49th Combined Arms Army

The 49th Combined Arms Army (Russian: 49-я общевойсковая армия) is a combined arms (field) army (CAA) of the Russian Ground Forces, formed in 2010 and headquartered in Stavropol. Military Unit в/ч 35181.

Part of the

On 6 August 1941, a Stavka directive ordered the formation of the 49th Army. One day later the army was formed as part of the Reserve Front, based on the 35th Rifle Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General Ivan Zakharkin. The army initially comprised 194th Mountain Rifle Division, 220th, 248th, 298th Rifle Divisions, the 4th People's Militia Division, 396th Corps Artillery Regiment, and other units. By 17 August 1941 the army was deployed in the rear of the Western Front, concentrated in the Dorogobuzh area with the task of manning the reserve defensive line of the front. On 1 October, the army was transferred to the direct subordination of Stavka and renamed the "49th Reserve Army," but was moved back to the Reserve Front on 7 October.^[1]

On 12 October 1941, the 49th Army was placed on the Mozhaisk defense line in the Kaluga area, after giving up its sector to the 32nd Army. The Mozhaisk line was credited for slowing down the German approach toward Moscow.^[2] A day later, the army was transferred to the Western Front and saw its first combat in the Mozhaisk-Maloyaroslavets Defensive Operation, which lasted until 30 October. In fierce fighting from 14 to 20 November, the 49th Army was able to weaken the advancing German XIII Army Corps, finally stopping it in early December on the line west of Serpukhov and Sukhodol, 20 kilometers southeast of Aleksin. During the Soviet counteroffensive at Moscow, the army fought in the Tula Offensive between 6 and 16 December, and the Kaluga Offensive between 17 December and 5 January 1942.^[1]

On 8 January, the 49th Army began fighting in the

From 24 April 1944 to the end of the war, the 49th Army was subordinated to the

As of 2015[update], milkavkaz identified the following as part of the army:^[14]

• Headquarters, Military Unit Number (MUN) 35181 (Stavropol)
• 205th Separate Cossack Motor Rifle Brigade, MUN 74814 (Budyonnovsk)
• 34th Separate Motor Rifle (Mountain) Brigade, MUN 01485 (Storozhevaya-2, Zelenchuksky District, Karachay-Cherkessia)
• Iskander-M
  )
• 227th Artillery Brigade, MUN 21797 (Krasnooktyabrsky)
• 66th Headquarters Brigade [ru], MUN 41600 (Stavropol)
• Buk-M2
  )
• 99th Separate Material and Technical Support Brigade, MUN 72153 (Maykop)
• 19th Separate Spetsnaz Company (Stavropol) (82760)
• 32nd Engineer-Sapper Regiment, MUN 23094 (Afipsky)
• 17th NBC Protection Regiment (Krasnodar Krai)
• 95th Separate Electronic Warfare Battalion (Mozdok)
• 7th Military Base (Abkhazia, Russian-occupied Georgia)^[15]

In 2023 49 CAA was identified with:^[16]

• 205th Separate Cossack Motor Rifle Brigade (в/ч 74814)
• 34th Separate Motor Rifle (Mountain) Brigade (в/ч 01485)
• 7th Military Base (в/ч 09332)
• 227th Artillery Brigade (в/ч 13714)
• 1st Missile Brigade (в/ч 31853)
• 90th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade [ru] (в/ч 54821)

Involvement in 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

According to Forbes, the 49CAA was (as of 29 July 2022) "the main Russian force in southern Ukraine’s Kherson Oblast" and numbers as many as 10,000 troops.^[17]

It was claimed on 25 March 2022 by

As of June 2023 Colonel Sergey Vasilyevich Leonov was acting army commander.[20]

Commanders

World War II

During World War II, the 49th Army was commanded by the following officers:^[1]

• Lieutenant General Ivan Zakharkin (August 1941 – June 1943)
• Lieutenant General (promoted to Colonel General March 1945) Ivan Grishin (June 1943 – June 1945)

21st Century

Since 2010, the 49CAA has had the following commanders:

• Major General Sergey Kuralenko (January 2011 – May 2012)^[10]
• Major General Viktor Astapov (May 2012 – December 2013)^[12]
• Major General Sergey Sevryukov (December 2013 – July 2019)^[13]
• Major General Mikhail Zusko (July 2019 – August 2020)^[21]
• Lieutenant General Yakov Rezantsev (August 2020 – unknown)

References

Citations