Leningrad Military District

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Leningrad Military District
Ленинградский военный округ
Russian Federation (1991–2010; 2024-Present)
BranchImperial Russian Army
Soviet Armed Forces
Russian Armed Forces
TypeMilitary district
Part ofMinistry of Defence
HeadquartersSaint Petersburg
DecorationsOrder of Lenin Order of Lenin

The Leningrad Military District (Russian: Ленингра́дский вое́нный о́круг) is a

Yevgeny Burdinsky.[2] On December 17, 2023 Vladimir Putin announced plans to recreate the Leningrad Military District as a reaction to Finland joining NATO.[3] The district was formally reconstituted on February 26, 2024 by a Presidential Decree.[4]

General-polkovnik (Colonel General) Aleksandr Lapin was reported as the new district's commander in March 2024.[5]

History

The district was founded in 1864 as the Petersburg Military District in the Russian Empire during the military district reform of that year. After World War I began Saint Petersburg was renamed Petrograd and the district also changed its name to the Petrograd Military District.

The Leningrad Military District was originally formed as the Petrograd Military District after the October Revolution of 1917 up to the beginning of the formation of the Red Army. The Petrograd District was reestablished as a part of the Red Army (RKKA) by an order of the Highest Military Council of 6 September 1918. On 1 February 1924, the Petrograd military district was renamed the Leningrad Military District when the city was renamed Leningrad. The district included Leningrad, Pskov, Novgorod, Olonets, Cherepovets, and Murmansk Governorates and the Karelian SSR. In 1927 the governorates were merged into the new Leningrad Oblast, with the territory of the district remaining the same between the wars.[6]

By 1935 the district included the

1st Rifle Corps at Novgorod with the 16th and 56th Rifle Divisions, and the 19th Rifle Corps at Leningrad with the 4th Turkestan and 20th Rifle Divisions
. The 19th Rifle Corps also included the Separate Karelian Rifle Brigade and Separate Murmansk Rifle Regiment.

Markian Popov was appointed District Commander in 1939. Its main purpose was the defence of the Kola Peninsula and the northern shores of the Gulf of Finland. On the right flank it bordered with the Arkhangelsk Military District, on the left — with the Baltic MD. Among the defensive works started in the 1930s to protect the frontiers was the Karelian Fortified Region.

World War II

The

North-Western Front
was formed from the staff of the District on 7 January 1940. Three and a half months later the Front was dissolved back into the District headquarters.

On June 9, 1940, directive 02622ss/ov was given to the District by Semyon Timoshenko to be ready by June 12 to (a) capture the vessels of the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian Navy in their bases and/or at sea; (b) Capture the Estonian and Latvian commercial fleet and all other vessels; (c) Prepare for an invasion and landing in Tallinn and Paldiski; (d) Close the Gulf of Riga and blockade the coasts of Estonia and Latvia in Gulf of Finland and Baltic Sea; (e) Prevent an evacuation of the Estonian and Latvian governments, military forces and assets; (f) Provide naval support for an invasion towards Rakvere; (g) Prevent the Estonian and Latvian airplanes flying either to Finland or Sweden.[7]

On 22 June 1941 the District comprised the

1st Mechanised Corps (-), 177th Rifle Division, 191st Rifle Division, 8th Rifle Division, the 21st, 22nd, 25th, 29th Fortified Regions, Air Forces (six aviation divisions, including the 1st, 2nd, 5th, 39th, 41st, and 55th), and other formations and units.[8]

Two days after the

Northern Front, and two months later, on 23 August 1941, it was split into the Leningrad and Karelian Fronts. The Front's forces efforts played a major part in resisting the German attacks during the Siege of Leningrad
.

By the joint efforts of troops of the Leningrad Front,

Leningrad–Novgorod Offensive ended the siege of the city. Pressing home the attack, the forces of the Leningrad Front in summer and in the fall of 1944 helped seize Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The Front was reorganized under the Leningrad District into a peacetime status on 9 July 1945. Marshal Leonid Govorov
took command shortly afterwards.

