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<h2 id="after-world-war-ii">After World War II</h2> <p>At <a href="/facts/Aftermath_of_World_War_II/htgyL1tJ">the end</a> of <a href="/facts/World_War_II/2efV5L1U">World War II</a> the Red Army had over 500 rifle <a href="/facts/Division_(military)/5T3WumCd">divisions</a> and about a tenth that number of tank formations.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> Their war experience gave the Soviets such faith in tank forces that the infantry force was cut significantly. A total of 130 rifle divisions were disbanded in the Groups of Forces in Eastern Europe in summer 1945, as well as <a href="/facts/2nd_Guards_Airborne_Division/ToKE9xmt">2nd Guards Airborne Division</a>, and by the end of 1946, another 193 rifle divisions ceased to exist.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> Five or more rifle divisions disbanded contributed to the formation of <a href="/facts/NKVD/IA8Nwh1T">NKVD</a> convoy divisions, some used for escorting Japanese <a href="/facts/Prisoners_of_war/X22JC3Fj">prisoners of war</a>. The <a href="/facts/Tank_corps_(Soviet)/Y437VWCo">Tank Corps</a> of the late war period were converted to tank divisions, and from 1957 the rifle divisions were converted to motor rifle divisions (MRDs). MRDs had three motorized rifle <a href="/facts/Regiment/cBBUAaKg">regiments</a> and a tank regiment, for a total of ten motor rifle <a href="/facts/Battalion/AohlXDhb">battalions</a> and six tank battalions; tank divisions had the proportions reversed. </p><p>The Land Forces Main Command was created for the first time in March 1946. <a href="/facts/Marshal_of_the_Soviet_Union/Rkf5Ihqv">Marshal of the Soviet Union</a> <a href="/facts/Georgy_Zhukov/B7FBqGLf">Georgy Zhukov</a> became Chief of the Soviet Ground Forces in March 1946, but was quickly succeeded by <a href="/facts/Ivan_Konev/JBsfwR1f">Ivan Konev</a> in July 1946.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> By September 1946, the army decreased from 5 million soldiers to 2.7 million in the Soviet Union and from 2 million to 1.5 million in Europe.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> Four years later the Main Command was disbanded, an organisational gap that "probably was associated in some manner with the <a href="/facts/Korean_War/Qo93pNhE">Korean War</a>".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> The Main Command was reformed in 1955. On February 24, 1964, the Defense Council of the Soviet Union decided to disband the Ground Forces Main Command, with almost the same wording as in 1950 (the corresponding order of the USSR Minister of Defense on disbandment was signed on March 7, 1964). Its functions were transferred to the General Staff, while the chiefs of the combat arms and specialised forces came under the direct command of the <a href="/facts/Minister_of_Defence_(Soviet_Union)/fC1DgwXw">Minister of Defence</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> The Main Command was then recreated again in November 1967.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> Army General <a href="/facts/Ivan_Pavlovsky_(general)/m0dJAvdj">Ivan Pavlovsky</a> was appointed Commander-in-Chief of Ground Forces with effect from 5 November 1967.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> </p><p>From 1945 to 1948, the <a href="/facts/Soviet_Armed_Forces/w42mNgsQ">Soviet Armed Forces</a> were reduced from about 11.3 million to about 2.8 million men,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a> a demobilisation controlled first, by increasing the number of <a href="/facts/Military_district/PPEhtABJ">military districts</a> to 33, then reduced to 21 in 1946.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a> The personnel strength of the Ground Forces was reduced from 9.8 million to 2.4 million.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a> </p><p>To establish and secure the USSR's eastern European geopolitical interests, Red Army troops who liberated <a href="/facts/Eastern_Europe/f5CDGzNA">eastern Europe</a> from <a href="/facts/National_Socialism/JjsMI4lE">Nazi</a> rule in 1945 remained in place to secure pro-Soviet régimes in Eastern Europe and to protect against attack from Europe. Elsewhere, they may have assisted the <a href="/facts/NKVD/IA8Nwh1T">NKVD</a> in suppressing anti-Soviet resistance in <a href="/facts/Ukrainian_Insurgent_Army/UtLFczvt">Western Ukraine</a> (1941–1955) and the <a href="/facts/Forest_Brothers/vgTvt8q1">Forest Brothers</a> in the three <a href="/facts/Baltic_states/s48uxWb6">Baltic states</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15"><sup>15</sup></a> Soviet troops, including the <a href="/facts/39th_Army_(Soviet_Union)/Tc7Td9dm">39th Army</a>, remained at <a href="/facts/Port_Arthur_naval_base/q0JVXv7g">Port Arthur</a> and <a href="/facts/Dalian/ashJRPp2">Dalian</a> on the northeast Chinese coast until 1955. Control was then handed over to the new Chinese communist government. </p><p>Within the Soviet Union, the troops and formations of the Ground Forces were divided among the military districts. There were 32 of them in 1945. Sixteen districts remained from the mid-1970s to the end of the USSR (see table). Yet, the greatest Soviet Army concentration was in the <a href="/facts/Group_of_Soviet_Forces_in_Germany/GdK0VtNV">Group of Soviet Forces in Germany</a>, which suppressed the anti-Soviet <a href="/facts/Uprising_of_1953_in_East_Germany/jkRwyjTw">Uprising of 1953 in East Germany</a>. East European Groups of Forces were the <a href="/facts/Northern_Group_of_Forces/fBdJuCf2">Northern Group of Forces</a> in Poland, and the <a href="/facts/Southern_Group_of_Forces/UdoKKAMA">Southern Group of Forces</a> in <a href="/facts/Hungary/YRedQLtI">Hungary</a>, which put down the <a href="/facts/Hungarian_Revolution_of_1956/Dtv12syC">Hungarian Revolution of 1956</a>. In 1958, Soviet troops were withdrawn from <a href="/facts/Soviet_occupation_of_Romania/FlGV0hME">Romania</a>. The <a href="/facts/Central_Group_of_Forces/wd9yYaSz">Central Group of Forces</a> in Czechoslovakia was established after <a href="/facts/Warsaw_Pact_invasion_of_Czechoslovakia/BeRhWf5T">Warsaw Pact intervention against the Prague Spring</a> of 1968. In 1969, in the far east of the Soviet Union, the <a href="/facts/Sino-Soviet_border_conflict/e2yeLIxI">Sino-Soviet border conflict</a> (1969) prompted establishment of a 16th military district, the Central Asian Military District, at <a href="/facts/Almaty/Yh24FdEl">Alma-Ata</a>, Kazakhstan.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16"><sup>16</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="cold-war">Cold War</h2> <p>From 1947 to 1989, Western intelligence agencies estimated that the Soviet Ground Forces' strength remained c. 2.8 million to c. 5.3 million men.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:17" href="#fn:17"><sup>17</sup></a> In 1989 the Ground Forces had two million men.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:18" href="#fn:18"><sup>18</sup></a> To maintain those numbers, Soviet law required a three-year military service obligation from every able man of military age, until 1967, when the Ground Forces reduced it to a two-year draft obligation.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:19" href="#fn:19"><sup>19</sup></a> By the 1970s, the change to a two-year system seems to have created the hazing practice known as <i><a href="/facts/Dedovshchina/EMqY9EhP">dedovshchina</a></i>, "rule of the grandfathers", which destroyed the status of most NCOs.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:20" href="#fn:20"><sup>20</sup></a> Instead the Soviet system relied very heavily on junior officers.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:21" href="#fn:21"><sup>21</sup></a> Soviet Armed Forces life could be "grim and dangerous": a Western researcher talking to former Soviet officers was told, in effect that this was because they did not "value human life".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:22" href="#fn:22"><sup>22</sup></a> </p><p>By the middle of the 1980s, the Ground Forces contained <a href="/facts/List_of_Soviet_Army_divisions_1989%25E2%2580%259391/4dr3dsUr">about 210 divisions</a>. About three-quarters were motor rifle divisions and the remainder tank divisions.