33rd Guards Missile Army
Official Designation
33rd Guards Missile Army (Russian: 33-ya gvardeyskaya raketnaya armiya), Military Unit 43189. The formation is a constituent of the Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN) of the Russian Federation.
Unit Overview
The 33rd Guards Missile Army is one of three missile armies in the RVSN. It commands multiple intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) divisions and associated support units across Siberia. Its forces employ both road-mobile ICBM systems and hardened silo complexes to maintain continuous nuclear-deterrence readiness and second-strike capability.
Headquarters and Identification (v/ch 43189)
The army headquarters is designated Military Unit 43189 and is located in Omsk, Omsk Oblast, Russian Federation. Open-source administrative and procurement documentation associates v/ch 43189 with the 33rd Guards Missile Army HQ. The HQ conducts operational control, planning, training oversight, and logistics coordination for its subordinate formations.
Chain of Command and Leadership
The 33rd Guards Missile Army is subordinate to the Commander of the Strategic Missile Forces and, through the General Staff, to the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation. As of October 2024, the Commander of the RVSN is Colonel General Sergey Karakayev (appointed 22 December 2010). Army-level commanders are general officers; however, the current commander of v/ch 43189 is not consistently identified in official public sources.
Leadership Identification Provided
A commander name, Major General Vladimir Kvashin, was provided. This assignment cannot be independently corroborated in authoritative open sources as of October 2024. Official personnel orders or Ministry of Defence releases are the appropriate sources for confirmation; absent such publication, no definitive identification can be provided.
Order of Battle (Subordinate Divisions)
Subordinate ICBM divisions under the 33rd Guards Missile Army are publicly identified as: 29th Missile Division (Irkutsk Oblast), 35th Missile Division (Barnaul, Altai Krai), 39th Missile Division (Novosibirsk Oblast), and 62nd Missile Division (Uzhur, Krasnoyarsk Krai). The Irkutsk, Barnaul, and Novosibirsk divisions field road-mobile RS-24 Yars systems. The Uzhur division operates heavy silo complexes historically associated with the R-36M2 system and is identified in official statements as a planned deployment site for the RS-28 Sarmat.
Primary Missile Systems
RS-24 Yars (NATO: SS-27 Mod 2) is a three-stage, solid-propellant ICBM in mobile and silo variants, assessed range approximately 11,000–12,000 km, with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs). Road-mobile launchers utilize the MZKT-79221 16x16 chassis. R-36M2 (SS-18 Mod 5/6) is a silo-based, liquid-propellant heavy ICBM historically deployed at Uzhur with MIRV capability. RS-28 Sarmat is a next-generation heavy, silo-based ICBM intended to replace R-36M2 at sites including Uzhur; Russian officials stated in 2023–2024 that Sarmat was entering service, but public, independently verifiable data on operational numbers and unit distribution remain unavailable. Exact warhead loadings and launcher counts for specific divisions are not publicly disclosed.
Geographic Disposition
The army’s garrisons are distributed across Novosibirsk Oblast (Novosibirsk area), Altai Krai (Barnaul area), Irkutsk Oblast (Irkutsk area), and Krasnoyarsk Krai (Uzhur area). This dispersion across a large interior region of the Russian Federation is a posture emphasized in Russian nuclear-deterrence doctrine to enhance survivability.
Infrastructure and Basing
Road-mobile divisions operate from permanent deployment points with hardened shelters, maintenance facilities, regiment-level command posts, and technical bases for missile preparation and storage. Units train to disperse along pre-surveyed patrol routes and field positions. The Uzhur division’s silo fields comprise hardened silos with buried command, power, and communications infrastructure and hardened launch control centers. Modernization and construction activities at Uzhur have been publicly reported in connection with planned RS-28 Sarmat deployment. Detailed site layouts, coordinates, and facility schematics are classified and not publicly available.
Operations, Training, and Readiness
Official Ministry of Defence releases periodically highlight training by Novosibirsk, Barnaul, and Irkutsk road-mobile units, including road marches, camouflage and concealment, counter-sabotage drills, and launch-cycle rehearsals. Units participate in RVSN and national-level strategic deterrence exercises (for example, annual Grom drills), as well as command-post and communications exercises validating automated command-and-control. Specific alert statuses and readiness rates are not disclosed publicly.
Modernization Status
Russian official statements indicate that replacement of legacy RT-2PM Topol mobile systems with RS-24 Yars has been a priority across the 2010s and early 2020s, with divisions in the 33rd Guards Missile Army repeatedly cited as recipients of Yars. Heavy-ICBM modernization at Uzhur focuses on site preparation for RS-28 Sarmat. As of October 2024, Russia has stated Sarmat is in service; independent, open-source confirmation of operational deployment details at regiment level has not been provided.
Treaty Context and Transparency
Under the New START Treaty (in force since 5 February 2011, extended to 5 February 2026), Russia historically provided aggregate strategic force data without base- or unit-level breakdowns. In February 2023, Russia announced suspension of participation in New START inspections and data exchanges, further limiting transparency. Consequently, detailed inventories and per-garrison launcher or warhead counts for the 33rd Guards Missile Army are not available from official public sources.
Security and Access Controls
The army’s garrisons are closed military installations with layered access control, dedicated security and counter-sabotage units, and NBC defense elements. Movement of road-mobile missile columns is protected by organic security forces and, when required, by the National Guard. Specific protective measures, internal communications architecture, and vulnerabilities are classified and not publicly disclosed.