Colonel Pavel Popovskikh is credited with the creation of the 45th Spetsnaz as a “subunit of the future”, designed to wage the counterinsurgency warfare for which the Russian armed forces had been so ill-prepared in Afghanistan.

With an initial strength of 800 highly qualified personnel, the unit had especially powerful special reconnaissance capabilities and innovations, including unmanned surveillance aircraft and tailored psychological warfare assets.

[10] The 901st battalion was formed on November 20, 1979, on the territory of the Transcaucasian Military District, and was immediately transferred to Czechoslovakia, Central Group of Forces.

In March 1989, in connection with the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Eastern Europe, the battalion was relocated to Aluksne, Latvian SSR and transferred to the Baltic Military District.

In 1993, during the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict, the battalion performed tasks for the protection and defense from looting and destruction of important military and Government facilities in the territory of Abkhazia.

The battalion was involved as a peacekeeping force in the zones of inter-ethnic conflict in the Transdniester region in June and July 1992, in North Ossetia in September–November, 1992 and in Abkhazia in December 1992.

December 2, 1994, the regiment traveled to the Northern Caucasus to take part in the operations against rebel forces on the territory of the Chechen Republic.

By Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated July 21, 1995, Commander of the intelligence group special purpose Senior Lieutenant Ermakova, for the courage and heroism shown during the special task command to disarm Chechen rebels, was awarded the title Hero of the Russian Federation (posthumous).

From February to May 1997, the consolidated unit the regiment took part in the peacekeeping mission in the zone of separation of Georgian and Abkhaz armed forces in the town of Gudauta.

Masked troops, allegedly of the Russian 45th Regiment, were operating in Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Vitaliy Yarema told reporters on 15 April 2014, in Poltava region: This followed an analysis published the preceding month by the Finnish magazine Suomen Sotilas (Soldier of Finland) that identified a range of weapons and equipment seen on photos taken during the intervention as Russian issue only, and that the foreign troops with a very high probability "are the 45th Guards Separate Reconnaissance Regiment of the VDV" based in Kubinka, Moscow.