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:23" href="#fn:23"><sup>23</sup></a> There were also a large number of artillery divisions, separate artillery brigades, engineer formations, and other combat support formations. However, only relatively few formations were fully war ready. By 1983, Soviet divisions were divided into either "Ready" or "Not Ready" categories, each with three subcategories.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:24" href="#fn:24"><sup>24</sup></a> The internal military districts usually contained only one or two fully Ready divisions, with the remainder lower strength formations. The Soviet system anticipated a war preparation period which would bring the strength of the Ground Forces up to about three million.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:25" href="#fn:25"><sup>25</sup></a> </p><p>Soviet planning for most of the <a href="/facts/Cold_War/spJdJQ3q">Cold War</a> period would have seen <a href="/facts/Army_(Soviet_Army)/wQQ5F50n">Armies</a> of four to five divisions operating in <a href="/facts/Front_(Soviet_Army)/C6aXc2L9">Fronts</a> made up of around four armies (and roughly equivalent to Western <a href="/facts/Army_Group/7V8ASpUg">Army Groups</a>). On 8 February 1979, the first of the new High Commands, for the Far East, was created at <a href="/facts/Ulan-Ude/PpqlPSfm">Ulan-Ude</a> in Buryatia under <a href="/facts/Army_General_(Soviet_rank)/vexKx9ra">Army General</a> <a href="/facts/Vasily_Petrov_(marshal)/4oIDIFtI">Vasily Petrov</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:26" href="#fn:26"><sup>26</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:27" href="#fn:27"><sup>27</sup></a> In September 1984, three more were established to control multi-Front operations in Europe (the Western and South-Western Strategic Directions) and at <a href="/facts/Baku/oUVVcRN1">Baku</a> to supervise three southern military districts.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:28" href="#fn:28"><sup>28</sup></a> Western analysts expected these new headquarters to control multiple Fronts in time of war, and usually a Soviet Navy Fleet. </p><p>From the 1950s to the 1980s the branches ("rods") of the Ground Forces included the <a href="/facts/Motor_Rifle_Troops_(Soviet_Union)/MLpVP3PE">Motor Rifle Troops</a>; the <a href="/facts/Soviet_Airborne_Forces/jdteB6E8">Soviet Airborne Forces</a>, from April 1956 to March 1964; Air Assault Troops (Airborne Assault Formations of the Ground Forces of the USSR [ru], from 1968 to August 1990); the <a href="/facts/Russian_Tank_Troops/wvzHgLou">Tank Troops</a>; the Rocket Forces and Artillery [ru] (Ракетные войска и артиллерия СССР, from 1961); <a href="/facts/Army_Aviation/LDYU8sws">Army Aviation</a> (see ru:Армейская авиация Российской Федерации), until December 1990; <a href="/facts/Soviet_Army_Signal_Corps/nkylgjg9">Signals Troops</a>; the <a href="/facts/Engineer_Troops_(Soviet_Union)/1B7FKfQN">Engineer Troops</a>; the Air Defence Troops of the Ground Forces; the Chemical Troops; and the Rear of the Ground Forces.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:29" href="#fn:29"><sup>29</sup></a> </p><p>In 1955, the Soviet Union established the <a href="/facts/Warsaw_Pact/SLEsUSAS">Warsaw Pact</a> with its Eastern European socialist allies, solidifying military coordination between Soviet forces and their socialist counterparts. The Ground Forces created and directed the Eastern European armies in its image for the remainder of the Cold War, shaping them for a potential confrontation with the <a href="/facts/North_Atlantic_Treaty_Organization/dCeTddMY">North Atlantic Treaty Organization</a> (NATO). After 1956, <a href="/facts/Nikita_Khrushchev/SBySdWPf">Nikita Khrushchev</a>, <a href="/facts/General_Secretary_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union/jJD3malu">General Secretary of the Communist Party</a>, reduced the Ground Forces to build up the <a href="/facts/Strategic_Rocket_Forces/HMEx2wvU">Strategic Rocket Forces</a>, emphasizing the armed forces' <a href="/facts/Nuclear_weapon/QVdBcMdm">nuclear</a> capabilities. He removed Marshal <a href="/facts/Georgy_Zhukov/B7FBqGLf">Georgy Zhukov</a> from the <a href="/facts/Politburo/7IsC9LrT">Politburo</a> in 1957 for opposing these reductions in the Ground Forces.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:30" href="#fn:30"><sup>30</sup></a> Nonetheless, Soviet forces possessed too few theater-level nuclear weapons to fulfill war-plan requirements until the mid-1980s.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:31" href="#fn:31"><sup>31</sup></a> The <a href="/facts/General_Staff_of_the_Armed_Forces_of_the_Russian_Federation/g9CXBGh6">General Staff</a> maintained plans to invade Western Europe whose massive scale was only made publicly available after German researchers gained access to files of the East German <a href="/facts/National_People%2527s_Army/TvRsD9PY">National People's Army</a> following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:32" href="#fn:32"><sup>32</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:33" href="#fn:33"><sup>33</sup></a> </p> <h3>Korean War</h3> <p>The Red Army advanced into <a href="/facts/North_Korea/Q41laakP">northern Korea</a> in 1945 after the end of <a href="/facts/World_War_II/2efV5L1U">World War II</a>, with the intention of aiding in the process of rebuilding the country.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:34" href="#fn:34"><sup>34</sup></a> Marshals <a href="/facts/Kirill_Meretskov/0zvK9p5K">Kirill Meretskov</a> and <a href="/facts/Terenty_Shtykov/TCjPUnqX">Terentii Shtykov</a> explained to <a href="/facts/Joseph_Stalin/SHtxGyQn">Joseph Stalin</a> the necessity of Soviet help in building infrastructure and industry in northern Korea.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:35" href="#fn:35"><sup>35</sup></a> Additionally, the Soviets aided in the creation of the <a href="/facts/Korean_People%2527s_Army/DFGFDtm7">North Korean People's Army</a> and <a href="/facts/Korean_People%2527s_Army_Air_and_Anti-Air_Force/FDD1SHuE">Korean People's Air Force</a>. The Soviets believed it would be strategic to the Soviet Union to support Korea's growth directly. When northern Korea eventually wished to invade <a href="/facts/South_Korea/pCobAaVw">South Korea</a> in 1950, <a href="/facts/Kim_Il_Sung/zu8yFT7T">Kim Il Sung</a> traveled to Moscow to gain approval from Stalin. It was granted with full support, leading to the full-scale invasion of South Korea on June 25.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:36" href="#fn:36"><sup>36</sup></a> </p> <h3>Vietnam War</h3> <p>The <a href="/facts/Soviet_Union/m7wWsPto">Soviet Union</a> supplied North Vietnam with medical supplies, arms, tanks, planes, helicopters, artillery, anti-aircraft missiles and other military equipment. Soviet crews fired Soviet-made <a href="/facts/Surface-to-air_missile/2qEW5P07">surface-to-air missiles</a> at U.S. <a href="/facts/F-4_Phantom_II/epGAnaxt">F-4 Phantoms</a>, which were shot down over <a href="/facts/Thanh_H%25C3%25B3a/uT0B0J6q">Thanh Hóa</a> in 1965. Over a dozen Soviet soldiers lost their lives in this conflict. Following the <a href="/facts/Dissolution_of_the_Soviet_Union/Fyn5jw3n">dissolution of the Soviet Union</a> in 1991, <a href="/facts/Russia/jfkCwyxn">Russian Federation</a> officials acknowledged that the Soviet Union had stationed up to 3,000 troops in Vietnam during the war.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:37" href="#fn:37"><sup>37</sup></a> </p> <p>Some Russian sources give more specific numbers: Between 1953 and 1991, the hardware donated by the Soviet Union included 2,000 tanks, 1,700 <a href="/facts/Armoured_personnel_carrier/I5yvRywl">APCs</a>, 7,000 artillery guns, over 5,000 anti-aircraft guns, 158 surface-to-air missile launchers, and 120 helicopters. During the war, the Soviets sent North Vietnam annual arms shipments worth $450 million.