The 3rd Shock Army (russian: Третья ударная армия) was a field army of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

formed during the Second World War. The "Shock" armies were created with the specific structure to engage and destroy significant enemy forces, and were reinforced with more armoured and artillery assets than other combined arms armies. Where necessary the Shock armies were reinforced with mechanised, tank, and cavalry units. During the Second World War, some Shock armies included

armoured train An armoured train is a railway train protected with armour. Armoured trains usually include railway wagons armed with artillery, machine guns and autocannons. Some also had slits used to fire small arms from the inside of the train, a faci ...

s and air–sled equipped units.

Campaign history

The Army was created from the headquarters of 60th Army (1st formation), which had been formed in the

Moscow Military District The Order of Lenin Moscow Military District was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The district was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1968. In 2010 it was merged with the Leningrad Military ...

in November 1941. Initially, the 60th Army comprised the 334th, 336th, 358th, and 360th Rifle Divisions and the

11th Cavalry Division 11 (eleven) is the natural number following 10 and preceding 12. It is the first repdigit. In English, it is the smallest positive integer whose name has three syllables. Name "Eleven" derives from the Old English ', which is first attested i ...

, and was tasked with fortifying the left bank of the

Volga River The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchm ...

from Unza to Kosmodemiansk. The rifle divisions were reallocated to the 4th Shock Army, which was forming up at the same time nearby. The headquarters of 60th Army was converted into the headquarters of 3rd Shock Army on 25 December 1941, under the command of General Lieutenant Maksim Purkayev. On 1 January 1942, the Army was composed of the 23rd, 33rd and 257th Rifle Divisions,

20th 20 (twenty; Roman numeral XX) is the natural number following 19 and preceding 21. A group of twenty units may also be referred to as a score. In mathematics *20 is a pronic number. *20 is a tetrahedral number as 1, 4, 10, 20. *20 is the ba ...

, 27th, 31st, 42nd, 45th and 54th Separate Rifle Brigades, and a number of artillery and other units. The Shock Army was also singled out by having its own aviation units attached because of its intended use. These units included the 163rd Fighter Aviation Regiment (Yak–1), 728th Fighter Aviation Regiment ( Polikarpov I–16), 128th Short–range Bombing Regiment (Pe–2),

621st Aviation Regiment 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second smalles ...

(R–5) and 663rd Aviation Regiment ( Po–2). However, by the beginning of April, this was reduced to one light–bombing regiment (12 Po–2 aircraft) and three fighter regiments with 12 Polikarpov I–16s in total. It was initially a part of the

Moscow Defense Zone Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

in the

Reserve of the Supreme High Command The Reserve of the Supreme High Command (Russian: Резерв Верховного Главнокомандования; also known as the '' Stavka'' Reserve or RVGK ( ru , РВГК)) comprises reserve military formations and units; the Sta ...

(RVGK). However, 3rd Shock was soon allocated to join the North–Western Front on 27 December 1941 as part of the Moscow counteroffensive. Matters were not improved by the lack of supplies, aggravated by horrible communications; the assault troops did not get a full meal before the offensive due to food shortages. However, after a few days the offensive – the Toropets–Kholm operation – began to roll forward, with 3rd Shock approaching Kholm, but it was getting dangerously separated from its neighbour, 4th Shock Army. By mid January, 3rd Shock had surrounded Kholm and its forward units had cut the road between Kholm and Toropets. Kholm itself was surrounded on 22 January, though it was never taken and was relieved on 5 May. With some success in view, Stalin widened the operation's goals, and with a Stavka directive on 19 January directed 3rd Shock, as part of the wider operation, to head for Velikie Luki, and then to

Vitebsk Vitebsk or Viciebsk (russian: Витебск, ; be, Ві́цебск, ; , ''Vitebsk'', lt, Vitebskas, pl, Witebsk), is a city in Belarus. The capital of the Vitebsk Region, it has 366,299 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth-largest ci ...

Orsha Orsha ( be, О́рша, Во́рша, Orša, Vorša; russian: О́рша ; lt, Orša, pl, Orsza) is a city in Belarus in the Vitebsk Region, on the fork of the Dnieper and Arshytsa rivers. History Orsha was first mentioned in 1067 as Rsha ...

, and

Smolensk Smolensk ( rus, Смоленск, p=smɐˈlʲensk, a=smolensk_ru.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest ...

