03.03.2009
The 77th Marine Brigade of the Russian Caspian Flotilla has been dissolved, Itar-Tass reported citing information from the headquarters of the Caspian Flotilla.
According to an official of the Coast Guard Service, in accordance with the new dispositions, the Flotilla will from now on include only two stand-alone battalions of marines based in Astrakhan and Kaspiysk.
The Russian Navy believes that “for a landing on the Caspian Sea coast two stand-alone battalions of marines in constant combat readiness made up of professional soldiers are more than enough.”
The Caspian Flotilla believes in turn that “The 77th Marine Brigade has completed its mission as a division.”
Until recently, marines accounted for more than half of the size of the Caspian Flotilla. The Battalion was set up in 2000 at the beginning of the antiterrorist operation in the North Caucasus and carried out combat missions more appropriate for a motorized infantry division. After a few mountain brigades were dissolved, it became superfluous. To operate within the Flotilla today, two stand-alone marine battalions are more than enough. The first one, based in Astrakhan, will be used for operations in the Volga Delta, where river obstacles are many in a steppe. The second, based in Dagestan, will specialize in operations in near-shore mountainous areas. The parachute-assault training of the marines will continue to be done in Astrakhan.
The marines from the dissolved brigade have been offered to transfer to Astrakhan, to the Black Sea, or the Baltic fleet. “But the bulk of the contract soldiers from the local population have turned down the offer and requested to be discharged,” the headquarters announced. In case of a need to reinforce the Caspian brigade, analogous forces from the Black Sea Fleet - a regimen in Sebastopol and a battalion in Temriuk, Kuban region - could be called upon.
Source:
Translation:
RusNavy.com
