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{{Short description|Russian Ground Forces formation}}
{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name = 5th Guards Combined Arms Red Banner Order of Zhukov Army
| native_name = 5-я гвардейская общевойсковая Краснознамённая, ордена Жукова армия
| image = Great emblem of the 5th Combined Arms Army.svg
| image_size =
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| type = [[Combined Arms]]
| branch = {{Army|Soviet Union}} (until 1991)<br />{{Army|Russia}}
| dates =
| command_structure = [[Eastern Military District]]
| size = World War II: usually several corps (~10 divisions) Postwar: 5–7 divisions
| garrison = [[Ussuriysk]]
| battles = {{tree list}}
* [[World War II]]
** [[Soviet invasion of Poland|Invasion of Poland]]
** [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]]
*** [[Operation Barbarossa]]
*** [[Battle of Moscow]]
** [[Soviet invasion of Manchuria|Invasion of Manchuria]]
* [[Russo-Ukrainian War]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://gfsis.org.ge/russian-monitor/view/3121|title=Rondeli Russian Military Digest: Issue 118, 24 January - 30 January 2022|accessdate=17 July 2023}}</ref><br />
** [[2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive]]<ref name="ISW June 11">{{cite web |last1=Mappes |first1=Grace |last2=Wolkov |first2=Nicole |last3=Stepanenko |first3=Kateryna |last4=Barros |first4=George |last5=Clark |first5=Mason |title=Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, June 11, 2023 |url=https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-june-11-2023 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230612024326/https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-june-11-2023 |archive-date=June 12, 2023 |access-date=June 12, 2023 |website=[[Institute for the Study of War]]}}</ref>
{{tree list/end}}
| decorations = {{plainlist|
*{{OrderRedBanner}}
*[[File:Order of Zhukov.jpg|20px]] [[Order of Zhukov]]
*{{GuardsUnitRussia}}
}}
| current_commander = Major General
| notable_commanders =
| identification_symbol =
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}}
[[File:Штаб 5-й армии, Уссурийск.JPG|thumb|The Army headquarters at [[Ussuriysk]]]]
The '''5th Guards Combined Arms Red Banner Order of Zhukov Army''' (5-я гвардейская общевойсковая Краснознамённая, ордена Жукова армия) is a [[Russian Ground Forces]] formation in the [[Eastern Military District]].
It was formed in 1939, served during the [[Soviet invasion of Poland]] that year, and was deployed in the southern sector of the Soviet defences when [[Adolf Hitler]]'s [[Operation Barbarossa]] began in June 1941 during [[World War II]]. In the disastrous first months of Barbarossa, the 5th Army was encircled and destroyed around [[Kiev]].
Reformed under [[Dmitry Lelyushenko|Lelyushenko]] and [[Leonid Govorov|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 [[Far East Military District]] keeping watch on the border with the People's Republic of China. As the Russian armed force shrunk, it found itself part of the larger [[Eastern Military District]] in the twenty-first century.
On December 2, 2021, the 5th Army was awarded the Order of Zhukov.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-12-02 |title=Министр обороны России Сергей Шойгу вручил государственные награды лучшим воинским коллективам Вооружённых сил РФ |trans-title=Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu presented state awards to the best military teams of the Russian Armed Forces |url=https://function.mil.ru/news_page/country/more.htm?id=12396858@egNews |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202163838/https://function.mil.ru/news_page/country/more.htm?id=12396858@egNews |archive-date=2021-12-02 |website=mil.ru |language=ru}}</ref>
On February 19, 2024, the 5th Army was awarded the honorary designation "Guards".<ref>{{cite web|title=Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 19.02.2024 № 131|url=http://publication.pravo.gov.ru/document/0001202402190016|publisher=Официальное опубликование правовых актов|date=2024-02-19|accessdate=2024-02-19|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219203056/http://publication.pravo.gov.ru/document/0001202402190016|archivedate=2024-02-19}}</ref>
==Creation and organization==
The 5th Army was created in August 1939 in the Special Kiev [[Military District]] from the Northern (originally Shepetovskaya) Army Group.<ref>KOVO ("Red Banner Kiev", with FROM, 119; "War and policy. 1939–1941", ß.76, 77; " East Front " óÙ».24, ß.24.), Lenski, 2001</ref> In September 1939, the 5th Army took part in the [[Soviet invasion of Poland (1939)|Soviet invasion of Poland]], which had been justified by the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]]. The Army was originally placed under the command of [[I.G. Sovietnikov]].
