Ilyushin Il-76 Candid/Soviet VDV Airborne Operations

The Russian Airborne Troops or VDV (from "Vozdushno-Desantnye Vojska",) is an arm of service of the Armed forces of the Russian Federation, on a par with the Strategic Rocket Forces and the Russian Space Forces. First formed before World War II, the force undertook two significant airborne operations and a number of smaller jumps during the war and after 1945 for many years was the largest airborne force in the world.[