. Two days later, 3rd Shock was shifted from the North–Western Front to the

Kalinin Front The Kalinin Front was a major formation of the Red Army active in the Eastern Front of World War II, named for the city of Kalinin. It was formally established by Stavka directive on 17 October 1941 and allocated three armies: 22nd, 29th Army a ...

. However, the forces available were becoming dangerously thin for the enormous tasks that Stalin was setting them. The Army got no further than Velikie Luki, and was unable to take the town in the face of stiffening German resistance and shortages of food, fuel, and ammunition. Velikie Luki was finally taken by the

on 17 January 1943. The Army's next major effort was as part of the Nevel–Gorodok offensive operation in October–November 1943. Nevel was taken at the start of the offensive on 6 October 1943. The Kalinin Front had been renamed Baltic Front on 13 October 1943, and under Yeremenko, used two armies on the left flank, the 43rd and 49th, to distract the Germans' attention from his main blow, from the 3rd and 4th Shock Armies against

Third Panzer Army The 3rd Panzer Army (german: 3. Panzerarmee) was a German armoured formation during World War II, formed from the 3rd Panzer Group on 1 January 1942. 3rd Panzer Group The 3rd Panzer Group (german: Panzergruppe 3) was formed on 16 November ...

in the Nevel area. This would see the Soviets astride the routes leading to the rear of Army Group North and cut vital rail links. Following the Starorussa–Novorzhev offensive operation (February 1944), the Army's next attack was as part of 2nd Baltic Front's July 1944 offensive: the Rezhitsa–Dvina offensive operation. Beginning on 10 July, 3rd Shock Army had reached the Velikaya River by 12 July, captured the bridges despite the demolition charges laid on them, and moved on to surround

Idritsa Idritsa (russian: Идрица) is an urban locality (a work settlement) in Sebezhsky District of Pskov Oblast, Russia, located on the Idritsa River, a left tributary of the Velikaya River. Municipally, it is incorporated as Idritsa Urban Sett ...

, which was captured that same day. Five days later the Army liberated

Sebezh Sebezh (russian: Се́беж) is a town and the administrative center of Sebezhsky District in Pskov Oblast, Russia, located in a picturesque setting between Lakes Sebezhskoye and Orono south of Pskov, the administrative center of the oblas ...

after a deep outflanking movement. Rezhitsa (now

Rēzekne Rēzekne (, ; German: ''Rositten'') is a state city in the Rēzekne River valley in Latgale region of eastern Latvia. It is called ''The Heart of Latgale'' (Latvian ''Latgales sirds'', Latgalian ''Latgolys sirds''). Built on seven hills, Rēz ...

, Latvia) was taken on 26 July 1944, with the help of the

10th Guards Army The 10th Guards Army was a Soviet Guards formation which fought against Germany during World War II under the command of several generals. Formed in 1943, the army fought under various headquarters and ended the war besieging cut-off German force ...

. The 2nd Baltic Front was now facing central Latvia, and on 2 August 1944 the armies were on the march again, with 3rd Shock tasked to move south of Lake Lubań and on to the south of Madon, but after the Soviet forces seized Krustpils, some heavy fighting followed with only limited success. 3rd Shock forced a passage over a tributary of the Dvina River, the Oger, on 19 August, but then had to fend off a strong German attack mounted by three divisions with air support. The Soviets slowly moved toward Riga, but the emphasis was shifted south, and the 2nd Baltic Front found itself playing a supporting role from early October as Bagramyan's First Baltic Front raced for the Baltic coastline itself to sever the remaining connection between the German forces in East Prussia and those in Latvia and Estonia. Riga fell on 13 October and the remaining German forces in the area were bottled up in the Courland area. 3rd Shock then took part in the blockade of the

Courland pocket The Courland Pocket (Blockade of the Courland army group), (german: Kurland-Kessel)/german: Kurland-Brückenkopf (Courland Bridgehead), lv, Kurzemes katls (Courland Cauldron) or ''Kurzemes cietoksnis'' (Courland Fortress)., group=lower-alpha ...