On 22 June 1941, the 5th Army consisted of the [[15th Rifle Corps]] (under Colonel [[Ivan Fedyuninsky|I.I. Fedyuninsky]]<ref>Erickson, Road to Stalingrad, 2003 edition, p.94</ref> and incorporating the [[45th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)|45th Rifle Division]] and [[62nd Rifle Division]]s), as well as the
==Battle of the frontiers==
The Army's rifle divisions were assigned to cover the Lutsk-Rovno approaches to the [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukraine]] and were tasked to man the (unfinished) [[Kovel]], Strumilov, and [[Volodymyr-Volynskyi|Vladimir-Volynsk]] [[fortified district]]s.<ref>[[John Erickson (historian)]], Road to Stalingrad, 2003 edition, p.86</ref> The Army was stationed in barracks up to forty miles from the frontier, and would need three to four days to take up its positions. On 22 June, however, the 15th Rifle Corps managed to take its place in the line, holding the sector from Vlodava to Vladimir-Volynsk, but later that same day, the southern end of the line at Vladimir-Volynsk "began to buckle in," in [[John Erickson (historian)|John Erickson]]'s words.
The main German thrust in the sector came at the junction point between the 5th Army and its neighbour to the south, the [[6th Army (Soviet Union)|6th Army]], and both the 5th and 6th Armies committed their mechanised forces quickly to try to stem the gap, but without success. The Commander Southwestern Front, [[Mikhail Kirponos]], decided to halt this with an attack into the flank of [[1st Panzer Group|Panzer Group 1]] using all the available mobile forces – five mechanised corps. This was unsuccessful in the face of the thrusting German advance, lack of coordination from the various Soviet formations, acute shortage of equipment and spares, and lack of proper equipment, especially radio sets.<ref>Prewar plans had assigned the civilian telephone network the major communication role. Erickson, 2003, p.143</ref>
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.<ref>Erickson, 2003, p.167–68</ref>
The [[11th Panzer Division]] took [[Berdichev]] on 7 July, and the juncture between the 5th and 6th Armies was broken; the [[Stavka]] ordered Kirponos to withdraw the 5th Army to the Korosten "fortified district" northwest of Kiev. The gap between the 5th and 6th Armies quickly widened to forty miles. To remedy the situation another counterattack was ordered, and Potapov, now commanding the 15th and 31st Rifle, and 9th, 19th and 22nd Mechanised Corps, was directed to strike northwards from Berdichev and Lyubar. However, his forces had been badly worn down: the 9th Mechanised Corps had 64 tanks left, the 22nd less than half that number, and the rifle regiments of 31st Corps had "no more than three hundred men."<ref>Erickson, 2003, p.169</ref> Nevertheless, Potapov's force cut the Zhitomir highway and kept up the pressure for a week, and afterwards remained as a thorn on the German [[6th Army (Wehrmacht)|Sixth Army]]'s northern flank.
