102nd Military Base
Encyclopedia
The Russian 102nd Military Base is a Russia
n military base in Gyumri
, Armenia
, part of the Transcaucasian Group of Forces. It was formerly the Soviet Army's 127th Motor Rifle Division of the Soviet Seventh Guards Army. The base is about 120 kilometres (74.6 mi) north of the Armenian capital, Yerevan
.
The 102nd Military Base traces its history to the 261st Rifle Division of the Soviet Union
's Red Army
. The 261st Rifle Division was originally formed in 1941. It was probably activated in the Odessa Military District
in July-August 1941. It was assigned to the 12th Army
of the North Caucasus Front later in 1941 and remained with that Army up to at least August 1942 but then was assigned to the Transcaucasian Front
's Black Sea Group of Forces. It then spent much of the later part of World War II, from January 1, 1943, onwards with the small 45th Army of the Transcaucasian Front
which was guarding the USSR's borders with Turkey
. After the war ended, the 261st Rifle Division was briefly designated the 37th Rifle Division but then became the 127th Motor Rifle Division in 1965.
The city of Gyumri was known as Leninakan up to 1990.
On 19 November 1990 the 127th MRD had the following equipment:
There are 3,000 Russian soldiers officially reported to be stationed at the 102nd Military Base located in Gyumri. In early 2005, the 102nd Military Base had 74 tanks, 17 infantry fighting vehicles, 148 armored personnel carriers, 84 artillery
pieces, 18 MiG-29 fighters and several batteries of S-300 anti-aircraft missiles. A great deal of military hardware has been moved to the 102nd Base from the Russian 12th Military Base in Batumi
and the Russian 62nd Military Base in Akhalkalaki
, Georgia
which includes 35 tanks and armored vehicles and 370 pieces of military hardware. The military base is part of a joint air defense system of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
, which was deployed in Armenia in 1995. Furthermore, the Armenian Air Force
relies partially upon the Russian MiG-29s located at the military base, for the defense of Armenia's airspace.
The Russian military base was deployed on the territory of Armenia as early as 1996 (before that, the installation was still known as the 127th MRD of the Soviet Ground Forces
). The bilateral treaty states that the Russian military will be in the base for 25 years, but Armenian authorities have said that if needed this time-frame can be reviewed, and exclusively in the direction of prolongation. Although Russia does not pay the Armenian government for the military base stationed in Gyumri, the Armenian side takes care of all public utilities water, electricity, etc.
In 1997, Armenia and Russia signed a far-reaching friendship treaty, which calls for mutual assistance in the event of a military threat to either party and allows Russian border guards to patrol Armenia’s frontiers with Turkey
and Iran
.
In August 2003 the base's commanding officer, General Major Alexander Titov, was dismissed for not maintaining military discipline and allowing corruption and the sale of state equipment.
In early 2009, the mobilisable portion of the base was reformed as two separate motor rifle brigades.(Warfare.ru)
. December 10, 2006
The transit of Russian military personnel and cargo was suspended by the government of Georgia in the aftermath of the 2008 with Russia
. Upon expiration of its five-year term, on April 19, 2011, the Parliament of Georgia annulled the 2006 agreement with Russia.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n military base in Gyumri
Gyumri
Gyumri is the capital and largest city of the Shirak Province in northwest Armenia. It is located about 120 km from the capital Yerevan, and, with a population of 168,918 , is the second-largest city in Armenia.The name of the city has been changed many times in history...
, Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, part of the Transcaucasian Group of Forces. It was formerly the Soviet Army's 127th Motor Rifle Division of the Soviet Seventh Guards Army. The base is about 120 kilometres (74.6 mi) north of the Armenian capital, Yerevan
Yerevan
Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...
.
The 102nd Military Base traces its history to the 261st Rifle Division of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
's Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
. The 261st Rifle Division was originally formed in 1941. It was probably activated in the Odessa Military District
Odessa Military District
The Odessa Military District was a military administrative division of the Imperial Russian military, the Soviet Armed Forces and the Ukrainian Armed Forces and was known under such name from around 1862 to 1998. It was reorganized as part of the Military of Ukraine and the Military of Moldova in...
in July-August 1941. It was assigned to the 12th Army
12th Army (Soviet Union)
The Soviet Union's 12th Army was a field army formed multiple times during the Russian Civil War and World War II.-Civil War & Polish-Soviet War:...
of the North Caucasus Front later in 1941 and remained with that Army up to at least August 1942 but then was assigned to the Transcaucasian Front
Transcaucasian Front
Transcaucasian Front or Transcaucasus Front was a Front of the Soviet Army during the Second World War. This sense of the term is not identical with the more general usage of military front which indicates a geographic area in wartime, although a Soviet Front may operate within designated...
's Black Sea Group of Forces. It then spent much of the later part of World War II, from January 1, 1943, onwards with the small 45th Army of the Transcaucasian Front
Transcaucasian Front
Transcaucasian Front or Transcaucasus Front was a Front of the Soviet Army during the Second World War. This sense of the term is not identical with the more general usage of military front which indicates a geographic area in wartime, although a Soviet Front may operate within designated...
which was guarding the USSR's borders with Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. After the war ended, the 261st Rifle Division was briefly designated the 37th Rifle Division but then became the 127th Motor Rifle Division in 1965.
