The 1st Separate Airborne Brigade (, 1ОВДБр), also referred to in English as the 1st Russian Separate Airborne Brigade (1 RSAB), was a Russian Airborne Forces unit that existed from 1996 to 2003 and was Russia's contribution to the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Implementation Force (IFOR), later renamed the Stabilization Force (SFOR).
The brigade was put together in the fall of 1995 from elements of the 76th and 98th Guards Airborne Divisions, and it arrived at the Tuzla Air Base in Bosnia and Herzegovina in January 1996, just after being officially activated. Its efforts were directed at separating the warring factions from each other, clearing mines, and creating safe conditions for the civilian population and international humanitarian organizations. The Russian brigade was the largest force from any non-NATO country involved in the peacekeeping mission.
The participation of the brigade in the peacekeeping mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina was the first time Russian troops took part in a NATO-led operation. They operated under a unique system of command, being led on the ground by the U.S. 1st Armored Division commander, as they were in the American area of responsibility, and were under the operational direction of the NATO supreme commander in Europe through his deputy for Russian forces, a Russian general. This way the brigade was subordinated to the NATO supreme commander while still being under Russian national authority.
The mission was considered to be a success by both sides, with the Russian brigade having contributed to the achievement of its military objectives, and according to U.S. General George Joulwan the development of the Russian–NATO relationship in that process created the basis for the signing of the NATO-Russia Founding Act in May 1997. The only serious disruption to the command structure occurred during the Kosovo War in 1999, but relations between NATO and the Russian military were restored after that, and elements of the 1st Airborne Brigade remained in Bosnia until 2003, though it was significantly downsized starting after 1999.
History Background After negotiations began in Dayton, Ohio, in the fall of 1995 between the leaders of the factions involved in the Bosnian War, the United States wanted Russia to take part in ensuring that the resulting Dayton Agreement was followed by all sides, with Russian troops to serve in a NATO peacekeeping mission, the Implementation Force (IFOR). There were tensions between NATO and Russia after the alliance's airstrikes against the Bosnian Serb forces earlier that year, but Russian president Boris Yeltsin agreed that Russia should participate, and negotiations between Russian defense minister Pavel Grachev and U.S. defense secretary William J. Perry decided on how this would happen. On 8 November 1995 they determined that a Russian brigade of two or three infantry battalions would be deployed as part of the peacekeeping force. However, there was continued disagreement about the exact command structure for the mission, because the Russian government was reluctant to have its troops under the command of NATO. The Russians initially considered their troops to be under U.S. command, not NATO, but they were going to take part in a NATO mission and the American general in charge of it was acting in his capacity as the NATO supreme commander.
The exact framework for the mission was worked out between NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), U.S. General George Joulwan, and a Russian General Staff delegation led by Colonel General Leonty Shevtsov. They determined that the NATO supreme commander would have operational control over the brigade through Shevtsov, who was given a new position at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) as the SACEUR's deputy for Russian Forces. On the ground in Bosnia, the brigade would be working with the U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division, and its commander Major General William L. Nash would have tactical control over the Russian unit. Both the U.S. and Russian forces were part of the Multi-National Division North.
Formation and deployment
In November and December 1995 the 1st Separate Airborne Brigade was put together from elements of the 76th and 98th Guards Airborne Divisions of the Russian Airborne Forces (VDV), and was officially activated on 5 January 1996. At the start it had about 1,340 paratroopers, though other sources give it a strength of 1,500 or 1,600 men, along with 116 vehicles and eight artillery pieces. Its equipment included BMD-1, BMD-2, BTR-D, and BTR-80 armored vehicles, 2S9 self-propelled mortar, and Ural trucks. The troops of the brigade received higher pay than regular soldiers and had been given specific training. One source estimated that 40 percent of them were combat veterans, having seen action in the Soviet-Afghan and/or the First Chechen War.
Starting on 12 January 1996, the first elements of the brigade arrived at Tuzla Air Base in northeast Bosnia and Herzegovina, the American area of responsibility. The brigade was commanded by Colonel Alexander Lentsov. They began their work in early February, which involved patrolling their area and manning 12 checkpoints. Their sector was located in the Posavina corridor, near the Serbia–Bosnia and Herzegovina border, and included a 75-kilometer section of the internal boundary between the Bosnian Serb Republic and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The brigade was organized into the 1st and 2nd Airborne Battalions, each of them being responsible for a certain part of the boundary. They were tasked with making sure that the warring sides stayed away from each other.
