78th Tank Division (Soviet Union)
military unit
The 78th Tank Division was a division of the Soviet Ground Forces, active from 1965 to the 1990s. It was originally established in 1949 as the 15th Tank Division, from the 78th Heavy Tank Self-Propelled Regiment (the former 78th Tank Brigade). It gained the 78th designation in 1965. It was part of the 1st Army Corps from 1960, and was based at Ayaguz from 1970. Anatoly Kvashnin commanded the division from 1982 to 1987. In 1991, on the fall of the Soviet Union, the 78th Tank Division was serving at Ayaguz, Kazakh SSR, in the Turkestan Military District. In March 1992 it became part of the Kazakh Ground Forces, and soon after became the 78th Mechanized Division.
In 1992 it became a mechanized division. In 2000, it received the honorific "Kabanbai Batyr". In 2003, the division disbanded due to the reorganization of the Kazakh Ground Forces into brigades.
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