5th Combined Arms Army

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5th Combined Arms Red Banner Army
5-я общевойсковая армия

Russo-Ukrainian War[1]
2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive[2]
Decorations
Commanders
Current
commander
Major General Aleksey Podivilov
The Army headquarters at Ussuriysk

The 5th Combined Arms Red Banner Army (5-я общевойсковая армия) is a Russian Ground Forces formation in the Eastern Military District.

It was formed in 1939, served during the

Kiev
.

Reformed under Lelyushenko and Govorov, it played a part in the last-ditch defence of Moscow, and then in the string of offensive and defensive campaigns that eventually saw the Soviet armies retake all of Soviet territory and push west into Poland and beyond into Germany itself. The 5th Army itself only advanced as far as East Prussia before it was moved east to take part in the Soviet attack on Japan.

Since 1945, under the Soviet and now Russian flag it has formed part of the

Far East Military District keeping watch on the border with the People's Republic of China. As the Russian armed force shrunk, it found itself part of the larger Eastern Military District
in the twenty-first century.

Creation and organization

The 5th Army was created in August 1939 in the Special Kiev

I.G. Sovietnikov
.

On 22 June 1941, the 5th Army consisted of the

Fortified Region, seven artillery regiments, 2 NKVD border regiments, and an engineer regiment.[5]

Battle of the frontiers

The Army's rifle divisions were assigned to cover the Lutsk-Rovno approaches to the

Vladimir-Volynsk fortified districts.[6] The Army was stationed in barracks up to forty miles from the frontier, and would need three to four days to take up its positions. On 22 June, however, the 15th Rifle Corps managed to take its place in the line, holding the sector from Vlodava to Vladimir-Volynsk, but later that same day, the southern end of the line at Vladimir-Volynsk "began to buckle in," in John Erickson
's words.

The main German thrust in the sector came at the junction point between the 5th Army and its neighbour to the south, the

Panzer Group 1 using all the available mobile forces – five mechanised corps. This was unsuccessful in the face of the thrusting German advance, lack of coordination from the various Soviet formations, acute shortage of equipment and spares, and lack of proper equipment, especially radio sets.[7]

Meanwhile, General M.I. Potapov, now commanding the 5th Army, was ordered on 29 June to make another attack on Panzer Group 1's flank from the woods of Klevany. Amid these efforts, Kirponos managed to withdraw most of his Front to a new line almost on the old Soviet/Polish border, and prevented the Germans from rupturing the Soviet defensive line.[8]

The

Berdichev on 7 July, and the juncture between the 5th and 6th Armies was broken; the Stavka ordered Kirponos to withdraw the 5th Army to the Korosten "fortified district" northwest of Kiev. The gap between the 5th and 6th Armies quickly widened to forty miles. To remedy the situation another counterattack was ordered, and Potapov, now commanding the 15th and 31st Rifle, and 9th, 19th and 22nd Mechanised Corps, was directed to strike northwards from Berdichev and Lyubar. However, his forces had been badly worn down: the 9th Mechanised Corps had 64 tanks left, the 22nd less than half that number, and the rifle regiments of 31st Corps had "no more than three hundred men."[9] Nevertheless, Potapov's force cut the Zhitomir highway and kept up the pressure for a week, and afterwards remained as a thorn on the German Sixth Army
's northern flank.

By 7 September, the 5th Army was threatened with being split in two by the Second Army coming from the east and the Sixth Army's northern outflanking of Kiev. The Stavka refused permission initially for the 5th Army to withdraw, as they were still hoping for results from a counterattack by the Bryansk Front. By 9 September, Stalin had finally given authority for the 5th Army to withdraw but by then it was trapped, and on 20 September Potapov and his command group were taken prisoner.[10] In the disastrous battle, the German forces encircled forces from the 5th, 21st, 26th, 38th and 37th Armies, captured Kiev, and claimed 665,000 prisoners (Soviet sources assert that the total strength of the Southwestern Front was 677,000 of which 150,000 had escaped).

Moscow

The 5th Army was re-raised for the second time in October 1941, under the command of

Mozhaisk. Lelyuschenko was wounded and General L.A. Govorov took over.[13] What thin reserves there were ran out, and Mozhaisk fell on 18 October. Later that year the Army took part in the Klin-Solnechogorsk offensive operation
.

