Soviet Union The 55th Naval Infantry Division originated with the formation of the 357th Rifle Regiment of the
342nd Rifle Division from the second and third submachine gun battalions of a separate rifle brigade at
Novotroitskoye,
Amur Oblast during the winter of 1944–1945. The first regimental commander was Major I. T. Rudnik. Receiving its battle flag on 15 March 1945, the regiment took part in the August 1945
Soviet invasion of Manchuria with the division and its parent
87th Rifle Corps. The 357th Regiment and the division were relocated from
Vladivostok to
Maoka on
Sakhalin between 23 and 26 August. After the war, the regiment remained on Sakhalin, stationed at the settlement of
Aniva. In 1957, the regiment was reorganized as the 390th Motor Rifle Regiment while the division became the
56th Motor Rifle Division. By the end of its formation, the division consisted of 5 regiments (106th, 165th, 390th Naval Infantry, 150th Tank and 921st Artillery), 3 artillery battalions (336th Anti-Aircraft, 331st Self-Propelled and 129th Rocket), 3 separate battalions (263rd Reconnaissance, 509th Engineer-Landing and 1484th Signals) and 2 separate companies (91st Medical and 171st Motor Transport), with the total number of around 7,000 personell. The regiments received battle flags in December 1969. During the Soviet period, the personnel of the division served in Vietnam, Ethiopia, and Somalia.
Russian Federation The division took part in the
First Chechen War and the
Second Chechen War. The 165th Naval Infantry Regiment was deployed to Chechnya in January 1994, taking part in the
battle of Grozny. In April, it was replaced by the consolidated 106th Naval Infantry Regiment, which included elements of the
61st and
336th Naval Infantry Brigades. The regiment operated in Chechnya until June 1994. In 2007, division commander Colonel Valery Oleynikov was relieved of command after a series of
dedovshchina incidents and beatings and humiliations of sailors by officers of the unit. Having undergone a series of reductions and reorganizations, the division shrank to 3,100 servicemen by 2005, On 1 December 2025, the brigade was redesignated back into the 55th Naval Infantry Division, retaining all its honors and decorations. The division's 155th Regiment began forming on the same day, with the 165th Regiment scheduled to begin formation a year later. == Commanders ==