Cold War

Boundaries of the Leningrad Military District (in red) on 1 January 1989

The reestablished district was responsible for the Estonian SSR, Leningrad, Pskov, and Novgorod Oblasts. Initially the district controlled two combined arms armies: the

2nd Guards Tank Division, and the 1st and 2nd Machine Gun Artillery Divisions. Control of forces in the Estonian SSR, which included the 4th Guards Rifle Corps with three divisions, was transferred to the Baltic Military District on 27 January 1956.[9]

By 1946 the

13th Air Army was the district air force component and was redesignated as the 76th Air Army in 1949. General-Colonel of Aviation Fyodor Polynin was the first commander of the 76th Air Army.[11] Apart from a brief period when the air army was redesignated the Air Forces of the Leningrad Military District from 1980 to 1988,[9]
the 76th Air Army would be active in the region until 1998.

In Arkhangelsk, Arkhangelsk Oblast, the 44th Special Rifle Corps was activated on 22 June 1956 from HQ Arkhangelsk Military District.

The 2nd Guards Tank Division was transferred to the district from the Estonian SSR in 1958, based at Garbolovo and Vladimirsky Lager.[12]

In June 1957 44th Special Rifle Corps was renamed the 44th Special Army Corps. Three years later it comprised the 69th and 77th Motor Rifle Divisions. In August 1961, it was renamed the 44th Army Corps.

In May 1960 the Northern Military District, controlling forces in the Karelian and Komi ASSRs, and Arkhangelsk, Murmansk and Vologda Oblasts, was subsumed into the Leningrad Military District. Accordingly, Headquarters Northern Military District became Headquarters

37th Guards Motor Rifle Division of the 30th Guards Army Corps was reorganized as the district's motor rifle training division, returning to its wartime designation as the 63rd Guards in 1964. In the late 1960s the 14th Separate Machine Gun Artillery Regiment of the 30th Guards Army Corps was used to create the mobilization 37th Motor Rifle Division.[14]

In 1962 the troops of the district participated in

Ulan Ude.[15] New units were formed to replace them, with the 26th Army Corps headquarters replacing the 44th, and a reshuffling of units to replace the 279th Regiment: the 221st Guards Motor Rifle Regiment of the 77th Guards Motor Rifle Division replaced the 279th in the 54th Motor Rifle Division. In turn the new 481st Motor Rifle Regiment was formed to complete the 77th Guards. During the 1970s and 1980s the 6th Combined Arms Army and the 30th Guards and 26th Army Corps were based in the territory of the district.[9]

General, later Marshal,

Sergei Sokolov assumed command in 1965. Marshal Sokolov later became the Minister of Defence in 1984. On 22 February 1968, in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the Soviet Army and for its successes in combat and in political training, the District was awarded the Order of Lenin.[16]

On 3 June 1968 the District was placed on alert. The

Garnisonen i Sør-Varanger garrison heard the noise of powerful engines coming from the manoeuvres along the entire Soviet front of the Norwegian-Soviet border. Actual observations were not possible over the border in the dark. On that same night the GSV commanding officer ordered all GSV reserve forces to report to their emergency muster locations. The Soviet demonstration of strength lasted until 10 June, when the Soviet forces stood down.[17]

In 1979, Scott and Scott reported the headquarters address as Leningrad, L-13, Pod'ezdnoy Per., Dom 4.

In 1988 the district's forces were reported as consisting of the

36th Air Assault Brigade (effectively an airmobile brigade), which had been activated in autumn 1979.[21]

By 1990 the district included 60,000 servicemen, 822 tanks, 2,000 armored fighting vehicles, 1,100 guns, mortars and MLRS systems, and 100 helicopters.[9]

Forces in 1990

The composition of the troops of the district was as follows:[22]

Formations and units of district subordination

30th Guards Army Corps

26th Army Corps

In December 1989, the 77th Guards Motorized Rifle Division Moscow-Chernigov was transformed into a coastal defense division of the same name, and the 69th Sevsk Motorized Rifle Division in Vologda was transformed into the 5189th Base for Storage of Weapons and Equipment (Russian acronym VKhVT). Accordingly, in 1991, the 26th ("Arkhangelsk") Army Corps had more than a modest set of corps units and the 5189th BKhVT in Vologda. The 77th Guards Coastal Defence Division was then reorganised as a separate coastal defence brigade by 1 December 1994.

