5th Combined Arms Army
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 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
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
Creation and organization
The 5th Army was created in August 1939 in the Special Kiev
On 22 June 1941, the 5th Army consisted of the
Battle of the frontiers
The Army's rifle divisions were assigned to cover the Lutsk-Rovno approaches to the
The main German thrust in the sector came at the junction point between the 5th Army and its neighbour to the south, the
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
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
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
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
On the Offensive
As part of the
The Army's path took it through
With the other armies of
On 20 April 1945, the 5th Army was transferred from
Commanders
- Major General M.I. Potapov (June – September 1941),
- Major General Dmitry Lelyushenko (11 – 17 October 1941),
- Major General of Artillery Leonid Govorov (18 October 1941 – 25 April 1942), from 11.1941 Lieutenant General of Artillery
- Major General Ivan Fedyuninsky (25 April – 15 October 1942), from June 1942, Lieutenant General
- colonel-general Yakov Cherevichenko (15 October 1942 – 27 February 1943),
- Lieutenant General Vitaly Polenov (27 February 1943 – 25 October 1943),
- Lieutenant General Nikolay Krylov (25 October 1943 – 16 October 1944), from July 1944, Colonel-General
- Lieutenant General Pyotr Shafranov (16 October – 16 December 1944),
- Colonel General Nikolay Krylov (16 December 1944 – December 1945).
Postwar
After the victory over Japan, the 5th Army remained in the Far East, and was the most powerful army in the
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
Role in the 2022 Invasion of Ukraine
In the context of the
Commanders
- Nikanor Zakhvatayev (December 1945 – 18 February 1947)
- Ivan Chistyakov (19 February 1947 – 19 April 1948)
- Pyotr Koshevoy (20 April 1948 – 8 June 1954)
- Mikhail Potapov (August 1954 – 15 April 1958)
- Aleksandr Yegorovsky (16 April 1958 – 23 September 1960)
- Yakov Repin (24 September 1960 – 3 March 1964)
- Vasily Petrov (June 1964 – 21 January 1966)
- Kamil Ganeyev (22 January 1966 – 18 August 1969)
- Pyotr Sysoyev (19 August 1969 – April 1971)
- Vladimir Konchits (April 1971 – 6 March 1974)
- Anatoly Ryakhov (7 March 1974 – 3 January 1979)
- Anatoly Smirnov (4 January 1979 – June 1983)
- Igor Rodionov (June 1983 – 18 August 1985)
- Anatoly Kostenko (19 April 1985 – October 1987)
- Aleksandr Yudin (October 1987 – December 1989)
- Nikolai Zvinchukov (December 1989 – July 1990)
- Vladimir Potapov (July 1990 – February 1993)
- Nikolai Kormiltsev (May 1993 – November 1994)
- Aleksandr Morozov (November 1994 – November 1997)
- Aleksandr Belousov (November 1997 – August 1999)
- Aleksandr Novikov (August 1999 – September 2001)
- Aleksandr Stolyarov (September 2001 – June 2003)
- Nikolai Dymov (June 2003 – June 2006)
- Anatoly Sidorov (July 2006 – June 2008)
- Aleksandr Dvornikov (June 2008 – January 2011)
- Andrey Serdyukov (January 2011 – February 2013)
- Aleksey Salmin (October 2013 – September 2016)
- Valery Asapov (October 2016 – September 2017)
- Roman Kutuzov (October 2017 – August 2018)
- Oleg Tsekov] (August 2018 – September 2020)
- Aleksey Podivilov (18 September 2020 – present)
Structure
- 57th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade (Bikin);
- 127th Motor Rifle Division;
- 70th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade (Barabash);
- 20th Separate Missile Brigade (Ussuriysk);
- 305th Artillery Brigade (Ussuriysk);
- 8th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade (Ussuriysk);
- 80th Command Brigade (Ussuriysk);
- 101st Logistic Support Brigade (Ussuriysk);
- 25th NBC Protection Regiment (Sergeyevka) (MUN 58079);
- 79th Signal Center (Ussuriysk);
- 237th Weapon Storage and Repair Base (Bikin);
- 245th Weapon Storage and Repair Base (Lesozavodsk);
- 247th Weapon Storage and Repair Base (Monastyrishche).
Notes
- ^ "Rondeli Russian Military Digest: Issue 118, 24 January - 30 January 2022". Retrieved 17 July 2023.
- ^ 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.
- ^ KOVO ("Red Banner Kiev", with FROM, 119; "War and policy. 1939–1941", ß.76, 77; " East Front " óÙ».24, ß.24.), Lenski, 2001
- ^ Erickson, Road to Stalingrad, 2003 edition, p.94
- ^ Orbat.com/Niehorster, 5th Army Order of Battle, 22 June 1941 Archived 29 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ John Erickson (historian), Road to Stalingrad, 2003 edition, p.86
- ^ Prewar plans had assigned the civilian telephone network the major communication role. Erickson, 2003, p.143
- ^ Erickson, 2003, p.167–68
- ^ Erickson, 2003, p.169
- ^ Erickson, 2003, p.206–210
- ^ Crofoot translating of Perechen, via "Formations". Archived from the original on 29 October 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
- ^ Keith E. Bonn (ed.), Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front, Aberjona Press, Bedford, PA, 2005, p.310
- ^ Erickson, 2003, p.219-220
- ^ Erickson, 2003, p.257-9
- ^ Erickson, 2003, p.266
- ^ 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
- ^ Erickson, 2003, p.312
- ^ Erickson, 2003, p.326, 339
- ^ John Erickson, Road to Berlin, 1982, p.213
- ^ "Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1 August 1944". tasha.nm.ru. Archived from the original on 14 March 2014.
- ^ Erickson, Road to Berlin, 1982, p.307–08
- ^ Orbat.com/Niehorster, 5th Army Order of Battle, 9 August 1945
- ^ Krilov N.I., Alekseyev N.I., Dragan I.G., Towards victory: Combat road of the 5th Army, Moscow, 1970, p.117–145
- ^ Holm, Michael. "4th Missile Brigade". ww2.dk. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
- ^ Holm, Michael. "29th Motorised Rifle Division". ww2.dk. Archived from the original on 30 August 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
- ^ Holm, Michael. "77th Tank Division". ww2.dk. Archived from the original on 30 August 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
- ^ Dmitri Chernov, 'Army Commander's Woes', in Vremya Novostei, 29 November 2000, p.3 via Agency WPS: Defence & Security via Lexis-Nexis.
- S2CID 145691472.
- ^ 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
- ^ "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