The 200th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Pechenga Order of Kutuzov Brigade (Russian: 200-я отдельная гвардейская мотострелковая Печенгская ордена Кутузова бригада) is a military formation of the 14th Army Corps, part of the Leningrad Military District, based at Pechenga in Murmansk Oblast.[1] The brigade was formed from the 131st Motor Rifle Division in 1997 and was one of the two Russian Arctic warfare brigades.
The 200th Brigade was formed from the former 131st Motor Rifle Division in 1997. It inherited the honorifics "Pechenga Order of Kutuzov" from the division.
Transition to professional contract status was planned to finish at the end of 2006. At the beginning of April 2006, the brigade had about 700 professional personnel, practically all sergeant positions having been filled by kontraktniks (Russian: контрактник contracted professional soldiers). More than 180 military men and women have signed contracts for service in communications, medical, and rear services subunits. The brigade had about 10 professional soldiers from other Commonwealth of Independent States members. At the beginning of 2006, during a trip to the Leningrad Military District, the 200th Brigade was visited by the Minister of Defence, Sergei Ivanov. The brigade has association links with the Norwegian 6th Division (Norway) and the Swedish Norrbotten Regiment.
In 2014, the brigade was involved in the war in Donbas.[2][11] Elements of the brigade participated in the battle of Luhansk Airport and were spotted in the Khryashchevatoe village, a Luhansk suburb.[2] In October 2014, Senior Lieutenant Yevgeny Trundayev, commander of the anti-tank platoon of the 1st Motorized Infantry Battalion, was killed in the clashes for 32nd checkpoint, a battle in Luhansk region. He was later awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.[12]
The brigade has formed part of the 14th Army Corps since the corps' formation in April 2017.[13]
In late January 2022, the brigade deployed from Pechenga, via trains over a few days, to the training area in Postoyalye Dvory, east of Kursk, to participate in what the Russian Ministry of Defence described as combat drills.[14] By February 19, the brigade moved to Belgorod and remained there until the eve of the invasion.[15]
Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February, the brigade entered operations as part of the invasion of Ukraine,[16] operating in the area near Kharkiv. Troops of the brigade were seen operating roadblocks northeast of the city. A platoon sized element was seen entering the city on MT-LBs accompanied by a T-80 tank and anti-aircraft gun. They were later destroyed by a unit of the Ukrainian 93rd Mechanized Brigade. A column of BM-21 rocket artillery vehicles were also destroyed outside the city.[17] Pro-Ukrainian sources reported that the commander of the brigade's 382nd Separate Rocket Artillery Battalion, LtCol Dinar Khametov, was killed during the battle.[18] The brigade's artillery group continued to take further losses.[19]
By early-March, the brigade had suffered large losses and their commander, Col Denis Kurilo, was severely wounded and left the brigade.[20] Members of the unit were seen operating in Derhachi. It is likely two battalion tactical groups and its rocket artillery battalion were rather rendered combat ineffective during this time period. Deployed troops of the brigade suffered heavy casualties near Kharkiv with more than 30 units of equipment destroyed or captured.[21] The Governor of Murmansk Oblast regularly announced the deaths of prominent members of the brigade including Maj. Leonid Belyakov.[21] To replace the losses the brigade suffered, a battalion tactical group consisting of reservist, coastal troops, and sailors, reportedly with little combat training, was sent to Ukraine in July.[22]
It is estimated that by late May 2022, the brigade had suffered heavy casualties and had fewer than 900 soldiers, compared to more than 1,400 at the beginning of the invasion.[20] According to one source, as of December 2022, the brigade was visually confirmed to have lost 40% of its vehicles.[23]
By September 2022, Ukraine launched its counteroffensive in Kharkiv, liberating most of the occupied parts of the oblast. Following the Ukrainian liberation of Kupiansk, units from the brigade attempted to recapture the settlement, however, they were encircled by units of Ukraine's 92nd Mechanized Brigade and forced to retreat reportedly resulting in 30 killed and 10 wounded, including a company commander. 7 armored vehicles were also reportedly lost.[24]
The brigade was awarded the Guards designation on 27 April 2023.[25]
It was reported by the newspaper Izvestia on 4 July 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.[26]
Structure
200th Separate Motor Rifle Battalion organization, as of 2019
The 200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade consists of a brigade headquarters, three motor rifle battalions, one tank battalion, a brigade artillery group (coordinating two separate self-propelled howitzer battalions and one separate rocket artillery battalion), an anti-aircraft missile battalion, an anti-aircraft missile-artillery battalion, an anti-tank artillery battalion, a reconnaissance battalion, and several directly subordinated combat support and combat service support battalions and companies.[27]
Brigade Headquarters
274th Separate Guards Engineer Battalion
293rd Electronic Warfare Company
185th Postal Service Station
Separate Reconnaissance Battalion
Separate Communications Battalion
NBC Defense Company
Medical Company
Commandant Company
Separate Material Support Battalion
Maintenance Battalion
Sniper Company
UAV Company
583rd Separate Guards Motor Rifle Battalion (MT-LB)
^L. Grau & C. Bartles, The Russian Way of War: Force Structure, Tactics, and Modernization of the Russian Ground Forces, (Fort Leavenworth: U.S. Army Foreign Military Studies Office, 2017), 31.
