Assault unit of the engineering troops. Photo report

On January 21 every year the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation celebrate Engineering Troops Day. It was established by decree of the President of the Russian Federation of September 18, 1996, included in the list professional holidays and memorable days of the Russian Army by decree of Vladimir Putin of May 31, 2006.

Goals and current status

Modern engineering troops of the RF Armed Forces:

• carry out tasks of engineering reconnaissance, construction of trenches, trenches, shelters, anti-tank ditches;
• lay minefields and engage in mine clearance, carry out blasting operations;
• equip crossings on water barriers, extract and purify water in field conditions;
• carry out work on camouflage, imitation of troops and objects.

In peacetime, these units clear the area of ​​explosive objects, participate in eliminating the consequences of man-made accidents, disasters and natural Disasters, prevent the destruction of bridges and hydraulic structures during ice drifts.

Separate engineering brigades are part of the Western, Southern, Central and Eastern military districts; naval engineering battalions - part of the Northern and Pacific fleets of the Navy. The Black Sea and Baltic Fleets have separate naval engineering regiments. Also, a similar regiment was created to support fleet operations in the Arctic. By 2021, engineer-sapper and pontoon-bridge brigades are planned to be created in each combined arms army.

Chief of the Engineering Troops - Lieutenant General Yuri Stavitsky (since July 2010).

Training of military engineers

Officer training is carried out by the Combined Arms Academy of the RF Armed Forces (Moscow) and its branch - the Tyumen Higher Military Engineering Command School named after. Marshal A.I. Proshlyakova. Junior specialists are trained by the 187th Pskov Order of the Red Star and the 210th Guards Kovel Red Banner interspecific regional training centers (the latter is located in the Nizhny Novgorod region).

"TASS/Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation"

Russian mine clearance specialists are trained by the 66th Interdepartmental Methodological Training Center. In August 2014, a special unit- International Mine Action Center (IMC) of the Russian Armed Forces in Nakhabino (Moscow region). Military personnel participate in humanitarian demining operations outside the country.

Use of troops

MOC specialists were engaged in demining the Syrian cities of Palmyra, Aleppo and Deir ez-Zor. From 2016 to July 2018, more than 6.5 thousand hectares of territory, 1.5 thousand km of roads, 17 thousand buildings were checked, and 105 thousand explosive objects were neutralized. The center also trained more than 1.2 thousand Syrian sappers.

Since October last year, a team of 36 MOC soldiers has cleared 52 hectares of Vietnam War-era ammunition in Laos.

In December 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded the MOC of the Russian Armed Forces the Order of Kutuzov for completing the assigned tasks of demining military and civilian targets. Total for work in Syria state awards More than 80 military personnel of the engineering troops received.

In the summer of 2018, as part of the International Army Games, engineering competitions “Safe Route” and “Engineering Formula” were held, as a result of which Russian teams won silver and gold medals, respectively (the Chinese team took gold in the “Safe Route” competition - TASS note) .

In January of this year, sappers from the Russian Ministry of Defense were involved in clearing the bed of the Bureya River in the Khabarovsk Territory. More than 300 tons of explosives were allocated to eliminate the traffic jam that arose due to the collapse of part of a hill 73 km from the village of Chekunda.

It was reported that military personnel of a separate battalion, whose task is to clear mines from the territory of Chechnya and Ingushetia, will be able to complete the work in three years. In total, they have 6 thousand hectares left. Sappers are clearing these areas after fighting there during counter-terrorism operations in 1994–1996 and 1999–2001. In total, since May 2012, the military has examined about 20 thousand hectares, neutralizing about 33 thousand explosive objects.

Troop equipment

In 2018, the engineering troops received modern equipment: sets of diving equipment, military truck cranes, power plants, a mobile sawmill complex, kits for equipping checkpoints and engineering observation posts. 13 modern models, more than 570 pieces of equipment and more than 15 thousand ammunition have been developed and adopted for the troops.

In 2018, the first six new armored mine clearance vehicles BMR-3MA and engineering clearance vehicles IMR-3M, created on the basis of the T-90A tank, were delivered.

Based on the results of tests in Syria, the Uran-6 robotic demining complexes entered service, and the Scarab and Sphere controlled inspection robotic complexes are also expected. It was reported that the Sphere robot will be supplied to sappers complete with the OVR-2-02 protective suit.

It also became known that the MPC received the first serial upgraded Uran-6 robotic demining systems. It is equipped with a new platform for transportation: it included a four-axle KamAZ on a special platform with a Multilift system.

This year, a universal armored engineering vehicle (UBIM) will undergo state tests, which is capable of performing engineering work under enemy fire conditions and in radioactively contaminated areas.

In 2018, at the Army forum, the military showed a unique armored bulldozer B10M2S. Contract for supply to Russian troops Such engineering vehicles with enhanced protection based on the B10M2 and B12 tractors were signed with the Ministry of Defense in 2017.

Promising samples of engineering weapons are being developed by the Central Research Testing Institute of Engineering Troops of the Russian Defense Ministry. Based on the results of completing special tasks in the Syrian campaign, the following new engineering weapons are in operation:

• multifunctional robotic complex for clearing anti-tank mines (MRTC-RT);
• capacitor explosive device (TPVK-43);
• induction mine detector (IMP-3);
• individual and group sources of electricity and other means that increase the capabilities and expand the arsenal of troops.

After summing up the results of its operation in Syria, the new sapper suit was equipped with a cooling system.

From the history of troops

• In 1701, Peter I issued a decree on the creation of the School of Pushkar Order in Moscow for the training of artillery officers and military engineers. In 1702, graduates of this school began to staff the first mining units of the regular army, and in 1704 a pontoon team was formed. By 1712, a regiment of military engineers was formed.
• By the 1850s, the engineering troops were separated from the artillery, and from 1870 to 1908 they included the railway troops. By 1917, the number amounted to 6% of the total strength of the Russian Imperial Army.

• After the October Revolution, during the organization (Red Army), it included sapper companies and battalions of disbanded regiments of the tsarist army; in 1919, pontoon and electrical battalions, automobile units, camouflage companies, a mine demolition brigade and others were created and equipped. Ten years later, there were full-time engineering units in all branches of the Red Army troops.
• The Great Patriotic War showed the important role of engineering troops in supporting combat operations; in 1941–1942, ten independent sapper armies operated. Subsequently they were reorganized into brigades. Three of these brigades (1st Guards Engineer-Sapper Mogilev, 2nd Guards Motorized Assault Engineer-Sapper Novgorod and 1st Engineer-Sapper Novgorod) were represented at the Victory Parade in Moscow on June 24, 1945.

• After the war, until the mid-1970s, the technical development of the troops took place, the structure of which was fully formed in the 1960s.
• Motorized rifle regiments had on their staff engineer-sapper companies, divisions and corps - engineer-sapper battalions, armies and districts - one or more engineer-sapper regiments, as well as specialized battalions or regiments - pontoon-bridge, ferry-landing, road, bridge-building and etc.
• Units of the engineering troops were also under central command. In the second half of the 1970s, spending on military engineers was cut, resulting in the outbreak of hostilities in Afghanistan Soviet army experienced problems with combat engineering support. The situation was improved by increasing the number of engineering units several times.

• In 1986, engineering troops were involved in eliminating the consequences of the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

After the collapse of the USSR, the engineering units stationed in Russia became part of the RF Armed Forces.

The material was prepared according to TASS-Dossier data

START

Engineering Troops of Rus'.

Until the 17th century, the word city was often referred to as fortifications, denoting defensive walls with this term. The fragmentation that began at the end of the 12th century feudal Rus' to many principalities, led to the construction of fortresses and structures of the most various types almost throughout the entire territory. ABOUT high level Russian military engineering art of that time is evidenced by both the skillful construction of fortifications and the improvement of engineering measures in ensuring offensive operations of troops.

Chroniclers date the first information about warrior-builders in Rus' to 1016. IN Ancient Rus' The simplest types of military engineering work were carried out by warriors, and to carry out more complex ones they attracted craftsmen, among whom were " mayors"engaged in the construction of fortifications," bridge workers"who built bridges and crossings," master of vicious deeds "who built siege engines are vices.In the 14th century, the people who supervised such work began to be called " thoughts" from the word "to reflect", thereby emphasizing the intellectual nature of their work. In the meaning of the official title, the term "reflection" began to be used in the 16th century from the reign of Ivan the Terrible.

In 1242, the Russians defeated the Germans on the ice of Lake Peipsi. Russian troops skillfully used both long-term defensive structures and field fortifications, made taking into account the characteristics of the terrain.

Miniatures of Nikon's facial chronicle, XVI century I Osterman volume.

The first Russian military engineer considered a clerk Ivan Grigorievich Vyrodkov , who led military engineering work in the Kazan campaign of Ivan the Terrible in 1552.

In the second half of the 15th century, a single body for managing military construction work was created represented by the engineering unitPushkar order , who began to develop drawings and supervise the construction of defensive structures. The first of the Russian military regulations that have come down to us, summarizing military engineering experience, is the “Charter of Military and Cannon Affairs Concerning Military Science.” It was compiled at the beginning of the 17th century by the voivode boyar Anisim Mikhailov .

In 1692 and 1694, under the leadership of Peter I, apparently the first engineering training maneuvers were carried out, during which the construction of defensive structures was worked out, using the work of the most famous military engineer of that period Marshal of France Vauban .

In 1700, during the Northern War during the siege of Narva, they also acted miners. This is the first mention of them in historical materials. As part of the artillery regiment, which then united all the field artillery of the active army, a miner company was formed in 1702, and in 1704 a pontoon team was introduced into the staff of this regiment, the number of personnel of which had not yet been determined. At the same time, personnel specialists for them were trained in engineering school , opened at the Cannon Yard in Moscow by decree of Peter I of January 10 (21), 1701.

When creating a regular army, Peter I paid special attention to the development of artillery and engineering troops. He gave them harmonious organizational forms that did not yet exist in the West. The whole matter of organization, armament and combat training was put on a scientific basis.

