District Emblem

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. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Military districts are territorial entities used for the purposes of military planning and strategizing. ... The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (UTC) (Russian: Transliteration: Vooruzhyónniye síly Rossíyskoy Federátsii) is the military of Russia, established after the break-up of the Soviet Union. ... The Republic of Adygea (Russian: ; Adyghe: ) is a federal subject of Russia (a republic) enclaved within Krasnodar Krai. ... The Republic of Dagestan IPA: (Russian: ; Avar: , ), older spelling Daghestan, is a federal subject of the Russian Federation (a republic). ... The Republic of Ingushetia (Russian: ; Ingush: ГӀалгӀай Мохк) is a federal subject of Russia. ... The Kabardino-Balkar Republic (Russian: ; Kabardian: Къэбэрдей-Балъкъэр Республикэ; Balkar: Къабарты-Малкъар Республика), or Kabardino-Balkaria (Russian: ), is a federal subject of Russia located in the North Caucasus. ... The Republic of Kalmykia (Russian: ; Kalmyk: Хальмг Таңһч) is a federal subject of the Russian Federation (a republic). ... Karachay-Cherkess Republic (Russian: , or, less formal, Karachay-Cherkessia ) is a federal subject of Russia (a republic). ... The Republic of North Ossetia-Alania (Russian: ; Ossetic: Цгат Ирыстоны Аланийы Республик) is a federal subject of Russia (a republic). ... The Chechen Republic (IPA: ; Russian: , Chechenskaya Respublika; Chechen: , Noxçiyn Respublika), or, informally, Chechnya (; Russian: ; Chechen: , Noxçiyçö), sometimes referred to as Ichkeria, Chechnia, Chechenia or Noxçiyn, is a federal subject of Russia. ... Krasnodar Krai (Russian: , Krasnodarsky kray) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the Southern Federal District. ... Stavropol Krai (Russian: ) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai). ... Flag of Astrakhan Oblast Astrakhan Oblast (Russian: , Astrakhanskaya oblast) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), with an area of 44,100 km², and a population of 1,005,276 (according to the 2002 Census). ... Volgograd Oblast (Russian: , Volgogradskaya oblast) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). ... Flag of Rostov Oblast Rostov Oblast (Russian: , Rostovskaya oblast) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the Southern Federal District. ... Southern Federal District (Russian: Ю́жный федера́льный о́круг; tr. ... Colonel General Alexander Baranov is a Russian Army commanding general in North Caucasus. ...

History

The District was originally established on 4 May 1918, and reorganised as a field formation during the Russian Civil War. The First Cavalry Army was formed in the District in November 1919.^[1] 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. 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... Combatants Local Soviet powers led by Russian SFSR and Red Army Chinese mercenaries White Movement Central Powers (1917-1918): Austria-Hungary Ottoman Empire German Empire Allied Intervention: (1918-1922) Japan Czechoslovakia Greece  United States  Canada Serbia Romania UK  France Foreign volunteers: Polish Italian Local nationalist movements, national states, and decentralist... The 1st Cavalry Army (Russian: ) was the most famous Red Army сavalry formation. ... Rostov (Russian: Росто́в; Old Norse: Rostofa) is one of the oldest towns in Russia and an important tourist centre of the so called Golden ring. ...   (Russian: ), popularly known as Klim Voroshilov (Russian: ) (February 4 [O.S. January 23] 1881 – December 2, 1969) was a Soviet military commander and politician. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Marshal Ivan Konev Ivan Stepanovich Koniev (Russian Иван Степанович Конев) (December 28, 1897 – May 21, 1973), Soviet military commander, was born into a peasant family near Podosinovsky in central Russia (now in Kirov Oblast). ...

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. Combatants  Germany Romania Italy Hungary  Soviet Union Commanders Adolf Hitler Friedrich Paulus # Erich von Manstein Petre Dumitrescu Constantin Constantinescu Italo Garibaldi Gusztav Jany Vasiliy Chuikov Aleksandr Vasilyevskiy Georgiy Zhukov Semyon Timoshenko Konstantin Rokossovskiy Rodion Malinovskiy Andrei Yeremenko Strength Army Group B: German Sixth Army # German Fourth Panzer Army Romanian Third...

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. Central market and Church in Rostov. ...

The important Kapustin Yar test range was created in the District following the war. Kapustin Yar (Russian Капустин Яр; today Знаменск/Znamensk) is a Russian rocket launch and development site in the Astrakhan Oblast, between Volgograd and Astrakhan. ...

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.

Commanders 1945-2006

• 1945–54(?): General Colonel P.A. Belov
• 1954–58: Marshal of the SU Andrei Ivanovich Yeremenko
• 1958–68: Army General Issa Alexandrovich 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 Vladimir Boldyrev
• July 2004: Army General Alexander Baranov

Marshal of the Soviet Union Andrei Yeremenko Andrei Ivanovich Yeremenko (Yeryomenko, Андрей Иванович Ерёменко) (October 14, 1892 - November 19, 1970) Soviet general during World War II, Marshal of the Soviet Union, born in Markovka in the province of Kharkov in Ukraine to a peasant family. ... Issa Alexandrovich Pliyev (Russian: Исса Александрович Плиев) (November 12, 1903 - 2 February 1979) was a Soviet military commander, Army General (1962), Double Hero of the Soviet Union (4. ... General of the Army Anatoly Kvashnin was the Chief of the Russian General Staff until 2004, when he was dismissed by President Vladimir Putin. ... Viktor Kazantsev was an envoy of the Russian president who performed primary negotiations between the Russian government and the Chechen oppostion. ... Gennday Torshev is a general in the Russian military and was a formerly the commander of the North Caucasus Military District, covering the Chechnya region. ... Colonel General Alexander Baranov is a Russian Army commanding general in North Caucasus. ...