By 7 September, the 5th Army was threatened with being split in two by the [[2nd Army (Wehrmacht)|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, [[Joseph Stalin|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.<ref>Erickson, 2003, p.206–210</ref> In the disastrous battle, the German forces encircled forces from the 5th, 21st, 26th, 38th and 37th Armies, [[Battle of Kiev (1941)|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 [[Dmitri Danilovich Lelyushenko|Dmitri Lelyushenko]], as part of the [[Soviet Western Front]]. Recent sources give the actual re-raising date as 11 October 1941.<ref>Crofoot translating of Perechen, via {{cite web |url=http://www.armchairgeneral.com/rkkaww2/formations.htm |title=Formations |access-date=2016-10-19 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161029021231/http://www.armchairgeneral.com/rkkaww2/formations.htm |archive-date=29 October 2016
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
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 [[16th Army (Soviet Union)|16th Army]] in hitting [[Istra, Istrinsky District, Moscow Oblast|Istra]]. Eventually the 5th Army defeated the Germans near [[Zvenigorod]], and the 2nd Guards Cavalry Corps forced itself into the German rear in a daring raid, making further advances possible.<ref>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</ref> In Western Front directives of 6 and 8 January 1942, the 5th Army received orders to first outflank, and then to retake, Mozhaisk by 16 January. The 5th Army, now boasting seven rifle divisions, [[90th Guards Tank Division (1957–1985)|82nd Motorised Rifle Division]], three independent rifle brigades and 20th Tank Brigade, was on the move by mid January, and on 20 January took the town. However Govorov's rifle divisions were falling to below 2,500 each, and the Army
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 [[Gzhatsk]] by 1 April, after which it was to capture [[Vyazma]] in conjunction with the 43rd, 49th, and [[50th Army (Soviet Union)|50th Armies]]. In April 1942 Govorov was posted to command the [[Leningrad Front]],<ref>Erickson, 2003, p.326, 339</ref> and apparently General [[Ivan Fedyuninsky]] took over. Some time after that, [[Yakov Cherevichenko|Y.T. Cherevichenko]] took command.
==On the Offensive==
As part of the [[Soviet Western Front|Western Front]] the 5th Army then took part in the Operation of [[Rzhev]]-[[Vyazma]], including the [[Second Rzhev-Sychevka Offensive]] in November–December 1942. It then fought with the 10th Guards & 33rd Armies in the [[Battle of Smolensk (1943)|Second Battle of Smolensk]], by which time the Army was being commanded by General V.S. Polenov. At a later point, General [[P.G. Shafranov]] held command for a period. For [[Operation Bagration]] of 1944 in [[Belorussia]], 5th Army was part of [[3rd Belorussian Front]]. The 5th Army, now under General [[Nikolai Ivanovich Krylov|N.I. Krylov]], was allocated to the Front's 'Northern Group' alongside 39th Army and a [[Cavalry mechanized group]] made up of 3rd Cavalry and [[4th Mechanized Corps (Soviet Union)|3rd Guards Mechanised Corps]].<ref>John Erickson, Road to Berlin, 1982, p.213</ref>
The Army's path took it through [[Vilnius]], which was cleared on 13 July with the assistance of the Polish underground after a final savage battle in the city centre. On 1 August 1944 the Army consisted of the 45th Rifle Corps (159th, 184th, 338th Rifle Divisions), the 65th Rifle Corps (97th, 144th, 371st RDs), the 72nd Rifle Corps (63rd, 215th, 277th RDs) and a wide array of supporting artillery, armour, and other units.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tashv.nm.ru/BoevojSostavSA/1944/19440801.html |title=Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1 August 1944 |publisher=tasha.nm.ru |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140314115629/http://www.tashv.nm.ru/BoevojSostavSA/1944/19440801.html |archive-date=14 March 2014}}</ref> The Army's final action in Europe was the [[East Prussian Offensive]] of 1945. Units of [[184th Rifle Division]], assigned as part of the 5th Army, were the first Soviet soldiers to reach the prewar frontier on 17 August 1944.<ref>Erickson, Road to Berlin, 1982, p.307–08</ref>
With the other armies of [[3rd Belorussian Front]], 5th Army then took part in the failed [[Gumbinnen Operation]] of October 1944, in which the Soviets were not able to break the German East Prussian defences. In the course of the second East Prussian offensive, in interaction with other armies of the front, the 5th Army destroyed the [[Tilsit]]-[[Insterburg]] and Khalchberg enemy groups and on 23 January occupied [[Insterburg]]. In the closing stage of its European service it participated in the liquidation of the Wehrmacht troops trapped on the [[Sambia Peninsula|Samland]] peninsula, the [[XXVIII Army Corps (Wehrmacht)|XXVIII Corps]].
