- Service ensign · official
- State affiliation · Russia
- Vigil category device · not official insignia
Identity provenance
Service ensign: Flag of the Russian Airborne Forces (VDV). The service flag of the Airborne Forces, adopted 2004 — a blue and green bicolour charged with the VDV emblem. The design itself is not an object of copyright: Article 1259(6) of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation excludes official symbols and signs. The file shipped is the Wikimedia Commons SVG "Flag of the Russian Airborne Troops.svg", released under PD-RU-exempt on that basis, so no attribution or share-alike obligation attaches. Optimised for web display; geometry unaltered.
State affiliation: Russia.
The smaller square mark is a Vigil category device, drawn from this record’s own domain, echelon and role — not an official insignia.
In brief
Elite light infantry — doctrinally airborne, used in practice as line assault troops.
- Scope
- Structure, role, lineage and links. 7 subordinate records published.
- Subordination
- Subordination confirmed
- Sources
- 4 on the record
- Record state
- Full
Broad area of activity
Committed across multiple axes since 2022 rather than held as a strategic reserve.
Notable history
A prestige branch with its own recruitment, traditions and light armour (the BMD family). VDV units spearheaded the failed 2022 air-assault seizure of Hostomel airport near Kyiv, took heavy losses, and were subsequently committed as regular assault infantry across the front — a role their light equipment was not designed for. Tank battalions with heavier armour were reportedly added during the war.
Strengths
Above-average training, strong esprit de corps, historically a first-choice assault force.
Limitations
Sustained attrition eroded the experienced core; repeatedly misused as ordinary infantry, blunting the airborne advantage.
Subordinate formations
Divisions 4
76th Guards Air Assault DivisionDivision98th Guards Airborne DivisionDivision106th Guards Airborne DivisionDivision7th Guards Mountain Air Assault DivisionDivisionBrigades 3
11th Guards Air Assault BrigadeBrigade83rd Guards Air Assault BrigadeBrigade31st Guards Air Assault BrigadeBrigade · historical subordinationRows are layout only — position and order carry no hierarchy, importance, sequence or strength. Every record shown is an immediate subordinate of the selected organisation. Headings are derived from each record’s own type and echelon. They are not command layers, and no such layer exists in the force tree.
Documented equipment
Reported & historical equipment associations
Campaigns
Campaigns naming this organisation as a participant. The campaign record owns the relationship and grades it; this list is computed.
- The Ukrainian counteroffensives, 2022–2023 Opposing force · September 2022 – November 2023 · moderate confidence · as of 2023-09
Airborne formations were repeatedly used as a mobile defensive reserve in the southern sector during 2023.
- The February 2022 invasion and the failure at Kyiv Supporting force · February – April 2022 · high confidence · as of 2022-02
The Hostomel air-assault operation on the first day is the clearest documented VDV action of the campaign and its clearest failure.
Key events
Battle of Hostomel airport
VDV air-assault forces seize the airport outside Kyiv to open an air bridge for a rapid decapitation of the capital; the landing is contained and the airfield rendered unusable.
Quick actions
System access
Where this record connects into the rest of Vigil. Each row is here because this organisation actually reaches it.
Assessed as of2026-06Last reviewed2026-06
See this force in the structure Interactive: select this record and follow what connects to it.