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:38" href="#fn:38"><sup>38</sup></a>: 364–371 From July 1965 to the end of 1974, fighting in Vietnam was observed by some 6,500 officers and generals, as well as more than 4,500 soldiers and sergeants of the Soviet Armed Forces. In addition, Soviet military schools and academies began training Vietnamese soldiers—in all more than 10,000 military personnel.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:39" href="#fn:39"><sup>39</sup></a> </p><p>The <a href="/facts/KGB/ommGANo5">KGB</a> had also helped develop the <a href="/facts/Signals_intelligence/Iwzvw6AW">signals intelligence</a> (SIGINT) capabilities of the North Vietnamese, through an operation known as Vostok (also known as Phương Đông, meaning "Orient" and named after the <a href="/facts/Vostok_1/447q95TW">Vostok 1</a>).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:40" href="#fn:40"><sup>40</sup></a> The Vostok program was a <a href="/facts/Counterintelligence/MDAxLaSh">counterintelligence</a> and <a href="/facts/Espionage/oaDJ5fAd">espionage</a> program. These programs were pivotal in detecting and defeating CIA and South Vietnamese commando teams sent into North Vietnam, as they were detected and captured.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:41" href="#fn:41"><sup>41</sup></a> The Soviets helped the <a href="/facts/Ministry_of_Public_Security_(Vietnam)/Y6tUmbHt">Ministry of Public Security</a> recruit foreigners within high-level diplomatic circles among the Western-allies of the US, under a clandestine program known as "B12,MM" which produced thousands of high-level documents for nearly a decade, including targets of B-52 strikes.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:42" href="#fn:42"><sup>42</sup></a> In 1975, the SIGINT services had broken information from Western US-allies in Saigon, determining that the US would not intervene to save South Vietnam from collapse.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:43" href="#fn:43"><sup>43</sup></a> </p> <h3>Soviet-Afghan War</h3> <p>In 1979, the Soviet Union <a href="/facts/Soviet%25E2%2580%2593Afghan_War/nBl7TvtD">invaded Afghanistan</a> to prop up its puppet government, provoking a 10-year <a href="/facts/Afghan_mujahideen/nDVlPBW9">Afghan mujahideen</a> guerrilla resistance.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:44" href="#fn:44"><sup>44</sup></a> Between 850,000 and 1.5 million civilians were killed<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:45" href="#fn:45"><sup>45</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:46" href="#fn:46"><sup>46</sup></a> and millions of Afghans fled the country as refugees, mostly to <a href="/facts/Afghans_in_Pakistan/Hh74HWTp">Pakistan</a> and <a href="/facts/Afghans_in_Iran/smBmEvfe">Iran</a>. </p><p>Prior to the arrival of Soviet troops, the pro-Soviet <a href="/facts/Nur_Mohammad_Taraki/pyzJUUj3">Nur Mohammad Taraki</a> government took power in a 1978 coup and initiated a series of radical modernization reforms throughout the country.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:47" href="#fn:47"><sup>47</sup></a>[<i>self-published source?</i>] Vigorously suppressing any opposition from among the traditional Muslim Afghans, the government arrested thousands and executed as many as 27,000 political prisoners. By April 1979 large parts of the country were in open rebellion and by December the government had lost control of territory outside of the cities.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:48" href="#fn:48"><sup>48</sup></a> In response to Afghan government requests, the Soviet government under leader <a href="/facts/Leonid_Brezhnev/sL5scf4N">Leonid Brezhnev</a> first sent covert troops to advise and support the Afghan government, but, on December 24, 1979, began the first deployment of the <a href="/facts/40th_Army_(Soviet_Union)/odKGrtl2">40th Army</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:49" href="#fn:49"><sup>49</sup></a> Arriving in the capital <a href="/facts/Kabul/tUWN8AN0">Kabul</a> on December 27, they staged a <a href="/facts/Operation_Storm-333/IG1z6UDX">coup</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:50" href="#fn:50"><sup>50</sup></a> killing the president <a href="/facts/Hafizullah_Amin/BYYkIuMT">Hafizullah Amin</a>, and installing a rival socialist <a href="/facts/Babrak_Karmal/04PWSBlL">Babrak Karmal</a>, who was viewed as more moderate and fit to lead the nation.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:51" href="#fn:51"><sup>51</sup></a> </p><p>While the Soviet government initially hoped to secure Afghanistan's towns and road networks, stabilize the communist regime, and withdraw from the region within the span of one year, they experienced major difficulties in the region, due to rough terrain and fierce guerrilla resistance. Soviet presence would reach near 115,000 troops by the mid-1980s, and the complications of the war increased, causing a high amount of military, economic, and political cost.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:52" href="#fn:52"><sup>52</sup></a> After <a href="/facts/General_Secretary_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union/jJD3malu">Soviet general secretary</a> <a href="/facts/Mikhail_Gorbachev/tKxQRaeP">Mikhail Gorbachev</a> realized the economic, diplomatic, and human toll the war was placing on the Soviet Union, he announced the withdrawal of six regiment of troops (about 7,000 men) on 28 July 1986.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:53" href="#fn:53"><sup>53</sup></a> In January 1988 Foreign Minister <a href="/facts/Eduard_Shevardnadze/BxWbkI9j">Eduard Shevardnadze</a> announced that it was hoped that "1988 would be the last year of the Soviet troops stay"; the forces pulled out in the bitter winter cold of January–February 1989. </p> <h4>Military costs</h4> <p>The cost for the military due to the war is estimated to have been roughly 15 billion rubles in 1989. The combat casualties estimates at 30,000–35,000. During 1984–1985, more than 300 aircraft were lost, and thus a significant military cost of the war is attributed to air operations. Since the first year, the government spend roughly 2.5–3.0% of the yearly military budget on funding the war in Afghanistan, increasing steadily in cost until its peak in 1986.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:54" href="#fn:54"><sup>54</sup></a> </p><p>The Soviet Army also suffered from deep losses in morale and public approval due to the conflict and its failure. Many injured and disabled veterans of the war returned to the Soviet Union facing public scrutiny and difficulty re-entering civilian society, creating a new social group known as "<a href="/facts/Afghan%25E2%2580%2593Soviet_War/nBl7TvtD">Afgantsy</a>". These men would become influential in popular culture and politics of the time.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:55" href="#fn:55"><sup>55</sup></a> </p> <h4>Military districts</h4> <p>The extent military districts in 1990 were:<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:56" href="#fn:56"><sup>56</sup></a> </p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Leningrad_Military_District/sp3PgjJ2">Leningrad Military District</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Belorussian_Military_District/GRArMmwg">Belorussian Military District</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Baltic_Military_District/YNz5haTT">Baltic Military District</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Carpathian_Military_District/GXA0duCf">Carpathian Military District</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Kiev_Military_District/QppfmR3D">Kiev Military District</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Odessa_Military_District/22z9oDhw">Odessa Military District</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Moscow_Military_District/pAbwUCJx">Moscow Military District</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Volga-Urals_Military_District/dMvG6p2V">Volga-Urals Military District</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/North_Caucasus_Military_District/cCMxU1sN">North Caucasus Military District</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Transcaucasian_Military_District/VNsL8L1G">Transcaucasian Military District</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Turkestan_Military_District/eHB65GFu">Turkestan Military District</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Siberian_Military_District/uSG6IDVp">Siberian Military District</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Transbaikal_Military_District/2KDvv35A">Transbaikal Military District</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Far_Eastern_Military_District/gmo4QXKX">Far Eastern Military District</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Central_Asian_Military_District/aAA9vJu7">Central Asian Military District</a> (dissolved in 1988 with the Volga and Urals Military Districts merged around 1991)</li></ul> <h2 id="dissolution-of-the-soviet-union">Dissolution of the Soviet Union</h2> <p>From 1985 to 1991, General Secretary Gorbachev attempted to reduce the strain the Soviet Armed Forces placed on the USSR's <a href="/facts/Economy/okLWSsEY">economy</a>. </p><p>Gorbachev slowly reduced the size of the Armed Forces, including through a unilateral force reduction announcement of 500,000 in December 1988.