On 20 April 1945, the 5th Army was transferred from [[Stavka]] VGK reserve to the [[Maritime Group of Forces]], one of the formations which was being sent to the Far East to reinforce Soviet forces there in preparation for the beginning of hostilities against Japan. The MGF was re-designated the [[1st Far East Front]] on 5 August 1945. When the [[Soviet invasion of Manchuria]] commenced, the Army consisted of the [[17th Rifle Corps]] ([[187th Rifle Division|187th]] and [[366th Rifle Division]]s), [[45th Rifle Corps]] ([[157th Rifle Division|157th]], [[159th Rifle Division|159th]], and [[184th Rifle Division]]s), [[65th Rifle Corps]] ([[97th Rifle Division|97th]], [[144th Rifle Division|144th]], 190th, [[371st Rifle Division (Soviet Union)|371st Rifle Divisions]]), 72nd Rifle Corps (63rd, [[215th Rifle Division|215th]], [[277th Rifle Division]]s), the 72nd, 76th, 208th, 210th, and 218th Tank Brigades, the 105th Fortified Area, over 35 artillery brigades and regiments, and other units.<ref>Orbat.com/Niehorster, [http://www.niehorster.org/012_ussr/45-08-08/land/army_05.html 5th Army Order of Battle, 9 August 1945]
== Commanders ==
* Major General [[M.I. Potapov]] (June
* Major General [[Dmitry Lelyushenko]] (
* Major General of Artillery [[Leonid Govorov]] (
* Major General [[Ivan Fedyuninsky]] (25 April
*
* Lieutenant General [[Vitaly Polenov]] (
* Lieutenant General [[Nikolay Krylov (marshal)|Nikolay Krylov]] (
* Lieutenant General [[Pyotr Shafranov]] (
* Colonel General
==Postwar==
[[File:IN Rodionov 03.jpg|thumb|150px|General [[Igor Rodionov]], seen here while serving as Minister of Defence, commanded 5th Army from 1983 to 1985.]]
After the victory over Japan, the 5th Army remained in the Far East, and was the most powerful army in the [[Far East Military District]] throughout the entire postwar period. After the disbandment of the [[9th Mechanised Army]] and the [[25th Army (Soviet Union)|25th Army]] in 1957, 5th Army's composition was supplemented by a whole series of divisions, including the divisions that became, after many redesignations, 277th Motor Rifle Division and 123rd Guards MRD. The [[4th Missile Brigade]] joined the army in 1963.<ref>{{Cite web|title=4th Missile Brigade|url=http://www.ww2.dk/new/army/rbr/4rbr.htm|website=
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 Region]]s 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ww2.dk/new/army/td/77td.htm|title=77th Tank Division|last=Holm|first=Michael|website=
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.<ref>Dmitri Chernov, 'Army Commander's Woes', in Vremya Novostei, 29 November 2000, p.3 via Agency WPS: Defence & Security via Lexis-Nexis.</ref> One regiment at
In 2007 Russian reports described the army as consisting of Headquarters [at Ussuriysk]; the [[81st Guards Motor Rifle Division|81st Guards]] ([[Bikin]]) and [[121st Motor Rifle Division]] (Sibirtsevo), the [[127th Machine Gun Artillery Division|127th]] (Segreevka) and 129th (Barabash) MGADs, the [[130th Machine-Gun Artillery Division]] ([[Lesozavodsk]]), [[20th Guards Rocket Brigade]] (Spassk-Dalny) ([[OTR-21 Tochka]] SSM), 719th Multiple Rocket Launcher Regiment (Pokrovka), 958th Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment, and other smaller combat and support formations.<ref>Far Eastern Military District, {{cite web |url=http://www8.brinkster.com/vad777/russia/grand_force/districts/dvo.htm |title=Dvo |access-date=2008-02-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513075152/http://www8.brinkster.com/vad777/russia/grand_force/districts/dvo.htm |archive-date=13 May 2008
