The 18th Guards Insterburg Red Banner Order of Suvorov Motor Rifle Division, is an active division of the Russian Ground Forces.

History

The 18th Guards Motor Rifle Division was formed originally as the 133rd Rifle Division at Novosibirsk in 1939. The division was part of 1st Shock Army on 1 December 1941 during the Battle of Moscow. It was redesignated as the 18th Guards Rifle Division in March 1942 with the 51st, 53rd, 58th Guards Rifle Regiments and 52nd Guards Artillery Regiment. The division fought in the East Prussian Offensive. The unit became 30th Guards Mechanised Division in 1945 as part of the 11th Guards Army. In 1965 it was renumbered as 18th Guards Motor Rifle Division. It was stationed in the Kaliningrad enclave with 11th Guards Army before entering Czechoslovakia in 1968, joining the Central Group of Forces. In 1991 the division was withdrawn back to Gusev, Kaliningrad Oblast. The division was reorganised as a cadre strength formation, as part of the third-line reserves of the Russian Ground Forces. In 2002, it became the 79th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade. The division was reformed from the 79th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade in Kaliningrad in December 2020 as part of the 11th Army Corps. In 2022, elements of the division were reportedly heavily engaged in combat in from the start of the invasion of Ukraine.

Structure (1990s)

Honorifics are Insterburgskaya Krasnoznamennaya and Order of Suvorov.

Structure (2020/21)