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:57" href="#fn:57"><sup>57</sup></a> A total of 50,000 personnel were to come from Eastern Europe, the forces in Mongolia (totaling five divisions and 75,000 troops) were to be reduced, but the remainder was to come from units inside the Soviet Union. There were major problems encountered in trying to organise the return of 500,000 personnel into civilian life, including where the returned soldiers were to live, housing, jobs, and training assistance. Then the developing withdrawals from <a href="/facts/Czechoslovakia/9A6Kzmr0">Czechoslovakia</a> and <a href="/facts/Hungary/YRedQLtI">Hungary</a> and the changes implicit in the <a href="/facts/Conventional_Forces_in_Europe/995uywFt">Conventional Forces in Europe</a> treaty began to create more disruption. The withdrawals became extremely chaotic; there was significant hardship for officers and their families, and "large numbers of weapons and vast stocks of equipment simply disappeared through theft, misappropriation and the black market."<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:58" href="#fn:58"><sup>58</sup></a> </p><p>In February 1989, Defence Minister <a href="/facts/Dmitri_Yazov/AyHLICV1">Dmitri Yazov</a> outlined five major planned changes in <i><a href="/facts/Izvestiya/DM2qU2QS">Izvestiya</a>,</i> the Soviet official <a href="/facts/Newspaper_of_record/ccA83WD6">newspaper of record</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:59" href="#fn:59"><sup>59</sup></a> First, the combined arms formations, divisions and armies, would be reorganised, and as a result division numbers would be reduced almost by half; second, tank regiments would be removed from all the motor rifle (mechanised infantry) divisions in East Germany and Czechoslovakia, and tank divisions would also lose a tank regiment; air assault and river crossing units would be removed from both Eastern Germany and Czechoslovakia; fourth, defensive systems and units would rise in number under the new divisional organisation; and finally the troop level in the European part of the USSR would drop by 200,000, and by 60,000 in the southern part of the country. A number of motor-rifle formations would be converted into machine gun and artillery forces intended for defensive purposes only. Three-quarters of the troops in Mongolia would be withdrawn and disbanded, including all the air force units there. </p><p>The Armed Forces were extensively involved in the 19–21 August <a href="/facts/1991_Soviet_coup_d%2527%25C3%25A9tat_attempt/IvXGvLdu">1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt</a> to depose President Gorbachev.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:60" href="#fn:60"><sup>60</sup></a> Commanders despatched tanks into Moscow, yet the coup failed. On 8 December 1991, the presidents of <a href="/facts/Russia/jfkCwyxn">Russia</a>, <a href="/facts/Belarus/vweHwgob">Belarus</a>, and <a href="/facts/Ukraine/Qof0uqAj">Ukraine</a> formally dissolved the USSR, and then constituted the <a href="/facts/Commonwealth_of_Independent_States/DqccXsyS">Commonwealth of Independent States</a> (CIS). Soviet President Gorbachev resigned on 25 December 1991; the next day, the Supreme Soviet dissolved itself, officially dissolving the USSR on 26 December 1991. During the next 18 months, inter-republican political efforts to transform the Army of the Soviet Union into the CIS Armed Forces failed; eventually, the forces stationed in the republics formally became the militaries of the respective republican governments. </p><p>After the <a href="/facts/Dissolution_of_the_Soviet_Union/Fyn5jw3n">dissolution of the Soviet Union</a>, the Ground Forces dissolved and the fifteen Soviet <a href="/facts/Successor_state/WSEEnrmp">successor states</a> divided their assets among themselves. The divide mostly occurred along a regional basis, with Soviet soldiers from Russia becoming part of the new <a href="/facts/Russian_Ground_Forces/AUVFgR2L">Russian Ground Forces</a>, while Soviet soldiers originating from <a href="/facts/Kazakhstan/Vfs8NI6e">Kazakhstan</a> became part of the new <a href="/facts/Kazakh_Armed_Forces/sYNjGCyB">Kazakh Armed Forces</a>. As a result, the bulk of the Soviet Ground Forces, including most of the <a href="/facts/Scud/Tch446nW">Scud</a> and <a href="/facts/Scaleboard/fPCeo4PG">Scaleboard</a> <a href="/facts/Surface-to-surface_missile/T6C0a3q7">surface-to-surface missile</a> (SSM) forces, became incorporated in the <a href="/facts/Russian_Ground_Forces/AUVFgR2L">Russian Ground Forces</a>. 1992 estimates showed five SSM brigades with 96 missile vehicles in <a href="/facts/Belarus/vweHwgob">Belarus</a> and 12 SSM brigades with 204 missile vehicles in <a href="/facts/Ukraine/Qof0uqAj">Ukraine</a>, compared to 24 SSM brigades with over 900 missile vehicles under Russian Ground Forces' control, some in other former Soviet republics.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:61" href="#fn:61"><sup>61</sup></a> By the end of 1992, most remnants of the Soviet Army in former Soviet Republics had disbanded or dispersed. Forces garrisoned in Eastern Europe (including the <a href="/facts/Baltic_states/s48uxWb6">Baltic states</a>) gradually returned home between 1992 and 1994. This <a href="/facts/List_of_Soviet_Army_divisions_1989%25E2%2580%259391/4dr3dsUr">list of Soviet Army divisions</a> sketches some of the fates of the individual parts of the Ground Forces. </p><p>In mid-March 1992, Russian President <a href="/facts/Boris_Yeltsin/I8Ktypjs">Boris Yeltsin</a> appointed himself as the new Russian minister of defence, marking a crucial step in the creation of the new <a href="/facts/Russian_Armed_Forces/3MrStW51">Russian Armed Forces</a>, comprising the bulk of what was left of the Soviet Armed Forces. The last vestiges of the old Soviet command structure were finally dissolved in June 1993, when the paper <a href="/facts/Commonwealth_of_Independent_States/DqccXsyS">Commonwealth of Independent States</a> Military Headquarters was reorganized as a staff for facilitating CIS military cooperation.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:62" href="#fn:62"><sup>62</sup></a> </p><p>In the next few years, the former Soviet Ground Forces withdrew from central and Eastern Europe (including the <a href="/facts/Baltic_states/s48uxWb6">Baltic states</a>), as well as from the newly independent post-Soviet republics of <a href="/facts/Azerbaijan/Ho5joRTJ">Azerbaijan</a>, <a href="/facts/Armenia/t3GQx9sU">Armenia</a>, <a href="/facts/Uzbekistan/o8wfw2xR">Uzbekistan</a>, <a href="/facts/Kazakhstan/Vfs8NI6e">Kazakhstan</a>, <a href="/facts/Turkmenistan/YqJ4NvjU">Turkmenistan</a> and <a href="/facts/Kyrgyzstan/MSNdCp8u">Kyrgyzstan</a>. Now-<a href="/facts/Russian_Ground_Forces/AUVFgR2L">Russian Ground Forces</a> remained in <a href="/facts/Tajikistan/xLLXqHEJ">Tajikistan</a>, <a href="/facts/Transcaucasus_Military_District/VNsL8L1G">Georgia</a> and <a href="/facts/Russian_military_presence_in_Transnistria/EzmMYdo9">Transnistria</a> (in <a href="/facts/Moldova/qGBNGewt">Moldova</a>). </p> <h3>Post-dissolution influence</h3> <p>After the <a href="/facts/Dissolution_of_the_Soviet_Union/Fyn5jw3n">dissolution of the Soviet Union</a> in 1991, a considerable number of weapons were transferred to the national forces of emerging states on the periphery of the former Soviet Union, such as <a href="/facts/Armenia/t3GQx9sU">Armenia</a>, <a href="/facts/Azerbaijan/Ho5joRTJ">Azerbaijan</a> and <a href="/facts/Tajikistan/xLLXqHEJ">Tajikistan</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:63" href="#fn:63"><sup>63</sup></a> Similarly, weapons and other military equipment were also left behind in the <a href="/facts/Soviet_withdrawal_from_Afghanistan/PvAMMNAI">Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan</a> in 1989.