, and the first Soviet attacks started on 16 October. However, by the end of October, it was seen that despite some advances, there was little hope for full success, and the Army was shifted south. 3rd Shock became part of the

1st Belorussian Front The 1st Belorussian Front ( Russian: Пéрвый Белорусский фронт, ''Perviy Belorusskiy front'', also romanized " Byelorussian") was a major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army ...

from 31 December 1944. The Army was placed in the second echelon for the Warsaw–Poznań strategic offensive operation, attacking in the direction of Poznań under Zhukov's

. It then took part in the Vistula–Oder Offensive between 12.1.1945 – 3.2.1945. As the Army moved quickly across Poland in March 1945 during the Eastern–Pomeranian strategic offensive operation, it liberated a number of cities, including Vangerin and Labes on 3 March, and Frayenvalde and Regenvalde on 4 March 1945. The same day, in conjunction with the Polish 1st Army and the 1st Guards Tank Army, 3rd Shock entered Dramburg. A day later, 3rd Shock entered Gyultsov, and on 6 March the unit entered Kammin. On 7 March, 3rd Shock entered Shtepenitts, and liberated Gollnov together with troops of the 2nd Guards Tank Army. The Army was in the second echelon of the

in the

Battle of Berlin The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. After the Vistula– ...

. In April 1945, the 3rd Shock Army (HQ Stendal) as part of the

had the following major component formations and units: * 7th Rifle Corps ( 146th, 265th,

364th Rifle Division The 364th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army during World War II. It began forming on August 10, 1941, as a standard Red Army rifle division at Omsk. It did not reach the front until March 1942, assigned to the 1st Shock Army ...

s) *

9th Tank Corps 09 may refer to: * 2009, the year, or any year ending with 09, which may be written as '09 * September, the ninth month * 9 (number) * Ariège (department) (postal code), a French department * Auckland, New Zealand, which has the telephone area co ...

( 23rd, 95th, and 108th Tank Brigades and 8th Motor Rifle Brigade) (attached from front headquarters) *

12th Guards Rifle Corps The 12th Guards Rifle Corps was a corps of the Soviet Union's Red Army. Formed in 1942, the corps fought in the Vistula–Oder Offensive, East Pomeranian Offensive and Berlin Offensive. The corps was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for its act ...

( 23rd Guards, 52nd Guards, 33rd Rifle Divisions) * 79th Rifle Corps ( 150th, 171st, 207th Rifle Divisions) * 1203rd, 1728th and 1729th Separate self–propelled assault artillery regiments * 136th Gun–Artillery Brigade * 45th Antitank Brigade * 25th Sapper Brigade * 5th and 13th Pontoon Bridging Brigades The Army took Pankow, a suburb of Berlin, on 23 April 1945. A week later, two regiments of the 150th Rifle Division, 79th Rifle Corps were responsible for erecting flags over the Reichstag on 30 April 1945, one of which was known as the

Victory Banner The Soviet Banner of Victory (russian: Знамя Победы, translit=Znamya Pobedy) was the banner raised by the Red Army soldiers on the Reichstag building in Berlin on 1 May 1945, the day after Adolf Hitler committed suicide. It was raise ...

. A future commander of the Army, V.I. Varennikov, would also command the

honour guard A guard of honour (British English, GB), also honor guard (American English, US), also ceremonial guard, is a group of people, usually military in nature, appointed to receive or guard a head of state or other dignitaries, the fallen in war, o ...

of the Victory Banner. The Army's active service ended when fighting ceased in Berlin on 8 May 1945.

World War II service

Campaigns and Operations participation

*Winter Campaign of 1941–42 (Russian: Зимняя кампания 1941/42 г.) (5 December 1941 – 30 April 1942) * Toropets–Kholm Offensive (9 January 1942 – 6 February 1942) *Summer–Autumn Campaign (Russian: Летне–осенняя кампания 1942 г.) (1 May – 18 November 1942) *Winter Campaign of 1942–43 (Russian: Зимняя кампания 1942–1943 гг.) (19 November 1942 – 3 March 1943) * Velikie Luki offensive (November 1942 – January 1943) *Summer–Autumn Campaign of 1943 (Russian: Летне–осенняя кампания 1943 г.) (1 July – 31 December 1943) * Nevel'–Gorodok offensive operation (October– November 1943) *Winter–Spring Campaign (Russian: Зимне–весенняя кампания 1944 г.) (1 January – 31 May 1944) * Staraya Russa–Novorzhev Offensive (February 1944) *Summer–Autumn Campaign of 1944 (Russian: Летне–осенняя кампания 1944 г.) (1 June – 31 December 1944) * Rezhitsa–Dvinsk Offensive (10 July 1944 – 27 July 1944) *

Madona Offensive Madona (; german: Modohn) is a town with town rights in the Vidzeme region of Latvia and is the center of the Madona municipality. History The surrounding area of Madona had been populated in earlier times, which is confirmed by discoveries ...

(1 August 1944 – 28 August 1944) * Riga Offensive (1944) (14 September 1944 – 24 October 1944) * Courland peninsula blockade (from October 1944 – 31 December 1944) * Vistula–Oder Offensive (12 January – 2 February 1945) * Berlin Offensive (16 April – 8 May 1945) *Campaign in Europe during 1945 (Russian: Кампания в Европе 1945 г.) (1 January – 9 May 1945)

Notable service personnel

*Michail Budenkov: 3rd highest ranking sniper, Guards senior sergeant, sniper of 59th Guards Rifle Regiment (

21st Guards Rifle Division The 21st Guards Rifle Division was an elite infantry division of the Red Army during World War II. It was formed from the 361st Rifle Division on March 17, 1942, in recognition of that division's successes in the attempt to encircle the German 9th ...

, 3rd Shock Army, 2nd Baltic Front) (437 confirmed). *Abuhadji Idrisov: 11th highest ranking sniper, senior sergeant, 1232nd Rifle Regiment (370th Rifle Division, 3rd Shock Army, 2nd Baltic Front) (349 confirmed).

Command staff

Commanders

*General Lieutenant M.A. Purkaev (December 1941 – August 1942) *General Lieutenant Kuzma Galitsky (September 1942 – November 1943) *General Colonel N.E. Chibisov (November 1943 – April 1944) *General Lieutenant V.A. Yushkevich (April – August 1944) *General Lieutenant M.N. Gerasimov (August – October 1944) *General Lieutenant

Nikolai Simoniak Nikolai Pavlovich Simoniak (russian: Николай Павлович Симоняк, – April 23, 1956) was a General in the Soviet Army during World War II. Early life and Russian Civil War Simoniak was born to Ukrainian parents on 17 Februar ...

(October 1944 – March 1945) *General Colonel V.I. Kuznetsov (March 1945 – end of the war)

Leaders of the Military Council

*Brigade Commissioner A.P. Riazanov (December 1941 – February 1943) *General Lieutenant P.K. Ponomarenko (February – March 1943) *General Major A.I. Litvinov (March 1943 – end of the war)

Chiefs of staff

*General Major A.P. Pokrovskiy (December 1941 – February 1942) *General Major

Mikhail Sharokhin Mikhail Nikolaevich Sharokhin (russian: Михаил Николаевич Шарохин, November 23, 1898 - September 19, 1974) was a Soviet military commander and Hero of the Soviet Union. Biography He was born in the village of Ivanovskoje ...

(February – August 1942) *General Major I.O. Yudintsev (August 1942 – March 1943) *General Major M.M. Busarov (March May 1943) *General Major F.A. Zuev (May October 1943) *General Major

Veniamin Beylin Veniamin Lvovich Beylin (; 25 August 1904 – 16 March 1982) was a Red Army major general. Early life and prewar service Veniamin Lvovich Beylin was born to Jewish parents on 25 August 1904 in Barvenkovo, Kharkov Governorate. The son of a rail ...

(October 1943 – August 1944) *General Major from July 1945. General Lieutenant M.F. Bukshtynovich (August 1944 – end of the war).

Service in Germany

The 3rd Shock Army stayed in Germany after the end of the war, becoming part of 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 ...

. During the 1960s and early 1970s, the Army's divisions were equipped with T–62 and T–55 tanks. The army kept the descriptive title "shock" until 1954, when it became the 3rd "Red Banner" Combined Arms Army (russian: 3-я краснознаменная общевойсковая армия).Michael Holm
3 Red Banner Combined Arms Army
February 2015. Army headquarters was located in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label= Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Mag ...

from January 1946. There was an army reorganisation in June 1964 and a number of divisions were switched into and out of the army. It was awarded the

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner (russian: Орден Красного Знамени, Orden Krasnogo Znameni) was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of th ...

in 1974. During the late 1970s, the divisions received T–64As, T–64Bs (one third of each battalion), and eventually T–64BVs with dynamic armour. In 1984, a decision was made to re–equip the formations with T–80BV variants (10th Guards Tank Division), replacing the T–64s, BMP–1/ 2 and variants, and various BTR variants. In 1980 the army comprised three divisions: the

10th Guards Tank Division The 10th Guards ''Uralsko-Lvovskaya'' Volunteer Tank Division, also known as the Ural-Lvov Tank Division, is a tank division of the Russian Ground Forces and part of the Moscow Military District's 20th Guards Army. The division traces its herit ...