  • Corps Headquarters - Arkhangelsk
  • 258th Separate Helicopter Squadron (Luostari)
  • Collapsed divisions:
  • 14th Engineer Regiment
  • 293rd Engineer Regiment
  • 1068th separate communications battalion (Arkhangelsk)
  • 55th Logistics Brigade
  • 709th separate repair and restoration battalion
  • 5189th military equipment storage base (Vologda)

In 1989 V.I. Feskov et al. reported that the 71st MRD became the 5186th VKhVT, the 115th Guards became a storage base, and the Motor Rifle Division at Chernaya Rechka (the 37th, it was apparent later) was reduced to become the 3807th Base for Storage of Weapons and Equipment.

The 36th Landing-Assault Brigade was under district control until June 1990, when it was transferred to the

Russian Airborne Troops
as the country dissolved, it was active until February 1997.

In 1990 the 63rd Guards became the 56th Guards District Training Centre.[26]

In 1993 the 5189th Base for Storage of Weapons and Equipment was disbanded.

Post-Cold War

The

peace-keeping missions, especially in the North Caucasus
.

The

111th Motor Rifle Division (still part of 6th Army) was active until 1994, and then seemingly became the 20th Independent MR Bde, which became a VKhVT between January 1997 and June 1998.[27] As the 20th Independent Motor Rifle Brigade it shifted formations into the 30th Guards Army Corps. Also in 1994 the 5186th VkHVT at Petrozavodsk was seemingly upgraded into the 30th Independent Motor Rifle Brigade.[26]

In early December 1997, President

200th Independent Motor Rifle Brigade).[30]

In terms of air forces, after the collapse of the Soviet Union the 76th Army of the

138th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade at Kamenka was deployed for operations during the Second Chechen War, in which, along with other Russian Ground Forces units, its personnel was reported to have behaved badly at times.[32]
A 22-year-old woman in Ingushetia was shot by drunken soldiers from the brigade scavenging for alcohol. The deployment of a tank battalion of the brigade was apparently halted when it was

discovered that soldiers had been selling the explosive from their tanks' reactive armour. The second fully operational brigade in the district, the 200th Motor Rifle Brigade descends from the

45th Rifle Division
, which later became the 131st Motor Rifle Division.

In 2006–07, the 35th Base for Storage of Weapons & Equipment, the former

54th Motor Rifle Division at Alakurtti, was disbanded.[33]

The

76th Air Assault Division was also based within the district's boundaries, at Pskov
.

Presidential Decree 900 dated July 27, 1998 gave the District's composition as the

Vologda, Leningrad, Murmansk, Novgorod, and Pskov oblasts, Saint Petersburg, and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The district headquarters is now in the General Staff Building on Palace Square in Saint Petersburg
.

Nikolai Bogdanovsky, commanded the district, between March 2009 and September 2010. On the abolition of the district General Bogdansky became Deputy Commander of the Russian Ground Forces
.

all military districts of Russian Federation as of 2024

In 2024 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine the district was reestablished. Since the middle of January 2024, the Northern Fleet lost its status as a military-administrative unit in line with a military district,[34] and it appears that the territory it administered became part of the Leningrad Military District once more.

Subordinate Units

Structure and units of the Leningrad Military District 2010

Order of Lenin Leningrad Military District 2010:

Commanders

Sketch of the title-page of “the Half- Yearly Report on the activity of the Technical Section of the Economics Department” of the Plenipotentiary Representation of the OGPU to the Leningrad Military District.