Order of Battle, 127th MRD, 1989-90
This listing is taken from Lenskii & Tsybin's The Soviet Ground Forces in the last years of the USSR (St Petersburg, 2001).The city of Gyumri was known as Leninakan up to 1990.
- 107th Motor Rifle Regiment (Leninakan/Ленинакан): 10 T-72T-72The T-72 is a Soviet-designed main battle tank that entered production in 1970. It is developed directly from Obyekt-172, and shares parallel features with the T-64A...
; 3 BMP (1 БМP-1, 2 BRM-1К); 12 D-30; 2 R-145BM, 1 BTR-50PUM; 15 МТ-LBТ - 124th Motor Rifle Regiment (Leninakan): 10 Т-72; 87 BTR (81 БТР-70, 6 БТР-60), 3 БМП (1 БМП-1, 2 БРМ-1К); 12 Д-30; 1 Р-145БМ, 1 БТР-50PUM; 15 МТ-LBТ
- 128-й мотострелковый полк (Leninakan): 10 Т-72; 110 BMP (41 BMP-2, 64 BMP-1, 5 BRM-1К), 2 BTR-70; 12 - 2S12S1The 2S1 Gvozdika, ; is a Soviet 122-mm self-propelled howitzer that resembles the PT-76 but is essentially a version of the MT-LB APC, mounting the 2A18 howitzer. "2S1" is its GRAU designation. An alternative Russian designation is SAU-122 but in the Russian Army it is commonly known as Gvozdika...
; 2 БМP-1KSh, 4 R-145BM, 3 PU-12;1 МТU-20 - 1360th Motor Rifle Regiment (Leninakan): 12 D-30; 3 - 1V18, 1 - 1V19, 3 R-145BM
- 120th Tank Regiment (Ленинакан): 31 БТР-70; 14 BМP (5 BMP-2, 5 BMP-1, 4 BRM-1K), 2 BTR-70; 1 BMP-1KSh, 2 R-145BM; БРЭМ-2; 2 МТU-20
- 992nd Artillery Regiment (Ленинакан): 36 D-30; 12 BM-21 Grad
- 988th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment
- 357th Separate Rocket Battalion (SSMs)
- 772nd Separate Reconnaissance Battalion (Leninakan): 1 Р-145БМ
- 628th Separate Signal Battalion (Leninakan): 12 Р-145БМ, 1 БТР-50ПУ
- 550th Separate Engineer-Sapper Battalion (Leninakan): 1 UR-67
- 626th Separate Battalion of chemical protection (отдельный батальон химической защиты)
- 174th Separate Repair-Regenerative Battalion (отдельный ремонтно-восстановительный батальон)
- 1552nd Separate battalion of Material Maintenance (отдельный батальон материального обеспечения)
On 19 November 1990 the 127th MRD had the following equipment:
- 61 tanks (T-72T-72The T-72 is a Soviet-designed main battle tank that entered production in 1970. It is developed directly from Obyekt-172, and shares parallel features with the T-64A...
); - 130 BMPBMP-In computing:* BMP file format, the file name extension for the Bitmap image file format.* Basic Multilingual Plane, related to the Unicode character set.* Beep Media Player, a multimedia player.-Biology:...
s (46 BMP-2BMP-2The BMP-2 is a second-generation, amphibious infantry fighting vehicle introduced in the 1980s in the Soviet Union, following the BMP-1 of the 1960s....
, 71 BMP-1BMP-1The BMP-1 is a Soviet amphibious tracked infantry fighting vehicle. BMP stands for Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty 1 , meaning "infantry fighting vehicle". The BMP-1 was the world's first mass-produced infantry fighting vehicle...
s, 13 BRM-1Ks); - 91 BTRs (85 BTR-70BTR-70The BTR-70 is an eight-wheeled armored personnel carrier , originally developed during the late 1960s under the industrial designator GAZ-4905. On August 21, 1972, it was accepted into service and would later be exported to the Warsaw Pact and other allies...
, 6 BTR-60BTR-60The BTR-60 is the first vehicle in a series of Soviet eight-wheeled armoured personnel carriers. It was developed in the late 1950s as a replacement for the BTR-152 and was seen first time in public in 1961...