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 protecting installation in Vladikavkaz from irregular fighters in late 1992. Photo of Vladikavkaz cathedral mosque in 1912. ...

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 (2007) in its ninth year, though insurgent activity is decreasing. Twenty-six soldiers won the Hero of Russia star in the first war, and 43 in the second. Combatants Russian Federation Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Commanders Pavel Grachev Anatoly Kulikov Konstantin Pulikovsky Anatoliy Romanov Vyacheslav Tikhomirov Gennady Troshev Dzhokhar Dudayev  â€  Aslan Maskhadov Strength (December 11, 1994) Up to 50,000 soldiers and Interior Ministry (MVD) (December 11, 1994) 3,000 to 15,000[1] Casualties Military: At least... Combatants Russian Federation Chechen loyalists Republic of Chechnya Chechen rebels Caucasian insurgents and foreign fighters Caucasian Islamists Commanders Vladimir Putin Nikolai Patrushev Akhmad Kadyrov† Ramzan Kadyrov Aslan Maskhadov† Abdul Halim Sadulayev† Doku Umarov Shamil Basayev† Ibn al-Khattab† Strength At least 93,000 in Chechnya in 1999. ...

The District includes:

• 42nd Motor Rifle Division at Khankala, in the environs of Grozny in Chechniya.
• 20th "Prikarpatsko-Berlinskaya" Guards Motor Rifle Division, (Cyrillic: гвардейская мотострелковая Прикарпатско-Берлинская дивизия)
• 131st Motor Rifle Brigade (Maikop - former 9 MRD; - 526 Separate Motor Rifle Battalion - Mil Unit No.03768, 527 Sep MR Bn - Mil Unit No.03769, 529 Sep MR Bn (омсб) - Military Unit No.03841, 558 Sep MR Bn - Mil Unit No.03833, 9 Separate Tank Battalion - MU No.03842)
• 58th Army (headquarters at Vladikavkaz)
  • 19th Motor Rifle Division
  • 136th "Umansko-Berlinskaya" Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade, (Cyrillic: гвардейская мотострелковая Уманско-Берлинская дивизия)
  • other brigades and regiments
• 4th Air Army,
• Transcaucasus Group of Forces
• Caspian Flotilla
• and other formations and units, including the newly forming 33rd and 34th Separate Motor Rifle Brigades (Mountain)^[2]

The 58th Army's creation was announced on April 26, 1995; previously there had only been corps headquarters in the District (and the 58th was formed from the previous 42nd Army Corps headquarters).^[3] The 42 Guards Motor Rifle Division formed originally as the 111 Rifle Division in Vologda in 1940, and became 24 Gds RD in March 1942 [1] Based in the North Caucasus following World War II, it seems to have become 42 Guards MRD in 1957, while at Grozny. ... For other uses of Grozny, see Grozny (disambiguation). ... The Cyrillic alphabet (pronounced also called azbuka, from the old name of the first two letters) is actually a family of alphabets, subsets of which are used by certain Slavic languages — Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Rusyn, Serbian, and Ukrainian—as well as many other languages of the former Soviet Union... Maykop (Майко́п), capital of the Republic of Adygea, Russia. ... Photo of Vladikavkaz cathedral mosque in 1912. ... The 19th Motor Rifle Division appears to have been formed originally in 1922 in the Moscow Military District. ... The Cyrillic alphabet (pronounced also called azbuka, from the old name of the first two letters) is actually a family of alphabets, subsets of which are used by certain Slavic languages — Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Rusyn, Serbian, and Ukrainian—as well as many other languages of the former Soviet Union... The 4th Air Army was a Soviet Air Force formation and is now part of the Russian Air Force. ... Transcaucasian Front or Transcaucasus Front (Russian: Закавказский Фронт) was a Front (military subdivision) of the Soviet Army during the Second World War. ... Caspian Flotilla (Каспийская флотилия in Russian, or Kaspiyskaya flotiliya), the oldest Russian military flotilla, which would later become part of the Soviet Navy. ...

Today the Armed Forces do not have the primary role in directing the anti-terrorist effort in the North Caucasus region. The Regional Operational Headquarters (ROSh), chaired by the Deputy Director FSB RF (Head of the department for protection of the constitutional structure and the campaign against terrorism) directs and conducts the counter-terrorist operation.^[4] Subordinated to it is the Combined Grouping of Troops (OGV) in the North Caucasus drawing on the Armed Forces, the Interior Troops, the FSB, and other agencies.

Notes

1. ^ Russian Ministry of Defence,History of the North Caucasus Military District, www.mil.ru, accessed August 17, 2007
2. ^ Jamestown Foundation, Putin's Order on Mountain Brigades Results in Competing Forces
3. ^ http://www.afpc.org/rrm/rrm3.htm - creation of 58th Army
4. ^ C.W. Blandy, Advent of Mountain Brigades, Conflict Studies Research Centre, November 2007

The Conflict Studies Research Centre, or CSRC, is a college of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom specialising in potential causes of conflict in a wide area ranging from the Baltics to Central Asia. ...

References

• Feskov, V.I., et al. The Soviet Army in the Years of the Cold War: 1945-91, Tomsk University Publishing House, Tomsk, 2004
• Scott, Harriet and William F. Russian Military Directory, 2002
• Scott, Harriet and William F. The Armed Forces of the USSR, Westview Press, Boulder, Co., 1979.