On 15 November, another German strike toward Moscow opened, but while the flanks saw heavy fighting, up until 28 November, the 5th Army along with the two other Armies forming Western Front's centre, 33rd and 43rd, were holding quite firmly, despite some attacks on the right-most sector of their line.[14] On 1 December, a last effort by the German XX Army Corps to reach Moscow saw a furious attack directed near the junction of the 5th Army and 33rd Army, which led to the Moscow-Minsk highway, the most direct route to the Soviet capital.[15] Despite breaking through 33rd Army defences around Naro-Fominsk, after all available reserves were directed by Zhukov toward the breach, by 4 December, the situation had been restored and the Soviet command could resume its planning to take the offensive.

As part of the Soviet winter counteroffensive from Moscow, the 5th Army was instructed to commence its offensive actions from 11 December, pushing for Ruza-Kolyubakovo, while right flank units joined the

82nd Motorised Rifle Division, three independent rifle brigades and 20th Tank Brigade, was on the move by mid January, and on 20 January took the town. However Govorov's rifle divisions were falling to below 2,500 each, and the Army 'started to run out of steam.'[17]

On 20 March a Stavka directive gave new instructions to the Western and Kalinin Fronts, and among these, the 5th Army was ordered, when the offensive kicked off, to take

Gzhatsk by 1 April, after which it was to capture Vyazma in conjunction with the 43rd, 49th, and 50th Armies. In April 1942 Govorov was posted to command the Leningrad Front,[18] and apparently General Ivan Fedyuninsky took over. Some time after that, Y.T. Cherevichenko
took command.

On the Offensive

As part of the

N.I. Krylov, was allocated to the Front's 'Northern Group' alongside 39th Army and a Cavalry mechanized group made up of 3rd Cavalry and 3rd Guards Mechanised Corps.[19]

The Army's path took it through

184th Rifle Division, assigned as part of the 5th Army, were the first Soviet soldiers to reach the prewar frontier on 17 August 1944.[21]

With the other armies of

Insterburg. In the closing stage of its European service it participated in the liquidation of the Wehrmacht troops trapped on the Samland peninsula, the XXVIII Corps
.

On 20 April 1945, the 5th Army was transferred from

371st Rifle Divisions), 72nd Rifle Corps (63rd, 215th, 277th Rifle Divisions), the 72nd, 76th, 208th, 210th, and 218th Tank Brigades, the 105th Fortified Area, over 35 artillery brigades and regiments, and other units.[22] During the Harbin-Girin operation, the Army's troops, part of the 1st Far East Front's main attack, broke through the Volynskiy area where the Japanese troops were resisting and advanced to the eastern spurs of the Taypinliy ridge.[23]

Commanders

Postwar

General Igor Rodionov, seen here while serving as Minister of Defence, commanded 5th Army from 1983 to 1985.

After the victory over Japan, the 5th Army remained in the Far East, and was the most powerful army in the

29th Motor Rifle Division arrived from Shikhany (Saratov Oblast) at Kamen-Rybolov, Primorskiy Kray.[25]

In the 1970s and 1980s, the 81st Guards MRD and the 199th MRDs became part of the 5th Army. The 4th, 5th, 13th 15th, and 20th Fortified Regions were also part of the army for decades (see Fortified district). In 1976 the 119th Motor Rifle Division (mobilisation) was formed at Lyalichi, Primorskiy Kray, which became the 77th Tank Division (mobilisation) in January 1982.[26] General Igor Rodionov, later the Russian Minister of Defence, commanded the Army from 1983 to 1985.

In 1987 the 77th Tank Division became the 1008th Territorial Training Centre, then a VKhVT in 1989, then was disbanded in 1993.

