The 13th Army (, ) was a name given to several

field armies A field army (or numbered army or simply army) is a military formation in many armed forces, composed of two or more corps and may be subordinate to an army group. Likewise, air armies are equivalent formation within some air forces, and wit ...

of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

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 ...

. Later armies existed until the 1990s, and the army survived as part 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 ...

for some years.

Russo-Finnish War

The 13th Army was created again at the end of December 1939 as a ''separate 13th Army'' in the course of the Soviet advance into the Karelian Isthmus when the 7th Army was split into two, and also renamed separate, after being substantially reinforced. As part of the 1940 February Vyborg offensive they were coordinated by the North Western Front in Leningrad, both armies were able to breach either first or second defensive positions in the

Mannerheim Line The Mannerheim Line ( fi, Mannerheim-linja, sv, Mannerheimlinjen) was a defensive fortification line on the Karelian Isthmus built by Finland against the Soviet Union. While this was never an officially designated name, during the Winter War ...

, but were unable to breach the main position. The separate 13th Army was allocated three of the eight rifle corps assigned to the operation.

Commanders

* Vladimir Grendal (25 December 1939 – March 1940) * Filipp Parusinov (March 1940 – April 1940).

World War II

The 13th Army (1st formation)

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

was formed in May 1941 in the Western Special Military District, starting on 5 May in Mogilev in accordance with the decision of

Central Committee of the Communist Party Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party organizations, the ...

and Sovnarkom of the USSR No.1113-460cc. dated 23 April 1941. It was intended to comprised 21st, 2nd, and 44th Rifle Corps. In the beginning of June

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on th ...

Pyotr Filatov arrived to take command. From the beginning of

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named afte ...

the Army included the 21st Rifle Corps, 50th Rifle Division, the

8th Anti-Tank Artillery Brigade 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 o ...

and a number of other separate units. From the end of June 1941 the Army conducted defensive operations in the

Minsk Fortified Region Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the adm ...

, on the Borisov direction and on the

Dnieper river } The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine an ...

. The formation conducted operations as part of the Soviet Western Front and the Soviet Central Front. Parts of the Army held up the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

advance for almost three weeks near

Mogilyev Mogilev (russian: Могилёв, Mogilyov, ; yi, מאָלעוו, Molev, ) or Mahilyow ( be, Магілёў, Mahilioŭ, ) is a city in eastern Belarus, on the Dnieper River, about from the border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and from the ...

. The 172nd Rifle Division under Major General Mikhail Romanov especially distinguished itself in the combat. Parts of the Army participated in the Battle of Smolensk from 10 July to 10 September 1941. During September and October 1941 the Army was operating as part of the Bryansk Front and included the 6th Rifle Division. The Army fought as part of the

Central Front The Central Front was a major formation of the Red Army during the Second World War formed on July 24, 1941. The Central Front describes either of two distinct organizations during the war. The first entity existed for just a month during th ...

in the

Battle of Kursk The Battle of Kursk was a major World War II Eastern Front engagement between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in the southwestern USSR during late summer 1943; it ultimately became the largest tank battle in history ...

in July 1943 under General N.P. Pukhov, numbering four corps with twelve rifle divisions (including the 75th Guards Rifle Division). The Army finished its war service in Germany within the

1st Ukrainian Front The 1st Ukrainian Front (Russian: Пéрвый Украи́нский фронт), previously the Voronezh Front (Russian: Воронежский Фронт) was a major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a ...

in 1945, consisting of the

24th Rifle Corps The 24th Rifle Corps was a corps of the Red Army. It was part of the 27th Army and took part in the Great Patriotic War. It appears to have been initially formed in the Kalinin Military District, around what is today Tver, in 1939. In 1940 it ...

( 117th Guards Rifle Division, 280th Rifle Division, 395th Rifle Division), 27th Rifle Corps (

6th Guards Rifle Division 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 ...

and 121st Guards Rifle Division), 102nd Rifle Corps ( 147th Rifle Division and 172nd Rifle Divisions, which took part in the

Battle of Halbe The Battle of Halbe (german: Kesselschlacht von Halbe, russian: Хальбский котёл, Halbe pocket) was a battle lasting from April 24 – May 1, 1945 in which the German Ninth Army—under the command of General Theodor Busse—was dest ...

), 17th Artillery Division, and many other smaller artillery and other formations.