On February 8 (19), 1712, by decree of Peter I, the organizational structure of the engineering troops was approved; Three engineering units with a total strength of 148 people were added to the artillery regiment staff. Miner company consisting of 3 officers and 72 lower ranks, it was intended to erect fortifications at artillery positions and perform engineering work during attack and defense. Pontoon team provided artillery crossings through water barriers using improvised means and consisted of 2 officers and 34 lower ranks. Engineering team in the amount of 8 officers and 29 lower ranks was intended to organize the entire engineering service artillery regiment, and, if necessary, its specialists were sent to infantry units to supervise military engineering work carried out by their personnel.

Thus, Peter I legislated the creation of engineering troops in the Russian army and on February 8 (19)noted as Day of the Engineering Troops of the Russian Army .

To train engineering personnel, they are creating engineering schools . The first was in 1708 in Moscow, in 1712 it was further expanded, but this was not enough and on March 17, 1719, an engineering school was established in St. Petersburg. In each of these schools, 100 - 300 people studied annually, the duration of training ranged from 5 to 12 years. Military engineers used in the army great advantages, their salaries differed from those of army officers, and the most successful in engineering were promoted to the highest ranks before others.

Where do the sappers come from...

Sappers(French sapeur - to dig) - from the beginning of the 17th century. The name of the soldiers of the French army who were engaged in constructing tunnels under enemy fortifications and destroying them. Subsequently, the most common name for the personnel of the engineering troops.

From the “Charter of military, cannon and other matters relating to military science”,

prepared in 1621 Onisim Mikhailov

based on "foreign military books".

...to ensure combat operations of the siege army have four ensign 406 people each trench diggers, a hundred horokopov and a ferry fleet crew with 5 plows (flat-bottomed wooden vessels transported on carts). Organizationally, these formations were supposed to be part of the artillery.

Prapor(Old Slavonic - banner, banner) - the banner of a squad, detachment and other formations of the Russian army in the 15th-17th centuries. The number of formations was determined by the number of ensigns. Here prapor means detachment.

Chance diggers(German Schanze - trench, fortification; the name of field and temporary fortifications of the 17th-18th centuries) - warriors who built such fortifications.

Horokopy- the name of the soldiers of the Russian army of the 16th-17th centuries who carried out underground mine work to destroy the walls of the besieged enemy fortress.

The creation of engineering troops was necessary for the reason that it was necessary to carry out tasks that related to engineering support during combat operations. These are special forces who have undergone training and struck the enemy with engineered ammunition.

History of the creation of engineering troops

Engineering troops began their existence in Ancient Greece; in those days they were called excavation units. Their task was to build defensive structures along the border and set up camps.

The chronicle of 1016 indicated that these were builders who were on military service and were good at martial arts. The engineering troops received their legal existence in 1701. A little later they had already become an independent army, and by the time the Russian-Turkish war, their number was already 2.8% of the entire field army. They lived up to the expectation on time Patriotic War and the Battle of Borodino.

When the First came World War, the Russian army, under the strict guidance of engineering troops, erected various defensive structures that were thousands of kilometers long. One of such defenses was the heroic Osovets and Brusilovsky breakthrough.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, the engineering troops had at their disposal a lot of educated military builders, their number amounted to 6% of the total army.

The main tasks of military engineers

The Russian Engineering Troops must perform the following important tasks:

• Conducting engineering reconnaissance of enemy terrain and targets;
• control over fortifications during the construction of defensive positions;
• installation of barriers;
• creation of various facilities for water crossings;
• preparing the routes along which the movement and maneuver of troops will take place;
• carrying out all measures to camouflage the army;
• carrying out water purification and water supply points for the army;
• direct participation in clearing the territory where weapons of mass destruction were used;
• destruction of chemical industry enterprises and much more.

Celebrating January 21st

Engineer Troops Day in Russia is celebrated on January 21. This holiday began to be celebrated from the moment the President of the Russian Federation issued a decree in 1996. The head of the country singled out this day for the invaluable contribution of the Russian army to the defense potential of the country. In the same year, the country's Minister of Defense issued a decree to celebrate January 21 every year as the day of the Russian Engineering Troops.

This date will be remembered by all residents due to the fact that, according to the Decree of Peter the Great, a special school was created in Moscow on January 21, 1701. At first, the school prepared military engineers for service, but after a year all graduates joined the Russian army.

Corps of Engineers: our days

Today, the engineering troops of the Russian Federation consist of units, divisions and formations, each of which has its own purpose. The troops are divided according to their purpose into:

• assault barriers engineers;
• engineer troops;
• positional;
• camouflage engineers;
• pavements;
• pontoon;
• water treatment and extraction engineers;
• engineering and construction;
• amphibious.

The engineering troops, the photo of which is provided below, exist in various structures: in the Federal Border Service, in the Ministry of Defense, in the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. 100% hope is placed on these troops by decision of the most complex tasks, as regards engineering support. These decisions imply the availability of modern equipment and weapons, as well as well-trained personnel.

One of the main tasks of the army is to fully counteract mine terrorism. This was due to the fact that in Lately The threat of global terrorism has increased sharply. This issue is now included in the task of many law enforcement agencies and is still being resolved by them.

The Sapper Army became part of one of the organizations of the engineering troops at the time when the Patriotic War began. Their task was to timely carry out the construction of rear lines for defense, build and repair car roads, bridges, and also prepare engineering units for the front.

Engineer-sapper troops were invited to carry out mine clearance in the area of ​​the active front. These troops made a huge contribution to the engineering preparation of the defense of not only Moscow, but also other, no less important cities.

The first and third sapper armies, together with the residents near Moscow, built the following:

• more than 3,700 fire structures were erected;
• anti-tank ditches were dug that stretched for 325 kilometers;
• More than 1,300 kilometers of forest debris have been developed.

The engineer army is the main base where military personnel are accumulated to undergo training in the engineering unit of the army and front-line subordination. From this base, more than 150,000 people joined the front-line formations, as well as rifle units.

Famous figures of the engineering troops

Many famous figures, composers, generals, scientists and inventors were included in the Russian engineering troops. These included Field Marshal Kutuzov, Marshal Ogarkov, Marshals of the Engineering Troops Shestipalov, Proshlyakov, Aganov, Vorobyov, Kharchenko and many others. Many military engineers were named Heroes of Russia, and this figure is very high.

In 2002, Daniil of Moscow was declared the patron saint of the Heavenly Engineering Troops. This event indicated that the dedicated work of the engineering troops found understanding in the Orthodox Church.

January 21, Engineering Troops Day, in addition to the Russian Federation, is also celebrated in Belarus.

The role of engineering troops in peacetime

• Maintain the combat potential of the military army to achieve combat readiness to repel an attack.
• Preparation of command and control bodies for the conduct of military operations with their direct purpose.
• Accumulation of military equipment, weapons and supplies in the quantities necessary for military operations.
• Taking direct part in restoring peace and maintaining it.
• Taking direct part in eliminating the consequences of disasters.
• Carrying out operational equipment of the country's territory.

The role of engineering troops in wartime

The engineering troops, the photo of which is provided below, perform the following role in wartime:

• carry out all tasks that are clearly specified in the strategic deployment plan;
• suppress all military conflicts as much as possible;
• carry out repelling actions against enemy aggression with military troops ready to attack;
• Together with other troops, they carry out defensive and offensive operations to destroy the enemy.

Invaluable contribution of the troops

The troops have always taken an active role in all battles to defend the Fatherland. They carried out successful military operations during the Patriotic War, during the defense of Sevastopol, during the First World War and the Russian-Japanese War.

They received special distinction during the Patriotic War. For their exploits and defense of the Motherland, many were awarded orders, some received the title of Hero, and some became holders of the Order of Glory.

January 21, the Day of the Russian Engineering Troops, is significant for the siege of Izmail, as well as the provision of military operations in Afghanistan, the successful resolution of cases in Abkhazia, Herzegovina, Tajikistan and many other countries.

For three hundred years, troops have occupied one of the highest places in the Russian Armed Forces. They make an invaluable contribution to eliminating the consequences of accidents and disasters, and when clearing mines from explosive objects.

One of the very important feats of the engineering troops was the liquidation of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Today, the most recognized battalion is the engineering battalion, which is engaged in reconnaissance and mine clearance. Their work every day is full of danger, for this they are respected by the entire Russian people. Today they are mastering a completely new technique - military excavators, various means for detecting explosives and stations complex cleaning water.

In the Russian Armed Forces, the engineering troops have an excellent record, which shows their commitment to the Motherland, the traditions and heroism of military engineering.

Today, the engineering troops courageously continue the work of their fathers and grandfathers. They help save thousands of human lives during natural disasters, perform dangerous service in the hottest spots of the planet and eliminate man-made disasters and the consequences of accidents.

G.V. Malinovsky, “Sapper armies and their role in the Great Patriotic War” // Military Historical Archive, No. 2(17). M.: Ceres, 2001.

ENGINEERING ARMIES AND THEIR ROLE IN THE FIRST PERIOD OF THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR

During the Great Patriotic War, engineering troops made a significant contribution to the defeat of the armies by the Soviet Armed Forces Hitler's Germany and its satellites. This is confirmed by the awarding of orders to about a thousand units and formations of the engineering troops, and the assignment of over 400 honorary titles to them. All of these awards, with the exception of two, were awarded in the second and third periods of the war. But the most difficult period for our troops was the first period, when the Red Army, after unsuccessful border battles, was forced to switch to strategic defense.
It was at this time that sapper armies played an important role - quite unusual shape organization of engineering troops, which previously had no analogues. These armies, firstly, completed a huge amount of work on the construction of strategic and then front-line defensive lines. Secondly, they became the main base for training reserves and the formation of specialized units and formations of engineering troops for the active army. Thirdly, the sapper armies were one of the sources of staffing the rifle divisions and brigades created in the rear with private and junior command personnel.
Despite the abundance of monographs, memoirs and other publications devoted to the activities of the engineering troops during the Great Patriotic War, the history of the engineer armies in 1941-1942. did not receive adequate coverage. They are sometimes mentioned in passing when describing the events of those years, and only about their construction of defensive lines. Moreover, sometimes some sapper armies are credited with something that did not actually happen. For example, about the participation of the 1st and 3rd sapper armies in the construction of lines during the preparation for the defense of Moscow; on the formation in October 1941 of a special sapper army consisting of three brigades for the construction of the Mozhaisk defense line."
In fact, the formation of sapper armies began after German troops approached the Mozhaisk defense line; Until February 1942, the 3rd Engineer Army built defensive lines in the Yaroslavl, Gorky, Ivanovo and Vladimir regions, and the 1st Engineer Army was formed on the Western Front only at the end of December 1941. Similar examples a lot. "
This article makes an attempt to show the versatile nature of the activities of sapper armies during the war. The material was prepared on the basis of the funds of the Chief of Engineering Troops of the Red Army, sapper armies and brigades of engineering troops of the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense, the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History.

