Editing Russian Airborne Forces (section)

===Early developments and wars===
[[File:IFORRussland.jpg|thumb|left|Russian paratroopers on patrol in Bosnia as members of the [[Implementation Force]], 1996]]
[[File:Bosnia-vdv.jpg|thumb|left|Russian VDV and U.S. [[1st Armored Division (United States)|1st Armored Division]] soldiers in Bosnia, 1996]] 
In 1992, during the [[Civil war in Afghanistan (1989–1992)|fall of Kabul]] to the [[mujahadeen]], elements of the 106th Guards Airborne Division carried out the successful evacuation of the former Soviet embassy staff from [[Kabul]], [[Democratic Republic of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]], along with the Chinese and Mongolian embassy staffs. A paratrooper of the VDV who was involved in the mission became one of the first recipients of the title [[Hero of the Russian Federation|Hero of Russia]].{{sfn|Zaloga|1995|pages=299–300}} Several units of the VDV were also used to maintain order in [[Moldova]] after the [[Transnistria War]], and the former Soviet forces in that country were commanded by General [[Alexander Lebed]], an airborne officer.{{sfn|Zaloga|1995|page=297}} Before the withdrawal of the 104th GAD from Azerbaijan in 1993, its members had been involved in skirmishes with the local Azeri population, and some members of another VDV unit joined Armenian militias that fought in the [[First Nagorno-Karabakh War]].{{sfn|Zaloga|1995|pages=300–304}} One airborne battalion in [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] fought off an attack by local nationalists during the [[Georgian Civil War]], and other airborne units were involved in helping maintain ceasefires during and after the [[South Ossetia war (1991–1992)|Georgian-Ossetian]] and [[War in Abkhazia (1992–1993)|Georgian-Abkhazian]] wars between 1992 and 1993.{{sfn|Zaloga|1995|pages=304–307}}

In the early 1990s, General [[Pavel Grachev]], an Airborne Forces general who served as the first Russian Defence Minister from 1992 to 1996,{{sfn|Thornton|2011|page=6}} planned for the VDV to form the core of the planned Mobile Forces. This was announced in ''[[Krasnaya Zvezda]]'', the [[Russian Ministry of Defence|Ministry of Defence]]'s daily newspaper, in July 1992.<ref name="Baev" /> From December 1993, the Mobile Forces were to consist of an Immediate Reaction Force that could be deployed in 4-10 hours, and a Rapid Response Force that could be deployed in three days. It was expected that the VDV, which Grachev saw as the reliable core of the Russian military, would provide 60 percent of these forces.<ref name="FAS1" />{{sfn|Zaloga|1995|page=293}} However, the Mobile Forces plan was never enacted. The number of formations available for the force was far less than anticipated, since much of the Airborne Forces had been 'nationalised' by the republics their units had been previously based in, and other arms of service, such as the GRU and [[Military Transport Aviation]], who were to provide the airlift component, were adamantly opposed to ceding control of their forces.<ref name="Baev">Baev, Pavel (1996). ''The Russian Army in a Time of Troubles'', Oslo: International Peace Research Institute, pp. 127–135.</ref>

The end of the [[Cold War]] brought up questions about the continued role and purpose of the Airborne Forces. With the possibility of large airborne operations unlikely (the VDV had not carried out a parachute assault since [[World War II]]), there were proposals to disband it or absorb its units into other service branches.{{sfn|Thornton|2011|pages=3–4}}{{sfn|Zaloga|1995|page=311}} As a strategic reserve, the VDV was also outside the control of military district commanders.{{sfn|Thornton|2011|pages=3–4}} It did provide a rapid response force that could quickly be deployed to conflict zones by aircraft faster than regular Ground Forces units. Another role of the VDV in the 1990s was also peacekeeping.<ref name="FAS1" /> In 1992 the 554th Separate Russian Battalion was formed from the [[137th Guards Airborne Regiment]] and underwent training in Ryazan before being deployed to eastern [[Croatia]] as a peacekeeping unit with the [[United Nations Protection Force|UN mission]] during the [[Croatian War of Independence]]. It became the first Russian unit created for peacekeeping operations and consisted entirely of contract soldiers rather than conscripts.<ref name="DOSAAF">{{Cite web |title=Russia showed its character |trans-title=Россия показала свой характер |date=30 March 2019 |work=[[DOSAAF]] News |lang=ru |url=http://vestidosaaf.ru/2019/03/30/10984/ }}</ref> A new VDV formation was also established in 1994, the [[45th Guards Spetsnaz Brigade|45th Spetsnaz Regiment]].<ref name="army-review" />

