We have identified a new military unit along the Eastern border of Ukraine, that of the 14^th Separate Brigade of Special Forces (Spetsnaz), m/u 74854, of the Main Intelligence Department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, based in Khabarovsk.

Units of 14^th Spetsnaz Brigade (supposedly a separate special command) have never been seen before on the Ukrainian border. They were transferred to the South of Russia somewhere between the end of August to the beginning of September. By the end of September this unit was twenty miles or so close to the Ukrainian border at Millerovo Airfield, Rostov Region.

Besides the rather interesting fact that a Russian special forces soldier is posing in front of a DPR flag, another interesting detail to note is the old camouflage uniform which is usually like DPR/LPR terrorists are using. The fact that intelligence unit is stationed at the airfield can be possibly explained by our previous article. In this article we discussed the transfer of diversionary reconnaissance groups to Ukraine by helicopters “Mil Mi-8AMTSh”, possibly by those that have no insignia.

A few facts on the 14^th Brigade: The Brigade was formed in 1963 in Ussuriysk. The current brigade commander is Colonel Arslan Irichinov. The Brigade structure includes the 282^nd, 294^th, 742^nd and 546^th separate squads of special forces (the last possibly disbanded), and squads of special communication and supply.

The Brigade fought in the war in Afghanistan, then in the 1^st and 2^nd wars in Chechnya; the unit was involved in counter-terrorist operations in Ingushetia as well. The brigade has lost more than 70 troopers in these conflicts.

We have written about the presence of the diversionary reconnaissance groups of the GRU Spetsnaz in many of our previous articles. See these links (some of the articles are in Russian):

• 2^nd Spetsnaz Brigade (obrSpN), Western Military District: 1, 2
• 16^th Spetsnaz Brigade (obrSpN), Western Military District
• 346^th Spetsnaz Brigade (obrSpN), Southern Military District: 1, 2
• 24^th Spetsnaz Brigade (obrSpN), Central Military District
• 10th Spetsnaz Brigade (obrSpN), Southern Military District
• 22^nd Guards Spetsnaz Brigade (obrSpN), Southern Military District

By Irakli Komakhidze, translated by Eugenia Zlamanuk, edited by Larry Field

• Русский: ПОДРАЗДЕЛЕНИЕ 14-й БРИГАДЫ СПЕЦИАЛЬНОГО НАЗНАЧЕНИЯ ГРУ ИЗ ХАБАРОВСКА НА ГРАНИЦЕ С УКРАИНОЙ