During the summer-autumn campaign of 1941, one of the main tasks of engineering support for the combat operations of the Soviet troops was the construction of military and rear defensive lines and the construction of various obstacles. At the same time, the rapid advance of strike groups of fascist German troops necessitated the creation of rear defensive lines of strategic importance in the main directions of a probable enemy offensive, which were built according to the plans of the General Staff. All these lines were created in order to somehow delay the fascist troops on them for as long as possible, to gain time to pull up forces from the depths of the country and create reserves that could be deployed in the most important directions.
Already on June 24, 1941, a decision was made to build such a line along the Luga River; June 25 - along the lines of the cities of Nevel, Vitebsk, Gomel, the Dnieper River and further to Dnepropetrovsk; and on June 28 - along the line of the cities of Ostashkov, Olenin, Dorogobuzh, Yelnya and along the Desna River to Zhukovka (50 km west of Bryansk). In mid-July, the construction of lines for the defense of Odessa, then Crimea and Sevastopol began. At the same time, the question arose about the construction of defensive lines to cover the approaches to Moscow in the Volokolamsk, Mozhaisk and Maloyaroslavl directions. For this purpose, in accordance with the decision of the State Defense Committee of July 16, 1941 and the order of the Supreme Command Headquarters of July 18, 1941, the creation of the Rzhev-Vyazma defensive line begins along the lines of the cities of Rzhev, Vyazma, Kirov and the Mozhaisk defense line, the front edge of which passed along the line from the Moscow reservoir along the Lama River, the cities of Borodino, Kaluga, Tula2.
Solving the above-mentioned tasks of engineering support for the combat operations of our troops at that time was significantly complicated by the fact that the engineer battalions of many rifle divisions, engineering battalions of a number of military circles, military construction departments and units located in the construction of fortified areas on the western border3 came under the first blow The aggressor armies suffered heavy losses of personnel and equipment and were unable to withdraw in an orderly manner.
The construction of defensive lines was led by the Main Military Engineering Directorate (GVIU) of the NPO. In the front-line zone, they were erected by the army and front-line military field construction departments (transformed from the directorates of the Chief of Construction) by the forces of the military construction battalions that were part of them. The construction of rear lines of strategic importance was entrusted to the Main Directorate of Hydraulic Works (Glavgidrostroy) of the NKVD, which, by the decision of the State Defense Committee of August 11, 1941, was reorganized into the Main Directorate of Defense Works (GUOBR) of the NKVD with subordinate directorates of defensive works.
By a special decree of the State Defense Committee, construction organizations of a number of people's commissariats were also involved in the construction of rear lines (including the Moscow Construction Administration of the Palace of Soviets, Akademstroy, construction trusts "Stroitel" and the People's Commissariat of the Coal Industry). The local population was also involved in the construction of these lines. However, due to the rapid advance of enemy strike groups, it was possible to equip only certain sections of the defensive lines.
At the end of September 1941, German troops of Army Group Center resumed the offensive according to the Typhoon plan in the Moscow direction, trying to Once again take over Moscow. On October 10, they approached the Mozhaisk defense line, which by that time was only 30-40 percent prepared. The troops of Army Group North were rushing in the direction of Novgorod, Tikhvin, and the Svir River, trying to connect there with Finnish troops and thus expand the ring of the blockade of Leningrad. On the southern wing of the Soviet-German front, troops of Army Group South, having captured significant part Ukraine, began an offensive in the directions of Rostov and Voroshilovgrad, with the main goal of capturing the Donbass, Rostov, and then breaking through to the Caucasus and the Lower Volga. The Wehrmacht High Command still hoped to implement main goal plan "Barbarossa" - go to the line Arkhangelsk, Kazan, Volga, Astrakhan.
The extremely difficult situation on the fronts required the prompt adoption of the necessary measures, including the construction of new strategic defensive lines. By decision of the State Defense Committee of October 12, 1941, the Moscow defense zone was created from several lines, the first of which ran along the line of Khlebnikov, Skhodnya, Zvenigorod, Kubinka, Naro-Fominsk, the Pakhra River before its confluence with the Moscow River. At the same time, the issue of constructing defensive lines in the deep strategic rear of the country to cover the most important strategic areas, economic and administrative centers is being resolved. On October 13, 1941, the State Defense Committee adopted two resolutions on this issue:
GKO Resolution No. 782ss
1. Establish a Main Directorate for Defensive Construction under the NPO with the task of accelerating the construction of planned defensive lines such as field fortifications.
2. Place at the disposal of the GUOBRA4 the construction organizations of the NKVD working on defensive construction.
3. Allow the GUOBR to organize a sapper army of 300 thousand people.
4. Subordinate military field army and front-line construction organizations (“military field construction”) to the GUOBR.
5. The task of the GUOBR:
construction of the first line from Bear Mountain along the eastern shore of Lake Onega and the eastern shore of the Catherine Canal. Cherepovets UR, Rybinsk-Yaroslavsko-Ivanovozneseneky UR, Gorky UR, line Oka, Tsna, Don;
and at the same time, the construction of a second line along the northern and eastern banks of the Volga from the Gorky UR to Astrakhan, with the Kazan, Ulyanovsk, Kuibyshev URs (double line). Saratov, Stalingrad.
Completion of work on December 10, 1941
6. Special groups of builders under the leadership of the GUOBR will be entrusted with the construction of a defensive line in the foothills area North Caucasus from Temryuk, along the southern bank of the Kuban River, through the Batalpashinsky foothills and further along the southern bank of the Terek to the Caspian Sea, while having the simultaneous construction of the Krasnodar, Tikhoretsky, Stavropol, Grozny levels.
7. Appoint the head of the Main State Military Institution of the NPO, Comrade Kotlyar, as the head of the Main Directorate of Regional Development, Comrade Pavlov, as the first deputy head of the Main Directorate for the Prevention of Internal Affairs, Comrade Salashchenko, as the second deputy.
8. Have a headquarters under the head of the GUOBR.
9. To entrust the general management of defensive construction to the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs Comrade Beria"
Chairman of the State Defense Committee I. Stalin5
GKO Resolution No. 787ss
In order to ensure the construction of deep rear lines and the simultaneous training of combat engineer units, the State Defense Committee decides:
1. Form six sapper armies, each consisting of five sapper brigades. Brigade composition: nineteen engineer battalions, one motor-tractor battalion and one mechanization detachment.
2. The sapper armies will be staffed by calling up reserves under the age of 45, primarily contingents withdrawn from the front line and construction specialties, in the amount of 300,000 people. Those mobilized are required to arrive in warm clothes, have two pairs of underwear, a mug and a spoon.
3. The formation of engineer battalions, brigades, armies, and motor-tractor battalions should be completed by November 1st of this year. with the deployment of army headquarters:
1st Engineer Army - Vologda;
2nd Engineer Army - Gorky;
3rd Engineer Army - Ulyanovsk;
4th Engineer Army - Saratov;
5th Engineer Army - Stalingrad;
6th Engineer Army - Armavir,
and sapper brigades and battalions in the areas of work of approved defensive lines.
4. For combat training and internal security, arm 5% of the personnel of the sapper armies6.

