200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade
The 200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade is a military formation of the 14th Army Corps, part of the Northern Military District, based at Pechenga in Murmansk Oblast. The brigade was formed from the 131st Motor Rifle Division in 1997 and was one of the two Russian Arctic warfare brigades. In 2014, brigade units participated in the War in Donbas according to Bellingcat contributor and other sources. In 2022, brigade units participated in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine according to The Independent Barents Observer. Interrogations of Russian POW established that the brigade was in Ukraine  and that one or more battle groups may have been neutralized or captured in the Battle of Kharkiv (2022). History. The 200th Brigade was formed from the former 131st Motor Rifle Division in 1997. It inherited the honorifics "Pechenga Order of Kutuzov" from the division. Transition to professional contract status was planned to finish at the end of 2006. At the beginning of April 2006 the brigade had about 700 professional personnel, practically all sergeant positions having been filled by kontraktniks ( contracted professional soldiers). More than 180 military men and women have signed contracts for service in communications, medical, and  rear services subunits. The brigade had about 10 professional soldiers from other Commonwealth of Independent States members. At the beginning of 2006, during a trip to the Leningrad Military District, the 200th Brigade was visited by the Minister of Defence, Sergei Ivanov. The brigade has association links with the Norwegian 6th Division (Norway) and the Swedish Norrbottens Regiment. It formed part of the 6th Army in the Western Military District. As of November 2011 it became the first of two new Arctic brigades of the Russian Ground Forces. The unit had some disciplinary problems. In November 2012 it became part  of the Coastal Troops of the Northern Fleet. In 2014, according to Bellingcat contributor, the brigade was involved in the War in Donbas. Brigade's units participated in the battle of Luhansk Airport and were spotted in the Khryashchevatoe village, a Luhansk suburb. In October 2014, Senior Lieutenant Yevgeny Trundayev, commander of the anti-tank platoon of the 1st Motorized Infantry Battalion, was killed in the clashes for 32nd checkpoint, a battle in Luhansk region. He was later awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation. The brigade has formed part of the 14th Army Corps since the corps ' formation in April 2017. As of February 2022, elements of the Brigade were reported deployed on operations as part of the invasion of Ukraine, operating in the area near Kharkiv. Current structure. 200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade consists of a brigade headquarters, three motor rifle battalions, one tank battalion, a brigade artillery group (coordinating two separate self-propelled howitzer battalions and one separate rocket artillery battalion), an anti-aircraft missile battalion, an anti-aircraft missile-artillery battalion, an anti-tank artillery battalion, a reconnaissance battalion, and several directly subordinated combat support and combat service support battalions and companies. Equipment. The  200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade has the following equipment: