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 Operational Command The Operational Command South (OC South) is a formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces in the southern part of Ukraine, which was formed in January 1998 as the Southern Operation Command on the basis of the Odesa Military District and headquarte ...

. It had been inherited from the

Soviet Armed Forces The Soviet Armed Forces, the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union and as the Red Army (, Вооружённые Силы Советского Союза), were the armed forces of the Russian SFSR (1917–1922), the Soviet Union (1922–1991), and th ...

by Ukraine, and at the same time part was also inherited by the

Military of Moldova The Armed Forces of the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Forțele Armate ale Republicii Moldova) consist of the National Army (which is divided into the Land Forces Command and the Air Forces Command) and the Trupele de Carabinieri under the Minis ...

, while the Russian Federation retained control of the district's

14th Guards Army The 14th Guards Army () was a field army of the Red Army, the Soviet Ground Forces, and the Russian Ground Forces, active from 1956 to 1995. According to sources within the 14th Army, the majority of its troops came from the Pridnestrovian Moldavi ...

in Moldova. An earlier formation by the same name was also part of the Imperial Russian military.

History

Map of Military Districts of Russian Empire 1913

Years of existence

* December 24, 1862 – January 1918

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, transformed into headquarters of

Romanian Front The Romanian Front ( ro, Frontul Românesc, FR) was a moderate fascist party created in Romania in 1935. Led by former Prime Minister Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, it originated as a right-wing splinter group from the mainstream National Peasants' Part ...

* April 9 – August 5, 1919

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

, dissolved, remnants transferred to 12th Army * October 11, 1939 – September 10, 1941

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, dissolved remnants transferred to Southern Front * March 23, 1944 – January 3, 1992

, passed on to Armed Forces of Ukraine ** July 9, 1945 – April 4, 1956, portion of territory was under jurisdiction of

Tauric Military District The Taurida Military District was a military district of the Soviet Union. It was formed from the headquarters of the Separate Coastal Army and the 22nd Army in the summer of 1945. The military district controlled troops on the territory of the ...

* January 3, 1992 – January 3, 1998

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, transformed into

Russian Empire

The Odesa Military District was established during the reforms of the Russian military minister

Dmitry Milyutin Count Dmitry Alekseyevich Milyutin ( rus, Граф Дми́трий Алексе́евич Милю́тин, tr. ; 28 June 1816, Moscow – 25 January 1912, Simeiz near Yalta) was Minister of War (1861–81) and the last Field Marshal of I ...

. It was the second of two districts on the territory of the future Ukraine, the other being

Kiev Military District The Kiev Military District (; , abbreviated ) was a military district of the Imperial Russian Army and subsequently of the Red Army and Soviet Armed Forces. It was first formed in 1862, and was headquartered in Kiev (Kyiv) for most of its exis ...

. OVO existed from 1862–1918 as part of the Imperial Russian Armed Forces. It encompassed the territories of Kherson,

Yekaterinoslav Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...

Tauride The recorded history of the Crimean Peninsula, historically known as ''Tauris'', ''Taurica'' ( gr, Ταυρική or Ταυρικά), and the ''Tauric Chersonese'' ( gr, Χερσόνησος Ταυρική, "Tauric Peninsula"), begins around the ...

, and Bessarabia guberniyas. The district bordered

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian ...

Don Voisko Oblast The Province (Oblast) of the Don Cossack Host (, ''Oblast’ Voyska Donskogo'') of Imperial Russia was the official name of the territory of Don Cossacks, coinciding approximately with the present-day Rostov Oblast of Russia. Its site of adm ...

, and

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

. In the 1870s and 1880s (until August 12, 1889) the Commander of the district served as the interim

Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy ...

of Odesa city concurrently. In January 1918 the Odesa Military District headquarters was transformed into the headquarters of the Soviet

under the jurisdiction of

Rumcherod Rumcherod () was a self-proclaimed and short-lived organ of Soviet power in the South-Western part of Russian Empire that functioned during May 1917–May 1918. The name stands as the Russian language abbreviation for its full name Central Exe ...

. With the establishment of the Ukrainian government on its territory, it was terminated. OVO was reinstated as the Ukrainian forces were pushed out the area in April to August 1919.

Soviet Union

The district was reformed by the decision of October 11, 1939 specifically for the occupation of Bessarabia after the Soviet Union signed

Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union that enabled those powers to partition Poland between them. The pact was signed in Moscow on 23 August 1939 by German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ri ...

. At that time its territory included the newly created

Moldovian SSR The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic ( ro, Republica Sovietică Socialistă Moldovenească, Moldovan Cyrillic: ) was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union which existed from 1940 to 1991. The republic was formed on 2 August 1940 ...

, six oblasts of the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

(

Izmail Izmail (, , translit. ''Izmail,'' formerly Тучков ("Tuchkov"); ro, Ismail or ''Smil''; pl, Izmaił, bg, Исмаил) is a city and municipality on the Danube river in Odesa Oblast in south-western Ukraine. It serves as the administra ...

Odesa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrati ...

, Dnipropetrovsk,

Zaporizhia Zaporizhzhia ( uk, Запоріжжя) or Zaporozhye (russian: Запорожье) is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper River. It is the administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zaporizhzhia has a populatio ...

Mykolaiv Mykolaiv ( uk, Миколаїв, ) is a city and municipality in Southern Ukraine, the administrative center of the Mykolaiv Oblast. Mykolaiv city, which provides Ukraine with access to the Black Sea, is the location of the most downriver brid ...

Kirovohrad Kropyvnytskyi ( uk, Кропивницький, Kropyvnytskyi ) is a city in central Ukraine on the Inhul river with a population of . It is an administrative center of the Kirovohrad Oblast. Over its history, Kropyvnytskyi has changed its nam ...

) and also the

Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic During the existence of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, different governments existed within the Crimean Peninsula. From 1921 to 1936, the government in the Crimean Peninsula was known as the Crimean Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic ...

as part of the

. The Odesa MD was reinforced by several units from the Ukrainian Front that took part in the

Soviet invasion of Poland The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military operation by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Poland from the west. Subs ...

and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

, previously formed on base of the Odesa Army Group of the ''

Kiev Special Military District Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...

'' (reformed Kiev Military District). By directives ''OV/583'' and ''OV/584'' of the Soviet

People's Commissariat of Defense The People's Commissariat of Defense of the Soviet Union () was the highest military department of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. History In the 1920–1930s, the highest military authority of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic ...

, units of the Odesa Military District, currently commanded by Mjr. Gen. I.V. Boldin, were ordered into ''battle ready'' state in the spring of 1940. Soviet troop concentrations along the Romanian border took place between April 15 and June 10, 1940. In order to coordinate the efforts of the Kiev and Odesa military districts in the preparation of action against Romania, the Soviet Army created the Southern Front under General

Georgy Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov ( rus, Георгий Константинович Жуков, p=ɡʲɪˈorɡʲɪj kənstɐnʲˈtʲinəvʲɪtɕ ˈʐukəf, a=Ru-Георгий_Константинович_Жуков.ogg; 1 December 1896 – ...

, composed of the

5th Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash tha ...

, 9th and 12th Armies. The Southern Front had 32 infantry divisions, 2 motorized infantry divisions, 6 cavalry divisions, 11 tank brigades, 3 paratrooper brigades, 30 artillery regiments, and smaller auxiliary units. Two action plans were devised. The first plan was prepared for the case that Romania would not accept to evacuate Bessarabia and Bukovina. The Soviet 12th Army was supposed in such a situation to strike Southward along the Prut river towards Iaşi, while Soviet 9th Army was supposed to strike East-to-West south of Chişinău towards Huşi. The target of this plan was to surround the Romanian troops in the Bălţi-Iaşi area. The second plan took into consideration the case that Romania would succumb to Soviet demands and would evacuate its military. In such a situation, Soviet troops were given the mission to reach quickly the Prut river, and take charge of the evacuation process of the Romanian troops. The first plan was taken as the basis of action. Along the portions where the offensive was supposed to take place, Soviets prepared to have at least a triple superiority of men and means. On June 22, 1941 primary combat formations included: * 9th Army was relocated to the District as ''9th Separate Army'' in June 1941 from the

Leningrad Military District The Leningrad Military District was a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2010 it was merged with the Moscow Military District, the Northern Fleet and the Baltic Fleet to form the new Western Military District ...