Paragraphs 5-21 of this GKO Resolution and two appendices to it indicate the transport allocated for the needs of the sapper armies (3,000 trucks and 90 passenger cars and 1,500 various tires for them, 1,350 tracked tractors, 2,350 tractor and trailers), construction materials (10,000 cars round timber and 2,000 wagons of lumber, plumbing and entrenching tools (420,000 axes, pick-hoes, crowbars, shovels, steel wedges and entrenching hammers weighing 2-4 kg, as well as demolition equipment frozen soil). The State Planning Committee of the USSR, 11 people's commissariats (defense, medium-sized engineering, rubber industry, ammunition, construction, general engineering, ferrous metallurgy, machine tool building, agriculture, forestry, communications) are also named there. Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, executive committees of the Soviets of Working People's Deputies of Moscow, 9 regions (Yaroslavl, Ivanovo, Kalinin, Gorky, Ryazan, Tambov, Saratov, Stalingrad and Rostov), ​​Krasnodar and Ordzhonikidze territories, respectively responsible for the supply of the above transport and materials to specified deadlines(mainly in October-November 1941), fuel and lubricants, transportation of contingents to staff engineer armies. The People's Commissariat of Defense has been instructed to provide commissariat supplies to engineer armies and all military formations included in them.
Financing of work on the construction of defensive lines was entrusted to the Narkomfin on the basis of monthly requests from the State Military Institution of the NPO7.
In agreement with the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, it was decided to form 10 sapper armies within the limits of the number of personnel and the number of sapper brigades determined by the GKO resolution. By November 1, 1941, 9 sapper armies were formed. Initially, they were subordinate to the Main Directorate of Defensive Construction of the NKO, which was part of the Main Military Institution of the NKO, and from November 28, 1941 - directly to the Chief of the Engineering Troops of the Red Army.
Each sapper army consisted of an army administration headed by a military council (staff No. 012/91, staffing: 40 military personnel and 35 civilians) and 2-4 separate sapper brigades. The sapper brigade included: brigade management (staff No. 012/92, 43 military personnel and 33 civilians); 19 separate sapper battalions from 3 companies of 4 platoons (staff No. 012/93,497 military personnel);
a mechanization detachment, which included a platoon of road and bridge works, a logging platoon, a platoon of positional work (staff No. 012/94,102 military personnel) and a separate auto-tractor battalion from an automobile and tractor company of 4 platoons each (staff No. 012/95,391 military personnel)*. The regular strength of the sapper brigade is 9979 military personnel. In reality, due to a number of reasons, the staffing of battalions and brigades of engineer armies extremely rarely reached the regular strength.
A number of front-line and army military field construction departments with their senior work producer departments, all five defensive construction departments of the Main Directorate of Defense Works of the NKVD, the Southern Construction Trust of the People's Commissariat of the Coal Industry and a number of other construction companies were turned to the formation of the management level of sapper armies and brigades. organizations involved in the construction of defensive lines. Many heads of these departments were appointed commanders of sapper armies and commanders of sapper brigades. Among them, the head of the 5th Directorate of Defense Works, military engineer of the 1st rank A.N. Komarovsky, and the head of the Military Field Construction Directorate were promoted to the post of army commanders Western Front senior major of state security M.M. Maltsev9, head of the Special Department of the People's Commissariat of the Coal Industry for the construction of defensive lines - deputy. People's Commissar Brigade Engineer D.G. Onika, Head of the Akademstroy Trust of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1st Rank Military Engineer A.S. Kornev, Heads of the NKVD Defense Works Departments, 3rd Rank State Security Commissioner S.N. Kruglov, Senior State Security Major L.E. .Vladzimirsky, state security major M.M. Tsarevsky.
The average command staff of sapper brigades and their battalions was largely composed of graduates of military engineering schools, as well as commanders called up from the reserves. So, at the end of October 1941 in Leningrad, Borisov, Arkhangelsk and others military engineering schools made an accelerated graduation of commanders after a 3-month training course. Of these, 3,545 people were sent as platoon and company commanders to sapper armies. However, this only satisfied 50 percent of the staffing needs of the platoon and company level command staff of the engineer armies that existed at that time." °.
The recruitment of sapper battalions with privates and junior commanders occurred mainly through the conscription of reserve military personnel under the age of 45. Sometimes the sapper brigades included military construction, sapper and work battalions of military construction organizations, including those on the basis of which these brigades were formed. As a result, up to a dozen supernumerary battalions appeared in some sapper brigades (for example, the 13th and 14th sapper brigades had 28 battalions each), which were soon transferred to military field construction departments. To train their junior command staff in the engineer brigades, temporary non-staff training battalions, schools and companies were created. In some brigades, the process of forming battalions took up to two months. As the sapper battalions were completed staffing, they began work on the construction of defensive lines.
By decision of the State Defense Committee, the local population was mobilized for the construction of defensive lines. Mostly they were women
old people, schoolchildren and teenagers of pre-conscription age: From them, according to the orders of the military councils of the fronts and military districts, regional and regional party and administrative bodies, working battalions were formed, which came under the command of the sapper armies." Some sapper armies were temporarily assigned military field construction (and with March 1942 - and front-line defense construction departments).
Strategic rear defensive lines were a system of battalion defense areas and company strongholds prepared in terms of fortification, created in the main directions of probable enemy advance and on defensive contours around major cities. Initially in a number of areas, incl. in the Stalingrad, North Caucasus and Volga military districts, these lines were erected continuous. On December 27, 1941, the State Defense Committee adopted Resolution No. 1068ss “On reducing the construction of defensive lines.” In order to ensure labor force and transport for threshing and exporting grain, as well as in connection with the changed situation at the front, it was decided: to suspend the construction of some defensive lines, including the Trans-Volga line from Rybinsk to Astrakhan, the contours of the cities of Ivanovo and Penza; limit ourselves to the construction of a number of boundaries and planned city lines in the most important directions; continue the construction of the Vladimir line and the line of Vytegra, Cherepovets, Rybinsk, the contours of the cities of Rostov-on-Don and Astrakhan; upon completion of the construction of lines and bypasses (accordingly, the completion dates for work are indicated from January 1 to January 30), release the mobilized population and transport12. In accordance with this decree of the State Defense Committee, the General Staff gave instructions to partially move to the construction of individual defense support units in the main directions13.
A 12-hour working day was established for engineer battalions working on the lines, including 2 hours allocated for combat training. In fact, they worked 12-14 hours a day and there was no time left for combat training. Until February 1942, sapper armies were constructing designated lines - each on a section of this line assigned to it. At the same time, the location of the defensive lines changed somewhat: the line along the Oka and Tsna rivers was shifted to the east (See the diagram “Sapper armies in the construction of strategic rear defensive lines (November 1941)”).
The 2nd Engineer Army was formed in the Arkhangelsk Military District in the city of Vologda (hereinafter the location of the army command and control is indicated - G.M.) as part of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Engineer Brigades, the formation of which was directed to the 6th, 7th and 8th -th army departments of military field construction. She built defensive structures in Vologda region for the 39th, 58th and 59th armies on the line of the cities of Vytegra, Cherepovets, Poshekhonovo and the Vologda defensive circuit. 10 sapper battalions of the 1st sapper brigade were sent to the Karelian Front to create barriers along the lines of the cities of Medvezhyegorsk, Pudozh, Vytegra. The army was commanded by State Security Major M.M. Tsarevsky (November 1941 - February 1942).
The 3rd Engineer Army was formed in the Moscow Military District in the city of Yaroslavl as part of the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Engineer Brigades and built defensive structures in the Yaroslavl, Ivanovo and Gorky regions at the line of Poshekhonovo, Rybinsk, Gorky, Cheboksary and the Ivanovo defensive contour . At the end of December 1941, three sapper brigades were transferred to the construction of the Vladimir defensive line. The army was commanded by: Senior Major of State Security Ya.D. Rappoport (November 1941 - February 1942), Major General of the Engineering Troops IA. Petrov (February - April 1942), Colonel I.N. Brynzov (April - August 1942 .), Colonel S.P. Grechkin (August-September 1942)14.
The 4th Engineer Army was formed in the Volga Military District in the city of Kuibyshev as part of the 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th Engineer Brigades. She built defensive structures in the Chuvash and Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics, the Kuibyshev region at the border of Cheboksary, Kazan, Ulyanovsk, Syzran, Khvalynsk, as well as the Kazan and Kuibyshev defensive contours. The 10th and 11th engineer brigades were involved in the construction of the Ball Bearing plant and an aircraft plant at Bezymyanna station in the city of Kuibyshev. The army was commanded by: State Security Commissioner 3rd rank S.N. Kruglov (November 1941 - January 1942), State Security Major G.D. Afanasyev (January - March 1942), Colonel M.A. Kovin (March-May 1942).
The 5th Engineer Army was formed in the North Caucasus Military District in the city of Stalingrad on the basis of the 5th Defense Works Directorate of the NKVD, the 16th and 18th Army Field Construction Directorates consisting of the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th Engineer Brigades and then transferred to the Stalingrad Military District15. Initially it was located at the line of Khvalynsk, Saratov, Kamyshin, Stalingrad, and then built two external defensive contours of the city of Stalingrad, the Astrakhan defensive line in the area of ​​Zamostye, Chernyshevskaya, Boguchar and the defensive contour of the city of Astrakhan. It was assigned the 5th and 19th military field construction departments. In January 1941 the army was transferred
for the construction of the Rostov defensive circuit. The army was commanded by: brigade engineer A.N. Komarovsky (November 1941-January 1942), Colonel I.E. Pruss (January-March 1942).
The 6th Engineer Army was formed in the Volga Military District in the city of Penza as part of the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th Engineer Brigades. She erected the Volga-Sursky defensive line in the Penza region and the Mordovian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in the area of ​​Vasilsursk, Saransk, Penza, Petrovskoye. The army was commanded by: 1st rank military engineer A.S. Kornev (October 1941 - March 1942), Colonel M.I. Chernykh (March - May 1942), 1st rank military engineer A. Gandreev (May - June 1942), Lieutenant General of the Engineering Troops A.S. Gundorov (June - September 1942).
The 7th Engineer Army was formed in the Volga Military District in the city of Saratov on the basis of the 2nd, 15th, 17th and 19th Military Field Construction Directorates as part of the 20th, 21st and 22nd Engineer Brigades and then transferred to the Stalingrad Military District. She erected defensive structures in the Saratov and Stalingrad regions at the turn of Petrovskoye, Atkarsk, Frolov. The army was commanded by: Colonel V.V. Kosarev (November 1941 - March 1942), Colonel I.E. Pruss (March-June 1942), Major General of the technical troops V.S. Kosenko (June - September 1942 G.).
The 8th Engineer Army was formed in the North Caucasus Military District in the city of Salsk as part of the 23, 24, 25 and 26th Engineer Brigades. It was stationed at the line between Rostov and Stalingrad. Together with the 8th Directorate of Oboronstroy (the former special department of the People's Commissariat of the Coal Industry), she began the construction of defensive structures in the Stalingrad and Rostov regions, concentrating the main forces on the construction of the Don defensive line along the Aksai, Don and Seversky Donets rivers. Since December 1941, all brigades were transferred to the construction of the lines of the Rostov defensive contour. The army was commanded by: brigade engineer D.G. Onika (October 1941 - January 1942), Major General of the Engineering Troops K.S. Nazarov (January - March 1942), Lieutenant General of the Engineering Troops A.S. Gundorov ( March - May 1942), Colonel D.I. Suslin (May - July 1942), Colonel I.E. Salashchenko (July - October 1942).
