The 20th Army was a

field army A field army (also known as numbered army or simply army) is a military formation in many armed forces, composed of two or more corps. It may be subordinate to an army group. Air army, Air armies are the equivalent formations in air forces, and ...

of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

that fought on the Eastern Front during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

First formation

The Army was first formed in the

Orel Military District The Orel Military District () was a military district of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and the Soviet Union. Established in 1918 during the Russian Civil War, the district was disbanded after the end of the war in 1922. It was re ...

in June 1941. On 22 June 1941 the Army was part of the

Reserve of the Supreme High Command The Reserve of the Supreme High Command (Russian: Резерв Верховного Главнокомандования; also known as the '' Stavka'' Reserve or RVGK () or RGK ( comprises reserve military formations and units; the ''Stavka'' ...

and was located west of Moscow. On 27 June 1941 it was proposed to

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

that the Soviet armies ( 13th Army, 19th Army, 20th, 21st Army, and 22nd Army) would defend the line going through the

Daugava The Daugava ( ), also known as the Western Dvina or the Väina River, is a large river rising in the Valdai Hills of Russia that flows through Belarus and Latvia into the Gulf of Riga of the Baltic Sea. The Daugava rises close to the source of ...

Polotsk Polotsk () or Polatsk () is a town in Vitebsk Region, Belarus. It is situated on the Dvina River and serves as the administrative center of Polotsk District. Polotsk is served by Polotsk Airport and Borovitsy air base. As of 2025, it has a pop ...

Vitebsk Vitebsk or Vitsyebsk (, ; , ; ) is a city in northern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vitebsk Region and Vitebsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has 358,927 inhabitants, m ...

Orsha Orsha (; , ; ) is a city in Vitebsk Region, Belarus. It is situated on the fork of the Dnieper, Dnieper River and Arshytsa River, and it serves as the administrative center of Orsha District. As of 2025, it has a population of 101,662. History ...

Mogilev Mogilev (; , ), also transliterated as Mahilyow (, ), is a city in eastern Belarus. It is located on the Dnieper, Dnieper River, about from the Belarus–Russia border, border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and from Bryansk Oblast. As of 2024, ...

Mazyr Mazyr or Mozyr (, ; , ; ; ) is a city in Gomel Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Mazyr District. It is situated on the Pripyat (river), Pripyat River about east of Pinsk and northwest of Chernobyl in Ukraine. As of 2025, ...

as part of the Reserve Front. Committed as part of Western Front in defensive battles in Belarus, Smolensk, and Vyazma. By 5 August 1941 the army, in

David Glantz David M. Glantz (born January 11, 1942) is an American military historian known for his books on the Red Army during World War II and as the chief editor of '' The Journal of Slavic Military Studies''. Born in Port Chester, New York, Glantz ...

's words, had been 'reduced to a skeleton.' The strength of the 289th Rifle Division had fallen to 285 men, 17 machine guns, and one anti-tank gun, the 73rd Rifle Division to 100 men and 4 to 5 machine guns per regiment, 144th Rifle Division to 440 men, and 153rd Rifle Division to 750 men.Two reports in ''SBDVOV'', issue 37, pages 271-273, dated 4 August 1941 and 5 August 1941 cited in

, ''Stumbling Colossus'', University Press of Kansas, 2010. The Army HQ was disbanded having been encircled and destroyed in the Vyazma Pocket.

Order of Battle 22 June 1941

Source: Combat composition of the Soviet Army (BSSA) via tashv.nm.ru and Leo Niehorster * 61st Rifle Corps ** 110th Rifle Division ** 144th Rifle Division ** 172nd Rifle Division *

69th Rifle Corps The 69th Rifle Corps was a corps of the Soviet Red Army. It was part of the 20th Army. It took part in the Great Patriotic War. Organization * 73rd Rifle Division * 229th Rifle Division * 233rd Rifle Division Commanders * Major General Y ...

** 73rd Rifle Division ** 229th Rifle Division ** 233rd Rifle Division * 18th Rifle Division * 301st Howitzer Artillery Regiment (RGK) * 537th High Power Howitzer Artillery Regiment (RGK) * 438th Corps Artillery Regiment * 7th Mechanised Corps ** 14th Tank Division ** 18th Tank Division ** 1st Moscow Motor Rifle Division ** 9th Motorcycle Regiment * 60th Pontoon Bridge Battalion

Commanders

* Lieutenant General Fyodor Remezov (Jun–Jul 1941) * Lieutenant General Pavel Kurochkin (Jul–Aug 1941) * Lieutenant General Mikhail Fedorovich Lukin (Aug–Sep 1941) * Lieutenant General Filipp Yershakov (Sep 1941 – Oct 1941) (POW)

Second formation

Reestablished in November 1941 from Operational Group Liziukov. Reformed November 1941 for the

Battle of Moscow The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II, between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated H ...

, including 331st and 350th Rifle Divisions, and the 28th, 35th, and 64th separate rifle brigades. Fought as part of the Western Front. In 1942-43 it operated on the Rzhev-Sychevka bridgehead (including 42nd Guards Rifle Division from November 1942), and took part in the Rzhev-Vyazma offensive operation. In 1944 it became part of the

Stavka The ''Stavka'' ( Russian and Ukrainian: Ставка, ) is a name of the high command of the armed forces used formerly in the Russian Empire and Soviet Union and currently in Ukraine. In Imperial Russia ''Stavka'' referred to the administrat ...

Reserve and was then reassigned to

Kalinin Front The Kalinin Front was a major formation of the Red Army active in the Eastern Front of World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions ...

and

Leningrad Front The Leningrad Front () was formed during the 1941 German approach on Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) by dividing the Northern Front into the Leningrad Front and Karelian Front on August 27, 1941. History The Leningrad Front was immediately ...

. It was disbanded in April 1944 by being dispersed within the formations of 3rd Baltic Front. The army was in strategic reserve from July 1943 to April 1944. In April 1944 the headquarters was disbanded and used to form the 3rd Baltic Front.

Commanders

* Lieutenant General

Andrey Vlasov Andrey Andreyevich Vlasov (, – August 1, 1946) was a Soviet Russian Red Army general. During the Eastern Front (World War II), Axis-Soviet campaigns of World War II, he fought (1941–1942) against the ''Wehrmacht'' in the Battle of Moscow ...

(Nov 1941 – Mar 1942) * Lieutenant General Max Reyter (Mar–Sep 1942) * Major General Nikolay Kiryukhin (Oct–Dec 1942) * Lieutenant General Mikhail Khozin (Dec 1942 – Jan 1943) * Lieutenant General Nikolai Berzarin (Jan–Mar 1943) * Major General Arkady Yermakov (Mar–Aug 1943) * Lieutenant General Nikolai Berzarin (Aug–Sep 1943) * Major General Arkady Yermakov (Sep 1943) * Lieutenant General Anton Lopatin (Sep–Oct 1943) * Lieutenant General Nikolai Gusev (Nov 1943 – Apr 1944)

References

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