The 71st Motor Rifle Division was activated in 1984 from elements of the 155th Motor Rifle Division as a mobilization division. The division was based in Semipalatinsk and was part of the 32nd Army. In March 1988, it became part of the 1st Army Corps after the redesignation of the 32nd Army. The mobilization division was redesignated as a territorial training center and later became the 5202nd Weapons and Equipment Storage Base on 1 November 1989. In 1991, the 40th Army was reformed and the storage base became part of it. The storage base was taken over by Kazakhstan in March 1992.[1] The equipment of the base was used to form the Kazakh Military Unit 30217 at Semey, whose first post-independence commander was Major General Aleksandr Martynov. Open source data identifies the unit as the 8th Separate Mechanized Brigade.[2] The unit is part of Regional Command East.[3]
Soviet Union
Divisions of the Soviet Union 1957–1989