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:64" href="#fn:64"><sup>64</sup></a> Some of these items were sold on the black market or through weapons merchants, whereof, in turn, some ended up in <a href="/facts/Terrorist/DHJGPJ6P">terrorist</a> organizations such as <a href="/facts/Al-Qaeda/CIQSk3D7">al-Qaeda</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:65" href="#fn:65"><sup>65</sup></a> A 1999 book argued that the greatest opportunity for terrorist organizations to procure weapons was in the former Soviet Union.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:66" href="#fn:66"><sup>66</sup></a> </p><p>In 2007, the <a href="/facts/World_Bank/hIH9uUb2">World Bank</a> estimated that out of the 500 million total firearms available worldwide, 100 million were of the <a href="/facts/Kalashnikov_family/xaKdrwo4">Kalashnikov family</a>, and 75 million were <a href="/facts/AKM/DhGVMIud">AKMs</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:67" href="#fn:67"><sup>67</sup></a> However, only about 5 million of these were manufactured in the former USSR.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:68" href="#fn:68"><sup>68</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="equipment">Equipment</h2> <p class="note">Further information: <a href="/facts/List_of_equipment_of_the_Soviet_Ground_Forces/Ys1Rzutt">List of equipment of the Soviet Ground Forces</a> and <a href="/facts/List_of_tanks_of_the_Soviet_Union/QaeedTGL">list of tanks of the Soviet Union</a></p> <p>In 1990 and 1991, the Soviet Ground Forces were estimated to possess the following equipment. The 1991 estimates are drawn from the <a href="/facts/IISS/tAeBSPd9">IISS</a> Military Balance and follow the <a href="/facts/Conventional_Forces_in_Europe/995uywFt">Conventional Forces in Europe</a> data exchange which revealed figures of November 1990. </p> <ul><li>about 54,400 <a href="/facts/Main_battle_tank/aJz3U1Ta">main battle tanks</a> as of 1 June 1991, including 5,400 <a href="/facts/T-80/G1MEC5nN">T-80</a>/-M 9, 9,000 <a href="/facts/T-72/UC9ClUIh">T-72</a>L/M, 4,900 <a href="/facts/T-64/hVygVgCu">T-64</a>, 8,500 <a href="/facts/T-62/R2D7Sfoy">T-62</a>, 10,600 <a href="/facts/T-54%2f55/pIJQEp3W">T-54/55</a>, and a further 16,000 in store east of the <a href="/facts/Ural_Mountains/gzNoPkt6">Ural Mountains</a> beyond the <a href="/facts/Conventional_Forces_in_Europe/995uywFt">Conventional Forces in Europe</a> treaty area, types unknown.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:69" href="#fn:69"><sup>69</sup></a></li> <li>About 1,000 <a href="/facts/PT-76/CBFvm2x9">PT-76</a> light amphibious tanks as of 1 June 1991, including about 410 inside the CFE treaty area.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:70" href="#fn:70"><sup>70</sup></a></li> <li>over 50,000 <a href="/facts/Armored_personnel_carrier/I5yvRywl">armored personnel carriers</a> as of 1 June 1991, including <a href="/facts/BTR-80/xyDjBeok">BTR-80</a>, <a href="/facts/BTR-70/XMdUgDhI">BTR-70</a>, <a href="/facts/BTR-60/2Kpvyd6E">BTR-60</a>, <a href="/facts/BTR-D/QYW5FbfY">BTR-D</a>, <a href="/facts/BTR-50/hMTc8pD3">BTR-50</a>, <a href="/facts/BTR-152/urpS0a98">BTR-152</a>, and 4,500 <a href="/facts/MT-LB/ornRRs3L">MT-LB</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:71" href="#fn:71"><sup>71</sup></a></li> <li>about 28,000 armoured infantry fighting vehicles (AIFV), including <a href="/facts/BMP-1/S5ul6Gz9">BMP-1</a>, <a href="/facts/BMP-2/FdhjYUzb">BMP-2</a>, <a href="/facts/BMP-3/b6B0gRuk">BMP-3</a>, about a total of 3,000 <a href="/facts/BMD-1/nJaQCgSk">BMD-1</a>, <a href="/facts/BMD-2/HUc4H6A7">BMD-2</a>, and <a href="/facts/BMD-3/kCjlgXr1">BMD-3</a>. Over 16,500 AIFV were inside the CFE treaty area.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:72" href="#fn:72"><sup>72</sup></a></li> <li>8,000 reconnaissance vehicles as of 1 June 1991 including 2,500 <a href="/facts/BRDM-2/Jh1YMhaX">BRDM-2</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:73" href="#fn:73"><sup>73</sup></a></li> <li>33,000 towed artillery pieces, including 4,379 <a href="/facts/122_mm_howitzer_2A18_(D-30)/Tx0g7DnU">D-30</a>, 1,175 <a href="/facts/130_mm_towed_field_gun_M1954_(M-46)/u9feJY4F">M-46</a>, 1,700 <a href="/facts/152_mm_towed_gun-howitzer_M1955_(D-20)/TLQCYoL6">D-20</a>, 598 <a href="/facts/152_mm_howitzer_2A65/grpaIKCN">2A65</a>, 1,007 <a href="/facts/152_mm_gun_2A36/Mjtff2o9">2A36</a>, 857 <a href="/facts/152_mm_howitzer_M1943_(D-1)/B47GwUpT">D-1</a>, 1,693 <a href="/facts/152_mm_howitzer-gun_M1937_(ML-20)/cjxBb2LF">ML-20</a>, 1,200 <a href="/facts/122_mm_howitzer_M1938_(M-30)/9PmIkc0T">M-30</a>, 478 <a href="/facts/203_mm_howitzer_M1931_(B-4)/SSqS4Vr4">B-4</a> howitzers and <a href="/facts/D-74_122_mm_field_gun/pb8U9PKC">D-74</a>, <a href="/facts/85_mm_anti-tank_gun_D-48/VDa6edjQ">D-48</a>, <a href="/facts/85_mm_divisional_gun_D-44/zIQo4pWY">D-44</a>, <a href="/facts/100_mm_anti-tank_gun_T-12/E6hYgb5E">T-12</a>, and <a href="/facts/100_mm_field_gun_M1944_(BS-3)/oTu82pmJ">BS-3</a> field/anti-tank guns.</li> <li>about 9,000 self-propelled howitzers, including 2,751 <a href="/facts/2S1_Gvozdika/7DLFvqS1">2S1</a>, 2,325 <a href="/facts/2S3_Akatsiya/4pujNHkE">2S3</a>, 507 <a href="/facts/2S5_Giatsint-S/p4QbykE6">2S5</a>, 347 <a href="/facts/2S7_Pion/YqNzmCv7">2S7</a>, 430 <a href="/facts/2S4_Tyulpan/K6vqQMDr">2S4</a>, 20 <a href="/facts/2S19_Msta/6RPDR6PG">2S19</a>, 108 <a href="/facts/152_mm_SpGH_DANA/uYtSqYCf">152 mm SpGH DANA</a>, <a href="/facts/ASU-85/jsQEGSkV">ASU-85</a> (including for <a href="/facts/Soviet_Airborne_Forces/jdteB6E8">Soviet Airborne Forces</a>), and <a href="/facts/2S9_Nona/hSLq5KYE">2S9</a>.</li> <li>8,000 rocket artillery pieces, of which about 2,330 were inside the CFE treaty area,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:74" href="#fn:74"><sup>74</sup></a> including <a href="/facts/BM-21/M17BFqYD">BM-21</a>, 818 <a href="/facts/BM-27/9pIL58Xn">BM-27</a>, 123 <a href="/facts/BM-30/cH63EfBp">BM-30</a>, 18 <a href="/facts/BM-24/rh2SjapU">BM-24</a>, <a href="/facts/TOS-1/n434Ablu">TOS-1</a>, <a href="/facts/BM-25_(MRL)/bDgQJWqm">BM-25</a>, and <a href="/facts/BM-14/kPT21xfH">BM-14</a> multiple rocket launchers.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Scud/Tch446nW">Scud</a>, <a href="/facts/OTR-21_Tochka/hS6ydqWn">OTR-21 Tochka</a>, <a href="/facts/OTR-23_Oka/2Umop8TB">OTR-23 Oka</a>, and <a href="/facts/9K52_Luna-M/HAr8nzAg">9K52 Luna-M</a> tactical ballistic missiles.</li> <li>1,350 <a href="/facts/2K11_Krug/NWmBo8ob">2K11 Krug</a>, 850 <a href="/facts/2K12_Kub/to9MIhGA">2K12 Kub</a>, 950 <a href="/facts/9K33_Osa/ksJEG3Mx">9K33 Osa</a>, 430 <a href="/facts/9K31_Strela-1/pTXPJN9y">9K31 Strela-1</a>, 300 <a href="/facts/Buk_missile_system/YMqdyQBq">Buk missile system</a>, 70 <a href="/facts/S-300_(missile)/Xu3E0f6M">S-300 (missile)</a>, 860 <a href="/facts/9K35_Strela-10/DIWmGxtG">9K35 Strela-10</a>, 20 <a href="/facts/Tor_missile_system/upl9zkYl">Tor missile system</a>, 130 <a href="/facts/9K22_Tunguska/71PW7QBe">9K22 Tunguska</a>, <a href="/facts/ZSU-23-4/YTMFooEE">ZSU-23-4</a>, and <a href="/facts/ZSU-57-2/GhTlU3CA">ZSU-57-2</a> army air defense vehicles.</li> <li>12,000 towed anti-aircraft guns estimated in 1989.