Moscow Military District

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The Moscow Military District is a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. General of the Army Vladimir Bakin has commanded the District since June 6, 2005.

History

In the beginning of the second half of the 19th century Russia officials realized the need for re-organization of the Russian Army to meet new circumstances. During May 1862, the War Ministry, headed by Army General Dmitry Milyutin, introduced to Tsar Alexander II of Russia proposals for the reorganization of the army, which included the formation of fifteen military districts. A tsarist edict of 6 August 1864, announced in a Defence Minister’s order on 10 August of the same year, established ten military districts, including Moscow. The District’s territory then comprised 12 provinces: Vladimir, Vologda, Kaluga, Kostroma, Moscow, Nizhniy Novgorod, Ryazan, Smolensk, Tambov, Tver, Tula, and Yaroslavl. The District was intended as a reinforcement source for troops and equipment, being some distance from the frontier, rather than an operational area. The District dispatched five infantry and a cavalry division south to the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-8, as well as sending another division to the Caucasus area. This force totaled around 30,000 men and 20,000 horses. Over 80,000 men were also called into reserve units. The District also housed 21,000 Turkish prisoners of war. During the First World War over a million men were stationed in the district. Much of the garrison was involved in the October Revolution of 1917, and consequent establishment of a Soviet regime in the cities of Bryansk, Vladimir, Voronezh, Kaluga, Nizhniy Novgorod, Orel, Tver, Yaroslavl. By a resolution of the Moscow military revolutionary committee on 17 November [O.S. 4 November] 1917, N.I. Muralyov was assigned the as the new commander of the district. In the period of the Civil War and military intervention in Russia 1917 - 22 the District prepared military personnel for all the fronts and supplied the Red Army with different forms of armament and allowances. From June to the middle of September 1919 the District conducted 33 callups totalling more than 500 thousand people. In Moscow the 1 Moscow Rifle Division, Warsaw revolutionary regiment, and 2nd revolutionary regiment were formed, and Latvian forces were brought to the Latvian Rifle Division. In Voronezh two cavalry divisions were formed, two rifle divisions and two rifle regiments in Nizhniy Novgorod, and the 16th Rifle Division in Tambov. After the end of Civil War in the troops of region were demobilized, as a result of which their number was reduced from 580,000 (at the end of 1920) to 85,000 in January 1923, and the District was reorganised on a peacetime basis. In the 1920s the District had 10 rifle divisions: the 1st Moscow Proletariat Red Banner Rifle Division (first formed either in December 1924 or at the beginning of 1927), the 6th Оrlovskaya; the 14-я Владимирская; the 17-я Нижегородская; the 18-я Ярославская; the 19-я Воронежская; the 48-я Тверская; the 55-я Курская; the 81 -я Калужская; and the 84th Тульская.[1] Autumn manoeuvres began to be conducted yearly. In the beginning of the 1930 tanks started to be introduced, including the MS or T-18, T-26, T-27, BT, T-28, and the heavy T-35. In 1930 the first mechanized brigade in the Soviet Army was formed in the district. The Russian Ground Forces' official site notes that the first tactical parachute landing took place in the District on 2 August 1930. In World War II the District formed three fronts, 23 armies, 128 divisions, and 197 brigades, an approximate total of 4.5 million men. In 1944-5 alone the District sent to the front 1,200,000 soldiers. From summer 1945 to summer 1946, in order to supervise the demobilisation process, the District was subdivided into four: the Moscow, Voronezh, Gorki (where the 324th Rifle Division was probably demobilised), and Smolensk Military Districts (33rd Army, home from Germany, formed Smolensk MD headquarters in late 1945). General Kirill Moskalenko took command of the District in 1953. On 22 February 1968, for the large contribution to the cause of strengthening the defense of the state, for its' successes in combat and political training, and in view of the 50th anniversary of the Soviet Army, the District was awarded the Order of Lenin. In 1979 Scott and Scott reported the HQ address as being Moscow, A-252, Chapayevskiy Per., Dom 14. The District's dispositions at the end of the 1980s were:[2]

• 13th Guards Army Corps o 60th Tank Division o 206th Motor Rifle Division, Tambov

• District Troops o 2nd Guards 'Taman' Motor Rifle Division, Kalinnets o 4th Guards Kantimirov Tank Division, Naro-Fominsk o 26th Guards Tank Training Division, Vladimir o 32nd Guards Motor Rifle Division, Kalinin o 106th Guards Airborne Division, Tula

Commanders 1945-91

• General Colonel Артемьев (P A Artemyev) (until 1947 and 1949-06/1953) • Marshal of the Soviet Union Kirill Meretskov (1947-1949) • Marshal of the Soviet Union Kirill Moskalenko (06 1953-10 1960) • Мarshal of the Soviet Union Nikolay Ivanovich Krylov (10 1960-04 03 1963) • General A P Белобородов (A R Beloborodov) (05 03 1963-1968) • General Colonel ЕФ Ивановский (E F Ivanovsky) (1968-1972) • General V L Gororov (1972-1980) • General П Г Лушев (P G Lyshev) (1980-06 1985) • General В М Архипов (V M Arkhipov) (A (06 1985-08 1988) • General К А Кочетов (K A Kochetov) (08 1988-05 1989) • General Colonel Н В Калинин (N V Kalinin) (05 1989-09 1991) • General Lieutenant V М Toporov (09 1991-17 05 1992)

The 1990s and Today

With the collapse of the USSR the District became for the first time in its history a boundary district and thus a new priority was put on building up combat forces within it, rather than the training and capital garrison focus of the Soviet period. In the early 1990s the District received the headquarters of the First Guards Tank Army from the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. It was relocated to Smolensk, and consisted of the 4th Guards Tank Division and 144th Guards Motor Rifle Division (at Yelnya). However the Army's headquarters disbanded later in the 1990s, along with the 144th Guards MRD. The 22nd Army Headquarters was reformed from 13th Army Corps in the early 1990s, to control the new 3rd Motor Rifle Division among other formations. The 22nd Army had previously been inactive for a long period; it was last operational immediately after the war (when it participated in the Second Rzhev-Sychevka Offensive in late 1942) when its HQ along with the 109th Rifle Division arrived in the South Ukraine in May 1945. In the Northern summer of 1945, together with the headquarters of the Independent Coastal Army, located in the Crimea, it was reorganised as the new but shortlived Tavricheskiy Military District. After several years as a direct reporting formation, the Operational Group of Russian Forces in Moldova was realigned under the command of the Moscow Military District in 1998.[3] Previously the 14th Guards Army (it was renamed in April 1995[4]), forces and individuals from this command played a major part in the early 1990s in establishing and maintaining the trans-Dnestr separatists of the Transnistria as a viable de facto state. The District has around 75,000 troops assigned and consists of:

• 2nd Tamanskaya Guards Motor Rifle Division, гвардейская мотострелковая Таманская дивизия • 34th Guards Artillery Division, гвардейская артиллерийская дивизия • 27th Sevastopolskaya Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, мотострелковая бригада • 112th Rocket Brigade (Shuya) (Tochka SSM) • 20th Guards Army, 20-я армия

o 4th Kantemirovskaya Guards Tank Division, гвардейская танковая Кантемировская дивизия o 10th Guards Uralsko-Lvovskaya Tank Division, гвардейская танковая Уральско-Львовская дивизия [5] o 397th MRL Regiment (Skopin) o 448th Rocket Brigade (Kursk) (Tochka SSM) o other units

• 22nd Army, 22-я армия, Nizhni Novgorod o 3rd Vislenskaya Motor Rifle Division, мотострелковая Вислянская дивизия o 50th Rocket Brigade (Shuya) (Tochka SSM) o 211th Artillery Brigade (Mulino) o 918th Multiple Rocket Launcher Regiment (Mulino) o Base for Storage of Weapons and Equipment (Tver) (ex 166th Motor Rifle Brigade) o other units

• Operational Group of Russian Forces in Moldova (Tiraspol) (formerly 14th Guards Army) o (two?) separate battalions, formerly from the 8th Guards MR Brigade[6]

• 16th Spetsnaz Brigade, 16-я бригада спецназа • a division-sized weapons and equipment storage base at Yelnya, the former 144 Guards MRD • 16th Air Army • other formations and units

Formations of the Airborne Forces, including the 98th Guards Airborne Division and Russian 106th Guards Tula Airborne Division, also are based within the District's boundaries, but report directly to VDV headquarters. Army General Vladimir Bakin was the former chief of staff - first deputy commander-in-chief of forces of the Volga-Ural Military District.

Notes

1. ^ Lenskii, 2001 2. ^ V.I. Feskov, K.A. Kalashnikov, V.I. Golikov, The Soviet Army in the Years of the Cold War 1945-91, Tomsk University

Publishing House, Tomsk, 2004 3. ^ Andrew Duncan, Russia and Ukraine: restructuring for a new era, Jane's Intelligence Review, June 1998, p.5 4. ^ RAND, CF 129, Chapter 4 Trans-Dniestria

5. ^ According to [1] the full name is 10 гвардейская танковая Уральско-Львовская ордена Октябрьской революции Краснознаменная орденов Суворова и Кутузова добровольческая дивизия имени Маршала Советского Союза Р. А. Малиновского

6. ^ See 59th Guards Rifle Division for the history of this formation.

References

• Official Russian website - http://www.mil.ru/848/1045/1272/1365/1362/1890/index.shtml • Kommersant-Vlast, 'Vys Rossiya Armia'. http://www.kommersant.ru/k-vlast/get_page.asp?page_id=2005769-22.htm, 14

May 2002 • IISS Military Balance • Harriet Fast Scott and William F Scott, The Armed Forces of the USSR, Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, 1979.

Leningrad Military District

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Leningrad Military District is a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. As the Russian Military of Defence site officially states, it traces its history from the Petersburg Military District of Imperial Russia. When the USSR dissolved, there was very little effective change for the LMD, though in the following years reductions and formation moves took place. Presidential Decree 900 dated July 27, 1998 gave the District's composition as the Republic of Karelia, the Komi Republic, Arkhangelsk, Vologda, Leningrad, Murmansk, Novgorod, and Pskov oblasts, Saint Petersburg, and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. General Colonel Valerii Gerasimov has commanded the District since December 2007.

History

The Petersburg Military District was originally created in August 1864 following Order B-228 of the Defence Minister of the Russian Empire. The order, signed on 10 (22) August established that "for local control of the Ground Armed Forces and military establishments, are formed… Military-regional administrations in the following ten military districts" of which one was Petersburg. The District’s forces gained combat experience in the Russo-Turkish (1877-1878) and Russo-Japanese (1904-05) wars. By a decision of Emperor Nicholas II on 24 August 1908, the names of units and establishments within the District were changed to Petrograd. The Leningrad Military District was originally formed as the Petrograd Military District after the October Revolution of 1917 up to the beginning of the formation of the Red Army. The Petrograd District was established as a part of the RKKA by order в„– 71 of the Highest Military Council of 6 September, 1918. On 1 February, 1924, by the order в„– 126 the Revolutionary Military Councils of the USSR the Petrograd military district was renamed the Leningrad military district. Markian Popov was appointed District Commander in 1939. Its main purpose was the defence of the Kola Peninsula and the northern shores of the Gulf of Finland. On the right flank it bordered with the Arkhangelsk MD, on the left — with the Baltic MD. Among the defensive works started in the 1930s to protect the frontiers was the Karelian Fortified Region. The Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-40 prompted a close examination of the combat maturity of the District’s troops, and for the better control of the 7th and 13th Armies the North-Western Front was formed from the staff of the District on 7 January 1940. Three and a half months later the Front was dissolved back into the District headquarters. On 22 June 1941 the District comprised:

• 7th Army • 14th Army • 23rd Army • 1st Mechanised Corps (-) • three other infantry divisions • four fortified regions • air forces • other formations and units

Two days after the German invasion of the Soviet Union, on 24 June 1941, the District was reorganised as the Northern Front, and two months later, on 23 August 1941, it was split into the Leningrad and Karelian Fronts. The Front’s forces heroic efforts played a major part in resisting the German attacks during the Siege of Leningrad. By the joint efforts of troops of the Leningrad Front, Volkhov Front, and the 2nd Baltic Front during January 1944 the enemy was routed from the environs of Leningrad and Novgorod, during the Battle of Narva. Pressing home the attack, the forces of the Leningrad Front in summer and in the fall of 1944 helped to liberate Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania from the Germans. The Front was reorganized under the Leningrad District into a peacetime status on 9 July 1945. Marshall Leonid Govorov took command shortly afterwards. General, later Marshal, Sergei Sokolov assumed command in 1965. On 22 February 1968, in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the Soviet Army and for its successes in combat and in political training, the District was awarded the Order of Lenin. Marshal Sokolov later became the Minister of Defence in 1984. In 1979, Scott and Scott reported the headquarters address as Leningrad, L-13, Pod'ezdnoy Per., Dom 4.

Commanders 1945-91

• Marshal of the Soviet Union, Leonid Govorov (July 1945 - April 1946) • Lieutenant General, Dmitry Gusev (April 1946 - 1949), • Lieutenant General, Alexander Luchinski (1949 - May 1953) • General of the Army, Matvei Zakharov (May 1953 - October 1957)

• General of the Army, Nikolay Krylov (January 1958 - October 1960) • General of the Army, Mikhail Kazakov (October 1960 - October 1965) • Lieutenant General, Sergei Sokolov (October 1965 - April 1967) • Lieutenant General, Ivan Shavrov (May 1967 - January 1973) • Lieutenant General, Anatoly Gribkov (February 1973 - September 1976) • M. Sorokin (October 1976 - October 1981) • General of the Army - E. Snetkov (November 1981 - December 1987) • V. Ermakov (December 1987 - December 1991)

Post-Cold War

The fall of the Soviet Union caused much reassessment of the Russian Federation’s military situation. Economic constraints have greatly hampered military effectiveness. However since 1992 many formations and units of the District have participated in local conflicts and peace-keeping missions, especially in the North Caucasus. In early December 1997, President Boris Yeltsin said in Sweden that Russia would make unilateral reductions to forces in the northwest, which included the Leningrad Military District. He promised that land and naval units would be reduced by 40 per cent by January 1999. In May 1999, when Russian defense minister Marshal Igor Sergeyev confirmed that the cuts had taken place, Sergeyev said that the personnel of the Leningrad Military District had been drawn down by 52 per cent. In terms of formations, the series of disbandments left the district almost unrecognisable. The 6th Army’s staff at Petrozavodsk, the staff of the 30th Guards Army Corps, and all five motor rifle divisions previously in the district disbanded. Left in their place were a number of weapons and equipment storage sites, and two motor rifle brigades. In terms of air forces, after the collapse of the Soviet Union the 76th Army of the Soviet Air Forces and the 6th Air Army of the Voyska PVO, the Soviet Air Defence Forces, were left operating in the district. The two forces were merged as the 6th Army of VVS and PVO in 1998.[1] Formations and units of the District now include:

• 138th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, Kamenka • 200th Motor Rifle Brigade, Pechenga • 2nd Spetsnaz Brigade, Promezhits (Pskov) • 56th District Training Centre, Sertolovo • 23rd Base for Storage of Weapons & Equipment (Lakhdenpokhya-Sortavala) (ex 111th Motor Rifle Division) • 25th Base for Storage of Weapons & Equipment (Vladimirskiy Pager)(former motor rifle brigade & regiment of 3 Guards

Motor Rifle Division in Baltic Military District) • 30th Base for Storage of Weapons & Equipment (Petrozavodsk)(former motor rifle brigade) • 36th Base for Storage of Weapons & Equipment (former motor rifle division)

The Airborne Forces' 76th Air Assault Division is also based within the district's boundaries, at Pskov. According to Soldat.ru online forum conversation in August 2007, as from 1 December 2006 the 35th Base for Storage of Weapons & Equipment, a former motor rifle division, at Alakurtti, was disbanded.[2]

References and sources

1. ^ Piotr Butowski, 'Russia's new air force enters a tight manoeuvre,' Jane's Intelligence Review, May 1999, p.18 2. ^ Форум • Russian official site at www.mil.ru • James Meek and David Fairhall, ‘Yeltsin Slashes Baltic Force’, The Guardian, Dec. 4, 1997 • Interfax, ‘Defense Minister Segeyev gives details of cuts to northwest forces’, May 6, 1999 • Andrew Duncan, Jane's Intelligence Review article, 1996 • Scott and Scott, The Armed Forces of the USSR, Eastview, 1979 • http://orbat.com/site/ww2/drleo/012_ussr/41_oob/leningrad/_leningrad.html - Order of Battle 22 June 1941 • See Also - Leningrad MD at Warfare.ru

Volga-Urals Military District

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Volga-Ural Military District headquarters

The Volga-Ural Military District is a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, formed on 1 September 2001 by the amalgamation of the Volga Military District and the Ural Military District. The headquarters of the Ural Military District, located at Yekaterinburg became the new headquarters of the merged district.

Origins

The new merged district draws upon the history of the former Ural, Volga, and Kazan Military Districts. The Kazan Military

District was first to be formed in the Volga province of the Russian Empire, by order of the Defence Minister of 6 August 1864, as one of fifteen military districts being formed. Each district was intended to command combat formations, as well as act as a military-administrative organ on a regional scale - 'the War Ministry on a local level'. The Kazan Military District, with its headquarters in Kazan, took in the Orenburg, Kazan, and Ufa provinces, part of the Perm province, and the Ural and Turgay regions. In 1911, the 16th and 24th Army Corps were formed in the district, and just before the First World War, the district's staff was reorganised as the Fourth Army. Following the October Revolution, the staff of the old imperial military districts hindered the creation of the new Soviet Red Army, and to surmount this, a new structure was established on 31 March 1918, including the creation of the new Volga and Ural Military Districts. Much of the fighting in the Russian Civil War took place on the districts' territory. The official Russian Defence Ministry site notes the combat actions of the 20th, 21st, 24th, 25th, 26th, and 27th Rifle Divisions which took place on the eastern front of the war, as well as other formations and units. After the end of the Civil War the armed forces were reduced and the Ural Military District disbanded, on 21 April 1922. It was reformed on 17 May 1935 with its staff located at Sverdlovsk, amid the international tensions caused by the Nazis' rise to power in Germany and the Japanese occupation of Manchuria. The 57th Rifle Division of the Volga District and the 82nd Rifle Division from the Urals were involved in the Battle of Khalkhin Gol with the Japanese in 1939.

World War II

During World War II the two districts despatched over three thousand units to the front, totalling two million men. Five armies, 132 divisions, and over 300 regiments and battalions were established. Among them was the 153rd Ural Rifle Division, which for its' combat record in Belarussia and Smolensk was 'ranged among the Guards' on 18 September 1941 as the 3rd Guards Rifle Division. Also formed in the Ural District, with the tremendous effort of factory workers there, was the 30th Ural Tank Corps, later to become the 10th Urals-Lvov Tank Corps, today the 10th Guards Uralsko-Lvovskaya Tank Division within the Moscow Military District. During the war, the city of Kuybyshev (now Samara) served as the alternate capital of the Soviet Union, and the Urals area became the biggest arsenal in the country, with many factories relocated from the west. The Soviet Third Guards Army arrived from Germany and was redesignated as the new Volga MD headquarters in late 1945. As part of the massive demobilisation exercise of 1945-6 the Kazan Military District was briefly reformed, encompassing the Tatar, Udmurt, Mari and Chuvash ASSRs.

Postwar

The Ural Military District was commanded between 1948 and 1953 by Marshal Georgi Zhukov. By a Decree of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 15 January, 1974, for their large contributions to the strengthening the defense power of the state and its armed protection both the Volga and Ural military districts were rewarded with the Order of the Red Banner. In 1979 Scott and Scott reported the HQ address of the Ural Military District as Sverdlovsk, K-75, Ulitsa Pervomayskaya, Dom 27, which also housed the officers' club. On 1 September 1989 the Districts were merged with the new headquarters in Samara, but in late July 1992 the Ural District was reformed, as the region had become a near-boundary area with the new states of Central Asia. From 1992 also the two districts received large numbers of units and formations returning from the former groups of forces (including the Second Guards Tank Army, and the 16th and 90th Guards Tank Divisions from the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany) and the ex-Soviet republics, the reception of which required enormous effort on behalf of the District HQs and the regional administrations. Many of these units were subsequently disbanded, including the 15th Guards Tank Division (withdrawn from the Central Group of Forces), which for much of the 1990s and early 21st century was at Chebarkul and only disbanded in 2004-5. Today the district comprises:

• 34th Motor Rifle Division, Yekaterinburg (includes elements of the former 15th Guards TD. Divisional honorifics 'Simferopol Red Banner, Order of Suvorov named for S. Ordzhonikidze.' Structure in 1989-90 included the 341st TR, 105, 276, 324 MRR, and the 239 Arty Regt. Until 1955 the division was designated the 77th Rifle Division; 1957 became 126th MRD; 1965 became 34th MRD.)

