The 22nd 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 ...
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 ...
.
The 22nd Army was formed in June 1941 after the
German invasion of the Soviet Union and served through World War II until its disbandment in 1945.
World War II
Originally it was formed in June 1941 within 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 ...
and it comprised
51st Rifle Corps (
98th,
112th, and
153rd Rifle Divisions) and
62nd Rifle Corps (
170th,
174th, and
186th Rifle Divisions), and several separate regiments, including the 336th and 545th Corps Artillery Regiments. Headquarters was at
Velikiye Luki
Velikiye Luki ( rus, Вели́кие Лу́ки, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪjə ˈlukʲɪ; lit. ''great meanders''. Г. П. Смолицкая. "Топонимический словарь Центральной России". "Армада-� ...
by 22 June 1941, and General Lieutenant
Filipp Yershakov took command (who would direct the army until August 1941). Lenski notes that it was then made part of the 'Group of armies of the Reserve of the Main Command'.
During the
Battle of Smolensk (1941), six rifle divisions of the army fought fiercely against what victory.mil.ru describes as sixteen
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
divisions, including three tank and three motorized, and under their assault 22nd Army was forced to retreat. On July 16, 1941, the Germans managed to surround the 51st Rifle Corps, and on July 20, to seize
Velikiye Luki
Velikiye Luki ( rus, Вели́кие Лу́ки, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪjə ˈlukʲɪ; lit. ''great meanders''. Г. П. Смолицкая. "Топонимический словарь Центральной России". "Армада-� ...
. 48th Tank Division joined the Army by August 1, 1941.
As part of the
Soviet Western Front, since October, 17th the
Kalinin Front, the Army conducted defensive operations on the
Idritsa–
Drissa–
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 ...
frontier, participated in the
Battle of Smolensk, the
Kalinin defensive operation, and the
Battles of Rzhev -
Operation Mars in 1942.
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 ...
Counterpoint to Stalingrad: Operation Mars (November-December 1942)
, Foreign Military Studies Office General Major V. A. Yushkevich again took command in April 1942, after previously commanding the army in August–October 1941.
3rd Mechanised Corps under General Major M. Ye. Katukov joined the Army in September 1942 when it was formed, though it was later reassigned.
83rd Corps Artillery Regiment had joined the Army by 1 November 1942.
The Army's task as part of Operation Mars was as part of what in Soviet parlance was the 'Bely Offensive Operation in conjunction with
39th Army. Spearheaded by the 3rd Mechanised Corps, the army was tasked to: 'advance eastward up the
Luchesa River valley, pierce the German defenses, assist in the capture of
Bely, and encircle German forces around
Olenino in conjunction with 39th Army.'
'Early on 25 November, 22nd Army, with over 50,000 men and 270 tanks of 3rd Mechanised Corps, assaulted eastward up the Luchesa River valley. Attacking along a narrow corridor flanked by forests and frozen swamps, Soviet forces tore a gaping hole through German defences and drove German forces eastward up the valley. General Yushkevich's attack was spearheaded by Colonel I. V. Karpov's 238th Rifle Division and two regiments of Colonel M. F. Andryushenko's 185th Rifle Division, supported by a tank brigade of General Katukov's mechanised corps. The combined force routed a regiment of the German
86th Infantry Division and punctured the German front.'
In 1943, the Army fought as part of the
North-Western Front since April 21, then from October 13 as part of the
Baltic Front, which became 2nd Baltic Front on October 20, 1943. 22nd Army defended the river Lovat, and participated in operations at
Kholm, Velikiye Luki, Leningrad-Novgorod,
Staraya Russa
Staraya Russa (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Polist, Polist River, south of Veliky Novgorod, the administrative center of the oblast. Its population has steadily decreased over ...
–
Novorzhev, and Rezhitsa–
Dvina. It then took part in the
Riga Offensive Operation, part of the
Baltic Offensive. Since October 1944, together with the other armies of the Front it carried out the blockade of the German
Army Group Courland
Army Group Courland () was a Nazi Germany, German Army Group on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front. It was created from remnants of the Army Group North, blockade, isolated in the Courland Peninsula by the advancing Soviet Army for ...
in the
Courland Pocket
The Courland Pocket was a Pocket (military), pocket located on the Courland Peninsula in Latvia on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front of World War II from 9 October 1944 to 10 May 1945.
Army Group North of the ''Wehrmacht'' were ...
. One of the Army's rifle corps was the Latvian
130th Rifle Corps that included two rifle divisions in which served a large number of Latvians in their ranks who would soon be facing their opposites in the Latvian
19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS.
Postwar
Immediately after the war ended, its headquarters, along with the
109th Rifle Division, arrived in the South Ukraine in May 1945. In the Northern summer of 1945, together with the headquarters of the
Separate Coastal Army, located in the Crimea, it was reorganised as the new but short-lived
Tavria Military District.
It arrived in the Odessa/Tavria area with the
83rd Rifle Corps (
47th,
119th, and
168th Rifle Divisions); the
100th Rifle Corps (28th, 37th, and
219th Rifle Divisions); and the
110th Rifle Corps (
256th,
268th, and
394th Rifle Divisions; the latter was soon redesignated as the
48th Rifle Division). Seemingly all these forces, except the 48th Rifle Division, were disestablished rather quickly in 1945-46.
[V.I. Feskov et al 2013, 489.]
Commanders
* Lieutenant general
Filipp Yershakov (June–August 1941)
* General-Major (since March 1943 General-lieutenant)
V. A. Yushkevich (August–October, 19th 1941, April–December 1942, March 1943 – April 1944; Yushkevich went on to command 31st Army, and after the war, the
Odessa Military District
The Odessa Military District (; , abbreviated ) was a military administrative division of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This district consisted of Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic, Moldavia and five Oblasts of Ukraine, Ukrainian oblasts of Odesa ...
briefly)
* Major general
Vladimir Ivanovich Vostrukhov (on October, 20 1941 – March 1942)
* Major general
Dmitry Seleznev (December 1942 – March 1943)
* Lieutenant general
Gennady Korotkov (April 1944 – May 1945)
References
{{Armies of the Soviet Army
Field armies of the Soviet Union