Frogmen are typically drawn from the Naval Infantry's ranks, and they are capable of a wide range of special operations tasks and missions.

Colloquially, Russian-speakers may refer to Naval Infantrymen using the abbreviation морпехи (morpekhi (plural), singular form: морпех (morpekh)).

[5] The history of the Russian Navy could be traced back to the 16th century with Ivan the Terrible with the formation of his special team of Streltsy "sea soldiers" as part of his crew of flotilla ships.

The official history of the Naval Infantry could be traced back to the creation of the Russian ship Oryol (lit., Eagle), which launched in 1668 & sailed with a crew of 23 sailors & 35 soldiers, with the soldiers duties of boarding & capturing enemy ships & providing sentinel service under the command of Ivan Domozhirov.

[6] During the Azov campaign of the Russo-Turkish War, under Peter the Great, the soldiers in these units; many of whom were recruited by the Preobrazhensky & the Semyonovsky Regiments of the later-to-become Imperial Guards, were shown to be particularly effective in carrying out those duties.

[8] In November 16 (27), 1705, following a decree of Peter I, the first regiment "of naval equipage" (морской экипаж) (or in other words, equipped and supplied by the Russian Imperial Navy) was formed for boarding and landing operations, on the ships of the Baltic Fleet.

Nevertheless, in 1854–1855, during the Siege of Sevastopol against British, French and Turkish troops, there were renewed calls for revival of the military's Naval Infantry units.

In March 1915, a separate naval battalion of the 2nd Baltic Fleet Crew was transformed into the Marine Regiment of Special Purpose.

The naval infantry was deployed to the Baltic to defend the homeland against German attack as well as the Caspian Sea for operations against Ottoman forces.

At the beginning of the war, the navy had only one naval infantry brigade in the Baltic Fleet, but began forming and training other battalions.

They conducted four major operations: two during the Battle of the Kerch Peninsula, one during the Caucasus Campaign and one as part of the Landing at Moonsund, in the Baltic.

The Naval Infantry received amphibious versions of standard armoured fighting vehicles, including tanks used by the Soviet Army.

This showed a rather sudden emergence of three so-called coastal defence divisions (including the 3rd at Klaipėda in the Baltic Military District, the 126th in the Odessa Military District and seemingly the 77th Guards Motor Rifle Division with the Northern Fleet), along with three artillery brigades/regiments, subordinate to the Soviet Navy, which had previously been unknown as such to NATO.

A proclamation of the Soviet government on July 14, 1991, which was later adopted by its successor states, provided that all "treaty-limited equipment" (tanks, artillery and armoured vehicles) assigned to naval infantry or coastal defence forces, would count against the total treaty entitlement.

"Cooperation From the Sea 1995" was a maritime disaster relief exercise, which included cross training and personnel exchanges, and culminated in a combined U.S. and Russian amphibious landing.

[13] It was reported by Agenstvo Voyenniykh Novostyei (AVN) in June 2000 that the new brigade, which may have inherited the lineage of the 77th Motor Rifle Division,[14][15] was to have its troops housed in Kaspiysk and Astrakhan, along with as many as 195 combat vehicles and two hovercraft sent to it from Chukotka and the Northern Fleet, respectively.

In early September 2015, it was estimated that approximately 800 Russian Naval Infantrymen had taken up positions all along western Syria with the majority of them being stationed in the mountainous city of Slunfeh in east Latakia – the remaining personnel had been moved to the Homs (Wadi Al-Nasara) and Tartous (Masyaf and Safita) Governorates in preparation for the Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War.

[16] On the night of 19 to 20 September 2015, Russian Naval Infantry engaged in a fight with militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) near the city of Latakia.

[17] Before dawn of 24 September 2015, Russian Naval Infantry went into battle for the first time since their deployment to Syria, Debka file's military and intelligence sources reveal.

[19] In mid-May 2016, Russian Naval Infantry helped Syrian forces recapture the initiative in east Homs, while also recovering several points near the Al-Sha’ar Gas Fields and T-4 Military Airport.

On 24 February 2022, Russian Naval Infantry started an amphibious assault on the Sea of Azov coast and besieged the city of Mariupol.

Recruits "lacked sufficient food, maps, critical medical supplies, or walkie-talkies, and they were forced to use 1970s-era Kalashnikov rifles — with some members having to resort to using Wikipedia to locate instructions for using certain weapons".

The unit saw initial success, however, but according to former FSB colonel Igor Strelkov, their assault stagnated following heavy losses to infantry and lack of ammunition for their organic fire support, despite using their T-80 tanks in an indirect fire role, and ''in general-poor technical support for the attacking units and their low staffing.

As of 2020[update] Russian Naval Infantry had been gradually phasing out PT-76 amphibious tanks, and starting to receive a number of T-80s and upgraded BMP-2Ms.

According to a Defense Ministry statement published by RIA Novosti in November 2009, "All units of Russia's naval infantry will be fully equipped with advanced weaponry by 2015."

Included in this upgrade would be T-90 tanks, BMP-3 IFVs, 2S31 120 mm mortar/artillery tracks, wheeled BTR-82A armored personnel carriers, air defense equipment and small arms.

[48] In late February 2014, at least one Black Sea Fleet assigned unit (at company level) was apparently using Tigr armored cars near Sevastopol during the annexation of Crimea.

In March 2014 imagery emerged of some Naval Infantry personnel carrying what appeared to be the OTs-14-1A-04 7.62×39mm assault rifle with an under-barrel GP-30 40 mm grenade launcher, a bullpup design normally associated with Russian Airborne Troops, as well as Combat Engineering and Spetsnaz units.

The advent of the Ivan Rogov was taken in the West as an indication that the Soviet Navy was planning to strengthen the power projection mission of Naval Infantry.

Among the various small assault landing vehicles to launch from the bow are hovercraft, such as the Aist, which can carry the naval infantry ashore at speeds of fifty knots.