Military unit
The
Volga?Ural Military District
was a
military district
of the
Russian Ground Forces
, 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. In 2010 the District was merged with part of the
Siberian Military District
to form the new
Central Military District
.
Origins
[
edit
]
The new merged district draws upon the history of the former Ural, Volga, and Kazan Military Districts.
[1]
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 Governorates
, part of the
Perm Governorate
, 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
4th 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. Its territory and troops were transferred to the West Siberian, Volga, Moscow and Petrograd military districts.
The
Ural Military District
was recreated 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
[
edit
]
During World War II the two districts dispatched over three thousand units to the front, totaling two million men. Five armies, 132 divisions, and over 300 regiments and battalions were established.
In formation in the Volga Military District alone on 1 September 1941 were the
334th
,
336th
,
338th
,
340th
,
342nd
,
344th
,
346th
,
348th
,
350th
,
352nd
,
354th
,
356th
,
358th
, and
360th Rifle Divisions
, plus the
46th
,
89th
, and
91st Cavalry Divisions
.
[2]
Among the formations formed during the war was the
153rd Ural Rifle Division
, which for its combat record in Belorussia and Smolensk was ranked 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
.
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
3rd 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
. It was disbanded in May 1946.
[3]
During the Cold War the district's air forces included the
Chelyabinsk Higher Military Aviation School for Navigators
.
Postwar
[
edit
]
The Ural Military District was commanded between 1948 and 1953 by Marshal
Georgi Zhukov
, effectively 'exiled' from more important commands. In 1954 the Ural MD controlled the
10th Rifle Corps
(
91st Rifle Division
(
Sarapul
),
194th Rifle Division
(
Kirov
) and
65th Mechanised Division
(Perm)), and the
63rd Rifle Corps
(77th Rifle Division (Sverdlovsk) and
417th Rifle Division
(
Chebarkul
), 61st Mechanised Division (
Kamyshlov
).
[4]
In June 1957 the
4th Rifle Division
at
Buzuluk
(at that time in the South Urals MD) was converted into the 4th Motor Rifle Division, but along with numerous other new motor rifle divisions, it was disbanded later, in 1959.
[5]
That same month the 44th Tank Division was formed from the 61st Mechanised Division at
Kamyshlov
in the Ural Military District. In 1962 the 44th Tank Division became the
44th Tank Training Division
.
Meanwhile, in the Volga Military District, the
123rd Rifle Corps
had been redesignated the 40th Army Corps in 1955. After the rifle to motor rifle changes of 1957, it included the
43rd Motor Rifle Division
(Kuybyshev, Kuybyshev Oblast) and the 110th Motor. Rifle Division (Shikhany, Saratov Oblast). It became the 40th Army Corps that year also, but was disbanded in 1960.
[6]
By a Decree of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 15 January 1974, for their large contributions to the strengthening the defence 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 Kuibyshev (Samara).
Colonel General
Albert Makashov
was appointed commander of the district. However, in July 1992 the Ural District was reformed, as the region had become a near-boundary area with the new states of Central Asia. The decision on restoration of the two separate Volga and Ural military districts was promulgated in Presidential Decree No. 757 of 7 July 1992 and the Order of the Minister of Defence of 25 July 1992.
From 1992 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
[7]
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 appears to have disbanded at
Chebarkul
in 1999.
[8]
In 2009, the
Ulyanovsk arms depot explosion
happened just before a visit from
President
Dmitry Medvedev
.
[9]
Four military officers, including the deputy commander of the Volga?Ural Military District for armaments, General Major V. G. Khalitov, were dismissed for 'lack of control' and 'criminal negligence.'
[10]
In 2006-07 the district's troops comprised:
[11]
Subordinate Units
[
edit
]
Red Banner
Volga?Ural Military District
2010:
[14]
[15]
- Combat formations:
- 7th Separate Guards Orenbug Cossack Tank Brigade
, in
Chebarkul
- 15th Separate Guards Berlin Motor Rifle Brigade
, in
Roshchinsky, Samara Oblast
equipped with BTR.
[16]
Military Unit # 90600. Honorifics Berlin Red Banner
Order of Kutuzov
. Specialised 'peacekeeping' unit. Address: 443539, Samara distr, Roschinskyy. Formed from 589th Separate Motor Rifle Regiment on February 1, 2005.
[17]
In turn, the 589 Guards MRR was formed in late 1991 from the amalgamation of the 27 GMRD's 243 GMRR with the
213th Motor Rifle Division
's 691st MRR.