The Airborne Forces took part in the [[First Chechen War]] from December 1994 to August 1996.<ref name="army-review" /> The joint army groups that carried out the ground campaign in the [[Battle of Grozny (1994–1995)|Battle of Grozny]] at the start of the war had elements of the 76th, 98th, 104th, and 106th GAD. They and the other Russian forces took significant casualties in the urban combat.<ref name="DTIC">{{Cite web |last=Jenkinson |first=Brett C. |title=Tactical Observations from the Grozny Combat Experience |date=2002 |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA407003.pdf |publisher=[[Defense Technical Information Center]] |pages=45–84 }}</ref> One of the groups was commanded by the VDV general [[Nikolai Staskov]], who was nearly killed by a grenade during the fighting in Grozny.<ref name="redstar1" /> The [[Battle of Vedeno (1995)|Battle of Vedeno]], in late May and early June 1995, saw an airborne assault that was deployed by helicopter, and resulted in the capture of positions held by Chechen militants.<ref name="army-review" /> In August 1999 a group of rebels led by the Chechen commander [[Shamil Basayev]] [[War in Dagestan (1999)|attempted to invade]] neighboring [[Dagestan]], but Interior Ministry troops supported by the Ministry of Defense, with VDV units being the first to arrive, repelled the attack. The [[Second Chechen War]] from September 1999 to August 2000 also involved the VDV and was much more successful than the first war. On this occasion, all of the airborne troops involved were part their own army group.<ref name="redstar1" /><ref name="DTIC" />

[[File:Russian paratroopers 106th VDD.JPG|thumb|Paratroopers of the [[106th Guards Airborne Division]] in Kazakhstan, 1999]]
[[File:Anatoly Lebed 14.jpg|thumb|VDV spetsnaz in Georgia during the [[Russo-Georgian War]], 2008]]
At the end of the Bosnian War in late 1995 the United States wanted Russia to participate in the NATO [[Implementation Force]] (IFOR) that was deployed to ensure that the [[Dayton Accord]] was followed.<ref name="NYT1">{{Cite news |last=Whitney |first=Craig R. |date=9 November 1995 |title=Russia Agrees To Put Troops Under U.S., Not NATO |newspaper=[[New York Times]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150526142718/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/11/09/world/russia-agrees-to-put-troops-under-us-not-nato.html |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/11/09/world/russia-agrees-to-put-troops-under-us-not-nato.html |archive-date=26 May 2015}}</ref> The [[1st Separate Airborne Brigade]] was established for this purpose, from units of the 76th and 98th GAD, and arrived in Bosnia in January 1996, to be part of [[Multi-National Division (North) (Bosnia)|Multi-National Division North]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Buø |first=Jørn |title=Russian Participation in Peace Operations: Keeping the Peace Together? |publisher=Norwegian Institute for International Affairs |date=2001 |pages=83–85 |jstor=resrep08075.10 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/resrep08075.10.pdf }}</ref><ref name="Journal-Collection">{{Cite web |last=Kokhankin |first=Vladimir |title=Российские миротворцы в Югославии |trans-title=Russian peacekeepers in Yugoslavia |date=27 August 2023 |publisher=Journal "Collection" |lang=ru |url=https://sammlung.ru/?p=66687 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lavigne |first=Jean-Philippe |date=8 August 2001 |title=Birthday Bash: Russian Airborne style |publisher=NATO |url=https://www.nato.int/Sfor/indexinf/119/p12a/t0112a.htm }}</ref> The Russian brigade, led by Colonel [[Alexander Lentsov]], was under the tactical control of [[William L. Nash]], U.S. [[1st Armored Division (United States)|1st Armored Division]] commander, and the operational control of NATO supreme commander [[George Joulwan]] through a Russian general, [[Leonty Shevtsov]], his deputy for Russian forces. Russian and American soldiers worked alongside each other<ref>{{Cite news |last=Atkinson |first=Rick |title=BOSNIA FORCE TESTING NEW RUSSIAN-U.S. TIES |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |date=17 January 1996 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1996/01/18/bosnia-force-testing-new-russian-us-ties/f2bc66a3-831b-43e9-8ef8-eb1019dfe590/ }}</ref> in the first joint operation between Russia and the countries of NATO since World War II.<ref name="Shevtsov">{{Cite web |last=Shevtsov |first=Leonty |title=Russian Participation in Bosnia-Herzegovina |url=https://csdr.org/97Book/shevtsov-C.htm |date=21 June 1997 }}</ref> The brigade participate in the NATO mission, which became the [[Stabilization Force]] (SFOR), until 2003.<ref name="DOSAAF" /><ref name="Jones">{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=James L. |author-link=James L. Jones |title=Peacekeeping: Achievements and Next Steps |date=3 July 2003 |url=https://www.nato.int/docu/speech/2003/s030703a.htm |work=NATO }}</ref>

