106th Guards Airborne Division

Paratroopers from the Tula Division stand to attention during an exercise in Kazakhstan.

The 106th Guards Tula Airborne Division, more generally referred to as the Tula Division, is one of the four airborne divisions - along with the 7th Cherkassk, 76th Pskov and 98th Svirsk Guards - that make up the bulk of the Russian airborne forces, the VDV (Russian: Воздушно-десантные войска, Vozdushno-desantnye voyska). Based in the city of Tula, to the south of Moscow, it is located within the Moscow Military District but does not fall within any of its command structures, as the VDV constitutes a seperate branch of the Russian armed forces (comparable, for example, to the United States Marine Corps).