• Russian 201st Motor Rifle Division, Dushanbe, Tajikistan • 15th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade (which took part in the command post peacekeeping Exercise Normandie-Nieman 07 in

April 2007 with the 1st Mechanised Brigade (France))[1] • 2nd Army, Samara (formerly headquarters Ural Military District)(history closely associated with 2nd Guards Tank Army)

o 27th Guards Motor Rifle Division, Totskoye • 5th Air Army of VVS and PVO • other formations and units

Today the District comprises the Republic of Bashkortostan, the Republic of Mari El, the Republic of Mordovia, the Republic of Tatarstan, the Udmurt Republic, the Chuvash Republic, Kirov, Kurgan, Orenburg, Penza, Perm, Samara, Sverdlovsk, Tyumen, Ulyanovsk, and Chelyabinsk Oblasts, and the Komi-Permyak, Khanty-Mansiysk, and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrugs.

Volga District Commanders since the Second World War

• Генерал-полковник ВН Гордое (09071947-071946), • генерал-полковник В А Юшкевич (071946-111950), • генерал-лейтенант ГН Перекрестов (11 1950-1953), • генерал-полковник В И Кузнецов (1953-1957), • генерал-полковник В Н Комаров (1957-1960), • генерал-полковник А Т Стученко (1960 1961), • генерал-полковник ИГ Павловский (1961-1963), • генерал-полковник НГ Лященко (1963-1965), • генерал-полковник НВ Огарков (1965-1968), • генерал-полковник АМ Паршиков (1968-1971), • генерал-полковник ЮА Науменко (1971-1975), • генерал-полковник ПГ Лушев (1975-111977), • генерал-полковник ВН Кончиц (11 1977-7), • генерал-полковник А Я Ряхов ('), • генерал-полковник В А Патрикеев (7-03 1989) • General Colonel АМ Макашов(03 1989-08 1991), • General Colonel A I Segreev (с 09 1991)

References

1. ^ French Army, Terre Information Magazine, No.185, June 2007, p.7 • Official Russian Defence Ministry website, www.mil.ru • Scott and Scott, The Armed Forces of the USSR, Westview Press, Boulder, Co., 1979 • Feskov et al, The Soviet Army during the period of the Cold War, Tomsk University, Tomsk, 2004 • http://www.fas.org/irp/world/russia/fbis/VolgaMD.htm • http://www.geocities.com/pentagon/9059/RussianArmedForces.html • See also VUMD at Warfare.ru

Siberian Military District

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Siberian Military District is a Military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 1998, seven years after the fall of the Soviet Union, the District as it is today was formed by the amalgamation of the previous Siberian and Trans-Baikal Military Districts, and on their merger gave up the vast Sakha Republic (or Yakutia) to the expanded Far East Military District. The Transbaikal Military District was originally formed in 1935 from portions of the previous Irkutsk Military District, and during the war years, from September 1939, was active as the Transbaikal Front. The original Siberian Military District was created in June 1924 with the consolidation of the Western, Central and Eastern Siberian Military Districts, which were the original Imperial Military Districts of the Czarist regime. In June 1941 the District was host to two Army Corps, the 52nd and 53rd. The 52nd, with its HQ in Novosibirsk along with the 133rd Rifle Division, additionally had the 166th Rifle Division at Barabinsk and the 178th Rifle Division at Omsk. The 53rd Army Corps at Krasnoyarsk, where the 119th Rifle Division was stationed, also included the 107th Rifle Division at Barnaul and the 91st Rifle Division at Achinsk. Immediately after the end of World War II, on July 9, 1945, to facilitate the demobilisation process, the Siberian Military District was divided into the Western and Eastern Siberian Military Districts. The Western Siberian Military District was headquartered at Novosibirsk, and created from HQ 8th Army, covered the Tyumen Oblast, the Omsk Oblast, Novosibirsk, the Tomsk Oblast, the Kemerovo Oblast and Altay. The Eastern Siberian District was located at Irkutsk and created from HQ 50th Army. The Eastern Siberian District was disbanded in 1953 with its region being split between the Western Siberian District and the Transbaikal Military District. In 1956 the Western Siberian Military District was again renamed the Siberian Military District

District Forces Today

The 41st Army was formed from the headquarters of the former Siberian Military District at Novosibirsk while the new district’s headquarters were established at Chita (the former Trans-baikal HQ). It is likely safe to assume that the 41st Army controls all the field formations of the previous Siberian Military District. The IISS lists the district as having a total of one tank, two motor-rifle and one machine-gun artillery divisions, two motor-rifle and one air assault brigades. The 2nd Guards Tank Division, previously active in the District having moved from the Leningrad Military District in the 1960s, disbanded in 2001-3. Also, while the 21st Guards 'Tagenrog' Motor Rifle Division, withdrawn from Germany to the former Siberian Military District, was apparently partially re-equipped with the T-90 MBT in the mid 1990s, in 2000 it was apparently disbanded. The 29th Army at Ulan-Ude was seemingly disbanded in the course of 2007.[1]

• District Troops o 5th Guards Tank Division o 11th Air Assault Brigade (498th, 499th Battalions, 500th Bn recently disbanded)

• 36th Army, Borzya o 131st Motor Rifle Division, Sretensk

� Cossack Motor Rifle Regiment, Borzya (for 272 GMRR, see Soldat.ru forum, 27.2.2007) o 6052 Base for Storage of Weapons and Equipment (Borzya, former 168 MR Bde and before that 149 MR

Division previously based in Mongolia) • 41st Army, Novosibirsk

o 85th Motor Rifle Division o 74th Motor Rifle Brigade, Yurga(Constant readiness)

The District held the 'Baikal 2006' exercise in the northern summer of 2006, officially described as focusing on anti-terrorism.[2]

Commanders During the Cold War

Western Siberian MD

• General Lieutenant V.I. Kurdyumov Курдюмов (до 101946), • General of the Army Andrei Yeremenko (10 1946-11 1953)

Siberian MD

• General Colonel N.P. Pukhov (1953-07/1957)(former commander of 13th Army) • General Colonel Pyotr Koshevoy (071957-041960), • General Colonel G V Baklonov (05 1960-1964), • General Colonel S.I. Ivanov (1964-1968), • General Colonel V.F. Tolubko( 1968-05 1969) • General Colonel М Г Хомуло (05 1969-12 1978) • General Colonel B.V. Snetkov (01 1979-11 1981) • General Colonel Н И Попов (11 1981-09 1984) • General Colonel В А Востров (09 1984-7) • General Colonel НВ Калинин (7-07 1987) • General Colonel Б Е Пьянков (04 1988-08 1991) • General Lieutenant V.A. Koplov (с 09 1991) • not known (1991-1998) • Nikolai Kormiltsev (12/1998-3/2001) • General Vladimir Boldyrev (5/2001-12/2002) • Nikolai Makarov (12/2002-)

Sources

1. ^ Vad777's Siberian Military District page (Russian language), late July 2007, see Army article for link 2. ^ The Jamestown Foundation • Feskov et al, The Soviet Army during the Period of the Cold War, Tomsk University Press, 2004 • Greg Austin and Alexey Muraviev, The Armed Forces of Russia in Asia, Tauris, 2000 • Routledge for the IISS, The Military Balance 2006, p.160 • Official site of the Siberian Military District in Russian

Far Eastern Military District Дальневосточный военный округ

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Far Eastern Military District (Russian: Дальневосточный военный округ) is a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, which traces its history originally to the East Siberian Military District originally formed in 1918, during the Russian Civil War. Its headquarters are now at Khabarovsk. General Yuriy Yakubov, former Commander of Troops of the District, was replaced by General Vladimir Bulgakov in early September 2006. Following the Soviet victory in the Civil War the Soviet forces in the area became the Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army (OKDVA) of the Far Eastern Republic. The District was first briefly formed in 1935 from those forces, but then reverted to the title Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army, under Marshal of the Soviet Union Vasily Blyukher, while still functioning as a military district. The Army became the Soviet Far East Front in June 1938,[1] after Blyukher's torture and death at the hands of the NKVD during the Great Purge. The Soviet invasion of Manchuria was launched against the Japanese held region of Manchukuo, the Japanese protectorates of Inner Mongolia and Korea, and several Japanese-claimed islands from the Soviet Far East by the Far Eastern Direction, with the two Far East Fronts under its command, under Marshal Vasilevsky in the last days of the Second World War. On September 10, 1945, the 1st Far East Front was disbanded by being redesignated the Primorskoe (Maritime) Military District, controlling the Primorye Territory, and the 2nd Far East Front was redesignated the Far East Military District controlling Kamchatka, Sakhalin and the Kurile Islands. In 1947 the Khabarovsk territory and the Amur area were added to the Far East Military District. Six years later on April 23, 1953, the two districts were reunified as the Far East Military District, with its headquarters staff in Khabarovsk, the staff being drawn from the former Commander-in-chief of Forces of the Far East's staff. There were originally a corps headquarters and three divisions of the VDV, the Soviet Airborne Forces, active in the district after the war. 37th Guards Airborne Corps had the 13th, 98th, and 99th Guards Airborne Divisions, but the 13th was disbanded in 1959 and the other divisions disbanded by the end of the 1970s, leaving air assault brigades as the only Airborne Forces presence. Toward the end of the 1980s the District included the 5th Army (HQ Ussuriysk, seven divisions), the 15th Army (HQ Khabarovsk, four divisions), the 35th Army (HQ Belogorsk, six divisions), and the 51st Army (HQ Yuzho-Sakhalinsk, including 25th Army Corps with the 87th and 99th MRDs, and four other divisions).[2] The District gained the vast Sakha Republic from the disbanding Transbaikal Military District following reorganisation in the late 1990s, which also saw the disbandment of the 15th and 51st Armies. Forces within the District now include the 14th Separate Brigade of Special Designation (Spetsnaz) at Ussuriysk, the 5th Army, the 35th Army, HQ 68th Corps (the former 51st Army), four Motor Rifle Divisions, and four Machine-Gun/Artillery Divisions. The structure of the 83rd Airborne Brigade at Ussuriysk is unclear; it has incorporated a tank battalion is in the past. With the brigade for certain at present are the 635/654 or 954/598 Separate Airborne Battalions (опдб), a Guards artillery battalion, and support units.[3] Ten units in the DVVO are now manned by contract servicemen.[4] Under naval command is the North Eastern Group of Troops and Forces (Ru: Группировки войск и сил на Северо-Востоке России (ВССВ)), formed in 1998 and incorporating troops of the former 25th Army Corps. The North-Eastern Group was established in Kamchatka in 1998 "primarily because of the remoteness of the zone of responsibility in the North-East from the controlling structures, the Far East Military District, and the Pacific Fleet".[5] It includes the 40th Motor Rifle Brigade on the Kamchatka peninsula, which appears to be at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and includes the 59th Separate Tank Battalion and 385th Separate Motor Rifle Battalion. In August 2007 the 40th Brigade become a Naval Infantry brigade.[6]

Commanders Since World War II

• Army General Maksim Purkayev (09 1945-01 1947), • Colonel General Nikolay Ivanovich Krylov (01 1947-04 1953), • Marshal of the Soviet Union Rodion Malinovsky (04 1953-03 1956), • Army General V.A. Penkovskiy (03/1956-07/1961), • Army General Ya. G. Kreyzer (08/1961-12/1963), • General Colonel I.G. Pavlovskiy (12/1963-04/1967), • General Colonel О.А. Losik (04 05 1967-05 1969), • Army General V.F. Тolubko (05 1969-04 1972), • Army General V.I. Petrov (04 1972-05 1976), • Army General I.M. Tretyak (06/1976-07/1984), • Army General Dmitry Yazov (07/1984-01/1987), • Colonel General M.A. Мoiseev (01 1987-12 1988), • Colonel General V.I. Novozhilov (с 01 1989) • Colonel General Viktor S. Chechevatov [7]

Current Order of Battle

• 5th Army o 81st Krasnograd Order of the Red Banner Guards Order of Suvorov Motor Rifle Division (Bikin)(81 Guards

Rifle Division was ex 422nd Rifle Division March 1943). Fought at Krasnograd, Iasi, and Pressburg. With 53rd Army of the 2nd Ukrainian Front 5.45. Became 81st Guards Motor Rifle Division in 1957 or 1965.

o 121st Order of Red Banner Motor Rifle Division (originally 10th Mechanised Corps) o 127th Roslavl Machine-Gun Artillery Division (ex 277 MRD, originally 66th Rifle Division)

o 129th Machine-Gun Arty Division o 130th Machine-Gun Arty Division (Lesozavodsk)

• 35th Army o 21st Guards Motor Rifle Division o 128th Machine Gun Arty Division o 270th Motor Rifle Division

• 68th Corps (reported to have disbanded December 2006)[8] o 18th Machine Gun Arty Division o 33rd Motor Rifle Division

• other smaller units, including 83rd Airborne Brigade and 14th Spetsnaz Brigade

Citations and notes

1. ^ See the Russian language order on the subject at http://rkka.ru/handbook/doc/okdva-280638.htm 2. ^ Feskov et al 2004 3. ^ brinkster.com, Far East Military District page, mid 2007 4. ^ AVN Military New Agency 5 April 2007 (see talk page) 5. ^ p.?, Giles 6. ^ Архив новостей 7. ^ Persons - NUPI 8. ^ http://www8.brinkster.com/vad777/russia/grand_force/grand_force_chasti.htm

References

• Keir Giles, Russian Regional Commands, Conflict Studies Research Centre, April 2006 • Feskov V.I., Kalashnikov K.A., Golikov V.I., The Soviet Army in the Period of the "Cold War", 1945-91, Tomsk, 2004

(Russian: Феськов В.И., Калашников К.А., Голиков В.И. Советская Армия в годы «холодной войны» (1945-1991). - Томск (2004))

Further Reading

• Scott and Scott, The Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, Eastview Press, 1979 • IISS, The Military Balance 2006

External links

• http://warfare.ru/?linkid=2224&catid=321 • Vladivostok Times

North Caucasus Red Banner Military District

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The North Caucasus Military District is a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. It now comprises the Republic of Adygeya, the Republic of Dagestan, the Republic of Ingushetia, the Kabardino-Balkar Republic, the Republic of Kalmykia, the Karachayevo-Cherkess Republic, the Republic of North Osetia-Alaniya, the Chechen Republic, Krasnodar Krai, Stavropol Krai, and Astrakhan, Volgograd, and Rostov oblasts. It has the same borders as the Southern Federal District, and has been commanded by Colonel General Sergey Makarov since May 2008.

History

The District was originally established on 4 May 1918, and reorganised as a field formation during the Russian Civil War. The First Cavalry Army was formed in the District in November 1919.[1] The District was reformed in the early 1920s with its headquarters at Rostov. Kliment Voroshilov was made district commander. During the 1920s and 1930s the District became home to many training establishments, which were to multiply greatly during World War II. The 19th Army was formed in the District in May-June 1941 under former district commander Ivan Konev and was engaged against the Germans from the beginning of Operation Barbarossa. 50th and 53rd Cavalry Divisions were also formed here, joining the Soviet Western Front. Later the District became the site of the battles around Rostov in November 1941 where the Germans suffered defeat, and the Battle of Stalingrad, which has been described as the most ferocious battle to date. Following the conclusion of the Battle of the Caucasus, the North Caucasian Front and the headquarters of the 56th Army were disbanded in accordance with a Supreme Command directive of the 20 November 1943. The Separate Coastal Army was formed, for the second time, on their base. Immediately following the war, to demobilise the force, on 9 July 1945 the territory was split into three military districts: Donskoy, Stavropol'skiy and Kubanskiy. The Donskoy Military District was located in the territory of the Rostov, Stalingrad and Astrakhan provinces, the Stavropol military district consisted of the Stavropol territory, the Groznyy region, Kabardino-Balkarii and North Osetia, and the Kuban military district comprised the territory of Krasnodar. The staff of the Donskoy Military District was located in Rostov-on-Don, and was considered the heir of the traditions of the North Caucasian military district. In 1946 the Donskoy military district was renamed again as the North Caucasian MD. The official Russian military website notes the work of the soldiers of the district in helping repair the ravages of the war. The important Kapustin Yar test range was created in the District following the war. The District was awarded the Order of the Red Banner in 1968. In 1979 Scott and Scott reported the District's HQ address as Rostov-na-Donu 18, Ulitsa Tekucheva, Dom 135.

Commanders 1945-2006

• 1946–48: Colonel General P.A. Belov • 1948-49: Colonel General V Z Romanovskii • 1949-53: Colonel General S G Trofimenko[2] • 1953–58: Marshal of the Soviet Union Andrei Ivanovich Yeremenko (Nov 53-Apr 58) • 1958–68: Army General Issa Alexandrovich Pliyev • 1968–70: Army General A.T. Altunin • 1970–76: Colonel General D.I. Litovtsev • 1976–August 1979: Colonel General of Tanks V.A. Belikov • August 1979–1980: Colonel General S I Postnikov • 1980–August 1984: Colonel General В К Мерецков • August 1984–July 1986: Colonel General V V Skokov • July 1986–June 1993: Colonel General L.S. Shustko • June 1993–December 1994: Colonel General A.N. Mityukhin • February 1995–May 1997: Colonel General Anatoly Kvashnin • July 1997–May 2000: Army General Viktor Kazantsev

• May 2000–December 2002 Colonel General Gennady Troshev • December 2002–July 2004: Army General Vladimir Boldyrev • July 2004-May 2008: Army General Alexander Baranov • May 2008-current: Colonel General Sergey Makarov

Post 1990

The official website underlines the importance of the District as a border formation with the task of securing the southern boundary of the Russian Federation. The first conflict the District became involved in in the post Soviet period was the attempted secession of South Ossetia from Georgia to join North Ossetia, which is a federal subject of the Russian Federation. Soldiers from the District became involved in protecting installation in Vladikavkaz from irregular fighters in late 1992. The District has been the primary Russian military formation responsible for managing the Chechen conflict throughout the First and Second Chechen Wars. The Second Chechen War is now (2007) in its ninth year, though insurgent activity is decreasing. Twenty-six soldiers won the Hero of Russia star in the first war, and 43 in the second. The District includes:

• 42nd Motor Rifle Division at Khankala, in the environs of Grozny in Chechniya. • 20th "Prikarpatsko-Berlinskaya" Guards Motor Rifle Division, (Cyrillic: гвардейская мотострелковая Прикарпатско-

Берлинская дивизия) • 33rd Separate Motor Rifle Regiment (Volgograd) • 131st Motor Rifle Brigade (Maikop - former 9 MRD) • 58th Army (headquarters at Vladikavkaz)

o 19th Motor Rifle Division o 136th "Umansko-Berlinskaya" Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade, (Cyrillic: гвардейская

мотострелковая Уманско-Берлинская дивизия) o other brigades and regiments

• 4th Air Army, • Transcaucasus Group of Forces • Caspian Flotilla • and other formations and units, including the newly forming 33rd and 34th Separate Motor Rifle Brigades (Mountain)[3]

The 58th Army's creation was announced on April 26, 1995; previously there had only been corps headquarters in the District (and the 58th was formed from the previous 42nd Army Corps headquarters).[4] Today the Armed Forces do not have the primary role in directing the anti-terrorist effort in the North Caucasus region. The Regional Operational Headquarters (ROSh), chaired by the Deputy Director FSB RF (Head of the department for protection of the constitutional structure and the campaign against terrorism) directs and conducts the counter-terrorist operation.[5] Subordinated to it is the Combined Grouping of Troops (OGV) in the North Caucasus drawing on the Armed Forces, the Interior Troops, the FSB, and other agencies. Currently troops from this Army are involved in combat operations in South Ossetia and reportedly inside of Georgian territory.

Notes

1. ^ Russian Ministry of Defence,History of the North Caucasus Military District, www.mil.ru, accessed August 17, 2007 2. ^ Generals.dk, accessed January 2008. Trofimenko was a former commander of the Central Asian MD (pre 1941), the 7th

Army (Soviet Union), and the Belarussian Military District. 3. ^ Jamestown Foundation, Putin's Order on Mountain Brigades Results in Competing Forces 4. ^ http://www.afpc.org/rrm/rrm3.htm - creation of 58th Army 5. ^ C.W. Blandy, Advent of Mountain Brigades, Conflict Studies Research Centre, November 2007

References

• Feskov, V.I., et al. The Soviet Army in the Years of the Cold War: 1945-91, Tomsk University Publishing House, Tomsk, 2004 (including for commanders' dates in office)

• Scott, Harriet and William F. Russian Military Directory, 2002 • Scott, Harriet and William F. The Armed Forces of the USSR, Westview Press, Boulder, Co., 1979

Transcaucasian Front

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Transcaucasian Front or Transcaucasus Front (Russian: Закавказский Фронт) was a Front (military subdivision) of the Soviet Army during the Second World War. This sense of the term is not identical with the more general usage of military front which indicates a geographic area in wartime, although a Soviet Front may operate within designated boundaries. The Transcaucasus Front describes two distinct organizations during the war. The first version was created on August 23, 1941 from the Transcaucasus Military District, which was apparently originally formed in 1922. The boundary of the Front extended along the border with Turkey and along the Black Sea coast from Batumi to Tuapse. It was commanded by Lieutenant-General Dmitri T. Kozlov (Козлов Дмитрий Тимофеевич) from August 1941 to December 1941. On June 22, 1941, when the German invasion started, the TCMD included the 3rd, 24th, and 40th Rifle Corps, the 28th Mechanised Corps, two cavalry divisions (the 17th Mountain and the 24th) and three separate rifle divisions (the 63rd, 76th, and 77th.[1] Also part of the District were three fortified regions and District troops, which included artillery and NKVD frontier units. The initial Front organization incorporated the four Soviet armies stationed in the district in June 1941: the 45th and 46th on the border with Turkey and the 44th and 47th on the border with Iran. On August 25, 1941 troops from the Front entered Iran according to the Soviet-Iran Treaty of February 21, 1921, which eliminated the direct threat to the Baku oil fields.

