Based on the data in the public domain, in 2022-2024, Russia formed at least 11 new divisions. Now there are 23 such formations in the Russian army, while at the beginning of 2022 there were only 12; At the same time, the most intensive formation of new formations took place in 2024 – seven new divisions.
However, if the Russians “shone” the fact of the appearance of a new division in their army, then this did not mean “automatically” that this formation was fully equipped with personnel and equipment, as the Polish writes in its review Defence24 Edition.
The authors of this portal detail that, for example, in 2022, the Russians formed only one division – the 6th Mechanized Division from the 3rd Army Corps. At that time, the ruscists were focused on the formation of “mobilization” regiments and battalions, which were then attached to “cadre” units, and it was in this way that the aggressor country was then conducting a quantitative expansion of its army.
At the same time, in 2023, Russia created three new divisions, which in turn acted as a “core” for the formation of new combined arms armies. Here we are talking about the 67th Motorized Rifle Division from the 25th Army (Central Military District), and the 70th and 47th Motorized Rifle Divisions from the 18th Combined Arms Army (Southern Military District, created from the “coastal troops” of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation).
At the same time, the authors of Defence24, based on data from open sources, note the following interesting point – the above-mentioned 47th Motorized Rifle Division was formed from “mobilization” regiments numbered 1152nd, 1153rd and 1154th; and initially, this division was supposed to be part of the 40th Army Corps (Southern Military District), the formation of which was reported in May 2023.
At the end of 2024, the aggressor country has already created seven divisions, which have now joined mainly existing armies and army corps, and here the picture looks like this:
- 73rd and 74th Motorized Rifle Divisions to the 41st Combined Arms Army (Central Military District);
- 27th Motorized Rifle Division to the 2nd Combined Arms Army (also Central MD);
- 68th and 69th Motorized Rifle Divisions to the 6th Combined Arms Army (Leningrad Military District)
- 71st Motorized Rifle Division to the 14th Army Corps of the Coastal Forces of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy (currently lost the status of a military district);
- 72nd Motorized Rifle Division to the 44th Army Corps (Leningrad MD, corps formed in 2024).
At the same time, it is believed that only three of these seven divisions are currently fully equipped – the 27th, 69th and 72nd, and the other four (68th, 71st, 73rd and 74th) are at different stages of their formation.
It is also noted that the real pace of formation of new divisions in the Russian army could be influenced not only by the issue of the recruitment of personnel and available equipment, but also by the issue of the existing infrastructure for the accommodation and training of military personnel.
In addition, it is worth understanding such a conceptual point. The practice of forming new divisions in the Russian army cannot be called completely “Soviet”, at least given the scale: for example, on the eve of the collapse of the USSR, there were about 200 divisions of various levels of staffing in the Soviet armed forces. In addition, if in Soviet times divisions were formed on the basis of regiments, then in 2008-2011 the Russians created 40 brigades from 23 divisions, and in 2013 they began to roll back.
However, it is also necessary to pay attention to the fact that divisions within the armed forces of the aggressor country act as elements for the formation of formations of more complex levels “army corps” and “combined arms army”. Although on the battlefield, the enemy is now fighting not with large formations, but with small assault groups.