(Krampnitz, East Germany), the

47th Guards Tank Division The 47th Guards Tank Division () is a tank division of the Russian Ground Forces. It was formed in October 1942, during World War II from the first formation of the 154th Rifle Division as the 47th Guards Rifle Division. It served with the 8t ...

(Hillersleben, East Germany), and the

207th Motor Rifle Division The 207th Rifle Division began its combat path under unusual circumstances. It was partly formed for the first time as a standard Red Army rifle division in the spring of 1941, before the German invasion, but was never completed. A second formation ...

(Stendal, East Germany), plus a large number of supporting brigades, regiments, and battalions. In May 1983 it was reorganised, and the 207th Motor Rifle Division was transferred to the 2nd Guards Tank Army, and the

12th Guards Tank Division The 12th Guards Uman Orders of Lenin Red Banner and Suvorov Tank Division was a tank division of the Soviet Ground Forces. It drew its history from the World War II 16th Tank Corps. It was redesignated successively as 12th Guards Tank Corps (194 ...

was attached in its place. To bring the army's total to four divisions, the 7th Guards Tank Division was attached from the 1st Guards Tank Army. Thus the army had four divisions in 1988: *7th Guards Tank Division (Rosslau, East Germany) *10th Guards Tank Division (Altengrabow, East Germany) *12th Guards Tank Division (Neuruppin, East Germany) *47th Guards Tank Division (Hillersleben, East Germany) During 1989–91, a past commanding officer of the Army (1969) V.I. Varennikov was the Commander in Chief of the

Soviet Ground Forces uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

. The Army was relocated from Germany during 1990–1991. Army headquarters was briefly sent to the

Far East 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 ...

, but then disbanded. The "out of Germany transfer" directive was issued 15 April 1991, but the Army did not leave until November 1991. The Army headquarters arrived in

Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( rus, Хабaровск, a=Хабаровск.ogg, r=Habárovsk, p=xɐˈbarəfsk) is the largest city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China–Russia border, at the confluence of th ...

in January 1992, but was disbanded in early March 1992.

1988 order of battle

* 7th Guards Kiev–Berlin Tank Division (Roßlau) (disbanded 1990) **55th Guards ''Vasilkovskiy'' Tank Regiment (Lutherstadt–Wittenberg) **56th Guards V''asilkov Shepetovsk'' Tank Regiment (Zerbst) **79th Guards ''Bobruiskiy'' Tank Regiment (Roßlau) **40th Motor Rifle Regiment (Bernburg) **670th Guards Motorised Artillery Regiment (Cochstedt) **287th Guards Antiaircraft–missile Regiment (Roßlau) **4th Separate Guards Reconnaissance Battalion (Quedlinburg–Quarmbeck) **146th Separate Guards Communications Battalion (Roßlau) **121st Separate Engineer Battalion (Roßlau) **165th Separate Chemical Defence Battalion (Roßlau) **183rd Separate Material Supply Battalion (Roßlau) **58th Separate Equipment Maintenance and Recovery Battalion (Roßlau) **186th Separate Medical Battalion (Dessau) * 10th Guards Tank Ural Volunteer Division in the name of Marshal of Soviet Union R. A. Malinovsky (Altengrabow) (now at Boguchar in the