after the

Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

and invasion of Romania * 2nd Mechanised Corps and

18th Mechanised Corps 18 (eighteen) is the natural number following 17 (number), 17 and preceding 19 (number), 19. In mathematics * Eighteen is a composite number, its divisors being 1 (number), 1, 2 (number), 2, 3 (number), 3, 6 (number), 6 and 9 (number), 9. Three ...

were associated with 9th Army. *

7th Rifle Corps The 7th Rifle Corps (''7th ck'') was a corps in Red Army and Soviet Armed Forces, before and during The Great Patriotic War/World War II. History 1st formation The 11th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) adopted a resolution o ...

was formed in the District in June 1941, *

9th Rifle Corps The 9th Rifle Corps was a corps of the Red Army. Located in Simferopol during the beginning of the war in the east. History The corps headquarters was formed in accordance with orders of the North Caucasus Military District of 6 June and 26 Aug ...

formed as part of the District on June 22, 1941, * 3rd Airborne Corps In August 1941 51st Independent Army was formed in the

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

. On September 10, 1941 the district was abolished as it was overran by the Armed Forces of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and its allies. RedArmy19Aug31Dec44

Post World War II Development

The District was reformed on April 23, 1944 with its headquarters at

, which in October 1944 relocated to Odesa. In 1948,

4th Guards Army The 4th Guards Army was an elite Guards field army of the Soviet Union during World War II and the early postwar era. History On April 16, 1943, the Supreme Command ordered the army to be established. On May 5, 1943, the army was formed on the ...

, with

10th Guards Budapest Rifle Corps The 10th Guards Budapest Rifle Corps was a unit of the Soviet Red Army during the Eastern Front of World War II. It traces its history to the 3rd Guards Rifle Corps, originally activated in January 1942, which was redesignated the 10th Guards Rifle ...

(33rd Mech, 59, 86) and

24th Guards Rifle Corps 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 ...

(35 Guards Mech,

180th Rifle Division The 180th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Red Army, formed twice. Poirer and Connor write that it was first formed 1940 in the Baltic Special Military District and became the 28th Guards Rifle Division on 3 May 1942. The d ...

, 51 Ind Rifle Brigade), plus

82nd Rifle Corps The 82nd Rifle Corps () was a rifle corps of the Red Army and later the Soviet Army. Formed in mid-1943, the corps served with the 37th Army during most of World War II. It fought in the advance southwest from the Dnieper and into Romania and Bu ...

(34th Guards Mech, 28th Guards Rifle, 52 Ind Rifle Brigade) were in the district.

Marshal of the Soviet Union Marshal of the Soviet Union (russian: Маршал Советского Союза, Marshal sovetskogo soyuza, ) was the highest military rank of the Soviet Union. The rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union was created in 1935 and abolished in 19 ...

, Giorgi Zhukov was assigned command of the Odesa Military District after the war, far from Moscow and lacking in strategic significance and troops. He arrived there on 13 June 1945. Zhukov suffered a heart attack in January 1948, spending a month in hospital. In February 1948, Zhukov was moved to another secondary posting, this time command of the

Urals Military District The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...

. General Colonel

Nikolay Pukhov Nikolay Pavlovich Pukhov (; –March 28, 1958) was a Soviet Army colonel general and a Hero of the Soviet Union who commanded troops during World War II. Pukhov fought in World War I as a junior officer, afterwards joining the Red Army and fight ...

took command.

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 uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption ...

, and 25.6.57 it was renamed

25th Army 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 ...

. HQ 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 gv. MSD and 95th MSD in the late 1950s. Disbanded in June 1960. In May 1955 the district's forces included the

(35th, 59th Guards,

86th Guards Rifle Division The 86th Guards Rifle Division was reformed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in April 1943, based on the 2nd formation of the 98th Rifle Division, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War and well into th ...

(including the 20th Rifle Division (

Zaporozhia Zaporizhzhia ( uk, Запоріжжя) or Zaporozhye (russian: Запорожье) is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper River. It is the administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zaporizhzhia has a populatio ...

), and 28th Guards RDs) and

32nd Rifle Corps The 32nd Rifle Corps was a corps of the Red Army during World War II, formed twice. Each formation was a distinct unit, unrelated to the other. First formation The corps headquarters formed in the Transbaikal Military District in September 1939 ...