Commanders

* Lieutenant General Pyotr Filatov (25.05 - 8.07.1941) * Lieutenant General Fyodor Remezov (9-13.07.1941) * Lieutenant General Vasyl Herasymenko (14-26.07.1941) * Major General Konstantin Golubev (26.07 - 30.08.1941) * Major General Auxentios Gorodnyansky (31.08.1941 - 2.01.1942) * Major General Nikolai Pukhov (3.01.1942 - 3.06.1946), from 14 February 1943 Lieutenant General, from 26 August 1944 Colonel-General * Colonel General Mikhail Shumilov (4.06.1946 – 18.02.1947) * Colonel General Issa Pliyev (19.02.1947 – 19.04.1948) * Colonel General Ivan Lyudnikov (20.04.1948 – 2.12.1949) * Lieutenant General Alexander Nechaev (3.12.1949 – 8.01.1953) * Lieutenant General

Nikolay Oleshev Nikolay Nikolayevich Oleshev (Russian: Никола́й Никола́евич Олешев; 21 September 1902 – 2 November 1970) was a Soviet Army lieutenant general and Hero of the Soviet Union. Oleshev volunteered for the Red Army in 1918 and ...

(9.01.1953 – 5.04.1954) * Lieutenant General Gleb Baklanov (6.04.1954 – 23.02.1959)

Soviet Army

The Army was located for the entire postwar period in the

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in Western Ukraine, western Ukraine, and the List of cities in Ukraine, seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is o ...

and Carpathian Military Districts, initially comprising three Rifle Corps with a total of nine rifle divisions. From 1947 to 1949 it was commanded by General Issa Pliyev who was a renowned commander of several Cavalry mechanized groups during the war. It was for much of this period headquartered at

Rovno Rivne (; uk, Рівне ),) also known as Rovno (Russian: Ровно; Polish: Równe; Yiddish: ראָוונע), is a city in western Ukraine. The city is the administrative center of Rivne Oblast (province), as well as the surrounding Rivne Ra ...

. Almost all its divisions were Guards formations: the 17th, 51st, 97th (the former 40th, 15th, and 97th Rifle Divisions). Only the 24th (subsequently resubordinated to Military District control) and the 161st Rifle Division were not Guards, but both were renowned combat formations. In 1960 the following divisions were assigned: * 15th Guards Motor Rifle Division (Vladimir-Volynskiy, Volynskaya Oblast) (former 51 Guards Rifle Division * 24th Motor Rifle Division (Yavorov, Lvov Oblast) * 97th Guards Motor Rifle Division (Slavuta, Khmelnitskiy Oblast)(former 97 Guards Rifle Division) * 99th Motor Rifle Division (Izyaslav, Khmelnitskiy Oblast) In 1960 the 24th Motor Rifle Division was transferred to district control. In January 1965 the 99th Motor Rifle Division was redesignated the 161st Motor Rifle Division. On 22 February 1968 the army 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 1970 the following divisions were assigned: *51st Guards Motor Rifle Division (Vladimir-Volynskiy, Volynskaya Oblast) *97th Guards Motor Rifle Division (Slavuta, Khmelnitskiy Oblast) *161st Motor Rifle Division (Izyaslav, Khmelnitskiy Oblast) In 1970 the 275th Motor Rifle Division (mobilisation) was activated, and the 62nd Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade was transferred from the 8th Tank Army. In 1980 the following divisions were assigned: *51st Guards Motor Rifle Division (Vladimir-Volynskiy, Volynskaya Oblast) *97th Guards Motor Rifle Division (Slavuta, Khmelnitskiy Oblast) * 161st Motor Rifle Division (Izyaslav, Khmelnitskiy Oblast) *275th Motor Rifle Division (mobilisation) (Izyaslav, Khmelnitskiy Oblast) In 1987 the 275th Motor Rifle Division (mobilisation) was disbanded. Divisions in 1988: *51st Guards Motor Rifle Division (Vladimir-Volynskiy, Volynskaya Oblast) *97th Guards Motor Rifle Division (Slavuta, Khmelnitskiy Oblast) *161st Motor Rifle Division (Izyaslav, Khmelnitskiy Oblast) Also part of the army in the late 1980s were the 119th and 442nd Independent Helicopter Regiments (Mi-24s), 62nd Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade ( Lyuboml), 49th Independent Engineer Regiment, and 38th Rocket Brigade ( Kremenets). In January 1992, the army, its facilities and most of the equipment was transferred to the newly-sovereign

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 inva ...

Ukrainian Army

On 18 March 1992, in accordance with Decree No. 161 of the President of Ukraine, Major General Petro Shulyak was assigned as the army commander. Oleksandr Zatynaiko later became commander. On 27 December 1993, the 13th Army was redesignated as the 13th Army Corps.

Notes

References

* *V.I. Feskov et al. 2004 *A. M. Vasilevsky, Marshal of the Soviet Union: A Lifelong Cause,

Progress Publishers Progress Publishers was a Moscow-based Soviet publisher founded in 1931. Publishing program Progress Publishers published books in a variety of languages: Russian, English, and many other European and Asian languages. They issued many scientific ...

, 1981

{{Armies of the Soviet Army Field armies of the Soviet Union, 013 Military units and formations established in 1919 Military units and formations disestablished in the 1990s Armies of Ukraine

Russo-Finnish War

Commanders

World War II

Commanders

Soviet Army

Ukrainian Army

See also

Notes

References