On 29 November 2000 the then Far East Military District commander, General Colonel Yuri Yakubov, was reported in Vremya Novostei as saying that only 'four fully staffed operational regiments and several operational divisions' in the district were combat ready. In addition, the last exercise for reserve divisions was run in 1985.[27] One regiment at Yekaterinoslavka, Khabarovsk Krai was reported in October 1999 as being the only 100% manned regiment in 35th Army, so it could be guessed that during the 1999–2000 time period the remaining three full-strength regiments were with the 5th Army.[28]

In 2007 Russian reports described the army as consisting of Headquarters [at Ussuriysk]; the

130th Machine-Gun Artillery Division (Lesozavodsk), 20th Guards Rocket Brigade (Spassk-Dalny) (OTR-21 Tochka SSM), 719th Multiple Rocket Launcher Regiment (Pokrovka), 958th Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment, and other smaller combat and support formations.[29]

Role in the 2022 Invasion of Ukraine

In the context of the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, elements of the 5th Army (including units from the 57th Motor Rifle Brigade and two additional Motor Rifle Regiments) had been deployed to Belarus and were participating in active operations.[30]

Commanders

Structure

Notes

  1. ^ "Rondeli Russian Military Digest: Issue 118, 24 January - 30 January 2022". Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  2. ^ 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 12 June 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  3. ^ KOVO ("Red Banner Kiev", with FROM, 119; "War and policy. 1939–1941", ß.76, 77; " East Front " óÙ».24, ß.24.), Lenski, 2001
  4. ^ Erickson, Road to Stalingrad, 2003 edition, p.94
  5. ^ Orbat.com/Niehorster, 5th Army Order of Battle, 22 June 1941 Archived 29 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ John Erickson (historian), Road to Stalingrad, 2003 edition, p.86
  7. ^ Prewar plans had assigned the civilian telephone network the major communication role. Erickson, 2003, p.143
  8. ^ Erickson, 2003, p.167–68
  9. ^ Erickson, 2003, p.169
  10. ^ Erickson, 2003, p.206–210
  11. ^ Crofoot translating of Perechen, via "Formations". Archived from the original on 29 October 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  12. ^ Keith E. Bonn (ed.), Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front, Aberjona Press, Bedford, PA, 2005, p.310
  13. ^ Erickson, 2003, p.219-220
  14. ^ Erickson, 2003, p.257-9
  15. ^ Erickson, 2003, p.266
  16. ^ Erickson, 2003, p.274, and T.N. Dupuy & Paul Martell, Great Battles on the Eastern Front, Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis/New York, 1982, p.48
  17. ^ Erickson, 2003, p.312
  18. ^ Erickson, 2003, p.326, 339
  19. ^ John Erickson, Road to Berlin, 1982, p.213
  20. ^ "Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1 August 1944". tasha.nm.ru. Archived from the original on 14 March 2014.
  21. ^ Erickson, Road to Berlin, 1982, p.307–08
  22. ^ Orbat.com/Niehorster, 5th Army Order of Battle, 9 August 1945[permanent dead link]
  23. ^ Krilov N.I., Alekseyev N.I., Dragan I.G., Towards victory: Combat road of the 5th Army, Moscow, 1970, p.117–145
  24. ^ Holm, Michael. "4th Missile Brigade". ww2.dk. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  25. ^ Holm, Michael. "29th Motorised Rifle Division". ww2.dk. Archived from the original on 30 August 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  26. ^ Holm, Michael. "77th Tank Division". ww2.dk. Archived from the original on 30 August 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  27. ^ Dmitri Chernov, 'Army Commander's Woes', in Vremya Novostei, 29 November 2000, p.3 via Agency WPS: Defence & Security via Lexis-Nexis.
  28. S2CID 145691472
    .
  29. ^ Far Eastern Military District, "Dvo". Archived from the original on 13 May 2008. Retrieved 23 February 2008., accessed 29 July 2007. See also a Russian forum source for this list of Current units Archived 27 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  30. ^ "Rondeli Russian Military Digest: Issue 118, 24 January – 30 January 2022".

References

  • Keith E. Bonn (ed.), Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front, Aberjona Press, Bedford, PA, 2005
  • John Erickson, The Road to Stalingrad, 1975 (2003 Cassel Military Paperbacks edition)
  • John Erickson, The Road to Berlin, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1982
  • V.I. Feskov et al., The Soviet Army in the Years of the Cold War, Tomsk University, Tomsk, 2004
  • Further Reading (Russian) – victory.mil.ru