); - 12 2S12S1The 2S1 Gvozdika, ; is a Soviet 122-mm self-propelled howitzer that resembles the PT-76 but is essentially a version of the MT-LB APC, mounting the 2A18 howitzer. "2S1" is its GRAU designation. An alternative Russian designation is SAU-122 but in the Russian Army it is commonly known as Gvozdika...
self-propelled guns - 72 D-30 artillery pieces;
- 12 РСОЗ BM-21 Grad
1996 Onwards
By the mid-late 1990s the composition of the 127th Motor Rifle Division had changed, following the departure of the majority of the Soviet forces from Armenia. It consisted of the 123rd, 124th, and 128th Motor Rifle Regiments, the 992nd Artillery Regiment, and the 116th Independent Tank Battalion. The 123rd Motor Rifle Regiment was formed from the former 164th Motor Rifle Division, also stationed in Armenia.There are 3,000 Russian soldiers officially reported to be stationed at the 102nd Military Base located in Gyumri. In early 2005, the 102nd Military Base had 74 tanks, 17 infantry fighting vehicles, 148 armored personnel carriers, 84 artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
pieces, 18 MiG-29 fighters and several batteries of S-300 anti-aircraft missiles. A great deal of military hardware has been moved to the 102nd Base from the Russian 12th Military Base in Batumi
Batumi
Batumi is a seaside city on the Black Sea coast and capital of Adjara, an autonomous republic in southwest Georgia. Sometimes considered Georgia's second capital, with a population of 121,806 , Batumi serves as an important port and a commercial center. It is situated in a subtropical zone, rich in...
and the Russian 62nd Military Base in Akhalkalaki
Akhalkalaki
Akhalkalaki is a small city in Georgia's southern region of Samtskhe-Javakheti with a population of 60,975. Akhalkalaki lies on the edge of the Javakheti Volcanic Plateau. The city is located about 30 km from the border with Turkey. 90 percent of the city's population are ethnic Armenians...
, Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
which includes 35 tanks and armored vehicles and 370 pieces of military hardware. The military base is part of a joint air defense system of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
Commonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics, formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union....
, which was deployed in Armenia in 1995. Furthermore, the Armenian Air Force
Armenian Air Force
The Armenian Air Force is a small air arm formed by independent Armenia in 1992 in the wake of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It is organized and equipped principally to provide Armenian ground forces with tactical air support in the form of ground attack and airlift in mountainous terrain...
relies partially upon the Russian MiG-29s located at the military base, for the defense of Armenia's airspace.
The Russian military base was deployed on the territory of Armenia as early as 1996 (before that, the installation was still known as the 127th MRD of the Soviet Ground Forces
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
). The bilateral treaty states that the Russian military will be in the base for 25 years, but Armenian authorities have said that if needed this time-frame can be reviewed, and exclusively in the direction of prolongation. Although Russia does not pay the Armenian government for the military base stationed in Gyumri, the Armenian side takes care of all public utilities water, electricity, etc.
In 1997, Armenia and Russia signed a far-reaching friendship treaty, which calls for mutual assistance in the event of a military threat to either party and allows Russian border guards to patrol Armenia’s frontiers with Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
.
In August 2003 the base's commanding officer, General Major Alexander Titov, was dismissed for not maintaining military discipline and allowing corruption and the sale of state equipment.
In early 2009, the mobilisable portion of the base was reformed as two separate motor rifle brigades.(Warfare.ru)
Supply to the base
A special five-year agreement concluded with Georgia on March 31, 2006 allowed Russia access to the 102nd Military Base through Georgia's land and airspace. The agreement prohibited Russia from handing over any armament transited through Georgian territory to a third country and from transiting biological, nuclear or chemical substances, as well as weapon of mass destruction or their components. It further stipulated that the amount of military cargo should have been agreed between Russia and Georgia one year in advance. Furthermore, Georgia could refuse the transit if it posed a threat to its national security or if the final destination of the transited military cargo was a location within a conflict zone or a warring state. In December 2006, Russia accused Georgia of "sabotaging" the cargoes destined for the 102nd Military Base.Moscow Accuses Georgia of Violating Military Transit Treaty. Civil GeorgiaCivil Georgia
Civil Georgia is a Tbilisi-based free daily news website run by the Georgian non-government organization The UN Association of Georgia. It is supported by USAID, Friedrich Ebert Foundation and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the grants of which cover about 98% of the website's expenses...
. December 10, 2006
The transit of Russian military personnel and cargo was suspended by the government of Georgia in the aftermath of the 2008 with Russia
2008 South Ossetia war
The 2008 South Ossetia War or Russo-Georgian War was an armed conflict in August 2008 between Georgia on one side, and Russia and separatist governments of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on the other....
. Upon expiration of its five-year term, on April 19, 2011, the Parliament of Georgia annulled the 2006 agreement with Russia.
Controversy
The question about the presence of the Russian military base in Armenia was raised in the European Commission. Many experts argue that the presence of the base is an obstacle to Western investment and reforms of the Armenian public and political system that is too closely linked with the Russian leadership.See also
- Armed Forces of ArmeniaArmed Forces of ArmeniaThe Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia comprise two services: the Army, and the Air Force and Air Defense . It was partially formed out of the former Soviet Army forces stationed in the Armenian SSR...
- Lists of military installations
- Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)Collective Security Treaty OrganizationThe Collective Security Treaty Organization is an intergovernmental military alliance which was signed on 15 May 1992. On 7 October 2002, the Presidents of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan signed a charter in Tashkent founding the CSTO.Nikolai Bordyuzha was appointed...