Battered infantrymen of Pechenga become part of new motorised division
The 200th Motorised Rifle Brigade, which has suffered major losses in Ukraine, has been renamed the 71st Guards Motorised Rifle Division. The reorganisation is part of a military buildup along the border to Finland and Norway, according to Russian government officials.
The restructuring of Russia's armed forces, as announced in early 2024, is taking shape among the units based along the border to Norway and Finland.
In Pechenga, an area that belonged to Finland before 1944, the 200th Motorised Rifle Brigade has been renamed the 71st Guards Motorised Rifle Division.
The reorganisation is seen as a response to Finland's and Sweden's joining of NATO. According to the Russian foreign ministry, the army buildup along the northwestern border will accelerate as the European Union strengthens its military capacities.
Few details are known about the changes, but the renaming is believed to have been formalised in the summer of 2025. On July 14, a Telegram channel connected to the forces changed its name to the Channel of servicemen of the 71st Guards Division of the Leningrad Military District.
The infantrymen in Pechenga have had huge losses in Ukraine. According to estimates published by the Washington Post, the units lost about 500 men in the first three months of the full-scale war. A Norwegian intelligence report published in early 2023 estimated that the land forces of Kola had been reduced to one-fifth of former capacity.
That could mean up to 1,500 soldiers killed in less than one year of full-scale war.
The upgrade from brigade to division implies a significant increase of troops and equipment. Nevertheless, it appears unlikely that the base in Pechenga is currently undergoing a fundamental modernisation. The war of aggression against Ukraine has depleted Russian capacities, and resources for Pechenga and other regional bases are limited.
The Russian reorganisation of military structures includes the reestablishment of the Soviet-era Moscow and Leningrad military districts and the abolishment of the Northern Fleet as a separate military district.
In addition to the division in Pechenga, Russia has also established a division in Karelia. The 72nd Motorised Rifle Division was reportedly established in 2024.
Practically all of Russia's land forces are heavily involved in the war of aggression against Ukraine.
At the start of the full-scale invasion, the troops from Pechenga are believed to have been deployed in the Kharkiv region, where several high-ranking officers were killed and heavily wounded. Among them were General Aleksandr Zavadsky and Colonel Denis Kurilo.
The brigade was reportedly later deployed in Bakhmut and Chasiv Yar. In 2025, the infantrymen from Pechenga are believed to have been fighting also in the Sumy region.
Fighting on occupied land is nothing new for the soldiers from Pechenga. The 200th Motorised Rifle Brigade engaged in Donbas already in 2014. As reported by the Barents Observer, soldiers and armoured vehicles from the Russian north were spotted near the frontline as Russian forces started their attacks on eastern Ukraine.
Back then, the brigade was reportedly deployed in fights near the airport in Luhansk, as well as several nearby suburbs of Luhansk. In October 2014, commander of one of the brigade's anti-tank platoons Yevgeny Trundayev was killed in the fights.
