14th Missile Division
Identity
This record matches the Strategic Rocket Forces' 14th Missile Division at Yoshkar-Ola, Mari El, subordinate to the 27th Guards Missile Army. ([ww2.dk](https://ww2.dk/new/rvsn/14md.htm)) The supplied regiment placemarks align with published open-source coordinates for the 290th, 697th, and 779th missile regiments when the coordinates are interpreted in KML longitude/latitude order. ([russianforces.org](https://russianforces.org/blog/2015/01/tracking_down_road-mobile_miss.shtml))
Force structure
Historical order-of-battle data show four mobile regiments in 2000, with the 702nd Missile Regiment disbanded in 2003. ([ww2.dk](https://ww2.dk/new/rvsn/14md.htm)) Current nongovernmental estimates identify three active regiments at Yoshkar-Ola—the 290th, 697th, and 779th—each with nine road-mobile RS-24 Yars TELs, for an estimated divisional total of 27 missiles. ([fas.org](https://fas.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Russian-nuclear-weapons-2023.pdf?utm_source=openai)) The 697th placemark's unit number 07387 matches an older designation; historical regimental data list 07387 before 1988 and 48404 after its transfer to Yoshkar-Ola. ([ww2.dk](https://www.ww2.dk/new/rvsn/697mr.htm))
Modernization
Russian official statements said Yars was replacing Topol in the Yoshkar-Ola division by 2017, and later Bulletin/FAS assessments judged the 14th Missile Division's SS-27 Mod 2/RS-24 conversion complete. ([tass.com](https://tass.com/defense/975298)) This places the site in the fully reequipped road-mobile ICBM component of the Strategic Rocket Forces rather than the legacy Topol force. ([ria.ru](https://ria.ru/20230809/yars-1888960705.html))
Operations
Recent public reporting is consistent with an active road-mobile mission. In July 2024 and February 2025, Russian MoD statements relayed by TASS and RIA described Yars units from the Yoshkar-Ola formation conducting up to 100-km marches, dispersal into forested field positions, camouflage, route demining, and counter-sabotage drills using Typhoon-M vehicles and UAVs. ([tass.com](https://tass.com/defense/1819961))
Infrastructure
Open sources show a dispersed basing pattern across multiple regimental sites in the wider Yoshkar-Ola area rather than a single fixed launch complex. ([fas.org](https://fas.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Russian-nuclear-weapons-2023.pdf?utm_source=openai)) Historical ORBAT material also lists an 846th Mobile Command Post as a division support element, which is consistent with the fourth placemark, but I did not find recent official public confirmation of its exact current location or status. ([ww2.dk](https://ww2.dk/new/rvsn/14md.htm))
Historical significance
The formation moved to Yoshkar-Ola in 1960 as the 201st Missile Brigade and was redesignated the 14th Missile Division on 30 May 1961; local anniversary reporting says it first assumed combat duty there on 12 February 1962. ([ww2.dk](https://ww2.dk/new/rvsn/14md.htm)) Yoshkar-Ola is historically significant because the 779th regiment there became the first Strategic Missile Forces regiment to assume combat duty with the mobile Topol system on 23 July 1985. ([rvsn.info](https://rvsn.info/regiments/reg_779.html))