, and the 48th, and 66th Guards Rifle Divisions. In May 1957 the 20th Rifle Division became the 93rd Motor Rifle Division, but the division was disbanded in March 1959. In 1960 the 113th Guards Motor Rifle Division and 95th Motor Rifle Division were disbanded. In April 1960 the Odesa Military District consisted of three oblasts (

Mykolaiv Oblast Mykolaiv Oblast ( uk, Микола́ївська о́бласть, translit=Mykoláyivsʹka óblastʹ, ), also referred to as Mykolaivshchyna ( uk, Микола́ївщина, Mykoláivshchyna, ) is an oblast (province) of Ukraine. The administra ...

Izmail Oblast Izmail Oblast (; ro, Regiunea Ismail) (7 August 1940 — 15 February 1954) was an oblast in the Ukrainian SSR, roughly corresponding to the historical region of Budjak. It had a territory of . The oblast was organized on 7 August 1940 on th ...

and

Odesa Oblast Odesa Oblast ( uk, Оде́ська о́бласть, translit=Odeska oblast), also referred to as Odeshchyna ( uk, Оде́щина) is an oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine, located along the northern coast of the Black Sea. Its administ ...

) as well as the

Moldavian SSR The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic ( ro, Republica Sovietică Socialistă Moldovenească, Moldovan Cyrillic: ) was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union which existed from 1940 to 1991. The republic was formed on 2 August 194 ...

and the three new oblasts from the disbanded

Tavria Military District The Taurida Military District was a military district of the Soviet Union. It was formed from the headquarters of the Separate Coastal Army and the 22nd Army in the summer of 1945. The military district controlled troops on the territory of the ...

Zaporizhia Oblast Zaporizhzhia Oblast ( uk, Запорі́зька о́бласть, translit=Zaporizka oblast), also referred to as Zaporizhzhia ( uk, Запорі́жжя, links=no), is an oblast (province) of southeast Ukraine. Its capital is Zaporizhzhia. The ...

Crimean Oblast During the existence of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, different governments existed within the Crimean Peninsula. From 1921 to 1936, the government in the Crimean Peninsula was known as the Crimean Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic; ...

, and Kherson Oblast. From September 1984 the District came under command of the South-Western Strategic Direction, with its headquarters at Kishinev.

Later developments

In the Odesa District's territory were additionally deployed the

(created on the basis of

), the 32nd Army Corps (possibly reformed on the basis of the headquarters units of the former Tauric Military District) in 1956, complemented by the

98th Guards Airborne Division The 98th Guards Airborne Division is an airborne division of the Russian Airborne Troops, currently based in Ivanovo. Russian 98th Airborne Division patch.svg, 98th Guards Airborne Division shoulder sleeve insignia (1993) History During the Se ...

as well as seven additional motor rifle divisions. The

5th Air Army Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash th ...

of the

Soviet Air Forces The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...

provided tactical

air support In military tactics, close air support (CAS) is defined as air action such as air strikes by fixed or rotary-winged aircraft against hostile targets near friendly forces and require detailed integration of each air mission with fire and movemen ...

for the District's units and the

49th Air Defence Corps "Thank God for Mississippi" is an adage used in the United States, particularly in the South, that is generally used when discussing rankings of U.S. states. Since the U.S. state of Mississippi commonly ranks at or near the bottom of such rankings ...

8th Air Defence Army The 8th Separate Army of the Air Defence Forces (Military Unit Number 25342) was a Soviet military formation established in 1960. Army headquarters was in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR. The 8th air defense army was formed in March 1960 on the basis of the ...

was tasked with national air defence for the territory. The Odesa Military District was transferred to the jurisdiction of Ukraine after the dissolution of the Soviet Union on January 3, 1992 at 18:00. William E. Odom says that 'in accordance with the Minsk agreements rom the CIS summit in Minsk of 30–31 December 1991 Shaposhnikov sent an order on 3 January 1992, formally transferring conventional forces to Ukraine. President Kravchuk then approved the firing of the three military district commanders (..). On 7–8 January each were removed, none resisting because within their headquarters Kravchuk's people had quietly created a network of officers loyal to his government.' Its units were split between the Armed Forces of Ukraine and some units, mostly from the

, in the former

that became part of the

Armed Forces of the Russian Federation The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (, ), commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military forces of Russia. In terms of active-duty personnel, they are the world's fifth-largest military force, with at least two m ...