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:75" href="#fn:75"><sup>75</sup></a> Types included <a href="/facts/ZU-23/d9nNuP04">ZU-23</a>, <a href="/facts/ZPU/2Hxbl8E3">ZPU</a>-1/2/4, 57mm <a href="/facts/AZP_S-60/0vSJj4kH">AZP S-60</a>, <a href="/facts/25_mm_automatic_air_defense_gun_M1940_(72-K)/pEfT4RnV">25mm 72-K</a>, <a href="/facts/37_mm_automatic_air_defense_gun_M1939_(61-K)/CBg6ajcw">61-K</a>, <a href="/facts/85_mm_air_defense_gun_M1939_(52-K)/gBxgbT6D">52-K</a>, and <a href="/facts/100_mm_air_defense_gun_KS-19/3bztpPKH">KS-19</a>.</li> <li>4,500 helicopters as of 1 June 1991, including some 2,050 armed helicopters, of which 340 were reported as <a href="/facts/Mil_Mi-8/LmhRy60L">Mil Mi-8</a>; 290 <a href="/facts/Mil_Mi-17/hJpHCqoW">Mil Mi-17</a>; 1,420 <a href="/facts/Mil_Mi-24/5RDHFb0b">Mil Mi-24</a>; some experimental <a href="/facts/Mil_Mi-28/hYrJ2D67">Mil Mi-28</a> "Havocs;" some 1,510 transport, of which 450 were reported as <a href="/facts/Mil_Mi-6/Q8uUnp5B">Mil Mi-6</a>; 1,000 Mi-8; 50 <a href="/facts/Mil_Mi-26/H4CmVsX5">Mil Mi-26</a> heavy; and 10 <a href="/facts/Mil_Mi-10/Rt9wMgmp">Mil Mi-10</a> heavy; 200 Mi-8 <a href="/facts/Electronic_warfare/c6XGz9y0">electronic warfare</a> helicopters, including "Hip-G" and "Hip-K"; 680 general-purpose helicopters including 600 <a href="/facts/Mil_Mi-2/V7hVl7R5">Mil Mi-2</a> and 80 <a href="/facts/Mil_Mi-8/LmhRy60L">Mil Mi-8</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:76" href="#fn:76"><sup>76</sup></a></li></ul> <p>The <a href="/facts/Stockholm_International_Peace_Research_Institute/JM5q7T76">Stockholm International Peace Research Institute</a> reported in 1992 that the USSR had previously had over 20,000 tanks, 30,000 armoured combat vehicles, at least 13,000 artillery pieces, and just under 1,500 helicopters.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:77" href="#fn:77"><sup>77</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="commanders-in-chief-of-the-soviet-ground-forces">Commanders-in-Chief of the Soviet Ground Forces</h2> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Commander-in-Chief_of_the_Russian_Ground_Forces/XSdFfK1W">Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces</a></p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Georgy_Zhukov/B7FBqGLf">Georgy Zhukov</a>, from 21 March 1946<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:78" href="#fn:78"><sup>78</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Ivan_Konev/JBsfwR1f">Ivan Konev</a>, 1946–50</li> <li>position of commander of ground forces did not exist from 1950 to 1955</li> <li><a href="/facts/Ivan_Konev/JBsfwR1f">Ivan Konev</a>, 1955–56</li> <li><a href="/facts/Rodion_Malinovsky/uxwRRk7N">Rodion Malinovsky</a>, 1956–57</li> <li><a href="/facts/Andrei_Grechko/ozAmHzWg">Andrei Grechko</a>, 1957–60</li> <li><a href="/facts/Vasily_Chuikov/5DXq0P7o">Vasily Chuikov</a>, 1960–64</li> <li>position of commander of ground forces did not exist from 1964 to 1967</li> <li><a href="/facts/Ivan_Pavlovsky/oBLjXhaa">Ivan Pavlovsky</a>, 1967–80</li> <li><a href="/facts/Vasily_Petrov_(marshal)/4oIDIFtI">Vasiliy Petrov</a>, 1980–85</li> <li><a href="/facts/Yevgeny_Ivanovsky/hr0a9qcS">Yevgeny Ivanovsky</a>, 1985–89</li> <li><a href="/facts/Valentin_Varennikov/pTN6h0PC">Valentin Varennikov</a>, January 1989 until 30 August 1991</li> <li><a href="/facts/Vladimir_Semyonov_(general)/B3GC8X5W">Vladimir Semyonov</a> became Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces on 31 August 1991, and remained in that post until 30 November 1996.</li></ul> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Motor_Rifle_Troops_(Soviet_Union)/MLpVP3PE">Motor Rifle Troops (Soviet Union)</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Formations_of_the_Soviet_Army/rPQ8znEl">Formations of the Soviet Army</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Military_history_of_the_Soviet_Union/Um5IaNbS">Military history of the Soviet Union</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Military_ranks_of_the_Soviet_Union/apttSq8L">Military ranks of the Soviet Union</a></li></ul> <h2 id="notes">Notes</h2> <h3>Bibliography</h3> <ul><li>Feskov, V.I.; K.A. Kalashnikov; V.I. Golikov (2004). <i>The Soviet Army in the Years of the 'Cold War' (1945–1991)</i>. <a href="/facts/Tomsk/qyPfDoQQ">Tomsk</a>: Tomsk University Press. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 5-7511-1819-7.</li> <li>Feskov, V.I.; Golikov, V.I.; Kalashnikov, K.A.; Slugin, S.A. (2013). <a href="http://vital.lib.tsu.ru/vital/access/manager/Repository/vtls:000479812?f0=sm_creator%3A%22%D0%93%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%2C+%D0%92%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B9+%D0%98%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87%22"><i>Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской</i></a> [<i>The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II: From the Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land Forces</i>] (in Russian). Tomsk: Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 9785895035306.</li> <li>Hamm (2011). <a href="https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/crimes-committed-terrorist-groups-theory-research-and-prevention">"Crimes Committed by Terrorist Groups: Theory, Research and Prevention | Office of Justice Programs"</a>. <i>www.ojp.gov</i>. Retrieved 13 March 2022.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Beatrice_Heuser/Frfp5q6N">Heuser, Beatrice</a>, 'Warsaw Pact Military Doctrines in the 1970s and 1980s: Findings in the East German Archives,' Comparative Strategy, October–December 1993, pp. 437–457.</li> <li>International Institute for Strategic Studies (1992). <i>The Military Balance 1992–93</i>. Tavistock Street, London: <a href="/facts/Brassey%2527s/cWYlYlG3">Brassey's</a> for the IISS.</li> <li>International Institute for Strategic Studies (1991). <i>The Military Balance 1991-92</i>. Tavistock Street, London: <a href="/facts/Brassey%2527s/cWYlYlG3">Brassey's</a> for the IISS. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-08-041324-2.</li> <li>International Institute for Strategic Studies (1987). <i>The Military Balance 1987-88</i>. Tavistock Street, London: <a href="/facts/Brassey%2527s/cWYlYlG3">Brassey's</a> for the IISS.</li> <li>Isby, David C. (1988). <i>Weapons and Tactics of the Soviet Army</i>. Jane's Publishing Company.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Jack_F._Matlock_Jr./Jk5QVlxs">Matlock, Jack F.</a> (1995). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=l-9oAAAAMAAJ"><i>Autopsy on an Empire: The American Ambassador's Account of the Collapse of the Soviet Union</i></a>. Random House. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-679-41376-9.</li> <li><a href="/facts/William_Eldridge_Odom/J1f4zYGR">Odom, William E.</a> (1998). <i>The Collapse of the Soviet Military</i>. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.</li> <li>Orr, Michael (2003). <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20101219112430/http://www.da.mod.uk/colleges/arag/document-listings/russian/D67">The Russian Ground Forces and Reform 1992–2002</a> (Report). <a href="/facts/Conflict_Studies_Research_Centre/yoIjkjDq">Conflict Studies Research Centre</a>. D67. Archived from <a href="http://www.da.mod.uk/colleges/arag/document-listings/russian/D67">the original</a> on 19 December 2010. Retrieved 9 September 2010.</li> <li>Schofield, Carey (1993). <i>The Russian Elite: inside Spetsnaz and the Airborne Forces</i>. Greenhill Books/Lionel Leventhal, Limited. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 9781853671555.</li> <li>Schofield, Carey (1991). <i>Inside the Soviet Army</i>. London: Headline Book Publishing PLC. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-7472-0418-7.</li> <li>Scott, Harriet Fast; Scott, William Fontaine (1979). <a href="https://archive.org/details/armedforcesofuss00scot/"><i>The armed forces of the USSR</i></a>. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. p. <a href="https://archive.org/details/armedforcesofuss00scot/page/142">142</a>. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-89158-276-2.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Viktor_Suvorov/jcPKoRss">Suvorov, Viktor</a> (1982). <i><a href="/facts/Inside_the_Soviet_Army/Pm83B1uC">Inside the Soviet Army</a></i>. <a href="/facts/Macmillan_Publishers/enNEBMM2">MacMillan</a>.