Up to this point, Russia had deployed two infantry battalions to serve under the United Nations Protection Force in Yugoslavia from 1992 to 1995, and the basis for Russia's participation in peacekeeping missions was established by Russian President Boris Yeltsin's decree from 23 June 1995 "On the procedure for the provision of military and civilian personnel for participation in activities for the support or restoration of international peace and security." But the 1st Separate Airborne Brigade in Bosnia represented the first time that Russian military forces took part in a NATO-led mission, under NATO operational command.
The Russian and American soldiers got along well overall, despite cultural and organizational differences. Some American liaison personnel were assigned to the area of the Russian unit, along with a United States Army Special Forces team. The Russian brigade also included soldiers from the 45th Special Reconnaissance Regiment, the special forces unit of the VDV. The sector of the Russian brigade was located between two brigades of the U.S. 1st Armored Division. Joint patrols between Russian and NATO soldiers happened regularly, and starting in 1997 there were joint training exercises held by the U.S. and Russian troops in Bosnia. Their other tasks included mine clearing, assisting the UN, and providing a safe environment for civilians and the activities of international humanitarian aid organizations as well as the local government. The Russian brigade made a "valuable contribution" to the success of these military objectives early on.
The commanders of the brigade and the American division were able to work effectively with each other, and an effort was made by both the Russian and American officers to develop a positive professional relationship. The brigade commander had the ability under the system that was set up to check with the Russian general at SHAPE about the orders he received from the American division commander, but in practice it was rare that there was any disagreement. Russia continued its participation when in late 1996 the Implementation Force became the Stabilization Force (SFOR), and its contribution of troops to the mission became the largest of any non-NATO country. IFOR activities were called Operation Joint Endeavor by NATO, and SFOR carried out Operations Joint Guard and Joint Forge.
However, there were some disagreements. The Russian brigade chose to put its headquarters in Ugljevik, a town in the Bosnian Serb Republic, instead of in Tuzla, where the American division was based. In late December 1995, a Russian general, Nikolai Staskov, arrived in Bosnia and met with the indicted Bosnian Serb war criminal Ratko Mladic without the approval of NATO. Staskov was the Russian Airborne Forces deputy commander for peacekeeping operations, and NATO officers saw him as a "hardliner" who reportedly disapproved of Russian and American soldiers fraternizing. Other instances included U.S. forces taking control of Serbian TV transmitters in October 1997 and arresting a Bosnian Serb corps commander in December 1998, with the Russian troops not wanting to participate in either situation even though it was in their sector. There was also some tension between Bosnian Muslim troops and the Russian brigade's 2nd battalion, which was deployed to the Muslim town of Simin Han.
Kosovo incident
Starting on 24 March 1999, NATO began airstrikes against Serbia in what became the Kosovo War. In response to this the Yeltsin administration cancelled the command arrangement for the Russian contingent in SFOR and withdrew the deputy for Russian Forces and his staff from the NATO military headquarters. The 1st Separate Airborne Brigade remained in Bosnia but the chain of command was not defined. Russia, which historically had close relations with Serbia, was put into a difficult position, and the Russian leadership believed that it was going to be left out of the peacekeeping mission in Kosovo that NATO wanted the Serbian government to accept. Although Russia approved a NATO-led peace mission to deploy to Kosovo at the UN Security Council, the question of its own involvement was still unanswered by the Western countries. The Europeans wanted the Russians to participate, but the U.S. believed that NATO should wait before involving Russia.
A senior General Staff official, Colonel General Yuri Baluyevsky, ordered the VDV in May 1999 to secretly prepare its forces in Bosnia for a possible deployment into Kosovo. From early June 1999 the brigade was kept at a high level of readiness, and experienced personnel were selected by the Russian command staff for the mission, which was to seize a strategically important location, the Pristina Airport, before NATO forces could get to it. The airport could then be used to fly in additional air assault units from Russia. On 10 June the Russian brigade began a training exercise that served as a cover for their final preparations, and on the next day it received the order from Moscow to enter Kosovo ahead of the NATO force. President Yeltsin was informed about the military's plan at the last moment and approved it. On the same day a group of 206 paratroopers, driving in 15 BTR armored vehicles and 35 Ural trucks or cars, led by former Russian military representative to NATO Viktor Zavarzin, departed Bosnia and crossed the border into Serbia on their way to Kosovo. They painted over the SFOR markings on their vehicles with "KFOR" (meaning NATO's Kosovo Force). On their way the convoy passed many Serbian Army troops that were withdrawing from Kosovo and were positively greeted by Serbian civilians.