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38th Separate Guards Assault Brigade

The 38th Brest Special Guards Vienna Red Banner Assault Brigade is one of the units of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus. Conditional name - Military Unit 92616. The brigade is the successor to the 105th Guards Rifle Division, formed during the Great Patriotic War. For courage and heroism in the capture of the Hungarian cities of Pope and Devecher, she was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. For the capture of the capital of Austria, she was awarded the honorary name "Vienna". In October 1979, the division was renamed the 38th Airborne Assault Brigade.

On June 1, 1990, the brigade was transferred to the Airborne Forces of the USSR and reorganized into the 38th Separate Guards Vienna Red Banner Airborne Brigade (38th Guards OVDBr). On September 1, 1995, the 38th brigade was transferred to the mobile forces of the Republic of Belarus and renamed the 38th separate guards Vienna Red Banner Mobile Brigade (38th Guards OMBR). Since 2002, the brigade has been part of the Ground Forces.

In 2007, the 38th OOBBR was transferred to units of the central command of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus and belongs to the Special Operations Forces.

On August 2, 2016, the 38th brigade was returned to its original historical name 38th Separate Guards Vienna Red Banner Airborne Assault Brigade (38th Guards Airborne Assault Brigade). The order of the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Belarus was published, according to which a decision was made to rename the "38th separate guards Vienna Red Banner mobile brigade into the 38th separate guards Vienna Red Banner airborne assault brigade" from August 2, 2016. In the history of the brigade - the heroic capture of Vienna, which is reflected in the name. At various times, it was called an airborne division, an airborne assault brigade, since 1995 it became mobile. And so, "in order to preserve the continuity of generations, increase the motivation of servicemen and pride in belonging to units with glorious military traditions, as well as strengthen the morale of servicemen, the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Belarus decided to rename."

On January 14, 2020, the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Belarus made a decision to assign a name to the brigade at the point of deployment: 38th Brest Separate Guards Airborne Assault Vienna Red Banner Brigade. Now the servicemen of the brigade can get almost any military specialty. Of course, the emphasis is on training airborne assault units. The success of the training and combat operation largely depends on the skills and well-coordinated work of these fighters. But they do not complete the task alone. Cover on the ground and in the air is provided by anti-aircraft gunners and artillerymen, a wide range of tasks for the engineer-sapper company and the communications battalion. The reconnaissance landing company needs no introduction.

Most associate special operations forces with skydiving. But the servicemen answer this with a joke: the paratrooper is only an eagle for three minutes, the rest of the time is a draft horse. The airborne assault brigade differed from the airborne brigade in combat missions. If the usual landing was to be thrown far into the rear of the enemy, then the airborne assault unit could operate both deep in the rear and along the rear of the first echelon troops. Thus, the Brest paratroopers had to make jumps both from an airplane and from a helicopter. According to the norms of those years, for two years of service, a soldier had 20-22 jumps (very decent), the junior officer had to step into the sky six times, the senior - four, and one jump.

November 10 - the day of the formation of the 38th separate guards air assault brigade, stationed in the southern town of Brest. In 2016, the unit hosted celebrations dedicated to the 37th anniversary of the formation of the unit. Shots crackled and a cannon fired. The demonstration performances of the reconnaissance company were replaced this time by cadets of secondary school ?35 in Brest. They demonstrated a combat episode of the Great Patriotic War with the participation of the 105th Guards Rifle Division, the predecessor of the current 38th DShB. “This is our future, brought up in the best traditions,” the brigade commander, guard, Colonel Dmitry Sobol, approved of the guys.

The guests of honor and the command at the solemn formation on the parade ground congratulated the personnel and encouraged the best of the best with letters of commendation, gratitude and short-term dismissals. Colonel Viktor Gulevich, Deputy Commander of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus, noted that the 38th Airborne Forces maintains a good tradition of always being the best and first. This is evidenced by the results of the past academic year. On November 10, the brigade was awarded a challenge pennant - as the best unit of the Special Operations Forces.

The armament is constantly being modernized. For example, in 2019, the Brest dwellers' vehicle fleet was replenished with the first Cayman armored vehicles. Like reptiles, they are fast and maneuverable on land and in water, and they move well at night. Almost all equipment can conduct hostilities at night. The personnel are almost 100% provided with optical devices for shooting at night. Belarus has a special relief, many barrier lines (rivers, swampy areas). To ensure that the units are mobile and can be quickly redeployed, military equipment is floating. Naturally, the innovations are reflected in the infrastructure of the Brest test site. It is now undergoing a large-scale reconstruction. For example, structures appear for practicing tactical actions and waging combat in urban settings, firing combat vehicles, training snipers, new roads and tracks with imitation of ascents and descents. A killhouse has been built in which paratroopers in a group learn to free hostages.

Law enforcement officials confirmed the use of special equipment against the protesters and the involvement of the 38th separate guards air assault brigade. "Units of the 38th brigade were used only within the framework of cordoning off those areas where order had already been established and in order not to allow other offenders to return there and again carry out some actions," said the head of the Brestoblispolkom Department of Internal Affairs Alexander Astreiko.

The exact number of those detained in Brest was not named at the press conference, referring to the fact that a check is still underway. It is only known that about 300 people were brought to administrative responsibility. Now a check is being carried out in relation to people detained in recent days.

He explained the detention of people who did not protest, but simply walked along Astreiko Street by the fact that many actions were carried out for prevention or in connection with the involvement of these people in organizing uncoordinated rallies and protests. According to the head of the Brest police, the events that took place in Brest from August 9 to 11 were planned by certain people, they were detained yesterday. Among them are also citizens of other countries.