90th Guards Tank Division
Identity
Open sources identify this record as the 90th Guards Vitebsk-Novgorod Twice Red Banner Tank Division, military unit 86274, with headquarters at Chebarkul, Chelyabinsk Oblast. TASS reports the division was re-created on 1 December 2016 in the Central Military District, and ISW’s 2023 Russian ground-force ORBAT places it under the 41st Combined Arms Army at Chebarkul. ([tass.ru](https://tass.ru/ural-news/4575857))
Footprint
The publicly corroborated footprint is split between Chelyabinsk and Sverdlovsk oblasts. ISW lists the 239th Tank Regiment (v/ch 89547), 6th Guards Tank Regiment (v/ch 93992), 80th Tank Regiment (v/ch 87441), 400th Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment (v/ch 15871), and 30th Reconnaissance Battalion (v/ch 17654) at Chebarkul, while the 228th Motorized Rifle Regiment (v/ch 22316) is in Yekaterinburg; a 2019 TASS report places the 228th at the 32nd Military Town in Yekaterinburg. I did not find equally strong public confirmation for every smaller support-unit placemark in the metadata. ([understandingwar.org](https://understandingwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/October20122C20202320Russian20Orbat_Final.pdf))
Training Base
Chebarkul is a real training and readiness site, not just an administrative address. TASS reported T-72B3 crews training there for tank biathlon and live-fire in January 2017, and a Ground Forces inspection with bilateral tactical exercises at the Chebarkul range in September 2017; contemporaneous reporting also said tankodromes in Chelyabinsk and Sverdlovsk oblasts, including the Sverdlovsky training range in Yekaterinburg, were modernized for round-the-clock driving and gunnery. At formation, public reporting listed T-72B3 tanks, BTR-82A, BMP-2 and Strelets reconnaissance/communications kits in division service. ([tass.ru](https://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/3934075))
Operational Use
Public reporting shows the division has been deployed in Ukraine rather than remaining solely at home station. ISW assessed in February 2024 that elements of the formation were being concentrated on the Avdiivka axis; Russian official reporting later associated the 6th, 80th and 239th tank regiments with the Avdiivka fighting and, by June-December 2025, placed 90th Division elements on the Pokrovsk (Krasnoarmiisk) and Myrnohrad (Dymytrov)-Novopavlivka sectors within the "Center" grouping, including activity alongside the 41st Army. ([understandingwar.org](https://understandingwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Feb201520Russian20Offensive20Campaign20Assessment20PDF.pdf))
Capabilities & Leadership
Recent Russian reporting shows adaptation to drone-heavy combat. A June 2025 TASS/MoD report described 90th Division air-observation posts arranged as a network to protect concentrations from UAV attack, and a December 2025 report said the 400th Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment used a 2S19 "Msta-S" with "Krasnopol-M2" guided rounds cued by an Orlan UAV against a Ukrainian drone-control point near Myrnohrad/Dymytrov. The latest commander identification I located is a TASS/MoD report from 2 February 2025 naming Guards Colonel Aleksandr Nilov during an awards ceremony for the 80th Tank Regiment, so the supplied commander name appears dated in open reporting. ([tass.ru](https://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/24129731))