The tombstones of General-Colonel Ivan Zakharkin and VIce-Admiral Gavriil Zhukov in Odessa

Commanders

Commanders 1862-1914

Paul Demetrius von Kotzebue Paul Demetrius Graf von Kotzebue (russian: Па́вел Евста́фьевич Коцебу́, tr. ; 10 August 1801 – 19 April 1884) was a Baltic German statesman and general who was in the service of the Russian Empire. One of 18 children ...

Count, General of Infantry (12.12.1862 — 11.01.1874) * Vladimir Savvich Semeka, Adjutant General, Lieutenant General (11.01.1874 — 01.04.1879) *

Eduard Totleben Franz Eduard Graf von Tottleben (russian: Эдуа́рд Ива́нович Тотле́бен, tr. ; – ), better known as Eduard Totleben in English, was a Baltic German military engineer and Imperial Russian Army general. He was in char ...

, Count, Adjutant General, Engineer General, Interim Governor General (01.04.1879 — 18.05.1880) *

Alexander Drenteln Alexander Romanovich Drenteln (Александр Романович Дрентельн) (1820-1888) was a Russian general. He held the rank of General of the Infantry, and held the positions of: * Adjutant General of the H. I. M. Retinue, * ...

Adjutant General, General of Infantry, Interim Governor General (18.05.1880 — 14.01.1881) *

Alexander Mikhailovich Dondukov-Korsakov Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

Prince, General of the Cavalry, Adjutant General, Interim Governor General (14.01.1881 — 01.01.1882) *

Iosif Gurko Count Iosif Vladimirovich Romeyko-Gurko (russian: Граф Ио́сиф Влади́мирович Роме́йко-Гурко́, Iósif Vladímirovič Roméjko-Gurkó; — ), also known as Joseph or Ossip Gourko, was a prominent Russian ...

Adjutant-General, General of the Cavalry, Interim Governor-General (09.01.1882 — 07.07.1883) *

Christopher Roop Christopher Khristoforovich Roop ( Russian, Христофор Христофорович Рооп; May 1, 1831 – 1917) was an Imperial Russian army officer. He was promoted to Polkovnik (colonel) in 1857, major general in 1863 and lieutenant ...

General of Infantry, Provisional Governor General (21.10.1883 — 12.10.1890) * Alexander Ivanovich Musin-Pushkin, Count, General of the Cavalry (23.10.1890 — 19.12.1903) *

Alexander von Kaulbars Alexander Wilhelm Andreas Freiherr von Kaulbars (russian: Александр Васильевич Каульбарс, translit=Aleksandr Vasil'evič Kaul'bars; 25 January 1925) was a Baltic German military leader who served in the Imperial Russi ...

Baron, Lieutenant General (01.01.1904 — 22.10.1904) * Semyon Vasilievich Kakhanov, General of the cavalry (10.1904 - 27.08.1905) * Alexander von Kaulbars, Baron, General of the Cavalry (27.08.1905 — 23.12.1909) *

Nikolai Zarubaev Nikolai Platonovich Zarubaev (russian: Никола́й Плато́нович Заруба́ев 1843–10 June 1912) was an Imperial Russian general in the Imperial Russian Army in Manchuria during the Russo-Japanese War. Biography Zarubaev wa ...

, General of Infantry (24.12.1909 — 10.06.1912) * Vladimir Nikolaevich Nikitin, General of artillery (13.06.1912 — 19.07.1914)

Commanders, 1939–1991

*Lieutenant General

Ivan Boldin Ivan Vasilievich Boldin (russian: Ива́н Васи́льевич Бо́лдин; in Vysokaya – March 28, 1965 in Kiev) was a senior Red Army general and war hero during the Second World War. Early military and political career A son of a la ...

(10.1939 — 07.1940) *Lieutenant General

Yakov Cherevichenko Yakov Timofeyevich Cherevichenko (russian: Я́ков Тимофе́евич Черевиче́нко; 12 October 1894 – 4 July 1976) was a Soviet military leader and colonel general. Biography First World War and Civil War Yakov Cherevich ...