The 9th Engineer Army was formed in the North Caucasus Military District in the city of Krasnodar as part of the 27th and 28th Engineer Brigades. She built defensive structures in the Ordzhonikidze region at the border of Pyatigorsk, Krasnodar, Kerch Strait. The army was commanded by: senior state security major L.E. Vladzimirsky (November 1941 - January 1942), military engineer 1st rank M.I. Chernykh (January - March 1942).
The 10th Engineer Army was formed in the North Caucasus Military | district in the city of Grozny as part of the 29th and 30th sapper brigades. She built defensive structures in the Ordzhonikidze region and the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic at the border of Pyatigorsk, Grozny, and the Caspian Sea. The army was commanded by State Security Major M.M. Maltsev (November 1941 - March 1942)16.
Thus, in nine engineer armies there were 30 engineer brigades, which included 570 regular engineer battalions (Nos. 1200-1465, 1467-1541, 1543-1771; two engineer battalions had the same number 1485, and three numbers were missing). Automotive battalions and mechanization detachments did not have their own numbers (sometimes they were named after the number of the sapper brigade). The total initial strength of military personnel in the nine engineer armies was 299,730. In several brigades, engineer battalions initially had a different numbering, which was changed accordingly in November 1941.
At the same time, it was planned to form the 1st Engineer Army with its command located in the city of Medvezhyegorsk. In the summary of the Main Military Institution of the NPO dated November 7, 1941, “Dislocation of the directorates of engineer armies and headquarters of engineer brigades,” it is indicated that the 1st engineer army on the Karelian Front is building line No. 1 Medvezhyegorsk, Vytegra within the Karelo-Finnish Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and the Vologda region and is allocated 10 sapper battalions. Head of the Army Department17 - State Security Major K.S. Sergeev.
In the report “The progress of the formation of sapper armies on December 10, 1941” Also on the Karelian Front, at the same line, the 1st Engineer Army 1K is listed. But this army was never formed. By order of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command No. 00110 dated November 19, 1941, the GVIU NKO formed three operational engineering groups intended to construct barriers. Operational Engineering Group No. 1 was sent to the Karelian Front and merged with ten sapper battalions of the 1st Sapper Brigade of the 2nd Sapper Army into the Pudozh Operational Group, subordinate to the Karelian Front. This group carried out work on the construction of reinforced barriers on the eastern shore of Lake Onega in the Medvezhyegorsk, Pudozh, Vytegra section. In this regard, the 1st Engineer Army was not formed at that time.
At that time, on the Western Front, work on the construction of defensive lines was carried out by two front-line and twelve army field construction departments, which included 80 sapper battalions. The practice of the work of sapper units to support the actions of front troops showed that the control of sapper battalions through military field construction was not justified, since their apparatus was cumbersome. On December 21, 1941, the Chief of the Engineering Troops of the Western Front, Major General M.P. Vorobyov, addressed the Chief of the Engineering Troops of the Red Army, Major General L.Z. Kotlyar, with a proposal to switch to managing engineer battalions through the engineer army and engineer brigades, for which purpose to reorganize military field construction of the front into an engineer army consisting of 10 engineer brigades of 8 engineer battalions each, and the commander of the engineer army is to appoint a part-time chief of the front engineering troops. At the same time, the number of personnel in the engineer army departments and engineer brigades was reduced by 1,258 people compared to the number of front military field construction departments. This proposal was accepted.
In accordance with the directive of the deputy NCO No. org/5/3756 dated December 24, 1941, on the basis of the 5th front-line military field construction directorate and the front-line military field construction directorate of the Western Front, 11 army military field construction directorates (No. 2 ,4,6,11, 12,13,20,21,22,24 and 26) was formed according to the existing states, the 1st Engineer Army consisting of the 31st -40th Engineer Brigades of 8 engineer battalions (a total of 80 engineer battalions, No. 773-852), an automobile and tractor battalion and a mechanization detachment. The total number of military personnel in the army was 45,160 people. On December 31, 1941, the 1st Engineer Army became part of the Western Front. The army was commanded by Major General M.P. Vorobiev (December 1941 - March 1942). During the winter campaign of 1941/1942. its sapper brigades mainly served the rear routes of the front armies (they were engaged in demining and clearing roads from rubble, clearing them of snow, building bridges)19.
By order of NKO No. 050 of December 19, 1941, it was decided to organize the publication of newspapers of the sapper armies with a frequency of publication twice a week with a circulation of 10 thousand copies each. The newspapers were given the following names: in the 1st Sapper Army “Son of the Fatherland”, in the 2nd Sapper Army “Red Sapper”, in the 3rd Sapper Army “Soviet Patriot”, in the 4th Sapper Army “For the Fatherland”, in 5th sapper army "At the combat post", in the 6th sapper army "Combat tempo", in the 7th sapper army "Valor", in the 8th sapper army "For the defense of the Motherland", in the 9th sapper army “The word of a fighter”, in the 10th Engineer Army “Courage”20.
It should be noted that there are serious difficulties in providing sapper teams with the required equipment. Thus, the personnel of the 9th Engineer Brigade of the 4th Engineer Army in November-December 1941 went to the construction of defensive lines in bast shoes purchased by the brigade command, since the units had no shoes. Subsequently, the production of bast shoes was established in the battalions, which employed 10 percent of the personnel. There were not enough entrenching tools, and there were almost no means of mechanizing construction work. The situation with weapons was especially difficult. In November 1941, the 24th Engineer Brigade had only 1 light machine gun and 18 rifles (including 11 Czech and 3 Japanese). There weren’t enough of them even for guard duty, and the sentries handed over weapons to the next shift right at the posts. In December 1941, the 18th engineer brigade had 2 machine guns and 130 rifles, the 29th engineer brigade had 59 rifles and 13 revolvers, and the 30th engineer brigade had 89 rifles and 11 revolvers. The situation with weapons was similar in other brigades. In the following months, sapper brigades were provided with weapons in accordance with the State Defense Committee decree of October 13, 1941, only 5 percent of what was required according to the staff report card. In October 1942, in connection with the involvement of a number of sapper brigades in the engineering support of combat operations of front units, the head of the engineering troops of the North-Western Front petitioned the Chief of the Red Army Engineering Troops to cancel this order and issue weapons according to the report card21.
Along with the construction of defensive lines, sapper brigades immediately became the main training base for engineering units for the active army. On the instructions of the head of the Main Military Engineering Directorate of the Red Army, on November 20-25, 1941, two sapper battalions, called training battalions, were allocated in all sapper brigades, and they began to prepare them for sending to the army.
On November 28, 1941, Order No. 0450 of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command was issued, “On the underestimation of the engineering service and the improper use of engineering troops and means,” which provided for a number of measures to improve the organization of the engineering service in the Red Army and improve the use of engineering units. Among other things, the position of Chief of the Engineering Troops of the Red Army was introduced (instead of the Chief of the GVIU KA). The chief of the engineering troops of the Red Army was instructed to create 90 combat engineer battalions in the 1-30th engineer brigades as a reserve of the Supreme High Command within 20 days22.
For this purpose, the number of training battalions in each sapper brigade was increased to 90. They were staffed with the most trained command and rank and file personnel in all respects. These battalions were freed from work on defensive lines, 200-hour combat training was organized curriculum(with a 10-hour school day). The main attention was paid to training soldiers in mining, demining, demolition work, as well as their engineering and tactical training. Some of the training battalions were trained according to the profile of pontoon-bridge and road-bridge units.
The allocation of engineer battalions as training battalions continued and? in the following months. Thus, in the 3rd Engineer Brigade by February 1942, 26 engineer battalions were allocated for this purpose. After completing a combat training course, these battalions were sent to the front as sapper battalions or reorganized into mine-sapper, mine-blasting, engineering, road-bridge and pontoon-bridge battalions of army and front-line subordination. And new battalions were assigned to training and the brigades were equipped with the same numbers as engineer battalions of the 2nd formation. The following examples give some idea of ​​the progress of training in sapper brigades of engineering units for the front. Thus, in four brigades of the 4th Engineer Army, on November 20, 1941, 8 engineer battalions were trained, which were transferred to the front during January 8-10, 1942; from December 10, another 8 sapper battalions began combat training, and on February 24 - March 5, 1942 they were sent to the active army; On January 15, 8 more sapper battalions were assigned as training battalions. In the brigades of the 6th Engineer Army, by the end of March 1942, 9 pontoon-bridge and 8 engineering battalions were trained and sent to the front. By February 20, 1942, engineer brigades sent 29 battalions of various specializations to the active army23.
At the same time, sapper brigades were a constant source of personnel (and sometimes horses) for newly organized rifle formations. On November 26, 1941, the State Defense Committee adopted a resolution on the disbandment and reduction of technical and engineering troops to support the newly formed rifle divisions and brigades. In accordance with the directives of the deputy NKO No. org/5/542594-542598 dated December 28, 1941, in the Volga, Stalingrad, North Caucasus, Arkhangelsk and Moscow military districts, by January 10, 1942, they were subject to disbandment in the 1st - 30th sapper brigades have 100 engineer battalions and 30 mechanization detachments (including due to the lack of means of mechanization of construction work). In the brigades of the 2.9 and 10th engineer armies, 2 engineer battalions were disbanded, in the brigades of the 3.4 and 6th engineer armies - 3 engineer battalions, in the brigades of the 5th and 8th engineer armies - 4 battalions and in brigades of the 7th Engineer Army - 6 engineer battalions. From these and all other sapper battalions (except for the training battalions located in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command), private and junior command personnel fit for combat service were removed and sent to staff the formed rifle formations; For more than 4 years, the personnel of the disbanded battalions were used to cover the shortage in the remaining engineer battalions, and the working columns were recruited from the remnants of the supernumerary personnel24.
In accordance with the order of the NKO No. 036 of January 17, 1942, healthy and efficient riding and baggage horses were withdrawn from the 2nd - 10th sapper armies (according to the calculation attached to the order). By February 1, 1942, the sapper armies of the Moscow, Volga, Stalingrad and North Caucasus military districts transferred the horse corps to the reserve cavalry regiments, and the 2nd sapper army of the Arkhangelsk Military District transferred them to the 14th cavalry corps. From this army, 1,756 riding and baggage horses were to be transferred. In fact, less than the estimated number of horses was transferred, since representatives of the cavalry regiments refused most of the horses offered due to their deplorable condition. Thus, the 2nd Engineer Brigade presented 474 horses for inspection, but the commission accepted only 67 horses; of the 724 horses presented by the 3rd Engineer Brigade, only 85 were accepted (including 1 riding)25.
