World War II The unit was formed as the 240th Cavalry Regiment of the 73rd Cavalry Division in August 1941 in
Biysk. With the division, it was relocated to the Berdino station in
Bryansk Oblast in May 1942, where the remnants of the 55th Cavalry Division were merged into the 73rd. The combined division was redesignated as the 55th Cavalry Division and the 240th was renumbered as the 84th Cavalry Regiment, taking the same number as a regiment of the original 55th Cavalry Division. Subsequently, in February 1943 the regiment became the 55th Guards Cavalry Regiment and the division became the 15th Guards Cavalry Division in recognition of a successful raid behind German lines in the direction of Cherukhino and
Debaltsevo. For its "successful completion of combat tasks" in the destruction of German troops and capture of
Kalisz and
Łódź the regiment received the
Order of Suvorov, 3rd class. For its breakthrough of German defenses east of
Stargard and the capture of
Bärwalde,
Wengerin,
Labes,
Schivelbein, and
Körlin, the regiment was awarded the
Order of Alexander Nevsky on 26 April 1945. The regiment ended the war at
Rathenow, west of
Berlin. For its "fulfillment of assigned missions" in the battles for the capture of Rathenow, Spandau, and Potsdam, the regiment was awarded the
Order of Kutuzov, 3rd class. During the war, 11,237 soldiers of the regiment were decorated and eight received the title
Hero of the Soviet Union. On 1 March 2009, the regiment was reorganized as the 7th Separate Guards Tank Brigade. Social media posts by members of the brigade revealed that elements of the brigade were deployed to
Palmyra around April 2016 for the
Russian military intervention in the Syrian civil war. By 1 December 2016, the brigade was used to form the new
90th Guards Tank Division, with the awards and traditions of the 7th Separate Guards Tank Brigade transferred to the 239th Guards Tank Regiment of the division. A previous unrelated 239th Guards Tank Regiment had served alongside the 295th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment in the 15th Guards Tank Division. During the
Russian invasion of Ukraine,
battalion tactical groups drawn from the 90th Guards Tank Division, including the 6th and 239th Guards Tank Regiments, were committed to the
Kyiv offensive. While attacking during the
battle of Brovary around 10 March, they were reported by Ukrainian intelligence to have suffered heavy losses, and were forced to retreat and shift to defense. Investigation by Russian opposition news website
Meduza revealed that elements of the regiment were involved in war crimes including the killing of civilians and rape in the village of Bohdanivka,
Brovary Raion while it was under Russian control. The regiment was awarded the
Order of Zhukov on 15 June for its performance in the invasion. == References ==