(07.1940 — 06.1941) *Lieutenant General

Nikandr Chibisov Colonel General Nikandr Evlampievich Chibisov (russian: Никандр Евлампиевич Чибисов; November 5 ( O.S. October 24), 1892 in stanitsa Romanovskaya (Rostov Oblast) – 20 September 1959 in Minsk) was a Soviet military comma ...

(06.1941 — 08.1941) *Major General Ivan Ivanov (08.1941 - 09.1941) * German occupation *General Colonel

Ivan Zakharkin Ivan Grigorevich Zakharkin (russian: Васи́Иван Григорьевич Захаркин) (January 27, 1889 – October 15, 1944) was a Soviet colonel general in the Red Army during World War II, commander of the 49th Army during the Battle o ...

(03.1944 — 10.1944) *Major General Aleksei Pervushin (10.1944) *General Colonel

Vasily Yushkevich Vasily Alexandrovich Yushkevich (; – 15 March 1951) was a Soviet Army colonel general. Conscripted into the Imperial Russian Army during World War I, Povetkin rose from private to second lieutenant during the war. Drafted into the Red Army du ...

(10.1944 - 06.1946) (former commander of 31st Army) *

(06.1946 – 02.1948) *General Colonel

(02.1948–1951), *General Colonel K N Galitskiy (1951–1954), *General Colonel A I Radzievskiy (1954–1959), *General Colonel

Hamazasp Babadzhanian russian: Амазасп Хачатурович Бабаджанян , native_name_lang = , image = Hamazasp Babadzhanian 4.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = , birth_date = , death_date = , birth_place = ...

(P H Babadjanyan) (1959-03.1967), *General Colonel M V Lugovtsev (03.1967 – 12.1967) *General Colonel A G Shyrypov (01.1968 – 1974) *General Colonel I M Voloshin (1974–1982) *General Colonel S A Elagin (1982–1986) *General Colonel Ivan S Morozov (1986–1992)

Forces in the 1980s

Around 1988, the District contained the following forces: *

**28th Guards Motor Rifle Division ( Chornomorske/

Yuzhne Yuzhne ( uk, Ю́жне, ; formerly: Южний, ''Yuzhnyi'',Internet portal of Yuzhny
translated as "southern"

?)(became 28th Guards Mechanised Brigade circa 2001) **

59th Guards Motor Rifle Division The 59th Guards Kramatorsk Order of Red Banner, Order of Suvorov, Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky Motor-Rifle Division of the Soviet Union's Red Army was initially formed near Krasnodar in March 1942 as the 197th Rifle Division (2nd formation). On th ...

(

Tiraspol Tiraspol or Tirișpolea ( ro, Tiraspol, Moldovan Cyrillic: Тираспол, ; russian: Тира́споль, ; uk, Тирасполь, Tyraspol') is the capital of Transnistria (''de facto''), a breakaway state of Moldova, where it is the th ...

) **

86th Guards Motor Rifle Division The 86th Guards Rifle Division was reformed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in April 1943, based on the 2nd formation of the 98th Rifle Division, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War and well into th ...

( Beltsy) **

180th Motor Rifle Division Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the short ...

(

Belgorod-Dnestrovsky Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi ( uk, Бі́лгород-Дністро́вський, Bílhorod-Dnistróvskyy, ; ro, Cetatea Albă), historically known as Akkerman ( tr, Akkerman) or under different names, is a city, municipality and port situated ...

) * 32nd Army Corps 'Кенигсберский' (

Simferopol Simferopol () is the second-largest city in the Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, and is considered the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. However, it is ...

) (32-й Кенигсберский армейский корпус) ** 126th Motor Rifle Division (

) Formed 17 November 1964. Transferred to the Black Sea Fleet in 1989. Disbanded 1 February 1996. ** 157th Motor Rifle Division (

Feodosiya uk, Феодосія, Теодосія crh, Kefe , official_name = () , settlement_type= , image_skyline = THEODOSIA 01.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = Genoese fortress of Caffa , image_shield = Fe ...