) **61st Guards Sverdlovsk Tank Regiment (Altengrabow) **62nd Guards Permian–Keletskiy Tank Regiment (Altengrabow) **63rd Guards Chelyabinsk–Petrokovskiy Tank Regiment (Altengrabow) **248th Guards Unechskiy Motor Rifle regiment (Schönebeck) **744th Guards Ternopil Artillery Regiment (Altengrabow) **359th Guards Lvov Anti–Aircraft Artillery Regiment (Altengrabow) **7th Separate Guards Reconnaissance Battalion (Khalershtadt) later Altengrabow **152nd Separate Communications Battalion (Altengrabow) **131st Separate Guards Engineer Battalion (Magdeburg) **127 Separate Chemical Defence Battalion (Altengrabow) **1072nd Separate Material Supply Battalion (Altengrabow) **60th Separate Equipment Maintenance and Recovery Battalion (Altengrabow) **188th Separate Medical Battalion (Altengrabow) *12th Guards Prikarpattiya Berlin Tank Division (Neuruppin) (disbanded 1991) **48th Guards Vapnyarsko–Varshavsky Tank Regiment (Neuruppin) **332nd Guards Warsaw Red Banner Order of Alexander Nevsky Tank Regiment (Neuruppin) **353rd Guards Vapnyarsko–Berlin Tank Regiment (Neuruppin) **200th Guards Fastov Motor Rifle Regiment (Burg) **117th Artillery Regiment (Mahlwinkel) **933rd Upper Dnieper Anti–Aircraft Missile Regiment (Burg) **18th Separate Guards Demblin Reconnaissance Battalion (Mahlwinkel) **490th Separate Guards Communications Battalion (Neuruppin) **136th Separate Guards Demblin Engineer Battalion (Neuruppin) **129th Separate Chemical Defence Company (Neuruppin) **1074th Separate Material Supply Battalion (Wulkow) **64th Separate Equipment Maintenance and Recovery Battalion (Neuruppin) **208th Separate Medical Battalion (Wulkow) *47th Guards Lower Dnieper Tank Division (Hillersleben)(withdrawn to

, amalgamated in the mid-1990s with the 31st Tank Division as the

3rd Motor Rifle Division The 3rd Vislenskaya Red Banner Motor Rifle Division is a motorized infantry division of the Russian Ground Forces. The 3rd Motor Rifle Division was formed in 1997 from the amalgamation of the 31st and 47th Guards Tank Divisions of the Moscow Mi ...

) **26th Feodosiya Tank Regiment (Hillersleben) **153rd Smolensk Red Banner Order of Kutuzov Tank Regiment (Hillersleben) **197th Guards Vapynar–Warsaw Tank Regiment (Halberstadt) **245th Guards Gneznensky Red Banner Order of Suvorov Motor Rifle Regiment (Magdeburg) **99th Guards Pomeranian Artillery Regiment (Magdeburg) **1069th Order of the Red Star Anti–Aircraft Missile Regiment (Hillersleben) **112th Separate Reconnaissance Battalion (Hillersleben) **73rd Separate Guards Communications Battalion (Hillersleben) **52nd Separate Guards Engineer Battalion (Hillersleben) **1077th Separate Material Supply Battalion (Hillersleben) **332nd Separate Chemical Defence Company (Hillersleben) **65th Separate Equipment Maintenance and Recovery Battalion (Hillersleben) **63rd Separate Medical Battalion (Hillersleben) Formations and units subordinate to Army *792nd Separate Special Purpose Company (

Spetsnaz Spetsnaz are special forces in numerous post-Soviet states. (The term is borrowed from rus, спецназ, p=spʲɪtsˈnas; abbreviation for or 'Special Purpose Military Units'; or .) Historically, the term ''spetsnaz'' referred to the So ...

) (Cochstedt) *115th Separate Tank Regiment (Quedlinburg) *899th Separate Air Assault Battalion (Burg) *232nd Separate Protection and Security Battalion (Magdeburg) *178th Separate Helicopter Regiment (Borstel) *440th Separate Helicopter Regiment (Borstel) *296th Separate Helicopter Squadron (Mahlwinkel) *36th Missile Brigade (Altengrabow) *

448th Missile Brigade The 448th Rocket Brigade named for S.P. Nepobedimy is a tactical ballistic missile brigade of the Russian Ground Forces. Based in Kursk, the brigade is part of the 20th Guards Army. History The brigade was formed in September 1987 at Born in E ...

(Born) *49th Guards Anti–Aircraft Missile Brigade (Planken) *

385th Guards Artillery Brigade The 385th Guards "Odesskaya Red Banner Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky" Artillery Brigade (Military Unit Number 32755) (Russian: 385-я гвардейская артиллерийская бригада) is an artillery formation of the Russian Gr ...