It should be emphasized that in connection with the sending of engineer battalions to the front, their disbandment to staff rifle divisions and the transfer of engineer battalions to other engineer brigades, the composition of the latter was constantly changing. From the new reinforcements arriving in the sapper brigades, sapper battalions of the 2nd or even 3rd formation were created under the same numbers. In this regard, it is very difficult to trace the entire dynamics of the reorganization of 570 engineer battalions of the 1-30th engineer brigades. The composition of the brigades of the 1st Engineer Army of the Western Front was more stable, from which engineer battalions were not withdrawn. Due to the movement of sapper brigades, the composition of sapper armies also changed. (See table 1. “Subordination and composition of sapper armies in 1941-1942”).
During the winter campaign of 1941-1942. Soviet troops carried out a series of offensive operations and inflicted a serious defeat on the shock groupings of the armies “North” near Tikhvin and “Center” near Moscow. As a result, in the main directions of active operations of the Red Army, the enemy was thrown back 150-400 km. This success also had a certain merit to the builders of defensive lines. By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated February 21, 1942, for the exemplary fulfillment of the Government’s tasks to build fortified lines against the German invaders, 926 people were awarded orders and medals, including the Order of Lenin 9 people, the Order of the Red Banner - 10, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor - 76, Order of the Red Star - 63, Order of the Badge of Honor - 196, Medal "For Courage" - 7, medal -
I award “For Labor Valor” - 248, the medal “For Military Merit” - 19, the medal “For Labor Distinction” - 298 people. Among those awarded the Order of Lenin are the commanders of the sapper armies, state security major M.M. Maltsev, senior state security major Ya.D. Rapopport, and the Order of the Red Banner - brigade engineer A.N. Komarovsky, colonel I.E. Pruss, state security major M.M. Tsarevsky26.
At the same time, the situation on the southern flank of the Soviet-German front became more complicated. All this required the Supreme High Command to take appropriate organizational measures to consolidate success in the North-Western and Western directions and concentrate efforts on the South-Western and Southern fronts. The organizational events carried out also concerned the sapper armies.
On February 1, 1942, the State Defense Committee adopted Resolution No. 1229ss “On the formation of new 50 rifle divisions and 100 cadet brigades.” To staff them with personnel, horses, carts and vehicles, among other planned measures, there was paragraph 9-a of this resolution, according to which eight sapper armies (2,3,4,5,6,7,9 and 10th) with a total strength of 164,150 people27.
Three days later, on February 4, 1942, the State Defense Committee adopted a new resolution No. 1239ss, in which paragraph 9-a of the previous resolution was given in new edition, according to which the directorates of five sapper armies (2,4,5,9 and 10 and nine sapper brigades (5,7,8,9,10,11,13,16 and 22nd) were disbanded; three sapper brigades (1, 2 and 3rd) were transferred to the command of the Karelian, Leningrad and Volkhov fronts, and six sapper brigades (14,15,27,28,29 and 30th) were part of the 7th and 8th sapper armies, which were subordinate respectively to the Southwestern and Southern Fronts. The 6th Engineer Army, consisting of three brigades (17, 18 and 19th), was subordinate to the Bryansk Front, and the 3rd Engineer Army, consisting of the 4th and 6th Engineer Brigades, was subordinate to the Moscow zone defense for work in the Mozhaisk direction. The Main Directorate for the formation and staffing of the Red Army troops was allowed to withdraw private and junior command personnel fit for combat service from the sapper armies, reducing the number of sapper battalions in the sapper armies according to the withdrawn number of people28.
The reorganization of the sapper armies made it possible to significantly strengthen the Southwestern Front (7th sapper army with five sapper brigades) and especially the Southern Front, which subordinated the 8th sapper army with 10 sapper brigades (it also included the 10th and 11th -I sapper brigades that were not disbanded). Due to the withdrawal of personnel for the newly formed rifle divisions, the number of battalions in the engineer brigades was reduced. Thus, in the 2nd, 3rd and 12th engineer brigades, six engineer battalions were disbanded, in the 21st brigade - three battalions, from the 23,24,25 and 26th engineer brigades of the 8th engineer army, 9652 were sent to reserve rifle regiments person. The private and junior command personnel of the seven disbanded brigades were completely assigned to staff rifle formations, and those unfit for combat service were sent to work columns29.
At the same time, training continued in the sapper brigades of specialized units of the engineering troops. Thus, in March 1942, three sapper battalions in the 3, 17, 18 and 19 sapper brigades were reorganized into pontoon-bridge battalions and transferred to the front. By May 21, 1942, already 67 battalions from the Reserve of the Supreme High Command were on the Karelian, Leningrad, Volkhov, North-Western, Kalinin, Bryansk, South-Western and Crimean fronts.
In accordance with the order of NKO No. 0294 of April 19, 1942 “On the withdrawal of personnel from the disbanded and downsized military-technical and engineering units of the Red Army”, by May 1, the engineering troops are carrying out organizational events. They also affected sapper brigades: all sapper battalions switched to new staffs of smaller numbers (staff No. 012/155, strength - 405 military personnel), motor-tractor battalions were reorganized into motor-tractor companies consisting of four automobile and one tractor platoons (staff No. 012/156, 260 military personnel). All brigades retained seven engineer battalions and a motor-tractor company (the brigade's full-time strength was 3,138 military personnel; mechanization units were retained in the engineer brigades of the 1st Engineer Army); the surplus 98 engineer battalions were disbanded. To characterize the situation in some sapper brigades in connection with the withdrawal of personnel from rifle divisions and the sending of trained sapper battalions to the front, the following example is very indicative: by this time, in the 2nd sapper brigade, which was located on the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts, there were no sapper battalions left at all (six battalions of the Reserve of the Supreme High Command, after training, were transferred to the active army, and the remaining battalions have already been disbanded to staff the newly formed rifle divisions). In connection with this above-mentioned order, the NKO 2nd Engineer Brigade was given six engineer battalions from the 1st Engineer Brigade and one engineer battalion from the 11th Engineer Brigade. Three sapper battalions from the 11th sapper brigade were introduced into the 3rd engineer brigade of the Volkhov Front, where only four engineer battalions remained.
The practice of managing the activities of sapper brigades has shown that in order to quickly solve the problems facing them, it is advisable to increase the control apparatus of sapper armies: by July 5, 1942, the directorates of sapper armies were transferred to staffs of larger numbers (staff No. 012/2, 122 military personnel and 62 civilians; introduced by NKO order No. 0519 of June 25, 1942)31.
During the summer-autumn campaign, the main efforts of the engineering troops were aimed at supporting the defensive operations of the Red Army. Back on March 26, 1942. GKO Resolution No. 1501 was adopted “On the construction of new and restoration of defensive lines.” The military councils of the Volkhov, North-Western, Kalinin, Western, Bryansk, South-Western and Southern Fronts, the 7th Army and the head of the Main Directorate of OS NKO were instructed to begin the construction and restoration of defensive lines and contours of the cities of Tula, Voronezh, Voroshilovgrad, Rostov and Stalingrad. It is proposed to devote the main forces and resources primarily to the construction of lines within the borders of the Southern, Southwestern fronts and the Moscow defense zone. This work will be carried out by the sapper armies and the construction bodies of the Main Directorate of Defense Construction, for which purpose seven defense construction departments will be created within it (each of which had from three to seven military field construction departments). At the same time, the construction of rear defensive lines in the Vladimir and Ryazan regions, the city of Boguchar, Art. Tsymlyanskaya and the bypass of the city of Kuibyshev32. In May 1942, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command gave instructions on the creation and development of defensive lines along the entire Soviet-German front. Since February 1942, the sapper armies have carried out the following work:
The 1st Engineer Army (without the 35th Engineer Brigade, which left for the North-Western Front in March 1942) on the Western Front restored and improved the Mozhaisk LINE of defense, built and repaired roads and bridges, equipped airstrips, and barriers and mine clearance, and also carried out the task of manufacturing wooden bridge parks and sapper boats for engineering units of the front. A number of engineer battalions of the 32, 36, 38 and 40th engineer brigades supported the combat operations of the front's rifle formations.
The 3rd Engineer Army, consisting of the 4th and 6th Engineer Brigades, subordinate to the commander of the Moscow Defense Zone, since February 1942.
restored the lines of the Mozhaisk defense line and, together with the 36th and 37th sapper brigades of the 1st Sapper Army, participated in the construction of eight fortified areas on the distant approaches to Moscow.
The 6th Engineer Army, consisting of the 17th, 18th and 19th Engineer Brigades, arrived on the Bryansk Front in February 1942, where it built a defensive line along the Don River and crossings across it, then built the Voronezh defensive line, the Voronezh defensive line and rear defensive the lines of the 40th and 60th armies; sapper brigades supported the combat operations of front troops in the Voronezh-Voroshilovgrad defensive operation of 1942.
Since February 1942, the 7th Engineer Army, consisting of the 12,14,15, 20 and 21st Engineer Brigades on the Southwestern Front, has been building a defensive line in the Voroshilovgrad region along the Oskol and Don rivers; from July 12, on the Stalingrad front, she built a defensive line in Rostov region along the left bank of the Don River, then the contours of the second stage of the city of Stalingrad. Sapper brigades supported the combat operations of front troops in the Voronezh-Voroshilovgrad and Stalingrad defensive operations of 1942.
The 8th Engineer Army, consisting of the 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30th (from May - 10th and 11th) engineer brigades, has been operating on the Southern Front since February 1942. Together with the front defensive construction department, it participates in the creation of the Voroshilovgrad and Rostov defensive contours, a field defensive line in the Rivne and Voroshilovgrad directions. Since July 27, as part of the North Caucasus Front, and since September 1, 1942, as part of the Transcaucasian Front, the army has been building defensive lines in the foothills of the North Caucasus: Ordzhonikidze, Grozny, Mineralvodchesky and Aksai bypasses, Tersky, Sunzhensky, Urukh, Gudermes lines, constructing barriers in Daryal Gorge and Elkhotovsky defile, provides combat operations of front troops during the Donbass defensive operation and the defense of the Caucasus. Part of the sapper battalions carried out the construction of defensive structures on the front line of the 9th and 56th armies, built a floating bridge across the Don River in the Rostov region, and participated in camouflage and defense of field airfields.
At the same time, a number of sapper battalions of the 6th and 8th sapper armies were sent to build the lines of the Stalingrad defensive perimeter33.
Defensive lines created in advance with the participation of sapper armies made it possible for our troops, during the retreat, to occupy already prepared positions and more successfully restrain the enemy rushing to the Caucasus and the Volga. At the same time, our army was undergoing comprehensive preparations for the upcoming offensive operations. In this regard, the issue of replenishing front-line and reserve units with personnel was also resolved. On July 26, 1942, the State Defense Committee adopted the resolution “Issues of NGOs,” which defined measures to find human resources for the active army, military schools and new formations being formed. The heads of the main departments of NPOs were ordered, on personal responsibility, to reduce personnel by 400,000 people by August 20 according to the attached calculation. The engineering troops were reduced by 60,000 people. The released contingents of private and junior command personnel, fit for combat service, also conveyed the order of the head of the Head of the Praforma, Colonel General E.A. Shchadenko34. At the same time, the planned change in the methods and forms of combat operations of the Red Army in the winter campaign urgently required further improvement of the organizational forms of the engineering troops, their greater maneuverability and massive use in the most important areas. Under these conditions, engineer armies, organizationally too cumbersome and inactive, could not effectively carry out the tasks of engineering support for the combat operations of our troops, especially in offensive operations. Therefore, it was decided to abolish the sapper armies, which by that time included 27 sapper brigades (the 27th and 33rd sapper brigades had already been reorganized into special-purpose engineering brigades of the RVGK in April - May).
