Soviet Airborne Troops

Russian Airborne Troops
Воздушно-десантные войска России
Coat of Arms of Airborne Forces
Active	1930s–present
Country	Soviet Union (1930–1991) Russian Federation (1991–present)
Allegiance	Supreme Commander-in-Chief
Branch	Russian Armed Forces
Type	Airborne Forces
Role	Light Infantry Airborne Infantry Airmobile infantry Peacekeeping
Size	45,000 paratroopers, will expand to 72,000 paratroopers by 2019
Nickname(s)	Blue Berets, Winged Infantry
Motto(s)	"Никто, кроме нас!" ("Nobody, but us!")
Colors	Sky blue
March	Just One Victory (Нам нужна одна победа) by composer Bulat Okudzava
Anniversaries	August 2 – Day of Desantniks
Engagements	Battle of Lake Khasan Battles of Khalkhin Gol World War II Nagorno-Karabakh War Soviet war in Afghanistan First Chechen War Second Chechen War 2008 South Ossetia war 2014 Crimean crisis War in Donbass
Commanders
Current commander	Col.Gen. Andrey Serdyukov
Chief of Staff and First Deputy commander	Lt. Gen. Nikolay Ignatov
Notable commanders	Gen. Vasily Margelov Lt. Col. Anatoly Lebed Gen. Georgy Shpak
Insignia
Alternative Coat of Arms
Flag of Airborne Forces

"Никто, кроме нас!"

The Russian Airborne Troops or VDV (from "Vozdushno-desantnye voyska Rossii", Russian: Воздушно-десантные войска России, ВДВ; Air-landing Forces) is a military branch of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. They are an elite force, on par with the Strategic Rocket Forces and the Aerospace Defence Forces. First formed before World War II, the force undertook two significant airborne operations and a number of smaller jumps during the war and for many years after 1945 was the largest airborne force in the world. The force was split after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, losing divisions to Belarus and Ukraine, and has been reduced in size.

Russian airborne forces have traditionally worn a blue beret and blue-striped telnyashka and are called "desant" (Russian: Десант) from the French "Descente".

The first airborne forces parachute jump is dated to 2 August 1930, taking place in the Moscow Military District. Airborne landing detachments were established after the initial 1930 experimental jump, but creation of larger units had to wait until 1932–33. On 11 December 1932, a Revolutionary Military Council order established an airborne brigade from the existing detachment in the Leningrad Military District. To implement the order, a directive of the Commissariat of Military and Naval Affairs transformed the Leningrad Military District’s 3rd Motorised Airborne Landing Detachment into the 3rd Airborne Brigade (Special Purpose) commanded by M.V. Boytsov. Two further airborne brigades (the 13th and 47th) and three airborne regiments (the 1st, 2nd, and 5th, all in the Far East) were created in 1936. In March and April 1941, five Airborne Corps (divisions) were established on the basis of the existing 201st, 204th, 211th, 212th, and 214th Airborne Brigades. The number of Airborne Corps rose from five to ten in late 1941, but then all the airborne corps were converted into "Guards" Rifle Divisions in the northern hemisphere summer of 1942.