Order of Battle, Invasion of Iran, 1941

Here is the Soviet OOB for the 25th of August 1941:[2] 44th Army( Major General A.A. Khaldejev)

• 20th Mountain Rifle Division • 77th Mountain Rifle Division • 17th Cavalry Division • 24th Tank Regiment

47th Army(Major General V.V. Novikov) • 63rd Mountain Rifle Division • 76th Mountain Rifle Division • 236th Rifle Division • 6th Tank Division • 54th Tank Division • 13th Motorcycle Regiment

53rd Army (invaded Iran from Turkmenistan on the 27th of August) • 58th Rifle Corps • 83rd Mountain Rifle Division • 4th Cavalry Corps

In November 1941 the 51st Army joined the front after being evacuated from the Crimea. The Transcaucasus Front was briefly renamed the Caucasus Front on December 30, 1941. The second version of this front was again created from the Transcaucasus Military District on May 15, 1942 and continued in existence until its reorganization as the Tbilisi Military District on August 25, 1945 after the end of the war. It was commanded by General Ivan V. Tyulenev, and included the 4th and 58th Armies at various periods.

References

1. ^ Orbat.com/Niehorster, Administrative Order of Battle, Transcaucasus Military District, 22 June 1941 2. ^ The Forum of the 1.Jagdmoroner Abteilung

2nd Guards Tank Army

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Second Tank Army was formed in January - February, 1943 on the basis of the 3rd Reserve Army of the Bryansk Front. Originally the Army comprised 11th and 16th Tank Corps, 60th, 112th and 194th Rifle Divisions, the 11th Guards Separate tank brigade, 115th Rifle Brigade, the 28th ski brigade and other units.

Combat history

In the middle of February the army joined the Soviet Central Front and as part of Central Front in February - March took part in offensive operation on the direction of Bryansk; in July - August - took part in the Orel strategic offensive operation - Operation Kutuzov - within the Kromy’-Orel offensive operation and the Chernigov-Pripyat offensive operation (26.08-30.09.1943) operations. In the beginning of September 1943 the Army was redeployed to the Stavka VGK reserve, and in the middle of January 1944 joined the 1st Ukrainian Front and remained in its structure until the end of January when it participated in repulsing counter-strokes of the German forces in the direction of Vinnitsa; in February the army participated in the south-west in the area of the cities of Korsun-Shevchenkovsky operation. As part of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, and from the middle of June 1944 within the 1st Belorussian Front, the Army participated in the Uman-Botoshany offensive, Lublin - Brest, Warsaw-Poznan offensive, the East Pomeranian Offensive, the Seelow-Berlin offensive operation and the Battle for Berlin operations.

Combat awards

For services in combat operations listed above the Army became the 2nd Guards Tank Army in November 1944 and almost all of its formations and units received combat awards, with the majority of sub-units awarded honourable names commemorating operations they distinguished themselves in. Over 103,000 soldiers of the army were awarded awards and medals, 221 of them being awarded the decoration of the Hero of the Soviet Union, while Semyon Bogdanov was awarded the HSU's Gold Star twice.

Post-war service

After the war ended the Army, now named Second Guards Red Banner Tank Army, was located with the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany with the staff in Fuerstenberg. However the only wartime formation that continued to serve with the Army was the 16th Guard TD (the former 9th Guards Tank Corps). Although up to the 1970s it had retained of its wartime units - 12th Guards Tank Division (the former 12th Tank Corps) and 35th Motor Rifle Division (former 1st Mechanised Corps), without considering those formations that joined the Army as early as 1946. The three last wartime divisions were replaced at the end of the 1970s - the 94th Guards, 21st and 207th Motorised Rifle Divisions.

Post-Cold War service

The Army was withdrawn to Samara in the Volga Military District in 1993, and converted from a tank formation to a combined-arms army that same year, referred to as 2nd Guards Red Banner Army. It holds the Fighting Banner of the 2nd Guards Tank Army in storage. It was allocated the 16th and 90th Guards Tank Divisions for some years before being disbanded in 1998. 16th Guards Tank Division was reduced to a weapons and equipment storage base in March 1997. The Army was reformed in 2001 from the former Volga MD headquarters and now consists of the 27th Guards Motor Rifle Division and the 201st Motor Rifle Division. In 2006 the Army conducted a large Command-Staff exercise "Southern Shield - 2006" that included a call up of some 4-5,000 reservists. The exercise proved successful and confirmed the Army's readiness status.[1], including that of two component divisions which conducted a tactical exercise within the scope of the "Southern Shield - 2006". The tactical exercise was again conducted in 2007 by the 27th Motor Rifle Division. This division, and several other Army sub-units are today entirely staffed by service personnel serving under professional contracts. A former commander of the 2nd Guards Tank Army, General of Army Nikolay Makarov, is today Chief of Material of the Armed Forces, Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation. The Army's current commander is General-Major Oleg Leont'evich Makarevich (former Chief of Staff, 22nd Guards Army, Moscow Military District).

Wartime Commanders

• Romanenko Prokofiy Logvinovich (January - February 1943), General-Lieutenant; • Rodin Alexey Grigorevich (February - September 1943), General-Lieutenant of tank forces; • Bogdanov Simeon Ilich (September 1943 - July 1944 and January - May 1945), General-Lieutenant of tank forces, from

April 1944 General-Colonel of tank forces; • Radzievsky Alexey Ivanovich (July 1944 - January 1945), General-Major.

Sources and References

1. ^ http://news.samaratoday.ru/news/136088/ 65 years of the 2nd Combined Arms Red Banner Army • Feskov et al, 'The Soviet Army in the period of the Cold War', Tomsk University Publishing House, 2004 • http://samsv.narod.ru/

5th

Red Banner Army

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 5th Red Banner Army was a Soviet field army of World War II, and is today a Russian Ground Forces formation in the Far East Military District. It was formed in 1939, served during the Soviet invasion of Poland that year, and was deployed in the southern sector of the Soviet defences when the German Operation Barbarossa began in June 1941. In the disastrous first months of Barbarossa, the 5th Army was encircled and destroyed around Kiev. Reformed under Lelyushenko and Govarov, it played a part in the last-ditch defence of Moscow, and then in the string of offensive and defensive campaigns that eventually saw the Soviet armies liberate all of Soviet territory and push west into Poland and beyond into Germany itself. The 5th Army itself only advanced as far as East Prussia before it was moved east to take part in the Soviet attack on Japan. Since 1945 under the Soviet and now Russian flag it has formed part of the Far East Military District keeping watch on the border with the People's Republic of China.

Creation and organization

The 5th Army was created in August 1939 in the Special Kiev Military District from the Northern (originally Shepetovskaya) Army Group.[1] In September 1939 the 5th Army took part in the Soviet invasion of Poland, which had been justified by the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The Army was originally placed under the command of I.G. Sovietnikov. On June 22, 1941, the 5th Army consisted of the 15th Rifle Corps (under Colonel I.I. Fedyuninsky[2] and incorporating the 45th Rifle Division and 62nd Rifle Divisions), as well as the 27th Rifle Corps (87th, 125th, 135th Rifle Divisions), the 22nd Mechanised Corps (19th, 41st Tank Divisions, 215th Mechanised Division), the 2nd Fortified Region, seven artillery regiments, 2 NKVD border regiments, and an engineer regiment.[3]

Battle of the frontiers

The Army’s rifle divisions were assigned to cover the Lutsk-Rovno approaches to the Ukraine and were tasked to man the (unfinished) Kovel, Strumilov, and Vladimir-Volynsk fortified districts.[4] The Army was stationed in barracks up to forty miles from the frontier, and would need three to four days to take up its positions. On 22 June, however, the 15th Rifle Corps managed to take its place in the line, holding the sector from Vlodava to Vladimir-Volynsk, but later that same day, the southern end of the line at Vladimir-Volynsk ‘began to buckle in,’ in John Erickson’s words. The main German thrust in the sector came at the junction point between the 5th Army and its neighbour to the south, the 6th Army, and both the 5th and 6th Armies committed their mechanised forces quickly to try and stem the gap, but without success. The Commander Southwestern Front, Mikhail Kirponos, decided to halt this with an attack into the flank of Panzer Group 1 using all the available mobile forces – five mechanised corps. This was unsuccessful in the face of the thrusting German advance, lack of coordination from the various Soviet formations, acute shortage of equipment and spares, and lack of proper equipment, especially radio sets.[5] Meanwhile General M.I. Potapov, now commanding the 5th Army, was ordered on 29 June to make another attack on Panzer Group 1’s flank from the woods of Klevany. Amid these efforts, Kirponos managed to withdraw most of his Front to a new line almost on the old Soviet/Polish border, and prevented the Germans from rupturing the Soviet defensive line.[6] The 11th Panzer Division took Berdichev on 7 July, and the juncture between the 5th and 6th Armies was broken; the Stavka ordered Kirponos to withdraw the 5th Army to the Korosten ‘fortified district’ northwest of Kiev. The gap between the 5th and 6th Armies quickly widened to forty miles. To remedy the situation another counterattack was ordered, and Potapov, now commanding the 15th and 31st Rifle, and 9th, 19th and 22nd Mechanised Corps, was directed to strike northwards from Berdichev and Lyubar. However, his forces had been badly worn down: the 9th Mechanised Corps had 64 tanks left, the 22nd less than half that number, and the rifle regiments of 31st Corps had ‘no more than three hundred men.’[7] Nevertheless, Potapov’s force cut the Zhitomir highway and kept up the pressure for a week, and afterwards remained as a thorn on the German Sixth Army’s northern flank. By 7 September the 5th Army was threatened with being split in two by the Second Army coming from the east and the Sixth Army’s northern outflanking of Kiev. The Stavka refused permission initially for the 5th Army to withdraw, as they were still hoping for results from a counterattack by the Bryansk Front. By 9 September Stalin had finally given authority for the 5th Army to withdraw but by then it was trapped, and on 20 September Potapov and his command group were taken prisoner.[8] In the disastrous battle, the German forces encircled forces from the 5th, 21st, 26th, and 37th Armies, captured Kiev, and claimed 665,000 prisoners (Soviet sources assert that the total strength of the Southwestern Front was 677,000 of which 150,000 had escaped).

Moscow

The 5th Army was re-raised for the second time in October 1941, under the command of Dmitri Lelyushenko, as part of the Soviet Western Front. Recent sources give the actual re-raising date as 11 October 1941.[9] It included two rifle divisions and three tank brigades.[10] At the Battle at Borodino Field, on a former Napoleonic battlefield, the first elements of the reforming Army to arrive at the front—two regiments of the Soviet 32nd Rifle Division and the 18th and 19th Tank Brigades—attempted to halt the German 10th Panzer Division and Das Reich divisions which were striking for Mozhaisk. Lelyuschenko was wounded and General L.A. Govorov took over.[11] What thin reserves there were ran out, and Mozhaisk fell on 18 October. Later that year the Army took part in the Klin-Solnechogorsk offensive operation. On 15 November, another German strike toward Moscow opened, but while the flanks saw heavy fighting, up until 28 November, the 5th Army along with the two other Armies forming Western Front’s centre, 33rd and 43rd, were holding quite firmly, despite some attacks on the right-most sector of their line. [12] On 1 December, a last effort by the German XX Corps to reach Moscow saw a furious attack directed near the junction of the 5th Army and 33rd Army, which led to the Moscow-Minsk highway, the most direct route to the Soviet capital.[13] Despite breaking through 33rd Army defences around Naro-Fominsk, after all available reserves were directed by Zhukov toward the breach, by 4 December the situation had been restored and the Soviet command could resume its planning to take the offensive. As part of the Soviet winter counteroffensive from Moscow, the 5th Army was instructed to commence its offensive actions from 11 December, pushing for Ruza-Kolyubakovo, while right flank units joined the 16th Army in hitting Istra. Eventually the 5th Army defeated the Germans near Zvenigorod, and the 2nd Guards Cavalry Corps

forced itself into the German rear in a daring raid, making further advances possible.[14] In Western Front directives of 6 and 8 January 1942, the 5th Army received orders to first outflank, and then to retake, Mozhaisk by 16 January. The 5th Army, now boasting seven rifle divisions, 82nd Motorised Rifle Division,[15] three independent rifle brigades and 20th Tank Brigade, was on the move by mid January, and on 20 January took the town. However his rifle divisions were falling to below 2,500 each, and the Army ‘started to run out of steam.’[16] On 20 March a Stavka directive gave new instructions to the Western and Kalinin Fronts, and among these, the 5th Army was ordered, when the offensive kicked off, to take Gzhatsk by 1 April, after which it was to capture Vyazma in conjunction with the 43rd, 49th, and 50th Armies. In April 1942 Govorov was posted to command the Leningrad Front,[17] and apparently General Ivan Fedyuninsky took over. Some time after that, Y.T. Cherevichenko took command.

On the Offensive

As part of the Western Front the 5th Army then took part in the Operation of Rzhev-Vyazma, including the Second Rzhev-Sychevka Offensive in November-December 1942. It then fought with the 10th Guards & 33rd Armies in the Second Battle of Smolensk, by which time the Army was being commanded by General V.S. Polenov. At a later point, General P.G. Shafranov held command for a period. For Operation Bagration of 1944 in Belorussia, 5th Army was part of 3rd Belorussian Front. The 5th Army, now under General N.I. Krylov, was allocated to the Front's 'Northern Group' alongside 39th Army and a Cavalry mechanized group made up of 3rd Cavalry and 3rd Guards Mechanised Corps.[18] The Army's path took it through Vilnius, which was cleared on 13 July with the assistance of the Polish underground after a final savage battle in the city centre. On 1 August 1944 the Army consisted of the 45th Rifle Corps (159th, 184th, 338th Rifle Divisions), the 65th Rifle Corps (97th, 144th, 371th RDs), the 72nd Rifle Corps (63rd, 215th, 277th RDs) and a wide array of supporting artillery, armour, and other units.[19] The Army's final action in Europe was the East Prussian Offensive of 1945. Units of 184th Rifle Division, assigned as part of the 5th Army, were the first Soviet soldiers to reach the prewar frontier on 17 August 1944.[20] With the other armies of 3rd Belorussian Front, 5th Army then took part in the failed Gumbinnen Operation of October 1944, in which the Soviets were not able to break the German East Prussian defences. In the course of the second East Prussian offensive, in interaction with other armies of the front, the 5th Army destroyed the Tilsit-Insterburg and Khalchberg enemy groups and on January 23 occupied Insterburg. In the closing stage of its European service it participated in the liquidation of the Wehrmacht troops trapped on the Samland peninsula, the XXVIII Corps. On April 20, 1945, the 5th Army was transferred from Stavka VGK reserve to the Maritime Group of Forces, one of the formations which was being sent to the Far East to reinforce Soviet forces there in preparation for the beginning of hostilities against Japan. The MGF was re-designated the 1st Far East Front on August 5, 1945. When the Soviet invasion of Manchuria commenced, the Army consisted of the 17th Rifle Corps (187th and 366th Rifle Divisions), 45th Rifle Corps (157th, 159th, and 184th Rifle Divisions), 65th Rifle Corps (97th, 144th, 190th, 371st Rifle Divisions), 72nd Rifle Corps (63rd, 215th, 277th Rifle Divisions), the 72nd, 76th, 208th, 210th, and 218th Tank Brigades, the 105th Fortified Area, over 35 artillery brigades and regiments, and other units.[21] During the Harbin-Girin operation, the Army’s troops, part of the 1st Far East Front’s main attack, broke through the Volynskiy area where the Japanese troops were resisting and advanced to the eastern spurs of the Taypinliy ridge.[22]

Postwar

After the victory over Japan, the 5th Army remained in the Far East, and was the most powerful army in the Far East Military District throughout the entire postwar period. After the disbandment of the 9th Mechanised Army and the 25th Army in 1957, 5th Army's composition was supplemented by a whole series of divisions, including the divisions that became, after many redesignations, 277th Motor Rifle Division and 123rd Guards MRD. In the 1970s and 1980s, the 81st Guards MRD and the 199th MRDs became part of the 5th Army. There were also several fortified regions attached. General Igor Rodionov, later the Russian Minister of Defence, commanded the Army from 1983 to 1985. The 5th Army still exists today, with headquarters at Ussuriysk, but has seen much reorganisation and reductions. On 29 November 2000 the then Far East Military District commander, General Colonel Yuri Yakubov, was reported in Vremya Novostei as saying that only 'four fully-staffed operational regiments and several operational divisions' in the district were combat ready. In addition, the last exercise for reserve divisions was run in 1985.[23] One regiment at Yekaterinoslavka was reported in October 1999 as being the only 100% manned regiment in 35th Army[24] so it could be guessed that during the 1999–2000 time period the remaining three full-strength regiments were with the 5th Army. In 2007 Russian reports described the army as consisting of the 81st Guards (Bikin) and 121st (Sibirtsevo) Motor Rifle Divisions, the 127th (Segreevka) and 129th (Barabash) MGADs, the 130th Machine-Gun Artillery Division (Lesozavodsk), 20th Rocket Brigade (Spassk-Dalniy) (OTR-21 Tochka SSM), 719th Multiple Rocket Launcher Regiment (Pokrovka), 958th Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment, and other smaller combat and support formations.[25]

Notes

1. ^ KOVO ("Red Banner Kiev", with FROM, 119; "War and policy. 1939-1941", ß.76, 77; " East Front " óÙ».24, ß.24.), Lenski, 2001

2. ^ Erickson, Road to Stalingrad, 2003 edition, p.94 3. ^ Orbat.com/Niehorster, 5th Army Order of Battle, 22 June 1941 4. ^ John Erickson (historian), Road to Stalingrad, 2003 edition, p.86 5. ^ Prewar plans had assigned the civilian telephone network the major communication role. Erickson, 2003, p.143 6. ^ Erickson, 2003, p.167-8 7. ^ Erickson, 2003, p.169 8. ^ Erickson, 2003, p.206-210 9. ^ Crofoot translating of Perechen, via http://rkkaww2.armchairgeneral.com/formations.htm 10. ^ Keith E. Bonn (ed.), Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front, Aberjona Press, Bedford, PA, 2005, p.310 11. ^ Erickson, 2003, p.219-220 12. ^ Erickson, 2003, p.257-9 13. ^ Erickson, 2003, p.266

14. ^ Erickson, 2003, p.274, and T.N. Dupuy & Paul Martell, Great Battles on the Eastern Front, Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis/New York, 1982, p.48

15. ^ 82 MRD became 90th Guards Tank Division eventually after the end of the war. 16. ^ Erickson, 2003, p.312 17. ^ Erickson, 2003, p.326, 339 18. ^ John Erickson, Road to Berlin, 1982, p.213 19. ^ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1 August 1944 20. ^ Erickson, Road to Berlin, 1982, p.307-8 21. ^ Orbat.com/Niehorster, 5th Army Order of Battle, 9 August 1945 22. ^ Krilov N.I., Alekseyev N.I., Dragan I.G., Towards victory: Combat road of the 5th Army, Moscow, 1970, p.117-145 23. ^ Dmitri Chernov, 'Army Commander's Woes', in Vremya Novostei, 29 November 2000, p.3 via Agency WPS: Defence &

Security via Lexis-Nexis. 24. ^ Amurskaya Pravda, Oct. 20, 1999, via WPS Defence & Security, www.wps.ru 25. ^ Far Eastern Military District, http://www8.brinkster.com/vad777/russia/grand_force/districts/dvo.htm, accessed 29 July

2007. See also a Russian forum source for this list of Current units References

• Keith E. Bonn (ed.), Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front, Aberjona Press, Bedford, PA, 2005 • John Erickson (historian), The Road to Stalingrad, 1975 (2003 Cassel Military Paperbacks edition) • John Erickson (historian), The Road to Berlin, Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1982 • V.I. Feskov et al, The Soviet Army in the Years of the Cold War, Tomsk University, Tomsk, 2004 • Further Reading (Russian) - victory.mil.ru

General Igor Rodionov, seen here while serving as Minister of Defence, commanded 5th Army from 1983 to 1985.