In accordance with the NKO order No. 00176 of August 17, 1942, the departments of the engineer armies were reorganized into the departments of defensive construction, thirteen engineer brigades were subordinated directly to the fronts as RVGK brigades, six engineer brigades were transferred to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command, and eight engineer brigades were subject to disbandment. At the same time, from the sixteen sapper brigades of the 1st, 7th and 8th sapper armies, 30,000 people were allocated, fit for combat service to staff rifle divisions.
On September 1, 1942, the 1st Engineer Army Directorate was reorganized into the 33rd Defense Construction Directorate. The 36th and 37th engineer brigades were withdrawn to the Supreme High Command Reserve. From the 32,34,38,39 and 40th engineer brigades, 8,000 people fit for combat service were allocated to the Commander of the Moscow Military District, after which the 32nd and 34th engineer brigades were formed from the remnants of the personnel, which, together with The 31st sapper brigade remained subordinate to the Western Front, and the 38, 39 and 40th sapper brigades were disbanded. (During the process of reorganization, the 34th engineer brigade was disbanded and the 34th engineer brigade of the 2nd formation was created from three engineer battalions and the control of the 38th engineer brigade and four engineer battalions and a mechanization detachment of the 40th engineer brigade).
On September 12, 1942, the 3rd Engineer Army Directorate was reorganized into the 34th Defense Construction Directorate, and the 4th and 6th Engineer Brigades were transferred to the Supreme Command Reserve and disbanded.
On September 13, 1942, the Directorate of the 6th Sapper Army was reorganized into the 35th Directorate of Defensive Construction, the 17th and 18th Sapper Brigades were transferred to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command, and the 10th and 18th Sapper Brigades were subordinated to Voronezh and Bryansk, respectively. fronts.
On September 15, 1942, the Directorate of the 7th Sapper Army was reorganized into the 36th Directorate of Defensive Construction; from the 12, 14, 15 and 20th Sapper Brigades, 6,000 privates and junior command personnel, fit for combat service, were allocated to the commander of the Volga Military District. , and the remnants of the personnel of these brigades were brought together into the 12th and 20th sapper brigades, which directly subordinated Stalingrad Front. The 14th and 15th sapper brigades were disbanded.
On October 15, 1942, the 8th Engineer Army Directorate was reorganized into the 24th Defense Construction Directorate. From the 11, 23, 25, 26, 28, 29 and 30th engineer brigades, 16 thousand people fit for combat service were allocated to the commander of the Transcaucasian Front, after which the 11, 23, 25 and 26th were formed from the remnants of the personnel sapper brigades, which, together with the 24th sapper brigade, remained subordinate to the Transcaucasian Front, and the 28th, 29th and 30th sapper brigades were disbanded35.
Thus, the sapper armies, having fulfilled their purpose of constructing defensive lines, preparing a reserve of engineering troops and staffing the newly formed rifle divisions with private and junior command personnel, ceased to exist. The remaining sapper brigades (by this time the 7th, 9th and 17th sapper brigades of the 2nd formation, subordinate to the fronts, had already been formed), along with carrying out the current tasks of engineering support for the troops, continued to be the basis for the formation of specialized engineering units and formations for the active army .
Thus, on September 29-30, 1942, all seven engineer battalions of the 36th engineer brigade were reorganized into army engineering battalions and transferred to the armies of the Western Front in October; in the same month, seven sapper battalions of the 2nd formation were created from the metro builders who arrived to the brigade to replenish them. In October 1942, all sapper broths of the 1st 7th sapper brigade of the 2nd formation were reorganized into army engineer battalions and sent to the front armies, and instead of them, seven new army engineer battalions arrived in the brigade. To a lesser extent, this process also took place in the 1st Engineer Army: over the entire period of its existence, 1,600 people were allocated from the engineer brigades to form pontoon-bridge battalions, and 8,279 soldiers were sent to replenish the rifle units of the front36.
As already noted, a number of sapper brigades were involved in directly supporting the combat operations of the troops. However, they could not successfully solve such problems, since the main profile of these brigades was positional construction. To carry out the significantly increased volume and more complex tasks of engineering support for the combat activities of the troops, formations specially prepared for this were needed.
Back in March 1942, the Chief of the Engineering Troops of the Western Front again turned to the Chief of the Engineering Troops of the Red Army with a request to form a special-purpose engineering brigade on the basis of the 33rd Engineer Brigade and special units of the front. In accordance with the directive of the Deputy NCO No. org/5/1444 dated April 18, 1942. The 33rd Special Purpose Engineering Brigade of the RVGK was formed, which initially included six battalions of engineering barriers, two electrical battalions, an electrification detachment, a searchlight battalion, an energy train, an engineering company of special equipment, an auto-tractor company and four electrical engineering companies attached to the brigade (the total strength of the brigade was 4,757 military personnel )37.
Soon it was decided to create special-purpose engineering brigades on each active front. The following were asked to form such brigades in May - September 1942: on the Karelian Front - the 1st Engineer Brigade (1st Special Purpose Engineering Brigade of the RVGK); on the Leningrad Front - four sapper battalions and a motor-tractor company of the 2nd sapper brigade (2nd special-purpose engineering brigade of the RVGK) located on it; on the Volkhov Front - the four engineer battalions and the command and control of the 2nd engineer brigade located there, as well as the command and tractor company of the disbanded 39th engineer brigade that arrived from the Western Front (from April 1, 1943 - the 2nd Guards Special Purpose Engineer Brigade of the RVGK ); on the Southern Front - the 27th Engineer Brigade (27th Special Purpose Engineering Brigade of the RVGK); in the Moscow Military District - the 17th engineer brigade (44th engineering special forces brigade of the RVGK, soon sent to the Southwestern Front). At the expense of individual front-line units (including eleven sapper battalions that had previously left the sapper brigades), seven more special-purpose engineering brigades of the RVGK were formed on the North-Western, Kalinin, Bryansk, Voronezh, South-Western, Stalingrad and North Caucasus fronts.
In total, in April-October 1942, thirteen special-purpose engineering brigades of the RVGK were formed. Each consisted of a brigade command and control unit, an auto-tractor company (since December 1942 - a control company), 5 - 8 battalions of engineering barriers (in October 1942, one battalion was reorganized into a special mining battalion), an electrical battalion and an electrification detachment. The strength of the brigade with five battalions of engineering barriers is 3097 military personnel. These brigades were capable of carrying out work on mining, demining, installing controlled minefields and land mines, electrified obstacles, constructing various barriers, as well as supplying military units with electricity and electrifying engineering work38. It should be noted that these and other specialized brigades of engineering troops in practice performed many other tasks of engineering support for the combat activities of troops. Thus, the 39th engineer special forces brigade of the RVGK received a baptism of fire during the breakthrough of the siege of Leningrad in January 1943, when its battalions of engineer barriers acted as assault troops.
On the basis of NKO order No. 0634 of August 17, 1943, on the basis of the command and control and two engineer battalions of the 37th engineer brigade and teams of soldiers selected at the fronts, the 1st Guards Miner Brigade of the RVGK is formed as part of the brigade command, control company and five guards battalions of miners (there are 2,281 servicemen in the brigade). Its battalions were used to carry out mining and demining missions40.
There were still twenty sapper brigades remaining in the Subordination of the Fronts, which were used as part of the reinforcement for engineering support of combat operations of the troops. On November 2, 1942, the Chief of the Engineering Troops of the Red Army, Major General M.P. Vorobyov, turned to the Chief of the Head of the Red Army, Colonel General E.A. Shchadenko, for permission to reorganize the remaining sapper brigades into engineering mine brigades in order to use them more efficiently. were intended mainly to create operational barrier zones. On November 12, 1942, NKO order No. 00232 was issued “On the reorganization of sapper brigades into mine engineering brigades of the RVGK.” In November-December 1942 15 engineer brigades (3,10,12,18,19,20,21,31,32,35,36th engineer brigades and 7,9,17 and 34th engineer brigades of the 2nd formation) were reorganized into 1 - 15th engineering mine brigade of the RVGK. The brigade included a brigade command, a command company and seven mine engineering battalions (a total of 2,903 military personnel in the brigade). Based on the directive of the deputy NKO No. org/5/3327 of November 26, 1942, five sapper brigades (11.23, 24, 25 and 26th) on the Transcaucasian Front in November-December 1942 were reorganized into the 1st - 5th mountain mine engineering brigades of the RVGK (same structure, but five mountain mine engineering battalions per brigade with a total strength of 2344 military personnel). In mountain mine engineering companies, instead of tractors, pack platoons with horses and donkeys were introduced41.
Thus, in the most difficult period of the war, the sapper armies did a lot of work on the construction of defensive lines in the interior of the country, and since February 1942, directly on a number of fronts. Pre-prepared defensive lines helped in the fall of 1942 to stop the advancing Nazi troops in the Stalingrad area, and then inflict a decisive defeat on them. Many Soviet military leaders noted more than once in their memoirs important pre-constructed defensive lines. “Our troops,” wrote Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov, “relying on fortified lines, heroically defended every inch of land, launched counterattacks, exhausted and bled the enemy troops rushing to Stalingrad”42. Marshal of the Soviet Union N.I. Krylov noted: “The troops of the 62nd and 64th armies, fighting stubborn defensive battles with superior enemy forces, were forced to retreat to the outer city defensive perimeter, where they stopped the enemy’s advance”43.
At the same time, the sapper armies were the main base for accumulating reserves and training engineering units of army and front subordination, as well as formations of the RVGK, for the front. In total, according to incomplete data, from the sapper brigades of the 2-10th sapper armies, over 150 sapper battalions and specialized units of engineering troops reorganized from them were transferred to the fronts. Of the 44 engineer brigades available during this time, 26 brigades with 133 engineer battalions, having acquired certain skills in performing engineering support tasks for combat operations of troops, were reorganized into 27 specialized engineering brigades of the RVGK44. In 1943, four of them were disbanded, and 23 brigades, after re-formation, continued their combat path until the end of the Great Patriotic War. All of them were awarded honorary titles, and 20 of them were awarded 32 orders; two brigades became guards (See table 2. “Reorganization of sapper brigades of sapper armies”). The battle flags of the three brigades were presented as part of the combined regiments of the fronts at the Victory Parade on June 24, 1945 in Moscow (1st Guards Assault Engineer Mogilev Red Banner Order of Kutuzov Brigade, 2nd Guards Motorized Assault Engineer Novgorod Red Banner Order of Suvorov and Kutuzov brigade, 1st engineer-sapper Novgorod Order of Kutuzov brigade).
Finally, the sapper armies were one of the sources of replenishment of private and junior command personnel of the front-line and rifle formations formed in the rear, sending more than 150,000 people to them45.
Today, in the armed forces of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, soldiers of five military units serve with dignity and honor - the heirs of the famous brigades, the combat history of which dates back to the brigades of the sapper armies. In the Russian Army, these are the heirs of the 1st Guards Assault Engineer Mogilev Red Banner Order of Kutuzov Brigade of the RVGK, 1st Engineer Engineer Novgorod Order of Kutuzov Brigade, 12th Engineer Engineer Riga Red Banner Order of Kutuzov Brigade; in the army of Belarus - the 2nd guards motorized assault engineer-sapper Novgorod Red Banner Order of Suvorov and Kutuzov brigade RVGK and in the Ukrainian army - the heirs of the 15th assault engineer-sapper Vinnitsa Red Banner order of Bohdan Khmelnitsky brigade RVGK. All of them worthily continue the glorious military history of their wartime predecessors.

