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6th Combined Arms Army

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6th Combined Arms Army
6-я общевойсковая армия
Great emblem of the 6th Combined Arms Army
Great emblem of the 6th Combined Arms Army
Active1939–1945
1960–1998
2010–present
CountrySoviet Union
Russia
BranchRed Army
Soviet Army
Russian Ground Forces
TypeCombined Arms
SizeSeveralcorpsor divisions
Part ofNorthern Military District(1951-1960)
Leningrad Military District(1960–1998)
Western Military District(2010–2024)
Leningrad Military District(2024–present)
Garrison/HQAgalatovo,Leningrad Oblast
Engagements
DecorationsOrder of the Red BannerOrder of the Red Banner
Commanders
Current
commander		Lieutenant GeneralAlexander Vasilyevich Peryazev[ru][3]
Insignia
NATO Map Symbol
6
ОА

The6th Red Banner Combined Arms Army(‹See Tfd›Russian:6-я общевойсковая армия) is afield armyof theRed Armyand theSoviet Armythat was active with theRussian Ground Forcesuntil 1998 and has been active since 2010 as the6th Combined Arms Army.Military Unit number в/ч 31807.

It was first formed in August 1939 in theKiev Special Military Districtfrom the Volochiskaya Army Group (a corps-sized formation).[4]

First Formation

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In September 1939 it participated in theSoviet invasion of Poland.At the beginning of war the Army (6th Rifle Corps,37th Rifle Corps(which included the80th,139th,and141st Rifle Divisions),4thand15th Mechanized Corps,5th Cavalry Corps,4thFortified Region,and6th Fortified Region(Rava-Ruska), and a number of artillery and other units)[5]was deployed on the Lviv direction. It started theGreat Patriotic Waras part of theSouthwestern Front.The army's headquarters was disbanded 10 August 1941 after theBattle of Uman.In this battle, the 6th Army was caught in a huge encirclement south of Kiev along with the12th Army.

Second Formation

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It was immediately reformed within theSouthern Fronton the basis of the48th Rifle Corpsand other units, and defended the west bank of theDnepr Rivernorthwest ofDnipropetrovsk.[6]On 1 September 1941 it consisted of169th,226th,230th,255th,273rd,and275th Rifle Divisions,26thand28th Cavalry Divisions,47th Rifle Regiment (15thNKVDRifle Division), 269th, 274th, and 394th Corps Artillery Regiments, 522nd High-power Howitzer Artillery Regiment гап б/м, 671st Artillery Regiment of theReserve of the Supreme High Command(ап РВГК), 14th, 27th Separate Anti-Aircraft Artillery Divisions, and8th Tank Division.[7]It was then transferred to theSoviet Southwestern Frontand took part in defensive actions in the Donbas, theBarvenkovo-Lozovaia operation,and theSecond Battle of Kharkov,but along with the57th Army,was surrounded in theIzium pocketwith the loss of 200,000 plus men in casualties alone, and afterwards formally disbanded.

Third Formation

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The Army was reformed in July 1942 for the third time from the6th Reserve Army,comprising the45th,99th,141st,160th,174th,212th,219th,and309th Rifle Divisionsplus the 141st Rifle Brigade. It was assigned in sequence to theVoronezh,Southwestern,and3rd Ukrainian Fronts.In January 1943, the 6th Army smashed through the defensive lines of theAlpinidivisions of theItalian 8th Armyas part ofOperation Little Saturn.

In September 1943 it consisted of the4th Guards Rifle Corps(38th Guards,263rd,267th Rifle Divisions),26th Guards Rifle Corps(25th Guards,35thand47th Guards Rifle Divisions), and the33rd Rifle Corps(50th,78th,243rd Rifle Divisions).[8]

In 1944 it took part in theNikopol-Kryvyi Rih,Bereznogova-Snigorovka, andOdessa offensives.It was disbanded in June 1944.

Fourth Formation

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The 6th Army was reformed in December 1944 with troops from3rd Guardsand13thArmies. On 1 January 1945 the Army consisted of the22nd Rifle Corps(218thand273rd Rifle Divisions), the74th Rifle Corps(181stand309th Rifle Divisions), the359th Rifle Division,the 77thFortified Region,and other support units.[9]

During 1945 the Army took part in theSandomierz–Silesia,and theLower Silesiaoffensives. During the Lower Silesia offensive in February 1945, 6th Army, commanded by MarshalIvan Koniev,besieged Fortress Breslau (Festung Breslau) in theBattle of Breslau.The army besieged the city on February 13, 1945, and the encirclement of Breslau was completed the following day. The 1st Ukrainian Front forces besieged the city with the 22nd and 74th Rifle Corps, and the 77th Fortified Region, as well as other smaller units. Even approximate estimates vary greatly concerning the number of German troops trapped in Breslau. Some sources claim that there were as many as 150,000 defenders, some 80,000 and some 50,000. The Siege of Breslau consisted of destructive house-to-house street fighting. The city was bombarded to ruin by artillery of the 6th Army, as well as the2nd Air Armyand the18th Air Army.During the siege, both sides resorted to setting entire districts of the city on fire.

After the end of theSecond World War,the 6th Army was withdrawn from Germany and stationed briefly in theOrel Military Districtbefore being disbanded in theVoronezh Military Districtlate in 1945.