</li> <li>Tsouras, Peter G. (1994). <i>Changing Orders: The Evolution of the World's Armies, 1945 to the Present</i>. New York: Facts on File.</li> <li>Tsouras, Vladyslav B. (2024). <i>Red Alert: Structure of Soviet Infantry Regiment</i>. New York: Safar Publishing on File.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Mark_Urban/2h4x9yzb">Urban, Mark L.</a> (1985). <i>Soviet land power</i>. London: Ian Allan. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-7110-1442-8.</li> <li>Zickel, Raymond E; Keefe, Eugene K (1991). <a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/90025756/"><i>Soviet Union: a country study</i></a>. Washington, D.C.: Library Of Congress. Federal Research Division. For sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O.</li></ul> <h3>Further reading</h3> <ul><li>Roy Allison, "Military Forces in the Soviet Successor States," <a href="/facts/International_Institute_for_Strategic_Studies/tAeBSPd9">International Institute for Strategic Studies</a>, London, 1993.</li> <li>Durie, William (2012). <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/978161722"><i>The British Garrison Berlin 1945 - 1994: nowhere to go ... a pictorial historiography of the British Military occupation / presence in Berlin</i></a>. Berlin: Vergangenheitsverlag (de). <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-3-86408-068-5. <a href="/facts/OCLC_(identifier)/Yqad8waq">OCLC</a> <a href="https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/978161722">978161722</a>.</li> <li>David M. Glantz (2010) The Development of the Soviet and Russian Armies in Context, 1946–2008: A Chronological and Topical Outline, The Journal of Slavic Military Studies, Volume 23, No.1, 2010, 27–235, DOI: 10.1080/13518040903578429. This chronological and topical outline describes the institutional and doctrinal evolution of the Soviet and Russian Armies from 1946 through 2009 within the broad context of vital political, economic, and social developments and a wide range of important international and national occurrences. Its intent is to foster further informed discussion of the subject. Each of the article's sub-sections portrays military developments in the Soviet or Russian Armies during one of the eight postwar periods Soviet and Russian military scholars, themselves, routinely identify as distinct stages in the development and evolution of their Armed Forces.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Andrei_Grechko/ozAmHzWg">Andrei Grechko</a> (1977). <i><a href="https://archive.org/details/armedforcesussrgrechko">The Armed Forces of the Soviet Union</a></i>. English-language Soviet book put out by <a href="/facts/Progress_Publishers/fm0JD1sq">Progress Publishers</a>.</li> <li>A.Y. Kheml (1972). <i><a href="https://archive.org/details/educationofthesovietsoldier">Education of the Soviet Soldier: Party-Political Work in the Soviet Armed Forces</a></i>. English-language Soviet book put out by <a href="/facts/Progress_Publishers/fm0JD1sq">Progress Publishers</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li>Central Intelligence Agency (November 1982). <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150101001019/http://www.foia.cia.gov/sites/default/files/document_conversions/1700321/1982-11-01a.pdf">"The Readiness of Soviet Ground Forces, Interagency Intelligence Memorandum 82-10012"</a> (PDF). Archived from <a href="https://www.foia.cia.gov/sites/default/files/document_conversions/1700321/1982-11-01a.pdf">the original</a> (PDF) on 1 January 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2022.</li> <li><a href="http://www.opoccuu.com/sa69.htm">Soviet Army rank insignia</a></li> <li><a href="https://archive.org/details/ASafeguardOfPeace"><i>A Safeguard of Peace. Soviet Armed Forces: History, Foundations, Mission</i></a></li> <li><a href="http://www.ww2.dk/new/newindex.htm">Soviet Armed Forces 1945–1991</a></li> <li><a href="https://paris1814.com/tankmuseum/uniform">WW2 Soviet Army tank crew uniform and insignia</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Thomas, Nigel (20 January 2013). World War II Soviet Armed Forces (3): 1944–45. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84908-635-6. <a href="978-1-84908-635-6" target="_blank">978-1-84908-635-6</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>For example, see FM 100-2-1 The Soviet Army: Operations and Tactics <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"Советская Армия". The Great Russian Encyclopedia (in Russian). 21 February 2024. Archived from the original on 20 January 2025. Retrieved 21 April 2025. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20250120235104/https://bigenc.ru/c/sovetskaia-armiia-5d7517" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20250120235104/https://bigenc.ru/c/sovetskaia-armiia-5d7517</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Urban 1985. - Urban, Mark L. (1985). Soviet land power. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-1442-8. <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Feskov et al 2013, pp. 146, 147. - Feskov, V.I.; Golikov, V.I.; Kalashnikov, K.A.; Slugin, S.A. (2013). Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской [The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II: From the Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land Forces] (in Russian). Tomsk: Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing. ISBN 9785895035306. <a href="http://vital.lib.tsu.ru/vital/access/manager/Repository/vtls:000479812?f0=sm_creator%3A%22%D0%93%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%2C+%D0%92%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B9+%D0%98%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87%22" target="_blank">http://vital.lib.tsu.ru/vital/access/manager/Repository/vtls:000479812?f0=sm_creator%3A%22%D0%93%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%2C+%D0%92%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B9+%D0%98%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87%22</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Feskov et al 2013, p. 119. - Feskov, V.I.; Golikov, V.I.; Kalashnikov, K.A.; Slugin, S.A. (2013). Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской [The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II: From the Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land Forces] (in Russian). Tomsk: Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing. ISBN 9785895035306. <a href="http://vital.lib.tsu.ru/vital/access/manager/Repository/vtls:000479812?f0=sm_creator%3A%22%D0%93%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%2C+%D0%92%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B9+%D0%98%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87%22" target="_blank">http://vital.lib.tsu.ru/vital/access/manager/Repository/vtls:000479812?f0=sm_creator%3A%22%D0%93%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%2C+%D0%92%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B9+%D0%98%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87%22</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>P. Leffler, Melvyn (1 March 1985). "Strategy, Diplomacy, and the Cold War: The United States, Turkey, and NATO, 1945–1952". The Journal of American History. 71 (4). Oxford University Press: 811. doi:10.2307/1888505. JSTOR 1888505. <a href="/wiki/Melvyn_P._Leffler" target="_blank">/wiki/Melvyn_P._Leffler</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Scott & Scott 1979, p. 142. - Scott, Harriet Fast; Scott, William Fontaine (1979). The armed forces of the USSR. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-89158-276-2. <a href="https://archive.org/details/armedforcesofuss00scot/" target="_blank">https://archive.org/details/armedforcesofuss00scot/</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Kormiltsev, Nikolai (2005). "The main command of the Ground Forces: history and modernity". Military History. No. 7. pp. 3–8. <a href="/wiki/Nikolai_Kormiltsev" target="_blank">/wiki/Nikolai_Kormiltsev</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Tsouras 1994, pp. 121, 172. - Tsouras, Peter G. (1994). Changing Orders: The Evolution of the World's Armies, 1945 to the Present. New York: Facts on File. <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Feskov et al 2013, p. 119. - Feskov, V.I.; Golikov, V.I.; Kalashnikov, K.A.; Slugin, S.A. (2013). Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской [The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II: From the Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land Forces] (in Russian). Tomsk: Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing. ISBN 9785895035306. <a href="http://vital.lib.tsu.ru/vital/access/manager/Repository/vtls:000479812?f0=sm_creator%3A%22%D0%93%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%2C+%D0%92%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B9+%D0%98%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87%22" target="_blank">http://vital.lib.tsu.ru/vital/access/manager/Repository/vtls:000479812?f0=sm_creator%3A%22%D0%93%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%2C+%D0%92%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B9+%D0%98%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87%22</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>Odom 1998, p. 39. - Odom, William E. (1998). The Collapse of the Soviet Military. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>Scott & Scott 1979, p. 176. - Scott, Harriet Fast; Scott, William Fontaine (1979). The armed forces of the USSR. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-89158-276-2. <a href="https://archive.org/details/armedforcesofuss00scot/" target="_blank">https://archive.org/details/armedforcesofuss00scot/</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>Armed Forces of the Russian Federation – Land Forces, Agency ru:Voeninform of the Defence Ministry of the Russian Federation (2007) p. 14 <a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voeninform" target="_blank">https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voeninform</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:15"><p>Feskov et al 2013, p. 99. - Feskov, V.I.; Golikov, V.I.; Kalashnikov, K.A.; Slugin, S.A. (2013). Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской [The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II: From the Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land Forces] (in Russian). Tomsk: Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing. ISBN 9785895035306. <a href="http://vital.lib.tsu.ru/vital/access/manager/Repository/vtls:000479812?f0=sm_creator%3A%22%D0%93%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%2C+%D0%92%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B9+%D0%98%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87%22" target="_blank">http://vital.lib.tsu.ru/vital/access/manager/Repository/vtls:000479812?f0=sm_creator%3A%22%D0%93%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%2C+%D0%92%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B9+%D0%98%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87%22</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:16"><p>Scott & Scott 1979, p. 176. - Scott, Harriet Fast; Scott, William Fontaine (1979). The armed forces of the USSR. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-89158-276-2. <a href="https://archive.org/details/armedforcesofuss00scot/" target="_blank">https://archive.org/details/armedforcesofuss00scot/</a> <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:17"><p>Odom 1998, p. 39. - Odom, William E. (1998). The Collapse of the Soviet Military. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. <a href="#fnref:17" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:18"><p>Zickel & Keefe 1991, p. 705. - Zickel, Raymond E; Keefe, Eugene K (1991). Soviet Union: a country study. Washington, D.C.: Library Of Congress. Federal Research Division. <a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/90025756/" target="_blank">https://www.loc.gov/item/90025756/</a> <a href="#fnref:18" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:19"><p>Scott & Scott 1979, p. 305. - Scott, Harriet Fast; Scott, William Fontaine (1979). The armed forces of the USSR. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-89158-276-2. <a href="https://archive.org/details/armedforcesofuss00scot/" target="_blank">https://archive.org/details/armedforcesofuss00scot/</a> <a href="#fnref:19" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:20"><p>Odom 1998, pp. 47–48, 286–289. - Odom, William E. (1998). The Collapse of the Soviet Military. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. <a href="#fnref:20" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:21"><p>Odom 1998, pp. 290–291. - Odom, William E. (1998). The Collapse of the Soviet Military. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. <a href="#fnref:21" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:22"><p>Odom 1998, p. 48. - Odom, William E. (1998). The Collapse of the Soviet Military. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. <a href="#fnref:22" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:23"><p>Orr 2003, p. 1. - Orr, Michael (2003). The Russian Ground Forces and Reform 1992–2002 (Report). Conflict Studies Research Centre. D67. Archived from the original on 19 December 2010. Retrieved 9 September 2010. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20101219112430/http://www.da.mod.uk/colleges/arag/document-listings/russian/D67" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20101219112430/http://www.da.mod.uk/colleges/arag/document-listings/russian/D67</a> <a href="#fnref:23" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:24"><p>Defense Intelligence Agency (6 September 1983). "Warsaw Pact: Division Categorization DIA IAPPR 102-83". United States: Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 26 September 2022. <a href="https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp85m00364r001101610004-1" target="_blank">https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp85m00364r001101610004-1</a> <a href="#fnref:24" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:25"><p>International Institute for Strategic Studies 1987, p. 34. - International Institute for Strategic Studies (1987). The Military Balance 1987-88. Tavistock Street, London: Brassey's for the IISS. <a href="#fnref:25" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:26"><p>Feskov et al 2013, p. 90. - Feskov, V.I.; Golikov, V.I.; Kalashnikov, K.A.; Slugin, S.A. (2013). Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской [The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II: From the Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land Forces] (in Russian). Tomsk: Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing. ISBN 9785895035306. <a href="http://vital.lib.tsu.ru/vital/access/manager/Repository/vtls:000479812?f0=sm_creator%3A%22%D0%93%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%2C+%D0%92%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B9+%D0%98%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87%22" target="_blank">http://vital.lib.tsu.ru/vital/access/manager/Repository/vtls:000479812?f0=sm_creator%3A%22%D0%93%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%2C+%D0%92%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B9+%D0%98%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87%22</a> <a href="#fnref:26" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:27"><p>Holm, Michael (1 January 2015). "High Command of the Far East". Soviet Armed Forces 1945-1991: Organisation and Order of Battle. Retrieved 18 August 2023. <a href="http://www.ww2.dk/new/army/gkv/gkvdv.htm" target="_blank">http://www.ww2.dk/new/army/gkv/gkvdv.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:27" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:28"><p>Feskov et al 2013, pp. 91–93. - Feskov, V.I.; Golikov, V.I.; Kalashnikov, K.A.; Slugin, S.A. (2013). Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской [The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II: From the Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land Forces] (in Russian). Tomsk: Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing. 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