Although during Pavel Grachev's tenure as Minister of Defense the Russian armed forces had been reduced by 1.1 million troops, these changes initially had no effect on the VDV. But in December 1995 he ordered two airborne divisions and four air assault brigades to be put under the command of military districts, and when Grachev was replaced by [[Igor Rodionov]] in 1996, a Ground Forces officer, he continued to reduce the size of the VDV.<ref name="FAS1" />{{sfn|Thornton|2011|page=6}} In the end the decision was made to reduce the VDV to about one-third of its strength at the time. After Rodionov's reforms, as of 1997, the Airborne Forces headquarters had under its command four divisions, while all of the brigades were either reorganized into smaller units or transferred to the command of the Ground Forces. The four divisions that remained were the 7th, 76th, 98th, and 106th.<ref name="Kommersant1997">{{Cite web |last=Bulavinov |first=Ilya |title=Опять разгоняют ВДВ |trans-title=The VDV is being dispersed again |work=[[Kommersant]] |date=30 October 1997 |language=ru |url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/186796 }}</ref> In 1998 the 104th Division was reorganized as the [[31st Guards Air Assault Brigade]].<ref name="army-review" /> The 76th Division was converted into an air assault from an airborne division in 1998,<ref name="army-review" /> and the 7th Division also was made an air assault division in 2006, in addition to getting a "mountain" designation.{{sfn|Thornton|2011|page=9}} 

Several brigades were disbanded: the 13th, 36th, and 37th Brigades in 1996<ref name="desantura">{{Cite web |title=Россия |lang=ru |work=Desantura.ru |url=https://desantura.ru/ru/ }}</ref> and the 21st and 56th Brigades in 1997.<ref name="army-review" /> The remaining brigades – 11th, 31st, 83rd – were transferred to the command of the Ground Forces from 1996 until 2013. In 2009 the 56th Brigade was restored.<ref name="desantura" /> The reforms in the second half of the 1990s brought the total strength of the VDV from 64,300 to 48,500,<ref name="FAS1" /> and by the late 2000s it was down to 35,000.{{sfn|Thornton|2011|page=8}} However, [[Georgy Shpak]], who was the [[commander of the Russian Airborne Forces]] from 1996 to 2003, prevented the Chief of the General Staff, [[Anatoly Kvashnin]], from making the VDV part of the Ground Forces. One of his successors, [[Valery Yevtukhovich]], the commander from 2007 to 2009, was forced to retire early over his disagreement with the Chief at that time, [[Nikolai Makarov (general)|Nikolai Makarov]], about the Airborne Forces.{{sfn|Thornton|2011|page=14}} 

During the [[Russo-Georgian War]] in 2008, two regiments of the 76th GAAD and one from the 98th GAD were involved. The 76th was rapidly deployed into Georgia's [[South Ossetia]] region ahead of the Russian main force, the [[58th Combined Arms Army|58th Army]] of the Ground Forces, along with the 45th Spetsnaz Regiment. Elements of the 7th Division entered [[Abkhazia]]. Despite some problems with their equipment, the VDV achieved its objectives.{{sfn|Thornton|2011|pages=25–29}}