Fifth Formation

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The 6th Army was (re)formed from the31st Rifle Corpson 2 April 1952 inMurmansk,Murmansk Oblast.[10]That year it comprised the45th Rifle Division(Pechenga,Murmansk Oblast); the67th Rifle Division(Murmansk, Murmansk Oblast); the341st Rifle Division(Alakurtti,Murmansk Oblast); and the367th Rifle Division(Sortavala,Karelian ASSR). The army was disbanded at Murmansk in early 1960.[10]

The army was reformed again from HeadquartersNorthern Military Districtin May–June 1960 with headquarters atPetrozavodsk.[11]On 15 January 1974, it was awarded theOrder of the Red Banner.[10]

In 1977 the 88th Independent Helicopter Squadron was moved fromNurmalitsytoApatity.

In 1988 the army consisted of:

In 1989 the 16th Motor Rifle Division (mobilisation) became the 5186th Base for Storage of Weapons and Equipment (БХВТ) (30th мотострелковая бригада), and the 37th similarly became a weapons and equipment storage base (VKhVT). In 1994-95 the 111th Motor Rifle Division (Sortavala) became the 20th Independent Motor Rifle Brigade and shifted into the30th Guards Army Corps.

In January 1996 it consisted of the 161st Artillery Brigade, the 182nd MRL Regiment, the 485th Separate Helicopter Regiment, the 54th Motor Rifle Division (Allakurtti), and the 131st Motor Rifle Division (Pechenga).[18]It finally disbanded after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1997–98.

Sixth Formation

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In 2010, as part of the creation of theWestern Military District/ Western Operational-Strategic Command with headquarters at St. Petersburg, the army was reformed. The new 6th Army may include:[19]

The army took part in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Its units fought during the Northeastern Ukraine offensive aroundKharkiv,but failed to capture the city.[22]Reportedly, the army's commander, Lieutenant General Yershov, was dismissed and placed under house arrest at the end of March.[23]As of April 2023, the army is conducting operations along the Svatove-Kreminna line inLuhansk Oblast.[24]

Commanders

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  • Lieutenant-GeneralFilipp Golikov(09/28/1939 – July 1940)
  • Lieutenant-GeneralIvan Muzychenko(07.26.1940 – 08/10/1941) (captured)
  • Major General, Lieutenant-GeneralRodion Malinovsky(08/25/1941 – 12/24/1941)
  • Major General, Lieutenant-General Avksenty Gorodnyansky (01/25/1942 – 05/27/1942) (KIA 05/27/1942)
  • Major General, Lieutenant-GeneralFyodor Kharitonov(07/08/1942 – 05/20/1943) (died 05/28/1943)
  • Lieutenant-GeneralIvan Shlemin(05/21/1943 – 05/28/1944)
  • Colonel GeneralVyacheslav Tsvetayev(September 12, 1944 – September 28, 1944)
  • Major General Fyodor Kulishev (09/29/1944 – 12/06/1944)
  • Lieutenant-GeneralVladimir Gluzdovsky(12/07/1944 – 05/09/1945)
  • ...
  • Lieutenant General Yevgeny Alekseyevich (January 2011 – April 2013)
  • Lieutenant General Sergei Vasilyevich Kuralenko (May 2013 – December 2015)
  • Lieutenant GeneralAndrei Vladimirovich Kuzmenko(February 2016 – February 2019)
  • Lieutenant General Vladislav Nikolaevich Yershov (February 2019 – March 2022 [dismissed])
  • Lieutenant General Andrey Peryazev (August 2023 – present)

References

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  1. ^"Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, June 6".
  2. ^"RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, APRIL 23, 2023".
  3. ^"ISW: Ukraine bolsters defenses in response to potential Russian offensive on Kharkiv".odessa-journal.Retrieved2024-05-18.
  4. ^6th Army- б. Восточная (первоначально - Винницкая, затем - Волочиская армейская группа КОВО) (0000 Там же, а также "Другая война. 1939-1945". М., 1996, с.248.) КОВО. Lenskii 2001.
  5. ^Leo Niehorster,Order of Battle, 22 June 1941
  6. ^Bonn/Glantz, Slaughterhouse, Aberjona Press, 2005, p.311
  7. ^tashv.nm.ru, [Combat composition of the Soviet Army, 1 September 1941], accessed October 2011
  8. ^BSSA via tashv.nm.ru
  9. ^Combat Composition of the Soviet ArmyArchived2010-06-12 at theWayback Machine,1 January 1945
  10. ^abcHolm, Michael."6th Combined Arms Army".ww2.dk.Retrieved2016-02-04.
  11. ^Valentin Varennikov"Unique," Book 2, page 73.
  12. ^Holm, Michael."16th Motorised Rifle Division".ww2.dk.Retrieved2016-02-04.
  13. ^Holm, Michael."109th Motorised Rifle Division".ww2.dk.Retrieved2016-02-04.
  14. ^"116th Motorised Rifle Division".ww2.dk.Retrieved2016-02-04.
  15. ^"54th Motorised Rifle Division".ww2.dk.Retrieved2016-02-04.
  16. ^Holm, Michael."88th independent Helicopter Squadron".ww2.dk.Retrieved4 February2016.
  17. ^Holm, Michael."6th Missile Brigade".ww2.dk.Retrieved2016-02-16.
  18. ^Andrew Duncan, 'Russian forces in decline - Part 2,' Jane's Intelligence Review, October 1996, p.444
  19. ^Institute for the Study of War,Russia's Military Posture: Ground Forces Order of Battle,March 2018. Washington D.C.
  20. ^abcd"RUSSIAN REGULAR GROUND FORCES ORDER OF BATTLE"(PDF).October 2023.
  21. ^"Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, February 16, 2023".16 February 2023.
  22. ^"UAWarData".uawardata.
  23. ^"The General Staff of the Ukrainian Army named the Russian generals who lost their jobs or lives due to the war in Ukraine".
  24. ^"Institute for the Study of War".Institute for the Study of War.Retrieved2023-09-04.

References

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