14th Independent Motorized Rifle Regiment | |
---|---|
14-րդ առանձին մոտոհրաձգային գունդը | |
Active | 2001–present |
Country | Armenia |
Branch | Armenian Ground Forces |
Type | Motorized infantry |
Part of | 1st Army Corps |
HQ | Kapan |
Decorations | Order of Combat Cross of the First Degree |
The 14th Independent Motorized Rifle Regiment (Armenian: 14-րդ առանձին մոտոհրաձգային գունդը) is a military formation of the Armenian Army, located in the city of Kapan. It is a recipient of the Order of Combat Cross of the First Degree.[1]
The predecessor unit is the 83rd Motorized Rifle Brigade and the 97th Motorized Rifle Brigade, both of which served during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. The 97th brigade, which was founded on 12 January 1993,[2] was tasked with the protection of the south-eastern borders of Armenia. Under the leadership of its founding commander, Lieutenant General Mikhail Grigoryan, it was responsible for the seizure of Fizuli.[3] It also inflicted heavy losses on the Azerbaijani Army, taking the territories of historical Syunik, three regions and sixty villages.[4]
In 2016, Sergey Minasyan, an expert at the Caucasus Institute, criticized a publication by a Russian military expert.[5] The erroneous publication had said that the 83rd Motorized Rifle Brigade was stationed in Dashkasan,[6][7] but Dashkaran is located neither in Armenia nor in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic but rather in Azerbaijan.
During the reign of its commander Manvel Grigoryan (who was appointed to this position in 1993),[8] structural changes were made, as a result of which the 97th and 83rd brigades were united, becoming the 14th Independent Motorized Rifle Brigade.[9] In 2001, the 14th Brigade was reorganized into the 14th Independent Motorized Rifle Regiment, which, after handing over the combat duty to the Artsakh Defence Army, was moved to a permanent location. The following commanders served as heads of the unit:[4]
On Army Day 2007, on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the military, the regiment was awarded the Order of Combat Cross of the First Degree.