During its existence, the district was commanded by the following officers:

Citations

  1. ^ "Russia's defense chief proposes re-establishing Moscow, Leningrad military districts". TASS. 2022-12-21. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  2. ^ Rezchikov, Andrey (2023-06-05). "Why does Russia need two new armies?" (in Russian). Vzglyad. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  3. ^ "Путин пообещал создать Ленинградский военный округ из-за вступления Финляндии в НАТО". interfax.ru (in Russian). 2023-12-17. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
  4. ^ "Путин подписал указ о новом составе военных округов". ria.ru (in Russian). 2024-02-26. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
  5. ^ "Russian Offensive Campaign Update". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
  6. ^ Nikolai Ogarkov, ed. (1979). "Leningrad Military District". Soviet Military Encyclopedia. Vol. 4: «К-22» — Линейный крейсер. Moscow: Voenizdat. pp. 614–617.
  7. ISBN 978-9985-62-631-3
    . p. 154
  8. ^ "Leningrad Military District, Red Army, 22.06.41". niehorster.org.
  9. ^ a b c d Feskov et al. 2013, pp. 430–433.
  10. ^ Michael Holm, 2nd Guards Artillery Division at http://www.ww2.dk/new
  11. ^ "Biography of Colonel-General of Aviation Fedor Petrovich Polynin - (Федор Петрович Полынин) - (Fiodor Połynin) (1906 – 1981), Soviet Union". generals.dk.
  12. ^
    ISSN 2219-7923
    .
  13. ^ Feskov et al. 2013, p. 429, 435.
  14. ^ Feskov et al. 2013, p. 438.
  15. ^ "29th Combined Arms Army". Soviet Armed Forces - Ww2.dk. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
  16. ^ Feskov et al. 2013, pp. 430–431.
  17. ^ a b "Cold War". Pasvikelva.no (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 16 February 2009.
  18. ^ "6th Combined Arms Army". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  19. ^ Holm, 258th Independent Helicopter Squadron
  20. ^ Feskov et al. 2013.
  21. ^ Feskov et al. 2013, p. 244.
  22. ^ Lensky A. G., Tsybin M. M. Soviet Ground Forces in the last year of the USSR. Directory. - St. Petersburg; V&K, 2001, pp. 43-55.
  23. ^ "1071 ОУПСпН (в/ч 51064)". www.spec-naz.org.
  24. ^ Holm, Michael. "21st Missile Brigade". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
  25. ^ Holm, Michael. "131st Missile Brigade". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
  26. ^ a b c Andrew Duncan, 'Russian forces in decline – Part 2,' Jane's Intelligence Review, October 1996, 444–445.
  27. ^ Duncan, Jane's Intelligence Review, October 1996, 444–445, and Duncan 1998.
  28. ^ James Meek and David Fairhall, ‘Yeltsin Slashes Baltic Force’, The Guardian, Dec. 4, 1997
  29. ^ Interfax, ‘Defense Minister Segeyev gives details of cuts to northwest forces’, May 6, 1999
  30. ^ Andrew Duncan, 'Russia and Ukraine: Restructuring for a New Era,' Jane's Intelligence Review, June 1998, 6–7. See also motor rifle division – motor rifle brigade transition list at Feskov et al. 2013, 179.
  31. ^ Piotr Butowski, 'Russia's new air force enters a tight manoeuvre,' Jane's Intelligence Review, May 1999, p.18
  32. ^ "Some Provisional Notes On Current Russian Operations In Dagestan & Chechnya". www.globalsecurity.org.
  33. ^ According to Soldat.ru online forum conversation in August 2007, as from 1 December 2006 (Форум); according to Michael Holm, in 2007: Holm, Michael. "54th Red Banner Motorised Rifle Division". ww2.dk. Retrieved 16 April 2017..
  34. ^ https://www.highnorthnews.com/en/russian-northern-fleet-new-acting-commander-and-several-new-submarines
  35. ^ http://www.redstar.ru/2009/10/07_10/2_02.html [dead link]
  36. ^ Krasnaya Zvezda 13 Dec 91 1st ed p1. Confirmation appointment by President Yel'tsin, KZ 8 Oct 92 p 1.

Bibliography

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leningrad_Military_District&oldid=1220284706"