On January 21, military personnel of the Russian Engineering Troops celebrate their professional holiday.
On this day (January 10, old style) in 1701, Peter I issued a decree on the creation of a special school in Moscow at the Pushkarsky courtyard for the training of naval and artillery engineers, sappers and surveyors.
In 1719, the same school appeared in the new capital - St. Petersburg.
And four years later, the two educational institutions were merged.
Graduates of the engineering school staffed the first mine units of the Russian army.
In 1712, the tsar approved the staff of the miner company (75 people) and the pontoon team (34 people), and also introduced mandatory training for all branches of the military in “engineering”.
This is how the foundations of engineering training and special military engineering education were laid in Russia.
During the era of Peter the Great, the construction of naval defensive structures began, for which engineering ranks were appointed to the staff of fortresses and military ports.
General management of the construction of fortresses was initially entrusted to the office of artillery and fortification.
In 1722, these tasks were transferred to the responsibility of a specially created engineering office.
323 years in the service of the Fatherland
Since its inception, engineering troops have played an important role in most conflicts in which the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union took part.
Thus, in the 18th century, military engineers were involved in the Northern and Seven Years' Wars, as well as in the campaigns of Alexander Suvorov.
Engineers also made an important contribution to the defeat of the French army during the Patriotic War of 1812.
In the Battle of Borodino, Napoleonic units suffered heavy losses during attacks on Russian redoubts.
Trying to bypass these fortifications, the French came under heavy flank artillery fire, which also led to losses.
Thus, the work of military engineers helped thwart Napoleon's attempt to achieve victory in the war in a pitched battle.
Anti-tank bumps in the Northern Military District zone
RIA News
© Press service of the governor of the Belgorod region
The development of technology and the emergence of new weapons at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries brought changes to engineering.
During the defense of the Port Arthur fortress during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, Russian sappers for the first time used a combination of long-term fortifications with field positions, developed new means of mining and conducted underground mine warfare.
During the First World War, the widespread use of machine guns and massive artillery fire required new approaches to the construction of defensive structures and led to the creation of strong points with trenches, communication trenches and barriers.
Under the leadership of Russian engineers during the war, thousands of kilometers of defensive lines were created and long-term fortifications were improved.
Fortress forts were included in field defensive lines, which made it possible to increase the stability of troops when repelling attacks from a superior enemy.
That this decision was correct was demonstrated by the heroic defense of the Osovets fortress.
During offensive operations, Russian military engineers conducted reconnaissance, prepared bridgeheads for the offensive and maneuver routes, and also carried out camouflage measures.
The engineering troops also played an outstanding role during the Great Patriotic War.
They laid about 70 million mines, which blew up about 10 thousand enemy tanks, as well as a significant amount of other military equipment, soldiers and officers.
In addition, engineering units built 50 thousand km of defensive lines, about 1.5 million fortifications, dug 20 thousand km of anti-tank ditches and scarps (earth barriers).
To ensure the offensive actions of the Soviet troops, engineers prepared over 400 thousand km of military routes and roads, equipped crossings on all water barriers from the Volga to the Elbe, erected 11 thousand bridges (under tank load) with a total length of 660 km and made hundreds of thousands of passages in enemy barriers.
For their exploits during the Great Patriotic War, more than 100 thousand soldiers, sergeants, officers and generals of the engineering troops were awarded orders and medals, 655 of them were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
294 military personnel became full holders of the Order of Glory, 200 engineering units and formations were converted into guards.
"Thwarting the enemy's offensive plans"
Nowadays, the tasks of the Russian engineering troops include engineering reconnaissance, the construction of fortifications, the construction of field structures to accommodate military personnel, the creation of engineering barriers, including the installation of minefields, mine clearance, as well as the preparation of crossings and traffic routes.
“The engineering corps has a lot of tasks.
But they boil down to two main goals: organizing a breakthrough of enemy positions and ensuring the protection of our troops during the defense.
To achieve this, various activities are being carried out, from mining to laying tracks and building crossings,” retired Colonel Viktor Litovkin explained in a commentary to RT.
Military engineers also take an active part in special military operations.
As Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu noted in his order to the troops, engineering units show dedication and courage and successfully solve important tasks such as organizing crossings of water barriers, demining and restoring various facilities.
Remote mining system "Agriculture"
RIA News
© Vadim Savitsky / Press service of the Russian Ministry of Defense
The minister emphasized that military engineers played an important role in ensuring the defense of Russian positions while repelling the counter-offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
“The system of engineering barriers they erected played a key role in thwarting the enemy’s offensive plans,” the minister stated.
According to Viktor Litovkin, we are talking, in particular, about the minefields that Russian sappers installed in the Zaporozhye direction.
“Military engineers played a very important role in repelling the counter-offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The minefields that our specialists installed became a serious obstacle for Ukrainian armored vehicles.
Trenches, trenches and other defensive structures also played a role,” the analyst said.
It is worth noting that the SVO allowed the Russian military to test and, if necessary, improve engineering equipment.
Thus, according to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, during the counter-offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Russian troops tested more than 50 promising engineering weapons in combat conditions, many of which demonstrated high efficiency.
“The engineering system for remote mining “Agriculture” was successfully used in all areas and confirmed previously developed approaches to its use.
Pontoon parks have confirmed their effectiveness, which, despite damage from enemy weapons, retained their buoyancy,” the defense department reported.
The Ministry of Defense added that, based on the results of combat use, more than 20 types of engineering weapons have already been modernized, including fortification equipment, landing equipment, solid knife mine trawls, sapper probes, as well as camouflage kits and suits for hiding personnel and equipment.
As candidate of military sciences Sergei Suvorov emphasized in a commentary to RT, without well-trained and equipped engineering troops, a modern army cannot effectively carry out tasks on the battlefield.
“In the Russian army today, the capabilities of the engineering troops are being improved, they are being equipped with new types of equipment.
This is important work, because without military engineers, the armed forces can neither conduct an offensive, nor defend, nor carry out marches,” the analyst concluded.