3rd Army Corps (Russia)
3rd Army Corps | |
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3-й армейский корпус | |
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
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Commanders | |
Current commander | Major General V. A. Belyaevsky[citation needed] |
The 3rd Army Corps (
Designation
In Russian military jargon, an "Army Corps" is typically a formation larger than a division, but significantly smaller than a typical Western corps, often directly commanding separate brigades.
The
Creation
The 3rd Army Corps' initial main base and training centre was identified by Ukraine in August 2022 as being located in Mulino, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast.[3] The new 72nd Separate Motor Rifle Brigade, intended to form part of the 3rd Army Corps, was reported by Penza Oblast authorities to be forming at Totskoye, Orenburg Oblast.[7] In addition to the 72nd Brigade, the 6th Motor Rifle Division is also part of the corps.[8]
Recruitment
The 3rd Army Corps is believed to be composed primarily or wholly of volunteer units newly raised on a regional basis, with various federal subjects of Russia recruiting individual units.[4][9]
Recruitment posters, looking to raise volunteer battalions from across Russia, set the age limit as 18 to 50. Recruits were offered sign-on bonuses[10] (up to 300,000 rubles in some cases) with salaries of 200,000 rubles being around three times average monthly pay in Russia,[11] sometimes linked to bonuses based on performance with insurance in case of injury or death. Terms of service was often given 6 months and training would, in some cases, be one month.[12]
By 8 August 2022, some 40 battalions from 19 regions had been formed, many with less than the authorized paper strength of 400 men.[13] There is a general shortage of officers and experienced men to train the recruits,[14] partly due to the deployment of training cadres to the front lines to replace losses.[15]
Equipment and structure
Equipment delivered to the training area at Mulino included new-generation
BMPT Terminator armored fighting vehicles with 3rd Army Corps markings (circle inside a triangle) were seen near Svatove, Luhansk Oblast in December 2022[21] and January 2023.[22]
Current structure
- 6th Motor Rifle Division[8]
- 72nd Separate Motor Rifle Brigade[24][25]
- 17th Rocket Artillery Brigade[6]
Deployment to Ukraine
Equipment designated for the 3rd Army Corps was shipped in late August 2022 to Neklinovka station in northwestern Rostov Oblast, close to the Ukrainian border and the Sea of Azov, to prepare for deployment to the Donbas front.[18]
As a result of the Ukrainian counteroffensives
On September 9, during the
In the summer of 2023 the 3rd Army Corps moved under the command of the Central Military District and became a more formalised unit, rather than a loose collection of volunteer units, before being deployed to the Kharkiv-Luhansk Oblast area.[6]
See also
- 1st Army Corps
- 2nd Army Corps
- 2022 Russian mobilization
References
- ^ Mappes, Grace; Wolkov, Nicole; Stepanenko, Kateryna; Barros, George; Clark, Mason. "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, June 11, 2023". Institute for the Study of War. Archived from the original on June 12, 2023. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
- ^ "Russia prepares to deploy new strike force against Ukraine – Ukrainian Intelligence". Ukrainska Pravda. 29 July 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
- ^ a b c "Russia forming 3rd Army Corps for war in Ukraine – ISW". Retrieved 27 August 2022.
- ^ a b "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 7". Critical Threats. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
- ^ "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, January 28, 2023". Critical Threats. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Restructuring and Expansion of the Russian Ground Forces Hindered by Ukraine War Requirements". 12 November 2023.
- ^ "Олег Мельниченко напутствовал направленных в именные подразделения добровольцев". Пенза-Обзор - новости Пензы и Пензенской области (in Russian). 2022-08-05. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
- ^ a b "Ярославские власти — о Толбухинском дивизионе: "Бойцы уже находятся в зоне проведения спецоперации"". 76.ru - новости Ярославля (in Russian). 2022-11-29. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
- ^ "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 5". Critical Threats. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
- ^ "What is Russia's 3rd Army Corps? New Unit Moving to Front Lines: Intel". Newsweek. 28 August 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
- ^ "Russian Bid to Bolster Army Unlikely to Boost Combat Power in Ukraine: U.K." Newsweek. 28 August 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
- ^ "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 23". Retrieved 27 August 2022.
- ^ "Russian regions form 40 volunteer Battalions – Kommersant". 8 August 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
- ^ "To win in Ukraine, Russia is preparing to throw 137,000 new "bayonets" into the battle". Retrieved 28 August 2022.
- ^ "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, September 20". Critical Threats. Retrieved 2022-09-21.
- ^ "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 27". Critical Threats. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
- ^ "Russia deploys newly formed "3rd Army Corps" to the front". Retrieved 27 August 2022.
- ^ a b "CIT: Russia moves newly created 3rd Army Corps to Ukraine". 27 August 2022. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
- ^ a b "Russia transfers parts of the 3rd Army Corps to the Kharkiv Region". Militarnyi. 9 September 2022.
- ^ "#9412 ∙ BMP-2M ∙ Kharkiv oblast ∙ WarSpotting". ukr.warspotting.net. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
- ^ "ANNA News says that the BMPT are now in service with the 3rd Army Corps, and apparently not with the 90th Tank Division. They also say that the 3rd Army Corps is now part of the Western Military District". Twitter. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
- ^ "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, January 7, 2023". Critical Threats. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
- ^ "Russia's 10th Tank Regiment loses many vehicles in 'tactically flawed attack'". 28 March 2023."(4/4) 10th Tank Regiment's losses". 2023-03-28.
- ^ "Smashed By Ukrainian Mines And Artillery, Russia's Winter Offensive Just Ground To A Halt Outside Vuhledar". Forbes. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
- ^ "Ukraine unit says Russian brigade flees outskirts of Bakhmut". Reuters. 10 May 2023.
- ^ a b Stepanenko, Kateryna; Mappes, Grace; Wolkov, Nicole; Philipson, Layne; Kagan, Frederick. "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, May 11, 2023". understandingwar.org. THE INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF WAR. Archived from the original on 12 May 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
- ^ ChrisO_wiki [@ChrisO_wiki] (November 8, 2022). "5/ However, the Ukrainian counter-offensives at the end of August meant that the original plan was abandoned. Instead, the national battalions were scattered to fill gaps along the length of the front line. They were seen in the Kherson, Kharkiv, Melitopol and Mariupol regions" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 14 November 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022 – via Twitter.
- ^ Axe, David (2022-09-15). "The Russians Spent Months Forming A New Army Corps. It Lasted Days in Ukraine". Forbes. MSN. Retrieved 2022-09-19.
- ^ "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, September 18". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
- ^ "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, September 15". Institute for the Study of War. 2022-09-15. Retrieved 2022-09-19.
- ^ "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, September 17". Institute for the Study of War. 2022-09-17. Retrieved 2022-09-19.
- ^ "Russian War Report: Failed Russian push on Vuhledar results in losses as Moscow increases troops". 17 February 2023.
- ^ "Russia's newest army corps lost many of its tanks in an offensive because it simply copied tactics that failed in the past, UK intel says". 28 March 2023.