)(501st Motor Rifle Regiment (Kerch), 84th Motor Rifle Regiment, 91 мсп, ап (Керчь), зрп). In 1990 became the 5378th Base for Storage of Weapons and Equipment. Came under Ukrainian control 1992. **1398th Anti-tank Artillery Regiment (Lugovoe/Луговое) **Other corps troops included the - 9th Engineer-Sapper Battalion, 909th Signals Battalion, 287 радиотехнический батальон, 858 ремонтно-восстановительный батальон (Мазанка) - 301st Artillery Brigade (

) *District Troops ** 92nd Guards Training Motor Rifle Division ( Nikolaev/Shirokiy Lan) - Reorganised as the 150th District Training Centre, and later after Ukrainian independence, the 92nd District Training Centre. **

(

Bolgrad Bolhrad ( uk, Болгра́д, Bolhrad, ; bg, Болград, Bolgrad; ro, Bolgrad, Gagauz: ''Bolgrad''), is a small city in Odesa Oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine, in the historical region of Budjak. It is the administrative center o ...

) **40th independent Landing-Assault Brigade (Nikolayev, Odesa Oblast, from October 1979). Transferred to

Soviet Airborne Troops The Soviet Airborne Forces or VDV (from ''Vozdushno- desantnye voyska SSSR'', Russian: Воздушно-десантные войска СССР, ВДВ; Air-landing Forces) was a separate troops branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. First formed be ...

from Odesa MD in June 1990, handed over to Ukrainian control 1992, redesignated later 79th Airmobile Brigade. **10th independent Special Forces Brigade

GRU The Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, rus, Гла́вное управле́ние Генера́льного шта́ба Вооружённых сил Росси́йской Федера́ци ...

(activated 10.62 in Karagoz, Crimean Oblast). Taken over by Ukraine early 1992 (directive issued 11.10.91). ** 55th Artillery Division (

/Novaya Alexandrovka) In 1988 consisted of 371st Multiple rocket Launcher Brigade (48 9A52 "Smerch") and two artillery regiments - 701st Howitzer artillery regiment (48 units of D-30) and 751st antitank artillery regiment (84 MT-LBT guided missile system), and 3 shelves and 2 base in Novo-Aleksandrovka *

Ukraine/Moldova

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union the 14th Guards Army became entangled in the later War of Transnistria. The

was split between Russia and Ukraine; the Ukrainian half became the 1st Airmobile Division and the Russian part was withdrawn to Ivanovo 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 D ...

and became part of the

Russian Airborne Troops The Russian Airborne Forces (russian: Воздушно-десантные войска России, ВДВ, Vozdushno-desantnye voyska Rossii, VDV) are the airborne forces branch of the Russian Armed Forces. It was formed in 1992 from units ...

. The 5th Air Army was later redesignated the 5th Aviation Corps of the

Ukrainian Air Force The Ukrainian Air Force ( uk, Пові́тряні си́ли Збро́йних сил Украї́ни) is the air force of Ukraine and one of the five branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Its headquarters are in the city of Vinnytsia. W ...

in 1994. Colonel General

Volodymyr Shkidchenko Volodymyr Petrovych Shkidchenko ( uk, Володимир Петрович Шкідченко; born January 1, 1948, Chita, Zabaykalsky Krai, Russia) is a Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something re ...

commanded the Odesa Military District from December 1993 until it became the

in February 1998. Since January 3, 1998 the Odesa Military District was transformed into the

of the

Ukrainian Ground Forces The Ukrainian Ground Forces ( uk, Сухопу́тні військá Збрóйних сил Украї́ни), also known as the Ukrainian Army, are the land forces of Ukraine and one of the five branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They ...

according to the Decree of

Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

from July 1, 1997. The command encompasses nine

oblast An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdo ...

s: Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kirovohrad, Kharkiv, and the autonomous republic of Crimea.

Commanders (Ukraine)

*General Lieutenant Vitaliy Radetsky (1992–1993) *Colonel General

(1993–1998)

Notes

External links

Ultimatum of the Soviet government to Romanian government on June 26, 1940

Южному ОК - 70 лет. 2009 год. Фильм.
{{coord missing Military districts of the Soviet Union Military districts of the Russian Empire Military districts of Ukraine Military of Moldova Military units and formations established in 1862 Military units and formations disestablished in 1998 1862 establishments in the Russian Empire