"Bears" and others. What is known about the "volunteer" formations of the Russian army in Crimea

The details of what happened that evening were told by a resident of Crimea who witnessed the incident, for the Russian publication "Vazhne istorii".

"Armed men with masks invaded the balcony of the facility, where people were socializing, drinking and smoking, when the newcomers started beating them. The conflict did not initially start with the people on the balcony. They put my young man on a chair and started beating him severely with clubs. His brother, who asked them to stop, and his friends were also beaten. When we asked to know the names of these people, we were told that it was a secret. That's what we were told by people connected to the army, for example," said this resident of Crimea.

According to her, one of the young men was hospitalized with a broken nose, facial bones, injuries to the soft tissues of the back of the head, a closed brain injury and bruises.

 

"Not a brigade, but generally the strength of one and a half battalions"

 

The coordinator of the "Information Resistance" group, reserve colonel Konstantin Mašovec, in his daily reports from the front in October 2023, mentions the Russian 81st special forces brigade "Beds". Not separately, but together with the other Crimean units of the Russian group "Dnieper" - the 126th Coast Guard Brigade, the 127th Reconnaissance Brigade and the 810th Marine Brigade, which are fighting on the left bank of the Kherson region, near Krinki.

According to his information at the time, the "Bears" were part of the structure of the Russian PMC "Redut" as the "Crimean branch", which in turn is controlled by the GRU of the Russian Federation. It is even planned to create a full-fledged corps in the Southern Military District from similar volunteer units and formations. However, so far nothing has been heard of such a corps, but the 81st "Bears" brigade was eventually sent to the Kherson direction to reinforce the 18th Army and the "Dnieper" group as a whole.

 

Why did the fighters of the new Russian special forces find themselves in the Crimean Black Sea region at the height of the battles at Krinkami and how did they perform during their time at the front?

 

"Until now, these "bears" have not distinguished themselves in any way," explains Konstantin Mašovec for Krym.Realii. "They were sent to block the coastal villages of Poima and Podstepnoe near Oleška. They don't have a brigade there either, but they generally have a strength of one and a half battalions (approximately 400-500 men, which is less than the number of an average infantry brigade - KR). The 810th brigade from the composition of the Crimean units mainly fights near Krinkami, and at the same time suffers significant losses".

Mašovec has no information on how these soldiers ended up in Chernomorsk, but only assumes that they may have been there for recuperation or rotation.

Another military expert, Crimean-born Vladislav Seleznev, adheres to a similar version.

"As you know, the Russians started to settle some cities that were not used by the Armed Forces until 2014. Maybe the "bears" were given such a task. I do not rule out that at the same time they were entrusted with guarding the coast, where, as is known, they dug several trenches and dugouts, even though the storm had already taken them away," said Selezniev.

 

Fire training near Kizil-Koba

 

As reported by Radio Freedom and the Sistema project, as well as the Center for Journalistic Research, in the spring of last year, the appearance of a battalion called "Bears" in Crimea was recorded. It turned out that the mentioned private mercenary army "Redut" carried out a whole system of recruitment, training and financing of more than 20 trained mercenaries, which also includes the "Medvjeda" division. Another important fact established by Ukrainian journalists is that this quasi-private company does not have a unified command and is not a legal entity.

Earlier, some Russian media channels, especially NTV, reported on "bears". It turns out, to a large extent, because a former employee of NTV became the chief PR officer of the unit that is being formed.

Krym.Realia was able to determine the exact locations of the places of their field training based on photos and videos initially distributed to the public by the "Medvjeda" PR staff. In the first case (where soldiers shoot) the military shooting range is 126th OBrBO. It is located between the tract of Kizil-Koba (Red Cave) and the park of combat vehicles of the brigade, on the left bank of the Kizilkobinka River, which is located on the outskirts of the village of Perevalnoe. In some photos, hangars for military equipment are even clearly visible in the background.

 

When it comes to these visiting "volunteers" (most of them are not from Crimea), the Russian head of Crimea, Sergei Aksenov, spoke at least twice in the past year.

 

On television, he performed a demonstration test of helmets and body armor, which the Crimean authorities supply their "volunteer" units.

In the same place, in April 2023, even the Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant General Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, who directly supervises similar structures and mercenaries, visited the shooting range in Perevalno, including the replacement of disgraced members of "Wagner" with newly created members of the "Redut" mercenary army. The Russian general was satisfied with the training of the soldiers and promised them all the support from his side.

It was in Perevalno a month later, in May of the same year, that the commander of the "Jedai" unit announced that the 81st Special Forces Brigade "Medvjedi", i.e., the entire tactical unit, was formed on the basis of their kindness. Later, information appeared on their page on "Telegram" that based on their relationship, an expeditionary corps was already being created to work "over long distances" under the name "Africa".

As for the "Bear" field training itself, especially tactical-special and tactical training, such planned classes were held in the half-destroyed field training base of the former Simferopol Higher Military-Political Construction School, and even before that, the closed 165th Foreign Military Training Center persons near the village of Chaikovskoe, Simferopol district. This is a place under the picturesque southern slopes of Dolgorukovska jajla.

 

On the African route

 

Today, in Perevalny, Russia is to some extent reviving the Soviet military practice of sixty years ago. After all, it was precisely in this Crimean Podgorica village, on the territory of the current military camp of the Russian 126th OBrBO, that the same 165th training center operated since 1965, which was under the control of the 10th Main Administration of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces, which were responsible for international military cooperation. From four months to a year, 300 to 400 people of both sexes were simultaneously trained in military affairs at the Center. The contingent consisted of representatives of various national liberation movements in Africa and the Middle East, especially the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde Islands (Portuguese Guinea, Cape Verde Islands), the Organization of the People of South-West Africa (Namibia), the Union of the African People of Zimbabwe (Southern Rhodesia/Zimbabwe ), People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola — Labor Party (Angola), FRELIMO (Mozambique), African National Congress (South Africa), Dhofar Liberation Front (Oman), Fatah (Palestine).

Future commanders of the tactical level, many over time "retrained" into fighters and terrorists of the international level, 40 to 60 years ago, under the guidance of Soviet officers-mentors, learned the theory and practice of tactics, mining and demolition, reconnaissance-sabotage operations, field medicine, communications and other compulsory subjects. Simultaneously with the training of foreign cadets, the Center served as a training base for Soviet military translators, including those trained at military departments of civilian universities.

In 1980, this center was turned into a joint military school. It was closed only after the collapse of the USSR in 1992, and the 84th separate mechanized brigade of the Odesa Military District was created on its balance, otherwise, the first in the history of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, later reformed into the 36th OBrBO of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In total, during the years of existence of this special educational institution in Perevalno, about 18,000 foreigners completed their training there.

Many retired officers who taught at the center and school still live mainly in Simferopol and occasionally organize traditional "meetings of comrades".

Apparently, Russia is preparing new military experts for Africa exclusively from its own citizens, not for ideological reasons, but for direct material benefits. However, not only the facts revealed about "Wagner" during the last years of peace give an idea of the nature of Russian activities on the "black" continent.