14th Guards Army involvement in Transnistria

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The involvement of the Soviet 14th Guards Army in the War of Transnistria was extensive and contributed to the outcome, which left the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic with de facto independence from the Republic of Moldova. The 14th Guards Army was formed as a unit of the Soviet Army circa 1956 from the 10th Guards 'Budapest' Rifle Corps, formerly part of the Odessa Military District[1] with headquarters in Chişinău. In the 1980s the army headquarters was moved to Tiraspol, within the then Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic. By 1991, the army was made up of four motor rifle divisions and other smaller units. Only the 59th Guards Motor Rifle Division and some smaller units, including the 1162nd Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment were on the left bank of the Dniester in the region of Transnistria.[2] According to the Army sources, local Transnistrians made up the great majority of its soldiers, including 51 percent of the officers and 79 percent of the draftees.[3]

War of Transnistria

While the official policy of the Russian Federation early after the outbreak of the widespread armed conflict in 1992 was one of neutrality, many soldiers and officers of the 14th Army were sympathetic to the PMR cause and had defected to the PMR and actively participated in the fighting as part of its armed forces the Republican Guards. Furthermore, a considerable amount of the army’s materiel was taken without resistance or given to the PMR armed forces.[4] The commanding officer of the Army, General G. I. Yakovlev, was openly supportive of the newly created PMR. He participated in the founding of the PMR, served in the PMR Supreme Soviet and accepted the position as the first chairman of the PMR Department of Defense on 3 December 1991, causing the Commander-in-Chief of the CIS armed forces, Yevgeny Shaposhnikov, to relieve him of his rank and service in the Russian military.[5] Yakovlev's successor, General Yuriy Netkachev has assumed a more neutral stance in the conflict.[6] However, his attempts at mediation between Chişinău and Tiraspol were largely unsuccessful.[7] On 23 March 1992, Shaposhnikov signed a decree authorising the transfer of military equipment of 14th Guards Army units stationed on the right bank of the Dniester to the Republic of Moldova. This military equipment had constituted the majority of the materiel utilized by the Moldovan army in the ensuing War of Transnistria. A second decree, issued on 1 April by Boris Yeltsin, transferred the personnel of the 14th Guards Army, as well as all left-bank military equipment, including a large weapons stockpile at Cobasna, under Russian jurisdiction.[8] By June 1992 the situation had escalated to an open military engagement. With the near disintegration of the army during the heaviest fighting in and around the city of Bendery, in the wake of a coordinated offensive by Moldovan forces, General Major Alexander Lebed arrived at the 14th Army headquarters on 23 June with standing orders to stop the ongoing conflict with any available means, inspect the army, prevent the theft of armaments from its depots and ensure the unimpeded evacuation of armaments and Army personnel from Moldovan and through Ukrainian territory. After briefly assessing the situation, he assumed command of the army, relieving Netkachev, and ordered his troops to enter the conflict directly. On 3 July at 03:00, a massive artillery strike originating from the 14th Army formations stationed on left bank of the Dniester obliterated the Moldovan force concentrated in Gerbovetskii forest, near Bendery, effectively ending the military phase of the conflict.[8][7] [9] According to at least one Moldovan source, 112 Moldovan soldiers were killed by the salvo.[10] Since the end of the conflict, a separate Russian unit was moved into the region as part of the joint Russian-Moldovan-Transnistrian peacekeeping force, the Joint Control Commission. The 14th Guards Army itself was reformed in April 1995 into the Operational Group of Russian Forces in Moldova which came under the command of the Moscow Military District and was charged with guarding the weapons stockpile at Cobasna.[8] The force is now around 1200 strong, and according to Kommersant-Vlast in 2005, consisted of the 8th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, the 1162nd Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment, 15th Signals Regiment, and other support units.[11]

Current situation

The operational group is as of September 2006 commanded by General Major Boris Sergeyev of Russia and numbers 1,199 troops. It serves alongside the Joint Control Commission.[12] On 18 November 2008, NATO has adopted a resolution, urging Russia to "respect its commitments which were taken at the Istanbul OSCE Summit in 1999 and withdraw its illegal military presence from the Transdnestrian region of Moldova in the nearest future."[13] Notes

1. ^ "Russian troops in Transnistria – a threat to the security of the Republic of Moldova" By Dr. Mihai Gribincea, Institute of Political and Military Studies, Chişinău, Moldova]

2. ^ Feskov et al, 2004, "The Soviet Army in the period of the Cold War", Tomsk University Press. Other formations, including the 28th, 86th Guards, and 180th Motor Rifle Divisions, were over the border in Ukraine and became part of the Ukrainian Ground Forces.

3. ^ Edward Ozhiganov, "The Republic of Moldova: Transdniester and the 14th Army," in "Managing Conflict in the Former Soviet Union: Russian and American Perspectives," Alexei Arbatov, et al. eds. (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1997), p. 179.

4. ^ The flow of Red Army men and materiel to PMR armed forces was widely reported in the CIS press at the time. See for ex., Nezavisimaya Gazeta, June 18, 1992 trans. in FBIS, June 19, 1992, 63; and Radio Rossii, June 20, 1992, trans. in FBIS, June 22, 1992, 62.

5. ^ (Russian) Anna Volkova, "Leader" (Tiraspol’: [s.n.], 2001), p. 56. Available online at: http://www.olvia.idknet.com/soderjanie.htm 6. ^ Igor Smirnov, "Zhit’ na nashei zemle." (Moscow: Sovetskii pisatel’, 2001), p. 62. 7. ^ a b (Russian) Mikhail Bergman, "Вождь в чужой стае" 8. ^ a b c Irina F. Selivanova, "U.S. and Russian Policymaking With Respect to the Use of Force", chapter 4, Trans-Dniestria 9. ^ (Russian) Anatolii Mikhailovich Kazakov, "Krovavoe leto v benderakh – zapiski pokhodnogo atamana". 10. ^ (Russian) Sergei Skripnik, "Benderskie Khroniki" 11. ^ (Russian) "Что такое современная армия России" 21 February 2005, Kommersant-Vlast 12. ^ Ian Johnstone (ed), Annual Review of Global Peace Operations 2007, Lynne Rienner Publishers, Boulder/London, p.131 13. ^ NATO-resolution. 11. b.

20th Guards Army

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Curently commanded by Gen. Ltn Andrey Tretyak, the 20th Guards Army, (originally designated as the 4th Tank Army, 4th

Guards Tank Army in 1945, 4th Guards Mechanised Army in 1946, and the 20th Guards Army in 1960 within the Soviet Red Army), is a field army, since 1991, part of the Russian Ground Forces. It was first formed within the Stalingrad Front from July 1942 and incorporated the 22nd and 23rd Tank Corps, one rifle division, one tank brigade, and the 8th Separate Fighter Air Brigade, under the command of General Major Kruchenkin. It was committed to battle without being fully formed, as the German Wehrmacht had broken through. The Army attempted to stop the German 6th Army, but was not successful and lost a large number of tanks. On 1 August 1942 official Soviet records show the Army as comprising the 22nd Tank Corps (133rd, 173rd, 176th, and 182nd Tank Brigades plus the 22nd Motor Rifle Brigade), the 18th and 205th Rifle Divisions, an independent brigade, and two artillery regiments.[1] In August 1942 it fought on the southern approaches to Stalingrad, having conducted some successful counterattacks against units of the German 48th Panzer Corps. The much diminished army was redesigned the 65th Army in October 1942. On 15 July 1943, after an abortive attempt to form the Army for a second time had been called off in February, it was reformed as 4th Guards Tank Army drawing on the headquarters of the previous 19th Cavalry Corps. Initially the new army consisted of 11th and 30th Ural Volunteer Tank Corps and 6th Guards Mechanised Corps. Its first operation as 4th Guards Tank Army, under General Badanov, was at Orel, the counterattack (Operation Kutuzov) on the northern side of the Kursk bulge after the German defeat at the Battle of Kursk proper. John Erickson writes that '..at 1100 on 26 July, two of Badanov's corps (11th Tank and 6th Guards Mechanised) put in a ragged attack towards Bolkhov. For the next few hours, under the very gaze of Bagramyan [commander of 11th Guards Army, whose sector 4th Tank was attacking through] and Badanov, both corps were heavily battered by the concealed German tanks and assault guns.'[2] It took part in the winter battles in the Ukraine in 1944 (Proskurov-Chernovits), then the L’vov-Sanodmierz Operation in the summer. It then participated in the Lower Silesia, Upper Silesia, Berlin, and Prague operations. In the last days of the war, it achieved Guards status by an order of the NKO dated March, 17th, 1945 (Krasnaya Zvezda). It was initially part of the Soviet occupation forces in Czechoslovakia, but was then moved to eastern Germany. In the first days of the Soviet occupation of eastern Germany, it had its headquarter at Eberswalde and consisted of the 5th and 6th Guards Mechanized Corps and the 10th Guards Tank Corps. From 1946 to 1957 the Army was named 4th Guards Mechanised Army. It was renamed 20th Guards Army in 1960,[3] and served for many years as part of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. It took part in the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. In the 1980s it controlled the 25th Tank Division (HQ Vogelsang, disbanded 1989), 32nd Guards Tank Division (HQ Juterbog, disbanded 1989), 90th Guards Tank Division (HQ Bernau, withdrawn to Chernorech'e in the Volga Military District, early 1990s), the 35th Guards Motor Rifle Division (HQ Krampnitz, disbanded in 1992 in Germany), the 6th Guards Separate Motor Rifle Brigade at Berlin-Karlhorst (withdrawn to Kursk) and many combat support and service support units, including two surface-to-surface missile brigades, a SAM brigade, an engineer-sapper brigade, and two helicopter regiments.[4] After the fall of the Soviet Union 20th Guards Army was withdrawn to Voronezh in the Moscow Military District. In June 2006 elements of the Army took part in the "Shield of Union" joint Russian-Belorussian exercises.(Warfare.ru)

Current composition, 20th Guards Army

• Headquarters, Voronezh[citation needed] o 4th Kantemirovskaya Guards Tank Division, Naro-Fominsk, гвардейская танковая Кантемировская дивизия o 10th Guards Uralsko-Lvovskaya Tank Division, Boguchar, гвардейская танковая Уральско-Львовская

дивизия [5] o 236th Artillery Brigade - Tambov o 250th Independent Elint Regiment (OSNAZ) - Ostrogozhsk[citation needed] o 397th Multiple Rocket Launcher System Regiment - Skopin o 448th Missile Brigade - Kursk (OTR-21 Tochka SSM) o other auxiliary regiments and battalions

References and sources

1. ^ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1 August 1942 2. ^ John Erickson, 'Road to Berlin,' 1982, p.115 3. ^ 20 армия 4. ^ Craig Crofoot, document on Group of Soviet Forces Germany accessible at www.microarmormayhem.com, including

Conventional Forces in Europe data exchange material 5. ^ According to [1] the full name is 10 гвардейская танковая Уральско-Львовская ордена Октябрьской революции

Краснознаменная орденов Суворова и Кутузова добровольческая дивизия имени Маршала Советского Союза Р. А. Малиновского

• Keith E. Bonn (ed.), Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front, Aberjona Press, 2005, p.334 • see also (Ru) http://polk69wunsdorf.narod.ru/simple11.html

22nd Army

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 22nd Army is a field army of the Russian Ground Forces, currently part of the Moscow Military District. Originally it was formed in June 1941 within the Red Army and it comprised 51st Rifle Corps (98th, 112th, and 153rd Rifle Divisions) and 62nd Rifle Corps (170th, 174th, and 186th Rifle Divisions), and several separate regiments, including the 336th and 545th Corps Artillery Regiments.[1] Headquarters was at Velikiye Luki by 22 June 1941, and General Lieutenant F. A. Yershakov took command (who would direct the army until August 1941). Lenski notes that it was then made part of the 'Group of armies of the Reserve of the Main Command'. During the Battle of Smolensk (1941), six rifle divisions of the army fought fiercely against what victory.mil.ru describes as sixteen Wehrmacht divisions, including three tank and three motorized, and under their assault 22nd Army was forced to retreat.[2] On July 16, 1941, the Germans managed to surround the 51st Rifle Corps, and on July 20, to seize Velikiye Luki. 48th Tank Division joined the Army by August 1, 1941.[3] As part of the Soviet Western Front, since October, 17th the Kalinin Front, the Army conducted defensive operations on the Idritsa–Drissa–Vitebsk frontier, participated in the Battle of Smolensk, the Kalinin defensive operation, and the Battles of Rzhev - Operation Mars in 1942.[4] General Major V. A. Yushkevich again took command in April 1942, after previously commanding the army in August-October 1941. 3rd Mechanised Corps under General Major M. Ye. Katukov joined the Army in September 1942 when it was formed, though it was later reassigned. The Army's task as part of Operation Mars was as part of what in Soviet parlance was the 'Bely Offensive Operation in conjunction with 39th Army. Spearheaded by the 3rd Mechanised Corps, the army was tasked to: 'advance eastward up the Luchesa River valley, pierce the German defenses, assist in the capture of Bely, and encircle German forces around Olenino in conjunction with 39th Army.'[5] 'Early on 25 November, 22nd Army, with over 50,000 men and 270 tanks of 3rd Mechanised Corps, assaulted eastward up the Luchesa River valley. Attacking along a narrow corridor flanked by forests and frozen swamps, Soviet forces tore a gaping hole through German defences and drove German forces eastward up the valley. General Yushkevich's attack was spearheaded by Colonel I. V. Karpov's 238th Rifle Division and two regiments of Colonel M. F. Andryushenko's 185th Rifle Division, supported by a tank brigade of General Katukov's mechanised corps. The combined force routed a regiment of the German 86th Infantry Division and punctured the German front.' In 1943, the Army fought as part of the North-Western Front since April 21, then from October 13 as part of the Baltic Front, which became 2nd Baltic Front on October 20, 1943. 22nd Army defended the river Lovat, and participated in operations at Kholm, Velikiye Luki, Leningrad-Novgorod, Staraya Russa–Novorzhev, and Rezhitsa–Dvina. It then took part in the Riga Offensive Operation, part of the Baltic Offensive. Since October 1944, together with the other armies of the Front it carried out the blockade of the German Army Group Courland in the Courland Pocket. One of the Army's rifle corps was the Latvian 130th Rifle Corps that included two rifle divisions in which served a large number of Latvians in their ranks who would soon be facing their opposites in the Latvian 19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS. Immediately after the war ended, its HQ along with the 109th Rifle Division arrived in the South Ukraine in May 1945. In the Northern summer of 1945, together with the headquarters of the Separate Coastal Army, located in the Crimea, it was reorganised as the new but short-lived Tavricheskiy Military District. Its wartime commanders were:

• F. A. Yershakov (June — August 1941), Lieutenant General;

• V. A. Yushkevich (August-October, 19th 1941, April-December 1942 and March 1943-April 1944), General-Major, since March 1943 General-Lieutenant; Yushkevich went on to command 31st Army, and after the war, the Odessa Military District briefly)

• V. I. Vostrukhov (on October, 20th 1941 - March 1942), Major General;

• D. M. Seleznev (December 1942 - March 1943), Major General;

• G. P. Korotkov (April 1944 - May 1945), Lieutenant General.

Post Cold War

The 22nd Army Headquarters was reformed from the previous 13th Army Corps in the early 1990s in the Moscow Military District at Nizhny Novgorod. Initially it controlled the 31st Tank Division, withdrawn from the Central Group of Forces in Czechoslovakia and the 47th Guards Tank Division formerly from the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, as well as the 166th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade (Tver)(which was formerly the 6th Guards Motor Rifle Division with the Northern Group of Forces in Poland), the 211th Artillery Brigade, the 918th Multiple Rocket Launcher Regiment, (both at Mulino) and two helicopter regiments.[6] However, manpower levels were low; the tank divisions were reported to be at an establishment of 2,193 each and the 166th Motor Rifle Brigade at 3,638. By June 1998 the two tank divisions had been merged as the new 3rd Motor Rifle Division, and the new division was designated at as 'constant readiness' formation, to be maintained at at least 80% strength. Also, the 166th Motor Rifle Brigade has now been reduced to a storage base as the 70th Base for Storage of Weapons and Equipment (VkhVT).

Current Composition

• Headquarters - Nizhny Novgorod o 3rd Motor Rifle Division - Mulino (Nizhny Novgorod) o 50th Missile Brigade - Shuya o 211th Artillery Brigade — Mulino o 918th Multiple Rocket Launcher Regiment — Mulino o other auxiliary brigades and regiments

See also 1. ^ Orbat.com/Niehorster, Order of Battle 22 June 1941, accessed May 2008 2. ^ Victory.mil.ru entry, accessed April 2008 3. ^ Боевой состав Советской Армии на 1 августа 1941 г 4. ^ David Glantz, Counterpoint to Stalingrad: Operation Mars (November-December 1942), Foreign Military Studies Office 5. ^ David Glantz, Counterpoint to Stalingrad: Operation Mars (November-December 1942), Foreign Military Studies Office 6. ^ Andrew Duncan, 'Russian forces in decline — Part 3,' Jane's Intelligence Review, November 1996, p.492-4

• http://samsv.narod.ru/Arm/a22/arm.html

• http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/9059/RussianArmedForces.html for current units

29th Army

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Soviet Red Army's 29th Army was a field army of the Red Army and later the Russian Ground Forces. It was first formed in July 1941 in the Moscow Military District on the basis of 30th Rifle Corps. The 245th, 252nd, 254th and 256th Rifle Divisions, and a number of smaller units made up the Army. It joined the Front of reserve armies and conducted defensive works at Staraya Russa, Demyansk, Ostashkov, Selizharovo. It was reassigned on July 21, 1941 to the Soviet Western Front, and with Western Front it took part in the Battle of Smolensk, conducted defensive fights in area to the south of the city of Toropets and on left I protect Volga on a site Rzhev, Staritsa. As part of the Soviet Western Front, since October 17 of the Kalinin Front it participated in the defense of Kalinin, and the Kalinin, Rzhev–Vyazma 1942, and Rzhev–Sychyovka offensive operations (the Battles of Rzhev). From the end of August 1942 the army defended occupied boundaries on the left bank of the Volga River. In the beginning of February, 1943 the Army's units were transferred to Fifth Army and 20th Army, and the headquarters was reorganised as headquarters First Tank Army. Commanders:

• I. I. Maslennikov (July 4 (?) – December 11, 1941), general-lieutenant; • I. Shvetsov (on December 12, 1941 – September 1942), general-major; • Zhuravlyov (September 1942 – January 1943), general-major.

It appears the Army HQ was reformed in 1968-9 in the Transbaikal Military District as part of the response to what was perceived as an increasing threat from China. It was active until 1992, when it was downgraded to an Army Corps, but then was reformed from 57th Army Corps at Ulan-Ude in 2004, and was active in the Siberian Military District until 2007, when it was apparently again disbanded. Its units in July 2003 included 5th Guards Tank Division, the recently reformed 245th Motor Rifle Division at Gusinoozyorsk,[1] and the 11th Air Assault Brigade. Sources and References

1. ^ See Siberian Military District page at http://www8.brinkster.com/vad777/glavn.htm • http://samsv.narod.ru/Arm/a29/arm.html • http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/9059/RussianArmedForces.html for current units

35th Red Banner Army

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 35th Red Banner Army is a field army of the Russian Ground Forces.The 35th Army was originally formed within the Soviet Red Army in July 1941 on the basis of 18th Rifle Corps, and joined the Soviet Far East Front. Within Far Eastern Front it comprised 35th, 66th, 78th Rifle Divisions, the 109th Fortified Region, and a number of other artillery and rifle units. It defended the Primorski Krai frontier. From May 1st 1945 35th Army joined the Maritime Group of Forces which was transformed on August, 5th into the 1st Far Eastern Front. It had as part of its structure the 66th, 264th and 363rd Rifle Divisions, the 8th and 109th Fortified Regions, the 125th, 208th, and 209th Tank Brigades, and a number of artillery and other units.[1] With these forces the army participated in the Harbin–Kirin Operation[2] (Soviet invasion of Manchuria?). Its commanders were General Major A. Zajtsev (July 1941 – June 1945), and General Lieutenant N.D. Zakhvataev (June–September 1945). 35th Army was disbanded around 1945–6 by being redesignated 9th Mechanised Army. The 35th Red Banner Army today draws its history from the 1st Red Banner Army. After the end of the war with Japan, the First Army's headquarters was reorganised as the Headquarters Amur Military District, while part of its troops became part of 15th Army in the Kamchatka region and others joined 2nd Red Banner Army. After some years as an Army Corps, the Army was reformed and given the number 35. Therefore this army has nothing in common with the 35th Army which was in the District during the Second World War. In 1988 the 35th Army consisted of the:[3] Headquarters 35th Red Banner Army (Belogorsk):

• 21st Guards Tank Division (Belogorsk): 2nd Guards Tank Regiment, 125 гв. тп (Екатеринославка), 111 гв. тп, 277 гв. мсп, 64 гв. сап, 1064 Guards Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment

• 67th Мotor Rifle Division (Skovorodino): 422nd Tank Regiment, 1212th Motor Rifle Regiment, 1216th Motor Rifle Regiment, 1217th Motor Rifle Regiment, 1302nd Artillery Regiment, 1042nd Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment

• 192nd Motor Rifle Division (Blagoveshchensk): 371st Tank Regiment (Свободный), 190 мсп (Шимановский), 684 мсп (Черемхово), 679 мсп, ап (Свободный), 1414 зрп

• 262nd Мotor Rifle Division (Возжаевка/Vozhaevka): тп, мсп, мсп, 785 мсп, ап, зрп • 265th Мotor Rifle Division (Екатериновка/Yekaterinovka): 212 тп, 373 мсп, 695 мсп, мсп, ап, зрп • 266th Мotor Rifle Division (Raychikhinsk/Raichikhinsk): 376 тп, 421 мсп, 430 мсп, мсп, ап, зрп • Army Troops

o Pontoon-Bridge Regiment (понтонно-мостовой полк) (Arkhara) o 43rd бригада материального обеспечения; 156 отдельный радиотехнический полк, 1899 отдельный

радиотехнический батальон, 49 отдельный танковый полк, 161 отдельный полк связи, 1719 отдельный радиорелейно-кабельный батальон (Belogorsk)

o 1283rd Separate Engineer-Sapper Battalion (Berezovka, Altai/Березовка) o 153 Rocket Brigade; 71 зенитно-ракетная бригада (Svobodny, Amur Oblast/Свободный) o 364 Separate Helicopter Regiment (Среднебелое)

The 35th Army is still stationed in the Far East Military District with its headquarters at Belogorsk. It consists of three divisions, the 21st Guards (Belogorsk) and 270th (Krasnaya Rechka, Khabarovsk) Motor Rifle Divisions, and the 128th Machine-Gun Artillery Division (Babstovo), along with smaller combat and support units. Sources and references

1. ^ http://www.tashv.nm.ru/BoevojSostavSA/1945/19450501.html BoevojSostavSA Composition for 1 May 1945 2. ^ Харбино - Гиринской 3. ^ Feskov et al, The Soviet Army in the Period of the Cold War, Tomsk, 2004 • Feskov et al, The Soviet Army in the Period of the Cold War, Tomsk, 2004 • http://samsv.narod.ru/Arm/a35/arm.html

41st Army 41-я армия

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 41st Army (Russian: 41-я армия) is a field army of the Russian Ground Forces, currently part of the Siberian Military District. Originally, it was formed in 1942 as part of the Soviet Red Army, during World War II.