[18]
2005: 100% contract service. 04.2008 visited by Japanese defence minister. 08.2008 one unit took part in war in South Ossetia.
- 21st Separate Guards Omsk-Novy Bug Motor Rifle Brigade
, in
Totskoye
equipped with
BMP
- 23rd Separate Guards Petrokov Motor Rifle Brigade
, in
Kryazh
equipped with BTR
- 28th Separate Simferopol Motor Rifle Brigade
, in Yekaterinburg equipped with
BMP
- 201st Gatchina Military Base in
Dushanbe
(
Tajikistan
)
- 3rd Guards Warsaw-Berlin Spetsnaz Brigade
, in
Roshchinsky, Samara Oblast
- 473rd District Training Center
, in
Yelansky
(just west of
Kamyshlov
in
Sverdlovsk Oblast
)
- 31st Guards Separate Airborne Brigade
, in
Ulyanovsk
(under command of the
Russian Airborne Troops
(VDV) Command in Moscow)
- Missile and Artillery formations:
- 92nd Missile Brigade, in
Kamenka
- 119th Missile Brigade, in Elanskyy
- 385th Guards Artillery Brigade
"Odessa"
, in Bershet
- 950th MLRS Regiment, in
Buzuluk
- Artillery Reserve Base, in Buzuluk
- 581st Independent Artillery Reconnaissance Battalion
- Air-defence formations:
- Radar formations:
- 40th Independent Radio Technical Brigade, in
Marks
- 173rd Independent Radio Technical Battalion, in
Samara
- Engineering formations:
- 56th Engineer Regiment, in
Alkino
- 774th Independent Engineer Battalion, in
Chebarkul
- 7025th Engineer Reserve Base
- NBC-defence formations:
- Signal formations:
- 59th (Communications Hub) Signal Brigade
"Sivashskaya"
, in
Yekaterinburg
- 179th (Territorial) Signal Brigade
- 191st Independent Signal Regiment, in
Samara
- 153rd Independent (Rear) Signal Battalion
- 836th Independent Signal Battalion
- 1583rd Independent Electronic Warfare Battalion
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.
In 2009, on the basis of the 295th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment, the 7th Independent Guards Tank Brigade was created. It was reported that the District was dissolved on September 1, 2010, with most of its
area of responsibility
combined with the Siberian Military District as part of the new Central Operational-Strategic Command, while its western part joined the Southern Operational-Strategic Command (formerly the
North Caucasus Military District
).
Commanders
[
edit
]
Ural Military District
[
edit
]
1918?1922
[
edit
]
- 1918 - 1918 :
Filipp Goloshchyokin
,
- 1918 - 1919 : Anuchin, Sergei Andreevich,
- 1919 - 1920 : Semashko, Adam Yakovlevich,
- 1920 - 1921 : Dukat, Julius Ivanovich,
- 1921 - 1922 :
Sergei Mrachkovsky
.
1935?1989
[
edit
]
- May 1935 - May 1937 : Corps Commander
Ilya Garkavyi
,
- May 1937 - May 1937 : Corps Commander
Boris Gorbachyov
,
- May 1937 - Aug 1937 : Corps Commander
Yan Gaylit
,
- Aug 1937 - Jul 1938 : Corps Commander
Georgy Sofronov
,
- Jul 1938 - Jun 1941 : Corps Commander, from June 1940 Lieutenant General
Filipp Yershakov
,
- Jun 1941 - Nov 1941 : Colonel Ilya Alexandrovich Zhernakov (interim),
- Nov 1941 - Feb 1945 : Lieutenant General Alexander Vasilievich Katkov,
- Feb 1945 - Feb 1948 : Colonel General
Fyodor Kuznetsov
,
- Feb 1948 - Mar 1953 : Marshal of the Soviet Union
Georgy Zhukov
,
- May 1953 - Jan 1956 : General of the Army
Mikhail Kazakov
,
- Jan 1956 - Nov 1957 : General of the Army
Nikolai Krylov
,
- Jan 1958 - Jun 1960 : General of the Army
Dmitry Lelyushenko
,
- Jun 1960 - Jul 1961 : Colonel General
Yakov Kreizer
,
- Jul 1961 - Sep 1965 : Colonel General
Ivan Tutarinov
,
- Oct 1965 - Apr 1970 : Colonel General Alexander Alexandrovich Egorovsky,
- May 1970 - May 1980 : Colonel General Nikolai Kuzmich Silchenko,
- May 1980 - Dec 1983 : Colonel General Mikhail Alexandrovich Tyagunov,
- Dec 1983 - Nov 1984 : Colonel General Ivan Andreevich Gashkov,
- Nov 1984 - Jul 1987 : Colonel General Nikolai Fedorovich Grachev,
- Jul 1987 - Jan 1989 : Colonel General Nikolai Grigorievich Madudov,
- Jan 1989 - Sep 1989 : Colonel General
Albert Makashov
1992?2001
[
edit
]
- Jul 1992 - Dec 1999 : Colonel-General Yuri Pavlovich Grekov,
- Dec 1999 - Jan 2000 : Colonel General Vyacheslav Valentinovich Tikhomirov,
- Mar 2000 - Jul 2001 : Colonel General
Alexander Ivanovich Baranov
.