Continuing the experiment in studying the modern Russian army, yesterday I visited 45th camouflage engineer regiment . After the bloggers' visit to the experimental 5th Motorized Rifle Brigade, which led to many accusations of showing off and "unnaturalness" what was happening, the press service of the Ministry of Defense invited bloggers to the most ordinary unit near Moscow, which any resident of Russia can join to serve.

For me (as a person very far from army reality), the scope of use of engineering troops was a mystery. The most I could remember from films was building pontoon bridges across rivers. But in fact, it turned out that the engineering troops are always in the vanguard: they clear the territory before the passage of military columns, provide the military with clean drinking water, and also deal with many problems of life support for the military during campaigns.

The entrance to the military unit (it is located only 15 kilometers from the Moscow Ring Road along the Novorizhskoye Highway) is marked by scary engineering vehicles. The most common (we saw 3 of them on pedestals) is UR-77, aka “Snake Gorynych”. In 3 minutes, this technique makes a passage 100 meters long and 6 meters wide in a minefield.

There is an interesting story about her on YouTube.

The basis of the engineering troops are sappers. Their classes were shown to us first. This group of fighters was tasked with conducting engineering reconnaissance and demining the road. All are conscript soldiers, with the exception of 2 driver-mechanics of the Engineering Reconnaissance Vehicle (IRM).

The basis of the engineering troops are sappers. Their classes were shown to us first. This group of fighters was tasked with conducting engineering reconnaissance and demining the road. All are conscript soldiers, with the exception of 2 driver-mechanics of the Engineering Reconnaissance Vehicle (IRM).

Without such engineering reconnaissance, it is impossible for troops to move forward. Every morning, engineering units in Chechnya walked in a similar way and cleared 15-25 kilometers of the road, clearing the way for the troops.

The first to go on opposite sides of the road are soldiers with dogs trained to search for mines.

A dog's sense of smell is almost perfect, so trained Labradors and German Shepherds (these two breeds are used in the engineering forces) are simply irreplaceable here. The dog lies down on the ground when an explosive is detected.

The soldier checks the "Mine" flag and the entire crew returns under the cover of the IMR (leaving markers in places where reconnaissance of the area has been completed).

The sapper must defuse the mine. The probe reveals its body, the mine is dug out by hand.

An excavated mine cannot simply be removed. Fearing the presence of a “Surprise Mine” there, which could be located under the main mine and go off when it is removed, the sapper needs to pull off the mine with a “cat”.

The "cat" gets caught on a mine, the sapper crawls to a safe distance, holding the "cat" by a long rope.

There was indeed a second mine under the mine and an explosion occurred. 800 grams of TNT exploding 100 meters from you left bloggers with an unforgettable impression... The main thing was not to shut your mouth :)))))

After the mine explodes, the group moves on. This is how several more explosive devices were discovered and detonated, but I won’t bore you with photographs of each explosion. I’ll just show you how to eliminate a suspicious box found on a tree trunk.

The group commander shoots at her with a machine gun (the guy turned out to be a good shot!).

The bomb in the box shatters into small pieces. The lesson is over, the task is completed.

And it’s time for bloggers to go to the town of mine detection dogs.

Dogs live freely here. Each dog has a large enclosure and a personal leader - a counselor.

The enclosure has a summer and a winter part. The winter one is insulated, with a comfortable kennel. Labrador Hines has already participated in several real special operations.

There are also training classes for dogs on the territory of the town. The counselors learn to care for the dogs, train them, etc.

In the classrooms there is a large collection of explosive objects, both military mines and homemade ones.

The local dogs pass the obstacle course with flying colors. A 2-meter solid fence is not a hindrance.

But this exercise is unique. There are few places in the world where there are dogs that can climb almost vertical stairs. I just can’t understand how they teach dogs such tricks.

After the dogs, we arrived at the shooting range, where shooting classes were held with the AK-74M.

Having received a horn with cartridges at the “ammunition point”, the fighters ran to take up shooting positions.

They shot 3 rounds and immediately received marks.

Bloggers were also allowed to shoot. zuhel gets his horn.

sapovich hit 3 targets in 3 shots and was awarded an "excellent" rating. Take shooting lessons from her now! I only hit it twice myself :)

Still, there is some inexplicable aesthetics in weapons...

Together with the soldiers, off_topus recalled his military service, disassembling the machine gun.

And Private Anatoly from Tula wrote his home address, where he asked to send his photographs to his mother.

We were delighted - business for 3 minutes! But no, the address turned out to be a simple postal address. Now you will have to print out the photos and send them by regular mail. But we can handle even this :)

We were delighted - business for 3 minutes! But no, the address turned out to be a simple postal address. Now you will have to print out the photos and send them by regular mail. But we can handle even this :)

On the way to the camouflage range, a real missile was discovered. It turns out that it was in this place that Academician Korolev launched the first Soviet liquid rockets!

Before the press tour they promised to show us inflatable equipment. It made me laugh rather than interest me. How wrong I was... Literally from 200 meters this inflatable S-300 complex cannot be distinguished from the real thing. The three-layer material also reflects radio signals in all the necessary spectra, creating on radars the full sensation of a combat vehicle. A gas generator that forces air into the body expels exhaust gases directly under the hood of this inflatable monster. Those. and thermal sensors will show that the machine is working.

This is not rust, it is a special camouflage foam that helps the combat vehicle become invisible to radar.

Old control systems stand here as mock-ups for practicing tasks for their field camouflage. Umbrellas are placed over them, and camouflage fabric is stretched.

Such a fake gun is made by soldiers and scares the enemy with a slightly broken barrel :)

After the Taman brigade, we could not pass by the barracks. Everything there was experimental, but here - real life an ordinary military unit.

Drying room with a bunch of boots and foot wraps. The fighters claim that boots ("boots") are uncomfortable for them, boots are much better. The unit commander personally took us around the barracks. He turned out to be a tough but correct person. He doesn’t let the soldiers down; he cares for his dear unit in his soul.

A “household” room where soldiers iron their uniforms, repair boots, get their hair cut, and also sew collar collars onto their uniforms. The new uniform is only worn by officers, and even those mostly purchase it at their own expense.

Barracks. 2 bunk beds, clean and tidy. I don't think there's an ounce of showmanship here. With such a commander, there is such cleanliness and order here every day. I was surprised by the icon in the corner. We have an interesting secular state.

In the office, computers had not yet been invented. Everything is written the old fashioned way, by hand.

Before departure - obligatory lunch! onepamop, being the hungriest, walked ahead :)

The menu here is more limited than in the Taman brigade. But it is prepared not by civilian specialists, but by the soldiers themselves. And these soldiers will have to return to the barracks to their colleagues in the evening. You won't be spoiled here :) By the way, in August bloggers were promised a press tour to a school for military chefs. Really want to!

They give out a lot of food, bread in unlimited quantities costs separately. Out of 200 recruits, 40 are underweight. They are fattening up.

I personally saw how soldiers carry trays of half-eaten food to the sink. It looks like the food here is really good.

We were also fed, albeit in a separate room (for officers). But the food they brought was exactly what the soldiers behind the wall ate. Soup, stew with mashed potatoes, compote. It was really delicious. Much tastier than in the Taman brigade. Even sapovich left an empty plate!

We left the part in the evening, having spent more than 7 hours in it. The officer from the press service of the Moscow Military District accompanying us was friendly, open, and told a lot of interesting things. We even came up with the idea of ​​organizing a football match between bloggers and soldiers in August. You can do it right in the same military unit. Let's go to football? :)