War service

The 41st army was created in May 1942, on the base of Berzarin and Tarasov's operative groups. Its structure also included the 134th, 135th, 179th and 234th rifle divisions, the 17th Guards rifle division, the 21st Armoured brigade, two separate Guards mortar battalions, and several other separate elements. [1] From May to November 1942, the army was focused on defending the South-Western approach to the city of Bely. In late November, the army joined the Rzhev offensive operation (also known as "Operation Mars"). During that time, the army was engaged with the German 41st Tank Corps. The army's offensive failed, and they were surrounded by the German 30th corps. By December 8, the surrounded forced were destroyed. In March 1943, the newly reinforced 41st Army joined the Rzhev-Vyazma operation. The offensive was a success and German forces in the Rzhev-Vyazma area were annihilated.[2] Following the operation, the forces of the army were transfered to the 39th Army and the 43rd Army, while the 41st Army itself was send to the STAVKA reserves. On April 9, 1943, the army was disbanded and its remaining forces would form the Reserve Front.

Structure

June 1, 1942:[3] • 17th Guards Rifle Division • 134th Rifle Division • 135th Rifle Division • 179th Rifle Division • 234th Rifle Division • 21st Armoured Brigade • Separate Engineer and Artillery units

September 1, 1942:[4] • 17th Guards Rifle Division • 134th Rifle Division • 179th Rifle Division • 234th Rifle Division • 21st Armoured Brigade • 104th Armoured Brigade • Separate Engineer and Artillery units

December 1, 1942:[5] • 6th Rifle Corps

o 150th Rifle Division o 74th Rifle Brigade o 75th Rifle Brigade o 78th Rifle Brigade o 91th Rifle Brigade

• 17th Guards Rifle Division • 93th Rifle Division • 134th Rifle Division • 234th Rifle Division • 262th Rifle Division • 1st Mechanized Corps

o 19th Mechanized Brigade o 35th Mechanized Brigade o 37th Mechanized Brigade o 65th Armoured Brigade o 219th Armoured Brigade

• 47th Mechanized Brigade • 48th Mechanized Brigade • 104th Armoured Brigade • 154th Armoured Brigade • Separate Engineer and Artillery units

March 1, 1943:[6] • 17th Guards Rifle Division • 93th Rifle Division • 134th Rifle Division • 262th Rifle Division • 75th Rifle Brigade • 78th Rifle Brigade • Separate Engineer and Artillery units

Current Composition

• Headquarters - Novosibirsk o 85th Motor Rifle Division - Novosibirsk o 122th Motor Rifle Division - Altay o 74th Independent Motor Rifle Brigade - Yurga o many other storage bases

References

• 41st Army • 60 лет Победы. 41-я армия • Russian Military Analisis, warfare.ru 1. ^ 41st Army 2. ^ БСЭ. Ржевско-Вяземская операция 1943 3. ^ Боевой состав Советской Армии на 1 июня 1942 г. 4. ^ Боевой состав Советской Армии на 1 сентября 1942 г. 5. ^ Боевой состав Советской Армии на 1 декабря 1942 г. 6. ^ Боевой состав Советской Армии на 1 марта 1943

58th Army

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 58th Army is a field army; first of the Soviet Union's Red Army and subsequently (since 1995) of the Russian Ground Forces. It was first formed in the Siberian Military District in November 1941, including the 362nd, 364th, 368th, 370th, 380th, and 384th Rifle Divisions and the 77th Cavalry Division and moved to the Archangelsk Military District, but then the Army was redesignated the 3rd Tank Army in May 1942. It was reestablished within the Kalinin Front in June 1942, and in July included the 16th and 27th Guards Rifle Divisions, the 215th and 375th Rifle Divisions, the 35th and 81st Tank Brigades, and other support units.[1] In August it was redesignated the 39th Army.

World War II

It was reformed in the Transcaucasian Front from the 24th Army on August 28 1942, under General Khomenko of the NKVD. Much of its senior cadre also came from the NKVD, and among its missions was to keep order in the Caucasus, particularly in the Groznyi and Makhachkala regions.[2] This was because of a Chechen rising that had gone on since 1941 (see 1940-1944 Chechnya insurgency). 58th Army later joined the North Caucasus Front. On 1 November 1942 it consisted of the 271st and 416th Rifle Divisions, and the Makhachkala Division of the NKVD.[3] Prior to the North Caucasus Front putting its main effort into the Kerch-Eltigen Operation (November 1943) the Army HQ was reorganised as Headquarters Volga Military District in October 1943.[4]

Second Chechen War

The headquarters was reformed in 1995 in the North Caucasus Military District from the 42nd Army Corps at Vladikavkaz. During the Second Chechen War, the Army was commanded by General Vladimir Shamanov.[5]

2008 Ossetia war

On 4 August 2008, five battalions of the Russian 58th Army were moved to the vicinity of Roki Tunnel that links South Ossetia with North Ossetia[6]. On 8 August 2008 [7][8] [9] the Army moved to South Ossetia and engaged in combat with Georgian forces.[10][11]

Order of Battle, 2003

The Army operates in a close coordination with the 4th Air Force and Air Defence Army of the district, and includes:[12]

• 19th Motor Rifle Division - Vladikavkaz • 205th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade- Budenovsk • 136th Guards Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade- Buynaksk, Dagestan • 135th Separate Motorized Rifle Regiment- Prochladny, Kabardino-Balkaria • 291st Separate Artillery Brigade- Maikop- (equipped with 2A65) • 943rd Multiple Rocket Launcher Regiment – Krasnooktabrsky (Uragan 220mm MRL) • 1128th Anti-Tank Regiment- Maikop • 67th Separate Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade (SAM)- Volgograd area (SA-11 'Buk' SAM) • 487th Separate Helicopter Regiment (Mi-8/Mi-24)- Budenovsk • 11th Separate Engineer Regiment- Kavkazskay • 234th Separate Signals Regiment – Vladikavkaz • 22nd Separate Regiment of Electronic Warfare- Vladikavkaz

Citations and notes

1. ^ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1 July 1942 2. ^ David Glantz, personal correspondence, December 2007

3. ^ BSSA via [1] 4. ^ David Glantz, Companion to Colossus Reborn, 2005, p.59 5. ^ p.109, Murphy 6. ^ Talking Through Gritted Teeth. BBC Monitoring, 6 August 2008 7. ^ Torrey Clark and Greg Walters, Putin Says `War Has Started,' Georgia Claims Invasion (Update4), Bloomberg.com, 8

August 2008 8. ^ [2] p.2, Peter Finn, William Branigin, Georgian, Russian Troops Clash in South Ossetia, Washington Post Foreign

Service, Friday, August 8, 2008; 2:03 PM 9. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7548715.stm 10. ^ [3] Oleg Shchedrov reporting for Reuters, Russian troops close to S. Ossetian capital, Moscow, August 8 13:38:12 GMT

(Reuters) 11. ^ [4] Минобороны РФ заявило о расстреле российских миротворцев, Lenta.ru, Rambler Media Group, Saturday,

09.08.2008, 03:45:33 12. ^ Russian Ground Forces in the North Caucasus Military District v.1.0 December 1, 2003, Colin Robinson (editing and

some text), Vadim Teplitskiy(unit list), and Craig Crofoot (history text), via http://www.orbat.com References

• Murphy, Paul J., The Wolves of Islam: Russia and the Faces of Chechen Terror, Brassey's, 2004

2nd Tatsinskaya Guards Tank Corps

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 2nd Tatsinskaya Guards Tank Corps was a Red Army armoured formation that saw service during World War II on the Eastern Front. After the war it continued to serve with Soviet occupation forces in Central Europe. It was originally the 24th Tank Corps. The unit had approximately the same size and combat power as a Wehrmacht Panzer Division, and less than a British Armoured Division had during World War II. Based at, is currently commanded by V. M. Badanov. The first of the Guards Tank Corps were formed when 26th Tank Corps was renamed 1st Guards Tank Corps in December 1942.

(http://stalingrad.ic.ru/s26tcorp.html). 24th Tank Corps was formed in 1942 during the re-establishment of the Tank Corps as a formation in the Red Army. It was equipped with a mix of T-34 medium, T-60 light, KV-1 heavy, and U.S. Lend Lease M3 Stuart light tanks. It was assigned to 6th Army, and participated in the Stalingrad Defensive Operation on the Don during July 1942, where it lost almost two-thirds of the tanks with which it started the battle. [1] Its 24th Motorized Brigade conducted offensive operations along the Don together with 25th Guards Rifle Division. [2] Following re-building, it was assigned to 3rd Guards Army which was under the command of General D.D.Lelyushenko to participate in the encirclement of German Army Group A in Operation Saturn, which was undertaken during the Battle of Stalingrad. The 24th Tank Corps consisted of the following units: Combat Units : 4th Guards Tank Brigade (Colonel G.I. Kolypov) - 54th Tank Brigade (Colonel V.M. Polyakov) - 130th Tank Brigade (Colonel S.K. Nesterov) - 24th Motorized Rifle Brigade (Colonel V.S. Savchenko) Support Units: 13th Mining Engineer Company - 158th Mobile Repair Base - Corps Train The Corps undertook the famous raid on Tatsinskaya during Operation Little Saturn. In honour of its achievement during this raid, it was renamed 2nd Guards Tank Corps, and given the honorific 'Tatsinskaya'. 2nd Guards Tank Corps

2nd Guards Tank Corps was initially based on the same units as 24th Tank Corps. The individual combat units were also renamed and renumbered as Guards units. With changing TO&E during the war, additional units were added. Depending on the specific tasks allotted to the Corps, units from the STAVKA Reserve could be added to help it achieve its mission. At the Battle of Kursk, the following OOB applied: Main Combat Units (totalling 187 tanks at Prokohorovka):

• 25th Guards Tank Brigade • 26th Guards Tank Brigade • 4th Guards Tank Brigade • 4th Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade • 47th Guards Breakthrough Tank Regiment • 1500th SU-regiment (Self-propelled Artillery) • 1695th AA-regiment • 273rd Mortar regiment • 755th Antitank battalion

Support Units (unconfirmed) • Aviation Liaison Section (F.A.C.) • 51st Sapper Battalion • Corps Train

Combat History

1942 Operation Saturn Tatsinskaya Raid (almost destroyed) 1943 Battle of Kharkov (1943) - Battle of Kursk (Battle of Prokhorovka (heavily damaged) ) - Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev - Battle of Smolensk 1944 Operation Bagration (Battle of Minsk (1944) - the 4th Guards Tank Brigade was the first Soviet unit to enter Minsk during this battle.) - Baltic Operation 1945 Vistula-Oder Offensive - East Prussian Offensive (Gumbinnen Operation - Insterburg-Königsberg Offensive ) - Berlin Operation

Assignment

1942 1st Guards Army 1943 3rd Tank Army - 5th Guards Tank Army 1944 11th Guards Army - 5th Guards Tank Army Postwar It was later converted into the 2nd Guards Tank Division and postwar it was stationed in the Leningrad Military District, before being transferred to the Transbaikal Military District in the 1960s and finally being disbanded circa 2001-3.

Commanders

• Major General V.M.Badanov - Major General A.S. Burdeinyi Decorations Order of Suvorov Order of the Red Banner Honorific "Tatsin"

References Books • Bonn, K.E. 'Slaughterhouse - The Handbook of the Eastern Front', Aberjona Press • Erickson, J. 'The Road to Stalingrad' • Glantz, D. 'From the Don to the Dnepr' • Porfiryev, ‘Raid to Tatsinskaya’, VIZH 11/1987

Websites

• Red Army Studies • Battlefield.ru • Eastern Front.co.uk

2nd Guards Tamanskaya Motor Rifle Division

2-я гвардейская мотострелковая Таманская ордена Октябрьской Революции

Краснознаменная ордена Суворова дивизия имени М. И. Калинина

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 2nd Guards Motor Rifle 'Tamanskaya' Order of October Revolution, Red Banner,, Order of Suvorov Division named

after M.I. Kalinin, also known as the Tamanskaya Division, Taman Division and Taman Guards (Cyrillic: 2-я гвардейская мотострелковая Таманская ордена Октябрьской Революции Краснознаменная ордена Суворова дивизия имени М. И. Калинина, Guards Motor Rifle Tamanskaya Division), is one of the most famous divisions of the Russian Ground Forces. The division is deployed in the Moscow Military District, it is based near Aprelevka[1], in the Moscow suburbs: its various subunits occupy a vast complex of buildings and sites to the north and northwest of the town. The two most important 'sub-bases' in the area are Kalininets and Kobyakovo[2]. It is one of the Russian Army's 'constant readiness' divisions, meaning that it is required to have at least 80% manpower and 100% equipment strength at all times; it is thus readily deployable. As a motor rifle division, its role is roughly comparable to western mechanised infantry divisions. The division is primarily charged with the specific defence of Moscow itself, and forms part of the 20th Guards Army under the overall command of Lt. General Andriy Tretyak. Its motto is "Rodina,

chest', slava", which translates as "Motherland, honour and glory".

The Second World War

• 127th Rifle Division (July 1940 - September 1941)The 127th Rifle Division was with 19th Army's 25th Rifle Corps, along with 134th and 162nd Rifle Divisions on June 22, 1941. It formed part of the High Command reserve.[3] By August, it was with the Front troops of the Soviet Reserve Front.

• 2nd Guards Rifle Division (September 1941 - October 1943) By October, attached to General Ермакова's operational group of the Bryansk Front.

• 2nd Guards Tamanskaya (Motor) Rifle Division (October 1943 - December 1953) • 23rd Guards Tamanskaya Mechanised Division (December 1953 - March 1957) • 23rd Guards Tamanskaya Motor Rifle Division (March 1957 - November 1964) • 2nd Guards Tamanskaya Motor Rifle Division (November 1964 - present)

Recent history

The Division fought at Smolensk and during the Kerch-Eltigen Operation during the Second World War. The division has played a prominent role in two of the major political crises of recent Soviet and Russian history. In 1991, it was one of the divisions deployed in Moscow as part of the hardline coup attempt against the Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev; however, it was a tank unit attached to the division that switched sides at the decisive point in the coup's course. Boris Yeltsin delivered a speech standing on top of tank no. 110, strengthening his own position both domestically and abroad significantly. 2 years later, the division once again came to Yeltsin's rescue, during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis. The stand-off between the Russian Parliament and Yeltsin, against the backdrop of massive public demonstrations in Moscow against Yeltsin's government, had by the 2nd of October bought Russia to the brink of civil war. Between the 2nd and 4th of October, the army considered its position. By sunrise of the 4th, they had given their support to Yeltsin. That day, tanks from the Tamanskaya Division opened fire on the Parliament building, where the Parliament's supporters were barricaded. This episode consolidated Yeltsin's power; it was the deadliest street fighting in Moscow since 1917. Since then, the division has seen service in Chechnya: it is known to have contributed to the force that brought the republic back under Russian control in 1999 and 2000, during the Second Chechen War. A 'tactical group' from the 15th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment deployed to Chechnya in early 2000, serving in the south of the republic and the Argun Gorge after the end of major combat operations to maintain security. In 2004, it was visited by a delegation of foreign military attaches. The Kalininets base has also recently provided the venue for the Miss Russian Army contest. The division has been slated for disbandment in 2009, with two brigades being created from its existing subunits.[4] Each brigade will include about 7,500 personnel with one mounted on BMP-3 tracked vehicles while the other using BTR-80 and BTR-90 wheeled vehicles.

Rearmament in 2007

On the 22 January 2007, the Russian news agency Interfax reported comments from the commander of the Moscow Military District, Col. General Vladimir Bakin. He stated that the Tamanskaya Division's 1st Guards Motor Rifle Regiment had been re-equipped with a battalion of T-90 main battle tanks, replacing its old T-80s, a battalion of BTR-80 armoured personnel carriers (this presumably refers to the modernised BTR-80A variant, which has improved firepower and armour, among other things), as well as a battalion of new self-propelled howitzers and 'C2' command and control systems. Bakin also said that the regiment's 3rd Battalion had begun re-equipping with the BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicle, of which the regiment as a whole was due to receive 129 by the end of the year. Furthermore, according to Interfax: "Bakin stated that the First Guards Regiment had already undergone training for operating new

materiel. "The regiment was the first in the Russian army to successfully master new arms and materiel. Last year, the regimental

personnel were graded highly on their performance, he said."[5] This rearmament may represent the first publicly-known deployment of the T-90 in the Russian Army outside of the 5th Guards 'Don' Tank Division, based at Kyakhta in the Siberian Military District, which has been entirely equipped with such tanks in recent years. There have been rumours in circulation for some time now that all the T-90s currently in service were to be accumulated in the Tamanskaya Division, but these rumours lack reliable sources. If any such move is to occur, it may take place in 2007, but January's partial rearmament of the division does not seem to signal the beginning of such a move, since the T-90s and other modern armoured vehicles now with the division are newly-purchased ones.