=== Role in the 2022 Invasion of Ukraine ===
In the context of the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]], elements of the 5th Army (including units from the 57th Motor Rifle Brigade and two additional Motor Rifle Regiments) had been deployed to [[Belarus]] and were participating in active operations.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gfsis.org/russian-monitor/view/3121|title = Rondeli Russian Military Digest: Issue 118, 24 January
=== Commanders ===
* [[Nikanor Zakhvatayev]] (December 1945
* [[Ivan Chistyakov]] (19 February 1947
* [[Pyotr Koshevoy]] (20 April 1948
* {{ill|Mikhail Ivanovich Potapov|ru|Потапов, Михаил Иванович|lt=Mikhail Potapov}} (August 1954
* {{ill|Aleksandr Yegorovsky|ru|Егоровский, Александр Александрович}} (16 April 1958
* [[Yakov Repin]] (24 September 1960
* [[Vasily Petrov (marshal)|Vasily Petrov]] (June 1964
* {{ill|Kamil Ganeyev|ru|Ганеев, Камиль Самигуллович}} (22 January 1966
* {{ill|Pyotr Sysoyev|ru|Сысоев, Пётр Иванович}} (19 August 1969
* {{ill|Vladimir Konchits|ru|Кончиц, Владимир Николаевич}} (April 1971
* {{ill|Anatoly Ryakhov|ru|Ряхов, Анатолий Яковлевич}} (7 March 1974
* [[Anatoly Petrovich Smirnov|Anatoly Smirnov]]
* [[Igor Rodionov]] (June 1983
* [[Anatoly Kostenko]] (19 April 1985
* [[Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Yudin|Aleksandr Yudin]] (October 1987
* {{ill|Nikolai Zvinchukov|ru|Звинчуков, Николай Иванович}} (December 1989
* [[Vladimir Yakovlevich Potapov|Vladimir Potapov]] (July 1990
* [[Nikolai Kormiltsev]] (May 1993
* [[Aleksandr Sergeyevich Morozov|Aleksandr Morozov]] (November 1994
*
* [[Aleksandr Vasilyevich Novikov|Aleksandr Novikov]] (August 1999
* [[Aleksandr Stolyarov]] (September 2001
* [[Nikolai Dymov]] (June 2003
* [[Anatoly Sidorov]] (July 2006
* [[Aleksandr Dvornikov]] (June 2008
* [[Andrey Serdyukov]] (January 2011
* [[Aleksey Salmin]] (October 2013
* [[Valery Asapov]] (October 2016
* [[Roman Kutuzov (general)|Roman Kutuzov]] (October 2017
* {{ill|Oleg Tsekov|ru|Цеков, Олег Муссович}} (August 2018
* {{ill|Aleksey Podivilov|ru|Подивилов, Алексей Владимирович}} (18 September 2020
* Pyotr Bolgarev (2022 – 2024)
* Ivan Yeruslanov (2024 – )
==Structure==
*[[81st Guards Rifle Division|57th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade]] ([[Bikin]]);
*[[127th Motor Rifle Division (Russia)|127th Motor Rifle Division]];
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==Notes==
{{Reflist
==References==
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* V.I. Feskov et al., ''The Soviet Army in the Years of the Cold War'', Tomsk University, Tomsk, 2004
* Further Reading (Russian) – [https://web.archive.org/web/20081201082547/http://victory.mil.ru/rkka/units/03/19.html victory.mil.ru]
{{Armies of the Soviet Army}}
{{Armies of the Russian Armed Forces}}
▲{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2013}}
[[Category:Field armies of the Soviet Union|005]]
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