It is a rapid response force and strategic reserve that is under the President of Russia, reporting directly to the Chief of the General Staff, and is organized into airborne and air assault units.

[6] Specifically designated mountain units were created after the Airborne Forces were frequently used in conflicts in the North Caucasus region in the immediate post-Soviet years.

They recognized the potential for an airborne force to attack targets behind enemy lines, but the main problems that were identified included a lack of firepower.

[17] Several units of the VDV were also used to maintain order in Moldova after the Transnistria War, and the former Soviet forces in that country were commanded by General Alexander Lebed, an airborne officer.

With the possibility of large airborne operations unlikely (the VDV had not carried out a parachute assault since World War II), there were proposals to disband it or absorb its units into other service branches.

[15] In 1992 the 554th Separate Russian Battalion was formed from the 137th Guards Airborne Regiment and underwent training in Ryazan before being deployed to eastern Croatia as a peacekeeping unit with the UN mission during the Croatian War of Independence.

[7] The Battle of Vedeno, in late May and early June 1995, saw an airborne assault that was deployed by helicopter, and resulted in the capture of positions held by Chechen militants.

[7][27] At the end of the Bosnian War in late 1995 the United States wanted Russia to participate in the NATO Implementation Force (IFOR) that was deployed to ensure that the Dayton Accord was followed.

[28] The 1st Separate Airborne Brigade was established for this purpose, from units of the 76th and 98th GAD, and arrived in Bosnia in January 1996, to be part of Multi-National Division North.

[26][34] Although during Pavel Grachev's tenure as Minister of Defense the Russian armed forces had been reduced by 1.1 million troops, these changes had no effect on the VDV.

But in December 1995 he ordered two airborne divisions and four air assault brigades to be put under the command of military districts, and when Grachev was replaced by Igor Rodionov in 1996, a Ground Forces officer, he tried to reduce the size of the VDV.

[40] In 2010, the VDV deputy commander, Major General Alexander Lentsov, said that the service would remain a separate combat arm, but there was a possibility that it would become part of the Special Operations Forces after 2016.

[43] In October 2013, Commander of the VDV Vladimir Shamanov announced that a new air assault brigade would be formed in Voronezh in 2016 with the number of the 345th Guards Airborne Regiment.

[56] On 4 October 2016, Colonel General Andrey Serdyukov was appointed commander of the Russian Airborne Forces, replacing Shamanov, who became chief of the Duma Committee on Defense.

[60] In April 2020, military personnel from the Russian Airborne Forces, performed the world's first HALO paradrop from the lower border of the Arctic stratosphere.

[69][70] Sergey Shoigu claimed in September 2023 that VDV have received more than 2,000 hardware units and 5,500 landing means and also a new airborne regiment formed since the beginning of the year.

[71] The Russian Ministry of Defense said on 1 January 2024 that the VDV received during the past year over 2,500 units of weapons, military and special equipment, including more than 780 samples of "newest and contemporary ones".

Deploying around 200 helicopters and with support from the Ground Forces arriving from the north (Belarus and Chernobyl), they finally broke through the Ukrainian defenses and established Russian control over the airport.

[85] As of August 2022, according to the Airborne Forces commander Colonel General Mikhail Teplinsky, over 5,000 VDV paratroopers have been decorated for distinguished service during operations in Ukraine, and 17 of them became Heroes of the Russian Federation.

[86] According to the UK Ministry of Defence in June 2023, Russia was redeploying regular military units to the Bakhmut sector following withdrawal of Wagner forces.

[87] On 3 March 2022, it was reported that Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky of the VDV's 7th Guards Mountain Air Assault Division, who was the appointed deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army, was killed in action in Ukraine.

[90] Ukrainian sources said he was killed on 2 March and his death was first confirmed on VKontakte by "Combat Brotherhood", a Russian veterans group,[88] and later by President Vladimir Putin.

[92] In late April, Bellingcat journalist Christo Grozev claimed that he "personally checked" and that Russia had lost "almost 90% of its best paratroopers" in the first echelon of the invasion.

"[95] On 19 June 2022, it was reported by Odesa military-civilian spokesperson Serhiy Bratchuk[96] that Putin had sacked Serdyukov for his doomed bid to take Hostomel airfield, which few of the invading soldiers survived.

[102] Also reported was the creation of a new 52nd Artillery Brigade, the first unit of its type in the VDV, and the 44th Air Assault Division, created on the basis of the 111th and 387th Motor Rifle Regiments of the 1st Army Corps of the Donetsk People's Republic.

[106] Personal firearms and crew served weapons include:[citation needed] The VDV are fully equipped with Barmitsa and Ratnik infantry combat suits as of 2018.

T-72B3 tanks supplied to the Russian Airborne Forces in 2018 have been upgraded and are equipped with Andromeda automatic control system and some of them with top-attack defence screens.

[citation needed] In 2017, they received two battalion sets of BMD-4M combat airborne vehicles and BTR-MDM APCs, over 80 Rys’ and UAZ Pickup armored automobiles.

They have ordered Kamaz Typhoon armored infantry transports, following modifications to meet the demands of the airborne troops and accepted them for supply in August 2021.

They had light armour and limited anti-tank capability, but provided invaluable fire support for paratroopers behind enemy lines (the caliber of the gun in mm is the number next to the ASU designation).