The 25th Army Corps was an army corps of the Soviet Ground Forces active from 1957–1960 and 1980–89. In its first period of existence it was in the

Odessa Military District The Odesa Military District (russian: Одесский военный округ, ОВО; , abbreviated ) was a military administrative division of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In 1998 most of its territory was transformed into the Southern Operat ...

, and in its second period of existence it garrisoned the remote Kamchatka region and

Chukotka Autonomous Okrug Chukotka (russian: Чуко́тка), officially the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug,, ''Čukotkakèn avtonomnykèn okrug'', is the easternmost federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia. It is an autonomous okrug situated in the Russian ...

of the Soviet Far East.

World War II

First formation

The predecessor 25th Rifle Corps appears to have begun the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in transit to the

Kiev Fortified Region The Kiev Fortified Region (Russian abbreviation КиУР, УР-1, 1-й укреплённый район, 1-й укрепрайон) is a fortified district in the Kyiv area, a complex of defensive structures, consisting of permanent and field fo ...

as part of the 19th Army, formed just before the war began. It comprised the

127th Rifle Division 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, the 134th Rifle Division, and the

162nd Rifle Division Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17 *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * '' Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film d ...

on 22 June 1941. From 19 June to 16 July, it was commanded by Major General . The 25th Corps' deputy commander was '' Kombrig'' Alexander Gorbatov, who had been recently released from the

gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...

. Bonn and Glantz say the 25th Rifle Corps was active from June–July 1941 (first formation).

Second formation

The corps was reformed in February 1943, and had five commanders during the war.Keith E. Bonn, Slaughterhouse, 2005, 341. On 25 December 1944 it formed part of the

69th Army The 69th Army (russian: 69-я армия) was a field army established by the Soviet Union's Red Army during the Second World War. History Formation, Operation Star, and Third Battle of Kharkov The army was formed in February 1943 with the ...

, with the

4th Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

, 41st, 77th Guards, and 415th Rifle Divisions. 4th Rifle Division within the corps took part in the fighting for the Puławy bridge in Poland in January 1945, and was much weakened. Feskov et al 2013 indicates that on 10 July 1945, the corps, with 274th, 328th, and

370th Rifle Division The 370th Rifle Division was raised in 1941 as a standard Red Army rifle division, and served for the duration of the Great Patriotic War in that role. It began forming in August 1941 in the Siberian Military District. After forming, it was initial ...

s, was part of

, in the

Group of Soviet Forces in Germany The Western Group of Forces (WGF),. previously known as the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany (GSOFG). and the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSFG),. were the troops of the Soviet Army in East Germany. The Group of Soviet Occupati ...

, which had been formed the day before. However, the corps along with the remainder of 69th Army was disbanded in the summer of 1945.

Postwar

82nd Rifle Corps existed until 13 June 1955, when it was renamed

25th Rifle Corps The 25th Army Corps was an army corps of the Soviet Ground Forces active from 1957–1960 and 1980–89. In its first period of existence it was in the Odessa Military District, and in its second period of existence it garrisoned the remote Kamchatk ...

, which included 20th Rifle Division at Zaporizhia. On 25 June 1957 the corps was renamed 25th Army Corps (AK). Its headquarters was in Nikolayev with the

28th Guards Motor Rifle Division 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

, 34th Guards Motor Rifle Division, 93rd Motor Rifle Division ( Zaporizhia, 5.57 – March 1959) and the 95th Motor Rifle Division in the late 1950s. Disbanded 6.60.

Cold War in the Far East

The corps was reformed in February 1980 in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky as part of the

Far Eastern Military District The Far Eastern Military District (russian: Дальневосточный военный округ; Dalʹnevostochnyĭ voennyĭ okrug) was a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2010 it was merged with the Pacific ...

, under the command of Major General (promoted to Lieutenant General 16 December 1982) Alexey Tyurin. Between 1984 and 1985 its commander was Major General Anatoly Kostenko. The corps was disbanded in the summer of 1989.

Order of Battle in the 1980s

Authoritative Russian forum sources (Soldat.ru) report that in 1984 the corps comprised 22 MRD (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky), 23rd Independent Motor Rifle Brigade (Gudym or Anadyr), and 138th Independent Motor Rifle Regiment (Magadan). Questions remain over a putative 101st Motor Rifle Division. At the end of the 1980s the composition of the 25th Army Corps of the Far East Military District included: Other corps-level troops reported by Feskov et al. 2013, as of 1988, included the 240th (Chapaevka) and 280th Separate Engineer-Sapper Bаttalions (Ugolnye Kopi), the Staff of the 25th Army Corps; 11th Mixed Aviation Squadron (Ugolnye Kopi), the 138th Separate Motor Rifle Regiment (Magadan), and the 571st Separate Spetsnaz Company ( Yelizovo).Feskov et al 2013, 597, Table 31.5.1.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * *Michael Holm
25th Army Corps
2015