'Chapayevskaya' ( _ru. 25-я Чапаевская стрелковая дивизия) was a formation in the Red Army, established by Bolshevik forces during the Russian Civil War. The division was named after Vasily Chapayev, who was its commander during the civil war. This division was created, disbanded and recreated several times up until the Collapse of the Soviet Union, when it would enter service in the Ukrainian Army.

History

Russian Civil War

The division was hastily formed in 1918, in the beginning of the civil war. General Vasily Chapayev, who fought for the Russian Army in World War I, had been given command of the division. The division first began command in the in the Ural, where it was engaged against the Ural Cossacks in the Zavolzhye region of Russia. On October 7, 1918 the division fought at Samara and on March 11, 1919 it fought at Uralsk. On January 2, 1920 the division entered Atyrau (then Guriev), claiming it for the Bolsheviks.

In May 1920, the division was transferred to the South Western Front (Ukraine). Here the division was engaged in the Kiev defense operation against the Polish Army. This victory was followed by the division's capture of Kovel, and several other operations on the Southern Buh. From April 1921, until the end of the civil war, the division was responsible for suppressing Ukrainian forces in the region.

World War II

On June 24, 1941 by order № 20466 of the STAVKA supreme command, the division was transferred to the 14th Rifle Corps, of the 9th Army of the Southern Front. The division took part in the defense of Odessa, during which it was incorporated into the Odessa defense district. After their defeat in October 1941, the Odessa defensive district was evacuated by sea to Sevastopol. Following their arrival, the forces quickly began preparing defenses against the impending German attack. The heroic battle of Sevastopol lasted from October, 1941, to July 1942, until all Soviet forces in the region were completely overwhelmed and killed.

The division was recreated sometime around 1942-1944 when it would fight at the battle of Zvenigorod in 1944, with 4th Rifle Corps of the Belarussian Military District. At the end of the war the 25th 'Chapayevskaya' division's honourable and historical number was given to the 25th Guards 'Sinelkov-Budapest' Rifle Division (formed from 2nd Guards Rifle Brigade previously known as the 71st Naval Rifle Brigade). Thus the division became the 25th Guards Rifle Sinelkov-Budapest Red Banner Order of Suvorov and B. Khmelnitsky Division named for V.I. Chapayev" ( _ru. 25-я Гвардейская мотострелковая Синельниково-Будапештская орденов Суворова и Б. Хмельницкого дивизия имени В.Чапаева).

Cold War service

In 1957 the division was reorganized as a Motor Rifle Division. It was eventually transferred to the 1st Guards Army of the Kiev Military District.

Post-Soviet time

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union the division's assets and Ukrainian personnel were transferred to the Ukrainian Ground Forces as the 25th Mechanized Division. Ukraine however chose to retain the divisional awards and honorifics from the Soviet era. Its 280th Tank Regiment was used to form a new armored brigade, the 1st Armored Brigade at Honcharivske. [Andrew Duncan, 'Russia and Ukraine: Restructuring for a New Era,' Jane's Intelligence Review, June 1998, p.7] The 25th Mechanized Division was disbanded in 2000.Fact|date=April 2008citation

Order of Battle, 25th Guards Motor Rifle Division, 1988-9

*25th Guards Motor Rifle 'Sinelko-Budapest' Order of the Red Banner, Order of Suvorov and Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky Division named for V.I. Chapayev (Lubny) [А.Г.Ленского и М.М.Цыбина „Советские сухопутные войска в последний год существования СССР” (Санкт-Петербург, 2001)]
**132nd Guards Red Banner Order of Suvorov and Kutznesov Regiment (Lubny): 10 T-64; 9 BTR-60, 4 BMP (2 BMP-1, 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"; 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-21 "Grad"; 2 PRP-3, 3 - 1ВV18, 1 - 1V19; 22 МТ-LBT
**1175th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment

Awards

* Order of the Red Banner, the division along with 9 separate regiments.
* Order of Lenin
* 78 of the division's personnel were awarded the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union [ [http://www.regnum.ru/news/russia/531554.html В Чувашии отмечают 40-летие со дня создания чапаевской дивизии - Новости России - ИА REGNUM ] ]

Famous People of the Division

* Dmitri Furmanov
* Sydir Kovpak
* Ivan Yefimovich Petrov
* Ivan Panfilov
* Lyudmila Pavlichenko

ee also

* List of Soviet Union divisions 1917-1945

References

* [http://gov.cap.ru/hierarhy.asp?page=./299/362/16339/16340/16362/16378/16380 http://gov.cap.ru/]
* [http://www.museum.ru/M2266 Chapayev Museum's Website]
* [http://flot.sevastopol.info/history/ww2/ww2baseodessa.htm Defense of Odessa at http://flot.sevastopol.info]
* [http://www.regnum.ru/news/russia/531554.html Celebrating 40 years of the 25th]