Volga Military District
[
edit
]
see :
Volga Military District
Volga?Ural Military District Commanders
[
edit
]
The following officers commanded the district during its existence:
1989?1992
[
edit
]
2001?2010
[
edit
]
- Colonel General (General of the Army from June 2004)
Alexander Baranov
(19 July 2001 ? 19 July 2004)
- General of the Army
Vladimir Boldyrev
(19 July 2004 ? 1 August 2008)
- Lieutenant General (promoted to Colonel General June 2010)
Arkady Bakhin
(3 December 2008 ? 22 July 2010)
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Official Russian Defence Ministry website, www.mil.ru
- ^
tashv.nm.ru,
Combat composition of the Soviet Army, 1 September 1941
Archived
6 July 2013 at the
Wayback Machine
, accessed October 2011
- ^
Holm, Michael.
"Kazan Military District"
.
www.ww2.dk
. Retrieved
2016-05-18
.
- ^
Feskov et al 2013, 512.
- ^
"4th Motorised Rifle Division"
.
www.ww2.dk
. Retrieved
2024-04-01
.
- ^
Holm,
http://www.ww2.dk/new/newindex.htm
; V.I. Feskov et al 2013.
- ^
"specnaz"
.
specnaz.pbworks.com
. Retrieved
26 January
2019
.
- ^
"Чебаркульский гарнизон - историческое место дислокации воинских частей"
.
PUTI-shestvuy
. Retrieved
2022-05-29
.
- ^
Lucien Kim,
Russian Army Reclaims 'Abandoned' Tanks After Internet Exposure
, Bloomberg.com 28 February 2010
- ^
Medvedev fires military officials after Ulyanovsk arms depot blasts
, 24 November 2009 and
Tema
- ^
See
Vad777 (2008-05-13).
"Prevolga-Urals Military District [ПРИВОЛЖСКО-УРАЛЬСКИЙ ВОЕННЫЙ ОКРУГ]"
. Archived from
the original
on 2008-05-13.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link
)
- ^
Holm, Michael.
"34th Motorised Rifle Division"
.
www.ww2.dk
. Retrieved
2016-05-18
.
- ^
French Army, Terre Information Magazine, No.185, June 2007, p.7
- ^
"Официальный портал органов власти Чувашской Республики ≫ Карта сайта"
.
gov.cap.ru
. Retrieved
26 January
2019
.
- ^
"news"
.
gov.cap.ru
. Retrieved
2024-04-01
.
- ^
"В/Ч 90600 - 15 отдельная мотострелковая бригада (бывшая миротворческая)"
[V/H 90600 - 15th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade (Former peacekeepers)].
www.roshinskiy.ru
(in Russian). Archived from
the original
on 24 January 2010
. Retrieved
2016-05-18
.
- ^
"15 миротворческая бригада | Воинская часть"
.
voinskaya-chast.ru
(in Russian)
. Retrieved
2017-06-25
.
- ^
"27th Guards Motorised Rifle Division"
.
www.ww2.dk
. Retrieved
2017-06-25
.
- Scott and Scott, The Armed Forces of the USSR, Westview Press, Boulder, Co., 1979
- Feskov, V.I.; K.A. Kalashnikov; V.I. Golikov (2004).
The Soviet Army in the Years of the 'Cold War' (1945-1991)
.
Tomsk
: Tomsk University Press.
ISBN
5-7511-1819-7
.
- Feskov, V.I.; Golikov, V.I.; Kalashnikov, K.A.; Slugin, S.A. (2013).
Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской
[
The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II: From the Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land Forces
] (in Russian). Tomsk: Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing.
ISBN
9785895035306
.
- https://fas.org/irp/world/russia/fbis/VolgaMD.htm
- https://www.webcitation.org/5kjJdJKIb?url=http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/9059/RussianArmedForces.html
- See also
VUMD at Warfare.ru