(Planken) *451st Separate Anti–Tank Artillery Battalion (Magdeburg) *254th Separate Radio Engineering Regiment (Cochstedt) *15th Separate Radio Engineering Battalion (Magdeburg) *10th Separate Electronic Warfare Battalion (Stahnsdorf) *105th Separate Communications Regiment (Magdeburg) *457th Separate Radio Relay Cable Battalion (Magdeurg) *323rd Separate Engineer Battalion (Magdeburg) *36th Łódź Pontoon Bridge Regiment (Magdeburg) *2nd Separate Chemical Defence Battalion (Burg) *42nd Material Supply Brigade (Magdeburg) *298th Separate Equipment Maintenance and Recovery battalion (Schönebeck) *302nd Separate Equipment Maintenance and Recovery battalion (Schönebeck) *1408th Military Hospital (Magdeburg) *989th Military Hospital (Altengrabow) *20th Sanitary and Epidemiological Detachmend (Magdeburg)

Postwar Commanders

* Colonel General Vasily Kuznetsov (May 1945 – 5 October 1948) * Colonel General

Alexander Luchinsky Alexander Alexandrovich Luchinsky (; – 25 December 1990) was an Army General (Soviet rank), Army General of the Soviet Army and a Hero of the Soviet Union. The son of an army officer, Luchinsky was educated at a Cadet Corps (Russia), cadet cor ...

(5 October 1948 – 11 April 1949) * Lieutenant General Aleksandr Ryzhov (11 April 1949 – 4 December 1950) * Lieutenant General Andrey Matveyevich Andreyev (4 December 1950 – 6 January 1954) * Lieutenant General (Colonel General 8 August 1955) Dmitry Alexeyev (6 January 1954 – 29 June 1956) * Major General (Lieutenant General 26 November 1956)

Leonid Baukov Leonid (russian: Леонид ; uk, Леонід ; be, Леанід, Ljeaníd ) is a Slavic version of the given name Leonidas. The French version is Leonide. People with the name include: * Leonid Andreyev (1871–1919), Russian playwright a ...

(29 June 1956 – 11 December 1959) * Lieutenant General Mikhail Frolenkov (11 December 1959 – 11 August 1962) * Major General (Lieutenant General 13 April 1964) Alexander Klyukanov (11 August 1962 – 7 July 1965) * Lieutenant General Semyon Kurkotkin (7 July 1965 – 18 August 1966) * Lieutenant General

Vasily Gorban Vasili, Vasily, Vasilii or Vasiliy (Russian language, Russian: wikt:Василий, Василий) is a Russian masculine given name of Greek language, Greek origin and corresponds to ''Basil (name)#Given name, Basil''. It may refer to: *Vasili ...

(18 August 1966 – 29 August 1969) * Major General (Lieutenant General 29 April 1970) Valentin Varennikov (29 August 1969 – 11 June 1971) * Major General (Lieutenant General 8 November 1971) Yevgeny Touzakov (11 June 1971 – 24 January 1973) * Major General (Lieutenant General 4 November 1973)

Leonid Kuznetsov Leonid (russian: Леонид ; uk, Леонід ; be, Леанід, Ljeaníd ) is a Slavic version of the given name Leonidas. The French version is Leonide. People with the name include: *Leonid Andreyev (1871–1919), Russian playwright an ...

(24 January 1973 – 15 November 1974) * Major General (Lieutenant General 13 February 1976)

Pyotr Makarchuk Pyotr Makarchuk (born 10 July 1972) is a Russian bobsledder. He competed at the 2002 Winter Olympics and the 2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also ...

(15 November 1974 – 21 July 1977) * Lieutenant General Mikhail Sotskov (21 July 1977 – July 1979) * Lieutenant General Viktor Skokov (July 1979 – December 1982) * Lieutenant General

Boris Pyankov Boris may refer to: People * Boris (given name), a male given name *:''See'': List of people with given name Boris * Boris (surname) * Boris I of Bulgaria (died 907), the first Christian ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire, canonized after his d ...

(December 1982 – July 1985) * Lieutenant General

Viktor Chechevatov Viktor Stepanovich Chechevatov (russian: Виктор Степанович Чечеватов; born 15 April 1945, Mordovskiy Belyi Klyuch, Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russian SFSR) is a Russian military and public official, Colonel General who served as ...

(July 1985 – 1987) * Lieutenant General Alexey Mityukhin (1987–October 1991)

References

{{Armies of the Soviet Army Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations disestablished in 1991 Soviet Shock Armies Military units and formations awarded the Order of the Red Banner