North Caucasus Military District
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The North Caucasus Military District is a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. It now comprises the Republic of Adygeya, the Republic of Dagestan, the Republic of Ingushetia, the Kabardino-Balkar Republic, the Republic of Kalmykia, the Karachayevo-Cherkess Republic, the Republic of North Osetia-Alaniya, the Chechen Republic, Krasnodar Krai, Stavropol Krai, and Astrakhan, Volgograd, and Rostov oblasts. It has the same borders as the Southern Federal District, and has been commanded by General Alexander Baranov since July 2004.
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[edit] History
Originally established on 4 May 1918, and reorganised as a field formation during the Russian Civil War, the District was reformed in the early 1920s with its headquarters at Rostov. Kliment Voroshilov was made district commander. During the 1920s and 1930s the District became home to many training establishments, which were to multiply greatly during World War II. The 19th Army was formed in the District in May-June 1941 under fomer district commander Ivan Konev and was engaged against the Germans from the beginning of Operation Barbarossa.
Later the District became the site of the battles around Rostov in November 1941 where the Germans suffered defeat, and the Battle of Stalingrad, which has been described as the most ferocious battle to date. Following the conclusion of the Battle of the Caucasus, the North Caucasian Front and the headquarters of the 56th Army were disbanded in accordance with a Supreme Command directive of the 20 November, 1943. The Independent Coastal Army was formed on their base.
Immediately following the war, to demobilise the force, on 9 July 1945 the territory was split into three military districts: Donskoy, Stavropol'skiy and Kubanskiy. The Donskoy Military District was located in the territory of the Rostov, Stalingrad and Astrakhan provinces, the Stavropol military district consisted of the Stavropol territory, the Groznyy region, Kabardino-Balkarii and North Osetia, and the Kuban military district was comprised of the territory of Krasnodar. The staff of the Donskoy Military District was located in Rostov-on-Don, and was considered the heir of the traditions of the North Caucasian military district. In 1946 the Donskoy military district was renamed again as the North Caucasian MD. The official Russian military website notes the work of the soldiers of the district in helping repair the ravages of the war.
The important Kapustin Yar test range was created in the District following the war.
The District was awarded the Order of the Red Banner in 1968.
In 1979 Scott and Scott reported the District's HQ address as Rostov-na-Donu 18, Ulitsa Tekucheva, Dom 135.
[edit] Commanders 1945-2006
- 1945-54(?): General Colonel P.A. Belov
- 1954-58: Marshal of the SU A.I. Yeremenko
- 1958-68: Army General A.I. Pliyev
- 1968-70: Army General A.T. Altunin
- 1970-76: General Colonel D.I. Litovtsev
- 1976-August 1979: General Colonel of Tanks V.A. Belikov
- August 1979-1980: General Colonel S I Postnikov
- 1980-August 1984: генерал-полковник В К Мерецков
- August 1984-July 1986: генерал-полковник В В Скоков
- July 1986-June 1993: General Colonel L.S. Shustko
- June 1993-December 1994: General Colonel A.N. Mityukhin
- February 1995-May 1997: General Colonel Anatoly Kvashnin
- July 1997-May 2000: Army General Viktor Kazantsev
- May 2000-December 2002 General Colonel Gennady Troshev
- December 2002-July 2004: Army General V.A. Bolyrev
- July 2004- Army General Alexander Baranov
[edit] Post 1990
The official website underlines the importance of the District as a border formation with the task of securing the southern boundary of the Russian Federation. The first conflict the District became involved in in the post Soviet period was the attempted secession of South Ossetia from Georgia to join North Ossetia, which is a federal subject of the Russian Federation. Soldiers from the District became involved in protection installation in Vladikavkaz from irregular fighters in late 1992.
The District has been the primary Russian military formation responsible for managing the Chechen conflict throughout the First and Second Chechen Wars. The Second Chechen War is now (2006) in its eighth year with no sign of being resolved. Twenty-six soldiers won the Hero of Russia star in the first war, and 43 in the second.
The District includes 58th Army headquarters at Vladikavkaz, (which includes 19th Motor Rifle Division) 42nd Motor Rifle Division at Khankala, in the environs of Grozny in Chechniya, the 4th Air Army, and other formations and units including the Transcaucasus Group of Forces and the Caspian Flotilla. The 58th Army's creation was announced on April 26, 1995; previously there had only been corps headquarters in the District.
[edit] References and Sources
- http://www.afpc.org/rrm/rrm3.htm - creation of 58th Army
- V.I. Feskov, K.A. Kalashnikov, V.I. Golikov, The Soviet Army in the Years of the Cold War 1945-91, Tomsk University Publishing House, Tomsk, 2004
- Official Russian website at www.mil.ru
- Harriet Fast Scott and William F. Scott, Russian Military Directory 2002
- Harriet Fast Scott and William F. Scott, The Armed Forces of the USSR, Westview Press, Boulder, Co., 1979.