Subordinated units and fighting strength

As of 2004, the Tamanskaya Division consisted of the following units: • o 1st Guards 'Sevastopolsky' Motor Rifle Regiment, Kalininets o 15th Guards 'Shavlinsky' Motor Rifle Regiment, Kalininets o 283rd Guards 'Berlinsky' Motor Rifle Regiment, Kalininets o 1st Guards 'Chertkovsky' Tank Regiment, Kalininets (ru:1 гвардейский танковый полк) o 147th Guards 'Sevastopolsky' Artillery Regiment, Kobyakovo o 1117th Air Defence Regiment, Kobyakovo o 136th Guards Independent Intelligence Battalion, Kalininets o 1174th Independent Anti-Tank Battalion o 211st Guards Independent Engineer Battalion o 614th Independent Chemical Battalion o 47th Guards Independent Signal Battalion o 190th Independent Maintenance Battalion o 1063rd Independent Supply Battalion o 370th Independent Medical Battalion

Overall, the division numbers around 12,000 soldiers.[6] Its principal vehicles are the T-90 and T-80 main battle tanks, BTR-80 armoured personnel carrier and the BMP-2 and BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles. References

1. ^ Moscow MD 2. ^ Moscow Military District | Russian Arms, Military Technology, Analysis of Russia's Military Forces 3. ^ BSSA, June 22, 1941, http://www.tashv.nm.ru/BoevojSostavSA/1941/19410622.html 4. ^ Таманскую мотострелковую дивизию расформируют 5. ^ http://www.xignite.com/xWorldNews.aspx?articleid=CEP20070122950266 6. ^ Russian Military Districts

See also/Further Reading

• Russian Guards • http://leav-www.army.mil/fmso/documents/blockdet.htm - lesser known historical incident of the 2 GRD

3rd Motor Rifle Division

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Soviet Army's 3rd Rifle Division was formed 5. 06. 1921 in the Ukraine Military District. At the very end of World War II it was involved in the Sungari Army Group Operation with 2nd Red Banner Army. Immediate post war the Division was in 1st Red Banner Army, Transbaikal-Amur VO, 136th Rifle Corps, alongside 12 RD, 396 RD and 101st Fortified Region/MGAD. It was disbanded between 20.6.46 and 30.8.46. Crofoot, Armies of the Bear, states that 3 MRD was reformed 1955 in the Moscow Military District from 413 RD, taking its honours - 'Brest' and awards from 413 RD. 'However like all the divisions formed in 1955 it didn't last and was disbanded in 1956.' 3rd MRD reformed as 3rd 'Vislenskaya Red Banner Order of Suvorov i Kutuzova' Motor Rifle Division by amalgamation of 31st and 47th Tank Divisions at Novyy in the Moscow Military District on 1 July 1997[1] gaining the honours of the 31st Tank Division. The Division was in 2004 under the command of General Major Aleksandr Konnov. (RusMilDir 04) 3rd MRD should not to be confused with 3rd Guards Rifle Division which was in Voronezh MD with 11th Guards Rifle Corps in 1945/6, and later in 1955 and 1957. A later formation of 3 Guards MRD was listed by Feskov et al (Tomsk) in the Baltic Military District in 1979, and in 1988 - at Klaipeda. Sources

1. ^ http://www.soldat.ru/forum/?gb=3&id=30439 - Russian language forum post on 3 MRD • Craig Crofoot, Armies of the Bear • June 1998 report by Andrew Duncan in Jane's Intelligence Review • Feskov et al, The Soviet Army in the period of Cold War, Tomsk University 2004 • Scott and Scott, Russian Military Directory 2004 • Further Reading -

19th Motor Rifle Division

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 19th Motor Rifle Division appears to have been formed originally in July 1922 at Tambov in the Moscow Military District as a territorial formation. In 1923 it was awarded the 'Tambov' placename and renamed the 19th Voronezh Rifle Division. During the war it served successively with the 24th, 43rd, 5th, 20th, 3rd Guards Tank, 57th, 37th, 7th Guards, and 46th Armies. It conducted defensive operations near Elnia and was fought during the Battle of Moscow. In 1942 and 1943 it defended in the Gzatsk and Kharkov areas, took part in the Belgorod-Khar'kov Offensive Operation (3 August 1943 - 23 August 1943) (a part of Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev) as part of the 7th Guards Army, and the liberation of the Ukraine. In 1944 its combat part took it through Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia where it ended the war. In September 1944 it was given the 'Shumlin' place name honorific.Until 1957 the Division remained titled the 19th Rifle Division, its Second World War designation. It was briefly the 92nd Motor Rifle Division from 1957 to 1965 but in 1965 became again the 19th Motor Rifle Division. It arrived in the Caucasus region by the mid 1950s and has been stationed for many years at Vladikavkaz. In the late 1980s it was part of the 42nd Army Corps at Volgograd and consisted of the 397th Tank Regiment, and the 201st, 429th, and 503rd Motor Rifle Regiments.Today after reshuffling of units during the last fifteen years it is part of the reformed 58th Army, the North Caucasus Military District. Division honorifics are - Russian: Воронежско-Шумлинская краснознаменная, орденов Суворова, Трудового Красного

Знамени.On August 8, 2008, elements of the 19th Motor Rifle Division (at least 503rd Motor Rifle Reg.) entered South Ossetia.[citation needed]

Subordinated units

• 429th Motor Rifle Regiment • 503rd Motor Rifle Regiment • 693rd Motor Rifle Regiment • 292nd Self-propelled Artillery Regiment • 481st Air-Defence Missile Regiment • 141st Separate Tank Battalion • Engineer Battalion • Military Intelligence Battalion • Signal Battalion • Chemical Battalion • Supply Battalion • Maintenance Battalion • Medical Battalion

Personnel and Equipment

The 19th Motor Rifle Division currently has approximately 11,000 personnel in active service.[1] Equipment Summary[1]

Equipment Numbers

Main Battle Tanks 120 (T-72)

APC & IFV 330

Self Propelled Artillery 72 (2S3 Akatsiya)

Multiple Rocket Launchers 16

Sources and References

• Feskov et al, 'The Soviet Army in the period of the Cold War' • Crofoot et al, 'Armies of the Bear' • Aberjona Press, 'Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front' • See also http://www.soldat.ru/forum/?gb=3&id=33194

References

1. ^ a b North Caucasus Military District, warfare.ru, Russian Military Analisis. Retrieved on September 1, 2008.

20th

Motor Rifle Division (ex-3rd Mechanised Corps)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 3rd Mechanised Corps was a formation of the Red Army, now a part of the Russian Ground Forces as the 20th Motor Rifle Division. The Corps was first formed before World War II, and on 22 June 1941 was stationed at Vilnius in the Baltic Military District under MG A.V. Kurkin. It consisted of 2 Tank Division, 5 Tank Division, 84 Motorised Division, 15 Motorcycle Regiment, an Artillery Regiment, and engineer and signals battalions.[1] On June 22 the 2nd Tank Division was located in the forest in Gajzhuny, in the Ionava area, the 5th Tank Division was positioned to defend the Neman bridge near Alitus, and the 84th Motorised Division - was in forest in the Kajshadoris area.[2] It was heavily engaged in the first battles of Operation Barbarossa, particularly at the Battle of Raseiniai, and by early July had virtually ceased to exist as a formation, though remnants rejoined Soviet lines later. For example, the 5th Tank Division was at Yelnya by July 4, 1941 and consisted of 2,552 men and a total of 2 BT-7 tanks and four armoured cars.[3] The Corps was formed for the second time on 18 September 1942 at Kalinin in the Moscow Military District. General Lieutenant M.E. Katukov took command. It was initially assigned to the 22nd Army of the Kalinin Front. It took part in Operation Mars alongside the 22nd Army. Hamazasp Babadzhanian, who commanded the 3rd Mechanised Brigade of the corps, mentioned this operation briefly in his memoirs, quoting a conversation with 22nd Army commander, V. A. Iushkevich, who said, “We will conduct a rather serious offensive together with Western Front forces—we must liquidate the enemy Rzhev grouping.”[4]

The Corps then fought in the Battle of Kursk, then fought across the Ukraine with the Central, Belorussian, and 1st Belorussian Fronts. On 23 October 1943 it was awarded ‘Guards’ status and re-designated the 8th Guards Mechanised Corps. In 1944 it took part in the Zhitomir-Berdichev, Korsun-Shevchenkovsky, Proskurov-Chernovits, and Lvov-Sandomir battles, in April gaining the 'Carpathian' honorific. It ended the war in Berlin after participating in the Warsaw-Poznan and East Pomeranian offensives. As part of the occupation forces, it was assigned to the 1st Guards Tank Army (later 1st Guards Mechanised Army). In the immediate post-war period, the Corps was reorganised as the 8th Guards Mechanised Division. In 1957, it was reorganised as the 20th Guards Carpathia-Berlin, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Motor Rifle Division. In 1959 the division was transferred to the 18th Guards Army, which had been up to 1957 the 3rd Guards Mechanised Army. In 1968, it took part in the invasion of Czechoslovakia as part of the 1st Guards Tank Army, though when it returned to East Germany, it reverted back to the control of the 18th Guards Army. When 18th Guards Army was disbanded in 1979, the division was transferred to the 1st Guards Tank Army, where it remained until it was withdrawn from Germany in 1991.The division was withdrawn from Germany in 1991, and moved to Volgograd in the North Caucasus Military District. It currently is garrisoned in Volgograd, with parts of the division having taken part in the First and Second Chechen Wars. Order of Battle in 1989-90, Germany

a. Division Headquarters – Grimma 51° 13’ 50” North, 12° 06’ 10” East b. 29th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment (BMP) – Plauen 50° 29’ 30” North, 12° 06’ 10” East c. 67th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment (BMP) – Grimma 51° 13’ 40” North, 12° 42’ 20” East d. 242nd Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment (BTR) – Würzen 51° 22’ 50” North, 12° 43’ 40” East e. 95th Tank Regiment – Glauchou 50° N, 12° Et (in 1989, the 95th Tank was reorganized as the 576th Mot Rifle Regt) f. 944th Guards Self-Artillery Regiment - Leisnig 52° 09’ 30” North, 12° 54’ 50” East g. 358th Guards Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment – Leisnig 51° 09’ 10” North, 12° 55’ 10” East h. 20th Independent Tank Battalion – Pommsen 51° 13’ 30” North, 12° 36’ 10” East i. 487th Independent Anti-Tank Artillery Battalion – Oshatz 51° 17’ 40” North, 13° 07’ 40” East j. 320th Independent Missile Battalion (SS-21) k. 68th Independent Reconnaissance & Radio EW Battalion – Plauen 50° 29’ 30” North, 12° 06’ 10” East l. 454th Independent Signals Battalion – Grimma 51° 13’ 50” North, 12° 42’ 20” East m. 133rd Independent Guards Engineer-Sapper Battalion – Leisnig 51° 21’ 40” North, 12° 27’ 00” East n. 153rd Independent Chemical Defense Battalion o. 39th Independent Repair-Reconstruction Battalion 51° 21’ 40” North, 12° 27’ 00” East p. 347th Independent Medical-Sanitation Battalion q. 1124th Independent Material Support Battalion

Sources and References

1. ^ www.orbat.com/Niehorster 2. ^ Boyevoye Doneseniye No.1, HQ North-western Front, July 2, 1941, 24:00// Sbornik boyevykh dokumentov vol. 34,

Moscow, Voyennoye Izdatelstvo Ministerstva Oborony, 1958, via http://rkkaww2.armchairgeneral.com/formation/mechcorps/3mk.htm

3. ^ E. Drig, "Mekhanizirovannye korpusa RKKA v boyu", AST, Moscow, 2005 cited in http://rkkaww2.armchairgeneral.com/formation/mechcorps/3mk.htm

4. ^ David Glantz in Keith E. Bonn, Slaughterhouse: the Handbook of the Eastern Front, Aberjona Press, Bedford, PA, 2005 • Keith E. Bonn, Slaughterhouse: the Handbook of the Eastern Front, Aberjona Press, Bedford, PA, 2005, p.351 • Craig Crofoot, document on Group of Soviet Forces Germany accessible at www.microarmormayhem.com, including

Conventional Forces in Europe data exchange material

27th Guards Omsk Novoburg Rifle Division

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 27th Guards Rifle Division was a Red Army rifle division in World War II which later became a Soviet Army motor rifle division. The division draws its history from the 75th Naval Rifle Brigade formed in the end of 1941. As part of the 3rd Shock Army, Kalinin Front in 1942 the brigade participated in the Demiansk operations - the Moscow counteroffensive. For its fighting performance it became the 3rd Guards Rifle Brigade in March 1942, having spent all its time in reserve, became the 27th Guards Rifle Division in April-May 1942. With a view to the preservation of fighting and revolutionary traditions of earlier formations, the name "Omsk" which 27th Rifle Division had during the Russian Civil War had earlier was given to the new division. In the late summer of 1942, it was rushed south to help stop the German offensive into the northern Caucasus and Stalingrad. It took part in the destruction of the German 6th Army during the winter of 1942/43. During World War II the division was part of the 4th Tank Army, 1st Guards Army, the 24th Army, the 66th Army, the 65th Army and since February 1943 the 62nd Army. In April 1942 the 62nd Army became the Eighth Guards Army. In July 1942 the Division was part of Kalinin Front's 58th Army, alongside 16th Guards Rifle Division and two other rifle divisions.[1] The Division was back with the 8th Guards Army of the 1st Belorussian Front in May 1945. The Division participated in the Battle of Stalingrad, Izyum-Barvenkovo, Donbass, Zaporozhye, Nikopol-Krivoi Rog, Bereznegova-Snigirovka, Odessa, Lublin - Brest, Poznań, Küstrin, Варшавско - Познанской and the Berlin offensive operation. For services in battle the Division was awarded the honourable name "Novobug" (March 1944), then awarded the Order of the Red Banner and Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky 2nd degrees. Over 10 thousand of its soldiers were awarded awards and medals, and 7 were awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union. Its commanders included Colonel K.N. Vindushev (1942), and S.Glebov (1942 - 1945), Glebov was originally a Colonel but was made a General-Major in November 1942. Since 1945 the Division remained as part of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany; it became a Motor Rifle Division about 1957. It remained in Germany until after the fall of the Soviet Union, when it was withdrawn to Totskoye in the Volga-Ural Military District. It has contributed many personnel for peacekeeping operations.

Composition in Germany, 1989-90

Source: Craig Crofoot, GSFG manscript available at www.microarmormayhem.com

• a. Division Headquarters – Halle 51° 29’ 40” North, 11° 55’ 40” East • b. 68th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment (BMP) – Halle 51° 26’ 30” North, 11° 56’ 50” East • c. 243rd Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment (BTR) – Halle 51° 29’ 40” North, 11° 55’ 40” East • d. 244th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment (BTR) – Schlotheim 51° 15’ 50” North, 10° 38’ 30” East • e. 28th Tank Regiment – Halle 51° 29’ 40” North, 11° 55’ 40” East • f. 54th Guards Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment – Halle 51° 29’ 40” North, 11° 55’ 40” East • g. 286th Guards Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment – Halle 51° 29’ 40” North, 11° 55’ 40” East • h. 488th Independent Anti-Tank Battalion – Halle 51° 29’ 40” North, 11° 55’ 40” East • i. 5th Independent Reconnaissance & Radio EW Battalion – Mühlhausen 51° 12’ 20” North, 10° 27’ 00” East • j. 35th Independent Guards Signals Battalion – Halle 51° 29’ 40” North, 11° 55’ 40” East • k. 29th Independent Guards Engineer-Sapper Battalion – Halle 51° 26’ 40” North, 11° 57’ 10” East • l. 44th Repair-Reconstruction Battalion • m. 367th Independent Chemical Defense Battalion • n. 21st Independent Medical-Sanitation Battalion • o. 1126th Independent Material Support Battalion

Current Composition

Source warfare.ru • HQ 27th Motorized-Rifle Division [2nd Combined-Arms Army]

o 81st Motorized Rifle Regiment, Samara [27th MRD](Agentstvo Voyennykh Novostey, 5 Mar 01; 21 Jan 03). o 152nd Tank Regiment(Agentstvo Voyennykh Novostey, 13 Sep 01). o 433rd Motorized-Rifle Regiment [27th MRD](Agentstvo Voyennykh Novostey, 13 Sep 01).

Sources

1. ^ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army • http://samsv.narod.ru/Div/Sd/gvsd027/default.html • Bonn, Slaughterhouse: Handbook of the Eastern Front, 2005, p.365

42nd Motor Rifle Division

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 42 Guards Motor Rifle Division was formed originally as the 111th Rifle Division in Vologda in 1940, and became 24th Guards Rifle Division in March 1942 [1] Based in the North Caucasus following World War II, it seems to have become 42nd Guards MRD in 1957, while at Grozny. In 1987 it became 173 Guards District Training Centre, and it comprised in 1991 of three Motor Rifle Regiments, one Tank rgt, one Guards Training Artillery rgt and one Air-Defense regiment. In November 1990 it had a total of 219 tanks, 187 being T-55s. By June 1993 173 Guards Training Centre had been disbanded and had handed over half its weapons to the Chechens in order to evacuate the other half unhindered. The Division did not reform until the late 1990s. Following the beginning of the Second Chechen War it was announced in December 1999 as the permanent garrison force for Chechnya and various military districts started raising its regiments separately in 2000. [2] The Division is now headquartered at Khankala.The 42nd Division includes two Chechen battalions, the Vostok and Zapad units.[3] The two battalions are apparently GRU Spetsnaz units but under the operational command of 42nd Division. Subordinated units in 1991

• 70th Motor Rifle Regiment; • 71st Motor Rifle Regiment; • 72nd Motor Rifle Regiment; • 392nd Tank Regiment; • 50th Guards Training Artillery Regiment; • 1203rd Anti-aircraft Missile Regiment;

References

1. ^ С.Н.Жилин и др. "Под гвардейским знаменем". Архангельск/Вологда. 1980 г. 2. ^ Michael Orr, "Russia's Chechen War Reaches Crisis Point", Jane's Intelligence Review, October 2000. 3. ^ http://www.naharnet.com/domino/tn/NewsDesk.nsf/0/2A70ED295DFC411EC22571FD0049FC9E?OpenDocument.

Sulim Yamadayev commands the Vostok battalion

85th Rifle Division

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 85th Rifle Division was a infantry division of the Soviet Red Army active from 1931 and converted to a motorised formation in 1957. It is now part of the Russian Ground Forces. The division was originally formed in 1931 in the Ural MD, seemingly at Chelyabinsk. It seems to have been sent to Belorussian Special Military District, soon to be Western Special Military District, 1940. Assigned to 4th Rifle Corps, 3rd Army, Soviet Western Front on outbreak of war. Narod.ru seems to indicate that the division was formed twice, in 1931 and 1941.

• From 1957 85th Motorized Rifle Division; Novosibirsk, Siberian Military District • Current commander (as at 2003): Ashitok, Vladimir Gen Maj (KZ2003-0423) Commander of Leningrad-Pavlovsk

Division. • Previous commanders: (late 1990s-e2000s) Lunev, Vasiliy Gen Maj; Makushkin, Anatoliy Gen Maj; commanded by Gen.

Igor Puzanov 1983-86 • At the end of the 1980s it consisted of the 387th Tank Regiment, 141st, 59th(?), 228th MRRs, 167th Artillery Regt, 1133

Anti-aircraft Rocket Regiment • the 228th 'Sevastopol' Motor Rifle Regiment, 85 MRD, the only Russian regiment to be fully equipped with the BMP-3,

was reequipped with MT-LB armoured personnel carriers in 2000 because a six-month tour in Chechniya had reduced the service life of the vehicles by half.[1] In other words, maintenance problems were much greater when the vehicles were conscript-crewed.

• Honorifics Leningrad-Павловская Red Banner Sources

1. ^ AVN Military News Agency report, 31 July 2000, in Orr June 2000, p.98, 101 • Lenskii • Feskov et al • Scott and Scott, Russian Military Directory 2004 • http://samsv.narod.ru/Div/Sd/sd085/default.html • http://orbat.com/site/ww2/drleo/012_ussr/41_oob/western/army_03.html • http://www.rkka.ru/handbook/reg/85sd31.htm

201st Gatchina Motor Rifle Division

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 201st Gatchina Twice Red Banner Motor Rifle Division was originally raised twice in World War II as part of the Soviet Union's Red Army and is now part of the Russian Ground Forces. The Great Patriotic War

201st Rifle Division (First Formation) first appears on the rolls of the Red Army as part of the Moscow Military District on 1 September 1941.[1] as the 210st Latvian Rifle Division, the first of three 'national' divisions with predominantly Baltic-speaking personnel.[2] The basis of the division was the 76th independent Latvian rifle regiment which was in turn formed from the two Latvian volunteer battalions that participated in the retreats of the Red Army, including the defence of Tallinn. It had been established Aug 1941 at Gorki (present day Nizhni-Novgorod Gorokhovetz Army Camp. In addition to the much depleted 76th regiment (about 1200 troops), were added 2500 Latvian speaking members of the state militia (police) and NKVD, as well as the predominantly Latvian speaking 582nd construction battalion, and members of the 24th Corps which was the territorial reserve formation in Latvia which failed to form due to rapid German advance. At this time the composition of the division included the 92nd, 122st and 191st rifle regiments, 220th artillery regiment, 10th independent AAA battery, 170th independent signals battalion, and other support units. By December 1941 the division had 10,348 personnel, of whom 51% were ethnic Latvians, 26% ethnic Russians, 17% Jews and 6% others. This caused some problems since most Jews spoke Yiddish only, and the Latvians published the divisional paper Russian: «Латвияс стрелниекс» (Latvian rifleman) in Latvian. At least 70 Jesh members of the division were members of the Zionist "Beitar" organisation that had been training members for travel to the then Palestine to defend Jewish settlements there before Latvia was annexed by Soviet Union. The first combat division experienced was during the counteroffensive at Moscow in the areas of Naro-Fominsk and Borovsk where it suffered 55% in casualties. By June 1942 only 36% of the division were Latvian-speaking, and a year later this figure was reduced to 32%. However in part this was due to the formation of a second Latvian division, the 308th Latvian Rifle division. The division was reflagged as the 43rd Guards Rifle Division in October 1942. The 201st division (2nd formation) was raised for the second time from 27th Rifle Brigade at Schlusselburg in Nov 1943. It served in the Leningrad and Baltic coast areas. The division received the title “Gatchina” for its role in breaking the siege of Leningrad and received its first Order of the Red Banner during the war. In May 1945 the division was part of 1st Shock Army of the Kurland Group (Leningrad Front). Afghanistan

The 201st Rifle Division was converted to a Motor Rifle Division around 1957 and was part of the Central Asian Military District until the invasion of Afghanistan in December of 1979, when it entered Afghanistan with the 40th Army. It was stationed in Kunduz province. In 1985, the unit received a second Order of the Red Banner. The last Soviet vehicle to leave Afghanistan was a BTR-60 from the 201st. The BTR-60 is still kept to the present day as a memorial. The Tajik Civil War

At the time the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the 201st was stationed in Tajikistan. The newly independent Tajikistan fell apart in 1992 - the Tajikistan Civil War. Most of the conscripts were raised in Tajikistan and deserted while the Russian officers kept control of the division’s equipment. In September 1992, Russian president Yeltsin reinstated the division under firm Russian control. The CIS formed the Collective Peacekeeping Force in Tajikistan and the 201st formed its core. The 201st Motor Rifle Division, with the support of loyal Tajik forces, attacked Dushanbe. Russian and Tajik force entered and seized control of the city in December 1992. After the capital was recaptured, offensives were launched in Kofarnikhon and Kurgan-Tyube. Both cities fell quickly and the major concentrations of Islamist rebels were scattered. However, in 1995, Islamist insurgents assaulted one of the bases of the 201st at Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province and ambushed a convoy near Kalashum, 200km east of Dushanbe. The division launched a counterattack supported by ground attack aircraft and attack helicopters. On April 19th, the 201st launched an offensive into Gorno-Badach and advanced 20 kilometres, forcing the Islamists out of several bases. Present day

To replace the division’s mass desertions, the government has relied first on Russian conscripts and then on volunteers as of 1995. Even with the new volunteers, the division has only around 6,000 men or half the establishment of a standard Motor Rifle division. Some perks have been made to attract volunteers such as longer leave and double the pay of normal units. In 1999, the Russian and Tajik government agreed to convert the division into a military base. However, due to continued violence in the region the 201st remains a fully active division. Currently there is a 6 month training course for the division and a 6 month tour of duty in Tajikistan. This serves as the entire 2 year service requirement of Russian males, but manpower continues to be a problem. Equipment continues to be rather out of date as some of the division’s arms date to the Afghan war. The division maintains a line of static defensive posts along the Afghanistan border to prevent raids by rogue Taliban fighters. In 2001 the Division came under command of the 2nd Army of the newly amalgamated Volga-Ural Military District. On August 13, 2003 the 201st Motor Rifle Division participated in a joint exercise with the Tajik military 10km southwest of Dushanbe at the Lyaur testing ground. At one point during the civil war in Tajikistan, soldiers of the 201st Motor Rifle Division safely escorted staff of the American Embassy in Dushanbe to the airport for evacuation. This marks the only time in history that Americans have officially asked for and been given protection by the Russian military. Subordinated units and fighting strength

• 92nd Motor Rifle Regiment- Giprozemgorodok Barracks, Dushanbe

• 149th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment- Kulyab

• 191st Motor Rifle Regiment- Kurgan/Tyube

• Tank Battalion

• Artillery Regiment

• Air Defense Regiment Total strength

Commander as of 2001 was Major General Yuri Perminov. 6,000-7,000 men 160 Tanks - 300 Armoured Personnel Carriers - 200 Artillery Pieces - 1,100 other vehicles References

1. ^ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1 Sept 1941 2. ^ Арон Шнеер. Плен. Глава 6. Латышская (Латвийская) дивизия

• Orr, M.J. The Russian Garrison in Tajikistan- 201st Gatchina Twice Red Banner Motor Rifle Division. The Conflict Studies Research Centre. Camberly Surrey, England 2001.

