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The 74th Motor Rifle Brigade was created from the disbanded 94th Guards Zvenigorod-Berlin Order of Suvorov Motor Rifle Division, formerly called the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. The 94th Guards Rifle Division was formed on 23 April 1943 in the eastern Ukraine as a consolidation of the 14th Guards and 96th Rifle Brigades. It took part in the liberation of southern Ukraine through the remainder of 1943 and into 1944 as part of the 5th Shock Army. It remained with the Army through the remainder of the war and ended in the streets of Berlin. Post-war, it remained with the 5th Shock Army for a period, then transferred to the 3rd Army. In 1957, it was one of the few Rifle Divisions to be reorganized into a Motor Rifle Division and still retained its original number. In the mid-1980s, it was transferred to the 2nd Guards Tank Army, where it remained until withdrawn from East Germany in 1991.
After arriving in Yurga (near Tomsk) in the Siberian Military District, it was reorganized into the 74th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, where it remains today. Other units also became part of the 74th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade including a guards engineering battalion and the 386th Tank Regiment.
On February 3, 2005, Russian defense minister Sergei Ivanov visited the brigade and promised that by the end of 2006, the brigade would be composed fully of professional soldiers, not conscripts. He also said the brigade was one of the most combat ready of the entire Russian military, adding a promise of new barracks construction.
As of 2005, the commander was Major General Farid Balaliyev.
War in Chechnya
By 30 December 1994, the brigade was in Chechnya reserve, sending 3000+ personnel, 45 tanks, 115 BMP-1s to the fight. The brigade fought in streets against Groznyy. According to records, the brigade lost 120+ personnel during this war.
The brigade is also involved in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A platoon of the 74th Motor Rifle Brigade surrendered to Ukrainian forces near Chernihiv. On 24 February, Ukrainian commander-in-chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi announced that a reconnaissance platoon of the Russian 74th Motorized Rifle Brigade had surrendered near Chernihiv, with the unit's commander claiming "nobody thought that we were going to kill". A member of the brigade was accused by Ukrainian prosecutors of detaining a civilian in the village of Sloboda, Chernihiv Oblast [uk] on 6 March.
On 8 March, the brigade conducted a river crossing of the Desna River in Chernihiv Oblast without setback.
Elements of the brigade were among the units that attempted to cross the Siverskyi Donets River, near Bilohorivka, between May 8th and 10th; reportedly losing over 485 out of 550 men and 80 vehicles, and perhaps up to 1,000 to 1,500 of 2,000, and 100 vehicles. The Institute for the Study of War noted that despite their previous successful river crossing, the brigade's commanders may have underestimated improved Ukrainian artillery capability or may have been unable to control troop movements during the crossing.
Brigade shoulder sleeve insignia
Soviet Union (until 1991)
Russia
Russian Ground Forces
Order of Suvorov 2nd Class
Divisions of the Soviet Union 1957–1989
Brigades of the Russian Ground Forces