• Cooper, Tom. Tajikistan 1992-1997 www.acig.org, September, 2003.

• Pravda Online

• http://samsv.narod.ru/Div/Sd/sd201/default.html

245th Motor Rifle Division

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 245th Motor Rifle Division was a division of the Soviet Army and later the Russian Ground Forces, active from 1967 to 1997 and later from 2001 to 2006. On August, 31st, 1967 in the city of Kursk the 245th Motor rifle Division was formed. The division consisted of the 39th, 153rd, and 376th Motor Rifle Regiments, the 507th Tank Regiment, the 820th Artillery Regiment, and an anti-aircraft rocket regiment of unknown designation which had fought in the Second World War. From 1971 the Division was deployed at Gusinoozyorsk (Гусиноозёрск) in Buryatia, as part of the Siberian Military District. To replace the 245th Motor Rifle Division at Kursk, the 196th Motor Rifle Division (Military Unit Number 52299, including the 595th MRR) was formed. On 1 December 1987 the 196th MRD became a territorial training centre (ТУЦ), and then on January 25th, 1989 the centre was disbanded. The 255th 'Spare' MRD also existed in outline form under the 196th MRD. The division was a part of the 29th Army, then the 57th Army Corps, and since 2003 a part of the 29th Army again. When the 205th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade of the North Caucasus Military District was formed, one of its battalions was formed on the basis of the 245th MRD, having absorbed personnel from all over the Transbaikal Military District.On September 1, 1997, as part of the bilateral agreement between Russia and China on reductions of armaments covering the area up to 200 km from their mutual border, the 245th MRD was reduced to the 6803rd Base for Storage of Weapons and Equipment (VKhVT), codenamed army unit 46108. The 245th MRD was reformed from 6803rd VKhVT in 2001, and given the 'Combat Banner' of the disbanded 2nd Guards 'Tatsin' Tank Division. The reformed division included the 39th and 376th Motor Rifle Regiments and the 507th Tank Regiment. The 363rd Motor Rifle Regiment joined the 122nd Guards MRD in the city of Alejsk, and the 376th Guards Motor Rifle Yassy-Mukden Order of the Red Banner Order of Kutuzov Regiment joined the division from the 122nd Guards MRD. In 2004 160th Guards Tank Regiment joined the division from the 5th Guards Tank Division, and the 507th Tank Regiment joined 5 GTD in its place. By February 1, 2006 245th Guards Motor Rifle Division was reorganised as 6th Guards 'Tatsinsk' (Тацинская) Order of the Red Banner Order of Suvorov Base for Storage of Weapons and Equipment (Motor-Rifle forces). Source

• Soldat.ru forum, 6 Guards BXVT, Zhukov Andrey 6 гв бхвт (мсв) 27.02.2007 11:17

102nd Military Base (Gyumri, Armenia) 102-я Российская военная база

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Russian 102nd Military Base (Russian: 102-я Российская военная база; Armenian: Ռուսական 102-րդ Ռազմական Կայան) is a Russian military base in Gyumri, Armenia, part of the Transcaucasian Group of Forces. It was formerly the Soviet Army's 127th Motor Rifle Division of the Soviet Seventh Guards Army. The base is about 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of the Armenian capital, Yerevan. The 102nd Military Base traces its history to the 261st Rifle Division of the Soviet Union's Red Army. The 261st Rifle Division was originally formed in 1941.[1] It was probably activated in the Odessa Military District in July-August 1941.[2] It was assigned to the 12th Army of the North Caucasus Front later in 1941 and remained with that Army up to at least August 1942 but then was assigned to the Transcaucasian Front's Black Sea Group of Forces. It then spent much of the later part of World War II, from January 1, 1943,[3] onwards with the small 45th Army of the Transcaucasian Front which was guarding the USSR's borders with Turkey.[4] After the war ended, the 261st Rifle Division was briefly designated the 37th Rifle Division but then became the 127th Motor Rifle Division in 1965.[5]

Order of Battle, 127th MRD, 1989-90[6]

The city of Gyumri was known as Leninakan up to 1990.

• 107th Motor Rifle Regiment (Leninakan/Ленинакан): 10 Т-72; 3 BMP (1 БМP-1, 2 BRM-1К); 12 D-30; 2 R-145BM, 1 BTR-50PUM; 15 МТ-LBТ

• 124th Motor Rifle Regiment (Leninakan): 10 Т-72; 87 BTR (81 БТР-70, 6 БТР-60), 3 БМП (1 БМП-1, 2 БРМ-1К); 12 Д-30; 1 Р-145БМ, 1 БТР-50PUM; 15 МТ-LBТ

• 128-й мотострелковый полк (Leninakan): 10 Т-72; 110 BMP (41 BMP-2, 64 BMP-1, 5 BRM-1К), 2 BTR-70; 12 - 2S1; 2 БМP-1KSh, 4 R-145BM, 3 PU-12;1 МТU-20

• 1360th Motor Rifle Regiment (Leninakan): 12 D-30; 3 - 1V18, 1 - 1V19, 3 R-145BM • 120th Tank Regiment (Ленинакан): 31 БТР-70; 14 BМP (5 BMP-2, 5 BMP-1, 4 BRM-1K), 2 BTR-70; 1 BMP-1KSh, 2

R-145BM; БРЭМ-2; 2 МТU-20 • 992nd Artillery Regiment (Ленинакан): 36 D-30; 12 BM-21 "Grad" • 988th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment • 357th Separate Rocket Battalion (SSMs) • 772th Separate Reconnaissance Battalion (Leninakan): 1 Р-145БМ • 628th Separate Signal Battalion (Leninakan): 12 Р-145БМ, 1 БТР-50ПУ • 550th Separate Engineer-Sapper Battalion (Leninakan): 1 UR-67 • 626th Separate Battalion of chemical protection (отдельный батальон химической защиты) • 174th Separate Repair-Regenerative Battalion (отдельный ремонтно-восстановительный батальон) • 1552nd Separate battalion of Material Maintenance (отдельный батальон материального обеспечения)

On 19 November 1990 the 127th MRD had the following equipment: • 61 tanks (Т-72); • 130 BMPs (46 БМP-2, 71 БМP-1s, 13 BRM-1Ks); • 91 BTRs (85 БТР-70, 6 БТР-60); • 12 2S1 self-propelled guns • 72 D-30 artillery pieces; • 12 РСОЗ BM-21 "Grad"

1996 Onwards

By the mid-late 1990s the composition of the 127th Motor Rifle Division had changed, following the departure of the majority of the Soviet forces from Armenia. It consisted of the 123rd, 124th, and 128th Motor Rifle Regiments, the 992nd Artillery Regiment, and the 116th Independent Tank Battalion. The 123rd Motor Rifle Regiment was formed from the former 164th Motor Rifle Division, also stationed in Armenia. There are 3,000 Russian soldiers officially reported to be stationed at the 102nd Military Base located in Gyumri. In early 2005, the 102nd Military Base had 74 tanks, 17 infantry fighting vehicles, 148 armored personnel carriers, 84 artillery pieces, 30 MiG-29 fighters and several batteries of S-300 anti-aircraft missiles. A great deal of military hardware has been moved to the 102nd Base from the Russian 12th Military Base in Batumi and the Russian 62nd Military Base in Akhalkalaki, Georgia[7] which includes 35 tanks and armored vehicles and 370 pieces of military hardware. The military base is part of a joint air defense system of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which was deployed in Armenia in 1995. Furthermore, the Armenian Air Force relies partially upon the Russian MiG-29s located at the military base, for the defense of Armenia's airspace. The Russian military base was deployed on the territory of Armenia as early as 1996 (before that, the installation was still known as the 127th MRD of the Soviet Ground Forces). The bilateral treaty states that the Russian military will be in the base for 25 years, but Armenian authorities have said that if needed this time-frame can be reviewed, and exclusively in the direction of prolongation. Although Russia does not pay the Armenian government for the military base stationed in Gyumri, the Armenian side takes care of all public utilities water, electricity, etc.[8] In 1997, Armenia and Russia signed a far-reaching friendship treaty, which calls for mutual

assistance in the event of a military threat to either party and allows Russian border guards to patrol Armenia’s frontiers with Turkey and Iran. See also

• Armed Forces of Armenia • Lists of military installations • Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)

External links

• New devices to be mounted in 102nd Russian base References

1. ^ 261-я стрелковая дивизия 2. ^ Боевой состав Советской Армии на 1 августа 1941 г 3. ^ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, January 1, 1943 (Russian) 4. ^ Keith E. Bonn (ed.), Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front, Aberjona Press, 2005, p.324 5. ^ Feskov et al, 'The Soviet Army during the Period of Cold War,' Tomsk University Press, Tomsk, 2004 6. ^ А.Г.Ленского и М.М.Цыбина „Советские сухопутные войска в последний год существования СССР” (Санкт-

Петербург, 2001) 7. ^ EurasiaNet Eurasia Insight - Armenia and Azerbaijan Differ Over Russian Base Pull-Out 8. ^ http://www.hetq.am/eng/politics/0602-az.html

4th Guards Kantemirovskaya Tank Division гвардейская танковая Кантемировская дивизия

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 4th Guards "Kantemirovskaya" Tank Division (Cyrillic: гвардейская танковая Кантемировская дивизия, Guards Tank

Kantemirovskaya Division), more usually known as the Kantemirovskaya Division or Kantemir Division, is an elite armoured division of the Russian Ground Forces. It is one of the key formations of the Moscow Military District, constituting part of the 20th Army under Lt. General Andrey Tretyak. It is one of the Russian Army's 'constant readiness' divisions, with at least 80% manpower and 100% equipment holdings at all times. Currently, it is headquartered, and all of its units are based, in the town of Naro-Fominsk, 70km south-west of Moscow.

History

4th Guards Kantemirovskaya Tank Division was initially formed as part of the Red Army in 1942 near Voronezh as the 4th Tank Division, and was retained in the Russian Army after 1993 reforms. It is billeted in Naro-Fominsk situated near Moscow. The first baptism of fire has received by the tank subunits during the liberation of the village of Kantemirovka in which honour the Kantemirovsky division had received the name in 1946 by order of Stalin.The tank division is the successor to the 17th Tank Corps which commenced its combat history on 26 June 1942 on the west bank of the Don, to the west of Voronezh. For distinction in combat against fascist aggressors around the Middle Don, the Corps was reformed as the 4th Guards Tank Corps in January 1943 receiving the honourific name - Kantemirovsky. On 31 July 1943, on the eve of August approaching continuous combat on the Belgorodsko-Kharkov direction of the The Kursk Bulge, at the delivery to the Guards Banner, the staffs of the formation and subunits had accepted the first Guards oath. For the courage and heroism shown during the liberation of cities on the right-bank Ukraine: Zbarazh, Ternopil, and Shepetovka in April, 1944 the Corps was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, and seventeen regiments and separate battalions were awarded honoific names: Shepetovsky, Zhitomir, Yampolsky, and Tarnopolsky. For clearing Krakow the Corps was awarded the Order of Lenin. The 4th Guards Tank Corps was among the first to reach the river Elba, and participated in the capture of Dresden; having made a sudden redeployment to Czechoslovakia, the Corps finished the fighting during the Second World War in the suburbs of Prague. For the courage shown by soldiers and officers of the Corps, during wartime military units were awarded 23 awards, the staff of the Corps was thanked officially by the Supreme commander in chief 18 times , 32 of its members were awarded the Hero of Soviet Union (5 of which are forever enlisted in the unit rolls), more than 20 thousand received awards and medals, five becoming full chevaliers of the Order of Glory. On 14 June 1945 the 4th Guards Tank Corps became the 4 Guards Kantemirovskaya Tank Division and on 13 September 1945 it was assigned to the armies of Moscow Military District with a re-deployment to Naro-Fominsk Moscow Region. In the autumn of 1946 guardsmen-kantemirovtsy participated in the first march of combat materiel on the Red Square in Moscow to commemorate the holiday of Day of the Tankmen. On 23 February 1984 the division received the honorific name "Yuri Andropov". The division was one of the two major Ground Forces divisions deployed in Moscow in August 1991 as part of the attempted hardline coup against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. The coup's failure strengthened Boris Yeltsin's position in the Russian SFSR, and soon afterwards in the Russian Federation, of which he became President. The Kantemirovskaya Division, together with the Tamanskaya Division which had also taken part in the coup, but ended up supporting Yeltsin, was to form the basis of a de facto Praetorian Guard for Yeltsin throughout the 1990s, securing his political power throughout the time he was President. During the most serious crisis of Yeltsin's premiership, the 1993 constitutional crisis, the Kantemir Division was one of several key divisions that had given their reluctant support to Yeltsin by October 4th, the decisive point in the crisis. The 1st GTA had relocated from the former East Germany to Smolensk when Soviet troops left Germany at the beginning of the 90s; it was disbanded in 1998, as was the 144th MRD. Thereafter the Kantemirovskaya Division came under the command of the 20th Army. Units of the division took part in the First Chechen War. In the early 1990s, the division came under the command of the famous 1st Guards Tank Army, along with the 144th Motor Rifle Division.Personnel of the subunits took part in peace-keeping operations in South Ossetia during 1997, and in Kosovo in 1998-2002, later participating in a counter-terrorism operation in the Chechen republic.On 9 May 2005, 8 T-80BV tanks from the division took part in the parade in Moscow to mark the 60th anniversary of VE-day. On 27 December 2005, the division was visited by Sergei Ivanov, the Russian Defence Minister. Most recently, in early 2006, the division's 13th Tank Regiment participated, along with other 20th Army units, in the joint Russian-Belorussian "Shield of Union" military exercises.The Kantemirovsky street in Moscow is named in the honour of the division.According to the NOVOSTI news agency The 4th Guards Kantemirovskaya is on the road of being disband by the Russian Defense Ministry, according to Russian government the division will be converted into two brigades. The high command of the Russian armed forces has said the newly established brigades would retain their honorary names and banners. [1]

Subordinated units and fighting strength

As of 2006, the Kantemirovskaya Division consisted of the following units: • 12th Tank Regiment, Naro-Fominsk • 13th Tank Regiment, Naro Fominsk • 14th Tank Regiment, Naro-Fominsk • 423rd Guards Iampolski Motor Rifle Regiment, Naro-Fominsk • 538th Air Defence Regiment, Naro-Fominsk • 275th Artillery Regiment, Naro-Fominsk • 137th Independent Intelligence Battalion, Naro-Fominsk • 413th Independent Communications Battalion, Naro-Fominsk • 996th Independent Electronic Warfare Battalion, Naro-Fominsk • 616th Independent Chemical Battalion, Naro-Fominsk

The 4th Guards Tank Division currently has approximately 12,000 personnel in active service.[2] The division's principal vehicles are the T-80 main battle tank and the BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicle; it also makes limited use of the BTR-80 and MT-LB armoured personnel carriers, as well as the 2S19 Msta-S self-propelled artillery system and BM-21 Grad MLRS.

Equipment Summary[2]

Equipment Numbers

Main Battle Tanks 310 (T-80)

IFV 300 (BMP-2)

Self Propelled Artillery 130 (2S3 Akatsiya & 2S19 Msta)

Multiple Rocket Launchers 12 (BM-21)

References

1. ^ http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20081124/118483324.html 2. ^ a b Moscow Military District, warfare.ru, Russian Military Analysis. Retrieved on September 1, 2008.

5th Donskaya Budapestkaya Guards Tank Division

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 5th Guards Tank Corps was originally part of the USSR 6th Guards Tank Army and was transferred as part of 6th Guards Tank Army to the Transbaikal Military District in preparation for the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August 1945. The 5th Guards Tank Corps took part in this offensive and afterwards, soon after the Japanese surrender on 2 September 1945, was reorganised as the 5th Guards Tank Division. (It is not clear what 5 GTD's origin's were; other sources indicate that 5 Guards Cavalry Corps was reorganised as 5 Guards Cavalry Division in July 1946, later becoming 5 Guards Hy Tank Div, then 18 Guards Heavy Tank Division.[1]) With the beginning of the Khrushchev era, the Strategic Rocket Forces were increasingly emphasised at the expense of the Ground Forces, and the Ground Forces were reduced and reorganized. In 1957 (or 1960; sources differ), the 5th Guards Tank Division was reorganised as the 122nd Guards Motor Rifle Division. The Division was reformed by renumbering the 18th Guards Tank Division in 1965 after its transfer to the Transbaikal District from the North Caucasus MD to reinforce the Transbaikal Military District in the light of deteriorating relations wit the PRC. The Division was located in Mongolia under the 39th Army and then the 57th Army Corps for many years before being withdrawn in 1991–92. One source (Tomsk) reports that it was disbanded from 1984–89 and was incorporated into the 48 Guards Independent Army Corps during that time. The Division has been located at Kyakhta on the Mongolian–Russian border since its withdrawal and is now under the command of the 29th Army, as the 57th Army Corps was upgraded in status to Army level in 2003. Adam Geibel wrote [2] that 5th "Don" Guards Tank Division, stationed in Buryatia, had received ‘a few’ T-90s. Division's honorifics seem to include "Don" and "Budapest".

Subordinated units and fighting strength

• 108th Tank Regiment; • 140th Guards Tank Regiment; • 160th Guards Tank Regiment; • 311th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment; • 861st SP Artillery Regiment; • 940th Anti-aircraft Missile Regiment;

References and Sources

1. ^ http: // www.soldat.ru/forum/? gb=3*id=27399, machine translated to English 2. ^ Adam Geibel India’s Latest Armour Addition- the T-90s, Defence Journal, April 1999 • V.I. Feskov, K.A. Kalashnikov, V.I. Golikov, The Soviet Army in the Years of the Cold War 1945-91, Tomsk University

Publishing House, Tomsk, 2004

10th Guards Uralsko-Lvovskaya Tank Division

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 10th Guards Uralsko-Lvovskaya Tank Division, also known at the Ural-Lvov Tank Division, is an tank division of the Russian Ground Forces and part of the Moscow Military District's 20th Army, under the command of Lt. General Andrey Tretyak. The division traces its heritage back to World War II. It is headquartered and based at Boguchar, 160 kilometres south of Voronezh, Voronezh Oblast. Its complete formal designation is: The 10th Guards Tank Ural-L'vov the Order of October Revolution Red Banner the Order of Suvorov and the Order of Kutuzov Volunteer division in the name of Marshal of the Soviet Union Rodion Malinovsky.

The Second World War

The people of the Ural districts took the initiative to create the Urals voluntary tank corps which became an elite formation. Three tank brigades (including the Perm tank brigade) and one motor-rifle brigade and other military units were included in its structure. The formation was initially known as the 30th Uralskaya Voluntary Tank Corps and was formed in April 1943 in the Ural Military District. Workers from the Ural tank factories were among its initial recruits. The Corps has the distinction of being entirely paid for by the donations of the population of the Urals. This included its entire complement of T-34 tanks built by the Urals factories. March 23, 1943 is the "birthday" of the Perm tank brigade. In June 1, 1943, units of the Division were despatched to the front line for the first time. The first action for the Urals Volunteer Tank Corps was at Orel, the counterattack (Operation Kutuzov) on the northern side of the Kursk bulge after the German defeat at the Battle of Kursk proper. John Erickson wrote that, following a 'ragged' attack by 11th Tank and 6th Guards Mechanised Corps from 4th Tank Army on 26 July 1943, during which both corps were heavily battered by the concealed German tanks and assault guns, the next day, the 30th Tank Corps 'pushed in with a fierce attack' but the tank army 'covered only about one mile in all'.[1] Following actions were at Bryansk, Lower Silesia, Upper Silesia, Proskurovo-Kamenetc-Podolsk, Lvov-Sandomir, and during the Prague Offensive, Vistula-Oder and Berlin offensive operations. In May 5, 1945 the corps have left to the aid of brotherly Czechoslovak people in structure of the its army grouping. The corps was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, the Order of Suvorov, and the Order of Kutuzov. The Perm-Keletcky tank brigade, in addition, was awarded the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky for heroism shown in battle. On October 25, 1943 it was honoured and renamed the 10th Guards Uralskaya

Voluntary Tank Corps. It finished the war in what is now Poland and briefly became part of the Northern Group of Forces. It was reconstituted from a Tank Corps to a Tank Division in the northern autumn of 1945, as were all other Soviet tank corps. At the time of its withdrawal from Germany in 1990 the division was equipped with 316 T-64BM tanks and 12 T-80B tanks.

Composition in late 1980s

10 Guards Tank Ural-L'vov Order of October Revolution, Red Banner, Orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov Volunteer Division

in the name of Marshal of Soviet Union R. A. Malinovsky (HQ Altengrabow)[2] o 61 Guards Tank Sverdlovsk-L'vov Order of Lenin, Order of Red Banner, Orders of Suvorov, Kutuzov and B.

Khmel'nitskiy Regiment (Altengrabow) o 62 Guard Tank Permian-Keletskiy Red Banner, Orders of Suvorov, Kutuzov and B. Khmelnitsky Regiment

(Altengrabow) o 63 Guard tank Chelyabinsk-Petrokovskiy Red Banner, Orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov regiment (Altengrabow) o 248 Guard Motor-Rifle Unechskiy Order of Lenin, Order of Red Banner, Orders of Suvorov, Kutuzov, B.

Khmel'nitskiy and A. Nevsky Regiment (Schönebeck) o 744 Guard motorised artillery Ternopol' of Orders of Suvorov, Kutuzov, B. Khmelnitskiy, A. Nevskiy and Red

Star regiment (Altengrabow) o 359 Guard antiaircraft-missile L'vov, Orders of Kutuzov, A. Nevskiy and Red Star regiment (Altengrabow) o 112 independent reconnaissance battalion (Khalershtadt) later Altengrabow o 152 independent signal battalion (Altengrabow) o 131 independent engineer battalion (Magdeburg) o 127 independent battalion of chemical protection (Altengrabow) o 1072 independent battalion of materiel supply (Altengrabow) o 60 independent is repair-restoration battalion (Altengrabow) o 188 independent medical-sanitary battalion (Altengrabow)

Subordinate units and fighting strength 2006

• 61st Tank Regt "Sverdlovsko-Lvovskiy" • 62nd Tank Regiment • 6th Motor Rifle Regt (Kursk) • 248th Motor Rifle Regiment • 744th Artillery Regiment • 359th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regt • 112th Independent Intelligence Battalion • 152nd Independent Communications Battalion • 127th Indep Chemical Defence Battalion • 131st Independent Engineer Bn

• 60th Repair Battalion • 1072nd Indep Logistics Battalion • 188th Independent Medical Battalion • 689th Independent EW Battalion

Sources and References

1. ^ Erickson, John, Road to Berlin, 1982, p.115 2. ^ Состав соединений и частей 3rd Combined Army Army, verified July 2008 • Keith Bonn (ed.), Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front, Aberjona Press, Bedford, PA, 2005 • Heritage of Perm - News Archive

74th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 74th Motor Rifle Brigade is today a military formation of the Russian Ground Forces's 41st Army, part of Siberian Military District, stationed in Yurga, Kemerovo Oblast, Russia. The 74th Motor Rifle Brigade was created from the disbanded 94th Guards Zvenigorod-Berlin Order of Suvorov Motor Rifle Division, formerly of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. The 94th Guards Rifle Division was formed on 23 April 1943 in the eastern Ukraine with the consolidation of the 14th Guards and 96th Rifle Brigades. It took part in the liberation offensives in the southern Ukraine through the remainder of 1943 and into 1944 as part of the 5th Shock Army. It remained with the Army through the remainder of the war and ended in the streets of Berlin. Post-war, it remained with the 5th Shock Army for a period, then transferring to the 3rd Army. In 1957, it was one of the few Rifle Divisions to be reorganized into a Motor Rifle Division and still retain its original number. In the mid-1980s, it was transferred to the 2nd Guards Tank Army, where it remained until withdrawn from Germany in 1991.

94th Guards Motor Rifle Division Units, 1989-90

Assigned units:[1] • a. Division Headquarters – Schwerin 53° 37’ 00” North, 11° 25’ 00” East • b. 204th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment (BMP) – Schwerin 53° 36’ 10” North, 11° 25’ 20” East • c. 286th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment (BTR) – Schwerin 53° 35’ 40” North, 11° 26’ 00” East • d. 288th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment (BTR) – Wismar 53° 53’ 30” North, 11° 26’ 00” East • e. 74th Guards Tank Regiment – Schwerin 53° 36’ 20” North, 11° 25’ 20” East • f. 199th Guards Self-Artillery Regiment – Wismar 53° 53’ 30” North, 11° 26’ 00” East • g. 896th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment – Schwerin 53° 36’ 50” North, 11° 22’ 30” East • h. 28th Independent Tank Battalion – Schwerin 53° 36’ 50” North, 11° 22’ 30” East • i. 496th Independent Anti-Tank Artillery Battalion – Schwerin 53° 38’ 40” North, 11° 25’ 30” East • j. 12th Independent Reconnaissance & Radio EW Battalion – Schwerin 53° 34’ 40” North, 11° 26’ 30” East • k. 159th Independent Guards Signals Battalion – Schwerin 53° 37’ 00” North, 11° 25’ 00” East • l. 107th Independent Guards Engineer-Sapper Battalion – Schwerin 53° 35’ 40” North, 11° 26’ 00” East • m. Unidentified Independent Chemical Defense Battalion • n. 52nd Independent Repair-Reconstruction Battalion • o. 90th Independent Medical-Sanitation Battalion • p. 1130th Independent Material Support Battalion

Reorganisation into a brigade

After arriving in Yurga (near Tomsk) in the Siberian Military District, it was reorganized into the 74th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, where it remains today. Other units also became part of the 74th Motor Rifle Brigade including a guards engineering battalion and the 386th Tank Regiment. On February 3, 2005, Russian defense minister Sergei Ivanov visited the brigade and promised by the end of 2006, the brigade would consist fully of professional soldiers, not conscripts. He also said the brigade is one of the most combat ready and a new barracks would be constructed. As of 2005 the commander was Major General Farid Balaliyev.

74th Motor Rifle Brigade Order of Battle

• 41st Army - Novosibirsk o 74th Independent Motor Rifle Brigade - Yurga

� total 3000 troops[2] � 867th Separate Motor-rifle Battalion � 873rd Separate motor-rifle battalion � 880th Separate motor-rifle battalion � 13th Separate Tank Battalion � 227th Separate Self-propelled Howitzer artillery Battalion � 230th Separate Self-propelled Howitzer artillery Battalion � 237th Separate anti-tank artillery battalion � 243rd Separate Antiaircraft rocket-artillery Battalion

References

1. ^ Craig Crofoot, Group of Soviet Forces Germany, Version 3.0.0, manuscript available at www.microarmormayhem.com 2. ^ Soldat.ru forum data, http://www.soldat.ru/forum/?gb=3&action=prn&thread=1177313439 • Craig Crofoot, Group of Soviet Forces Germany, Version 3.0.0, manuscript available at www.microarmormayhem.com • RIA Novosti, '74th Motorized Brigade to be manned with professionals by Year End 2006', YURGA/Kemerovo Region,

February 3, 2005 (10:41) • GlobalSecurity.org • fas.org • 94th Guards Rifle Division (Russian)

79th

Separate Motor Rifle Brigade (18th Guards Insterburgskaya Krasnoznamennaya Motor Rifle Division)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 18th Guards Motor Rifle Division was formed originally as 133rd Rifle Division at Novosibirsk in 1939, redesignated as 18th Guards Rifle Division in 1942 with the 51, 53, 58 Guards Rifle Regiments and 52 Guards Artillery Regiment. The division fought in the East Prussian Offensive. The unit became 30th Guards Mechanised Division in 1945 as part of the 11 Guards Army. In 1965 it was renumbered as 18th Guards MRD. It seems to have been stationed in the Kaliningrad enclave with 11th Guards Army before entering Czechoslovakia in 1968, joining the Central Group of Forces. In 1991 the Division was withdrawn back to Gusev in the Kaliningrad Oblast. The Division is now at cadre strength, as part of the third-line reserves of the Russian Ground Forces. However there is one Russian chat-forum report that the Division has been reorganised as 79th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade.[1] As the 280th Guards MR Regiment was the last reported unit in the area, in 2002, the 79th Brigade may have inherited its awards and honorific names.

Structure (1990s)

• 210th Motor Rifle Regiment; • 275th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment; • 278th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment; • 280th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment; • 52nd Guards Artillery Regiment;

Honorifics are Insterburgskaya Krasnoznamennaya of Order of Suvorov. Sources

1. ^ http://www.soldat.ru/forum/frame.html?gb=3&page=56&id=26462&referer_query=gb%3D3%26page%3D56 , August 2006

• Feskov et al, The Soviet Army in the period of Cold War, Tomsk University Press, Tomsk, 2004

131st Separate Motor Rifle Brigade

(9th Kurskaya Infantry Division)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 9th Kursk Infantry Division was created on the 20 July 1918 as one of the first divisions of the Soviet Union during the Russian Civil War. The division was stationed in the Caucasus region, later the Transcaucasian Military District and soon renamed 9th Infantry, and later 9th Rifle division. [1] In 1922 the division was renamed the 1st Caucasus ('Kavkaz') Rifle Division. After service during the Civil War, during which the division changed its name numerous times, the division was awarded the honorific name "of the Central Executive Committee of the Georgian Soviet Socialist" (Russian: ЦИК ССР Грузии) in 1928. For the 10th anniversary of Red Army on February 29 1928 the division was awarded Honored Revolutionary Red Banner and added the Red Banner (Krasnoznamennaya) to its title. During 1931 the division was reformed into a mountain rifle division. In 1936 the division was awarded the Order of Red Star and on the 23 February the name was slightly changed to "of the High Soviet of the Georgian Soviet Socialist republic". In July of the same year the division was renamed again as the 9th Red Banner Mountain Rifle Division.

Second World War combat history

Before the war the division consisted of the following units: 36th infantry regiment 121st infantry regiment 193rd infantry regiment 256th artillery regiment 1448th self-propelled gun regiment 55th separate anti-tank destroyer divizion (battalion) 26th reconnaissance company 140th self-propelled artillery gun battalion 232nd separate communications battalion (and 1432nd separate communications company) 123rd medical-sanitary battalion 553rd separate company of chemical defence 161st auto-transportation company 104th field bread bakery 156th divisional veterinary treatment station 203rd field post station 216th field pay branch of the National bank The division begun the war in the Transcaucasian Military District with the 40th Rifle Corps alongside the 31st Rifle Division. During the war the division was at various times serving as part of the 46th, 37th, 56th, Separate Coastal, 69th, 18th, 5th Guards and 60th Armies. The division took part in the Battle of the Caucasus. The division participated in the fighting for the Feodosiya, Tuapse, in the Kuban and Taman Peninsula, and Krakov. On September 3 1943 for liberation of Kuban region and the capitol of the region, Krasnodar, the division was awarded the honorary name “Krasnodarskaya”, and the division was reformed again and became known as the 9th Plastunskaya [2] Krasnodar Red Banner, Order of Red Star Rifle Division (Russian: 9-я пластунская стрелковая Краснодарская Краснознамённая, ордена Красной Звезды дивизия) with its enlisted and non-commissioned personnel coming largely from the cossacks of the Kuban region. During the period 1944 - 1945 the division participated in the Lvov-Sandomierz Offensive (13.07-29.08.1944 also known as the 6th Stalin's Shock), and the liberation of Poland and Czechoslovakia for which in April 1945 the division was awarded the Order of Kutuzov 2nd class.

Post-war service history

After the war the division was returned to Krasnodar, and in 1950 the division was relocated to Maykop. After the reforms of 1956 the division became the 9th Motor Rifle Division and was based at Maykop for many years. On 12 September 1992 the division was reorganised as the 131st Separate Motor Rifle order of Kutuzov and Red Star Brigade of the 67th Army Corps, North Caucasus Military District (Russian: 131 Отдельная мотострелковая орденов Кутузова и красной Звезды бригада (ОМСБ)). The brigade participated in the First Chechen War of 1994-96, including the New Year 1995 assault on Grozniy during the combat for the railway terminal where it suffered severe casualties in dead and wounded following an ambush by superior enemy numbers.[3] The battle for Grozny cost 157 casualties, including 24 officers (including Colonel Savin), one warrant officer (Russian: прапорщик) and 60 NCOs and soldiers killed and 12 officers, one warrant officer and 59 NCOs and soldiers missing (presumed dead). The brigade also lost 22 T-72 tranks, 45 BMP-2s, and 37 cars and trucks.[4] although other sources give higher losses attributed to the 81st Motor Rife Regiment which participated in the operation. The brigade was forced to withdraw from combat, was surrounded, and forced to abandon all of its equipment, with the personnel escaping individually or in small groups. From March 1995 the brigade participates in the Gudermes operation. In all the brigade suffered 1,282 casualties during the campaign. On 26 April 1995 the brigade returned to Adygeya but was recalled to combat service three months later to participate in further operations in Chechnya, eventually as two manoeuvre groups from 20 February to 7 October 1996. Since the Chechnya campaigns the brigade has remained in the Caucasus region, and has again changed its name to 131st Separate Motor-Rifle Krasnodar Red Banner, Order of Kutuzov and Red Star Kuban cossack brigade (Russian: 131-й отдельная мотострелковая Краснодарская Краснознаменная, орденов Кутузова и Красной Звезды Кубанская казачья бригада) Two of its battalions are participating in the peace-keeping missions in Georgia in the regions of Urta and along the Abkhazian-Georgian border. These battalions and the brigade's tank battalion are staffed completely with professional service personnel serving under the new contracts. The brigade has achieved first place in the performance assessment within the military district during 2005.[citation needed]

Composition Today

• 526th Separate Motor Rifle Battalion - Military Unit No.03768, • 527th Separate Motor Rifle Battalion - Military Unit No.03769, • 529th Separate Motor Rifle Battalion (омсб) - Military Unit No.03841, • 558th Separate Motor Rifle Battalion - Military Unit No.03833, • 9th Separate Tank Battalion - Military Unit No.03842 • other lighter support units

Division Commanders

Colonel V.T. Maslov (1941) Colonel V.S. Dzabakhidze (1941-42) Colonel M.V.Yevstigneyev (1942-43) Colonel A.E.Shapovalov (1943) Colonel S.M. Chorniy (1943) Colonel, from October 1943, General-Major P.I. Metal'nikov (1943-45) Colonel I.A. Savin (1994-95) Colonel Oleg Kozlov (1995-96) General-Major S.G. Sudakov (from August 2004)

References and notes

1. ^ Мужество с майкопской пропиской 2. ^ The word "Plastunskaya" comes from the Russian plastun which literally means 'crawler'. The military meaning of this

evolved during the 19th century when units were formed to infiltrate the enemy lines by crawling to avoid detection, greater effects of artillery fire and negotiation of barbed wire barriers.

3. ^ artofwar.ru/p/piha_b_n/text_0010.shtml 4. ^ www.redstar.ru/2006/02/22_02/6_01.html

Sources

• Шевченко И. Н., Калиновский П. Н., Девятая пластунская, М., 1970; (Shevchenko, I.N., Kalinovsky P.N., Ninth plastun, Moscow, 1970

• Петрашин И. М., Пластуны Кубани, Краснодар, 1977. (Petrashin I.M., Plastuns of Kuban, Krasnodar, 1977)

200th

Pechenga Separate Motor Rifle Brigade (45th Rifle Division – 131st Motor Rifle Division)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 45th Rifle Division was a Red Army infantry division formed originally after the Russian Civil War that fought in World War II and then served through the Cold War in the Leningrad Military District. The division was originally formed between 1918 and 1922 in the south of the USSR. It was attached to the Kiev Special Military District/Soviet Southwestern Front at the outbreak of World War II, as part of the 15th Rifle Corps, 5th Army. Under Colonel V.P. Solokov, it was earmarked to defend the mid-Volga River islands behind the hard-pressed 62nd Army on 7 October 1942. However it was deployed in the Battle of Stalingrad proper on 26 October 1942, being ferried over from the east to the west bank of the Volga River to take up positions between the Red October and the Barrikady factories.[1] It was disbanded at a later date, probably after being severely depleted in battle against the German units in Stalingrad. Second formation

The division was re-formed on May, 5th, 1943 in the Kareliya territory from the 67th Naval Rifle Brigade of the Karelian Front, on defensive boundaries at Loukhi Stations of the Kirov railway. After its formation the division was concentrated towards Kestenga (Kiestinki), and from May 6 until August 19, 1943 was retained in the reserve of the 31st Rifle Corps in defensive positions. The division's first combat was on August 9, 1943 with the 61st Rifle Regiment and 85th Naval Rifle Brigade were supported by the 178th Artillery Regiment. On August 20, 1943 the division replaced the 85th Motor Rifle Brigade and 205th Rifle Division in the first echelon, and on September 7, 1943 conducted defensive operations against the Nazi 7th Infantry Division and 6th SS Mountain Division Nord. On September 8, 1944 the division had gone over to the offensive and on September 10 seized the Kestenga settlement. It was later relocated in the Kandalaksha direction to the area of Nyamozero Station. From September 24 till September 28, 1944, the 45th Rifle Division attacked the settlement of Alakurtti. By October 3, 1944 the division had been relocated in the Murmansk direction and was a part of the army operations group, having the task to attack an auxiliary direction as part of the 14th Army. On October 10, 1944, 45th Rifle Division had broken through defense of its opponent on the Zapadnaya Litsa River near the Lake Chapr area. On October 13, 1944 the division joined 131st Rifle Corps (probably part of 14th Army) and on October 15 in cooperation with elements of 131st Rifle Corps seized Petsamo (as part of the Petsamo-Kirkenes Operation). From October 16 until October 25th, 1944 it conducted operations for seizing the village of Tornet and the Norwegian city of Kirkenes. On October 25, 1944 the 61st Rifle Regiment and the 253rd Rifle Regiment of the division helped seize the port and city of Kirkenes. For actions on clearing Pechenga (Petsamo) the divisional staff was thanked officially by the Supreme Commander in Chief Stalin, and the division was given the honourable name "Pechenga". For taking Kirkenes, the staffs of the 61st Rifle Regiment and 253rd Rifle Regiment were given the honorary name "Kirkenes". On January 6, 1945 for valour and courage in combat with fascist aggressors the 61st Rifle Regiment of the division was awarded the Military Order of the Red Banner. On September 27, 1945 parts of the division, following a decision of the Soviet government were withdrawn from Norway and billeted in Murmansk and the Pechenga area. In 1957 the division was renamed the 131st Pechenga Motor-Rifle Division. In 1968, in days of celebrating the 25 anniversary of its 2nd formation, the division was awarded the Order of Kutuzov, 2nd class. Russian Federation service

On December, 1st, 1997 the 131st MRD was reorganised as the 200th Pechenga Independent Motor-Rifle Brigade. The division, as the 200th Brigade, has been based for many years at Kamenka, Vyborgsky District, Leningrad Oblast. The brigade was deployed for operations during the Second Chechen War, in which, along with other Russian Ground Forces units, its personnel was reported to have behaved badly at times.[2] A 22-year old woman in Ingushetia was shot by drunken soldiers from the brigade scavenging for alcohol. The deployment of a tank battalion of the brigade was apparently halted when it was discovered that soldiers had been selling the explosive from their tanks' reactive armour. Transition to professional contract status is planned to finish at the end of 2006. At the beginning of April 2006 the brigade had about 700 professional personnel, practically all sergeant positions having been filled by kontraktniks (Russian: контрактник contracted professional soldiers). More than 180 military men and women have signed contracts for service in communications, medical, and rear services subunits. The brigade has about 10 professional soldiers from other CIS states. At the beginning of 2006, during a trip to the Leningrad Military District, the 200th Brigade was visited by the Minister of Defence, Sergey Ivanov. The brigade has association links with the Norwegian 6th Division (Norway) and the Swedish Norrbottens Regiment. References

1. ^ pp. 420, 443, John Erickson (historian), The Road to Stalingrad, Cassel Military Paperbacks, 2003 2. ^ Some Provisional Notes On Current Russian Operations In Dagestan & Chechnya

Sources

• Machine translated from Russian official site • V.I. Feskov et al 2004, Lenskii et al. • http://www.contract.mil.ru/56/226/1719/index.shtml (200th Pechenga Independent Motor Rifle Brigade, Pechenga,

Murmansk Oblast) • http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/954462/Main/954462 - Google Earth link