, image = Soviet Union Belorussian Military District.svg , image_size = 300px , caption = The territory of the Byelorussian Military District in 1991. , dates = 28 November 1918 – 6 May 1992 , country = (1918–1920)
(1920–1991)
(1922–1991)
(1991–1992) , type =

Military district Military districts (also called military regions) are formations of a state's armed forces (often of the Army) which are responsible for a certain area of territory. They are often more responsible for administrative than operational matters, and ...

, command_structure = , garrison =

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative stat ...

, garrison_label = Headquarters , motto = , battles =

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, notable_commanders = Aleksandr Petrovich Chumakov
Anatoly Kostenko
Semyon Timoshenko , anniversaries = , decorations = Order of the red Banner OBVERSE

Order of the Red Banner , battle_honours = The Byelorussian Military District (russian: Белорусский военный округ, translit=Belorusskiy Voyenyi Okrug; alternatively Belarusian; ) was a

military district Military districts (also called military regions) are formations of a state's armed forces (often of the Army) which are responsible for a certain area of territory. They are often more responsible for administrative than operational matters, and ...

of the

Soviet Armed Forces The Soviet Armed Forces, the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union and as the Red Army (, Вооружённые Силы Советского Союза), were the armed forces of the Russian SFSR (1917–1922), the Soviet Union (1922–1991), and th ...

. Originally formed just before

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

as the Minsk Military District out of the remnants of the Vilno Military District and the Warsaw Military District, it was headed by the Russian General Eugen Alexander Ernst Rausch von Traubenberg. With the outbreak of the

Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...

it was reorganized into the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

and in April 1924 it was renamed to the Western Military District. In October 1926 it was redesignated the Belorussian Military District, with its staff in

Smolensk Smolensk ( rus, Смоленск, p=smɐˈlʲensk, a=smolensk_ru.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest ...

. And in July 1940 it was renamed the Western Special Military District. It covered the territory of the

Byelorussian SSR The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор� ...

and the western part of the

RSFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

(including Smolensk area,

Bryansk Bryansk ( rus, Брянск, p=brʲansk) is a city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the River Desna, southwest of Moscow. Population: Geography Urban layout The location of the settlement was originally ...

area, and parts of Kaluga area).

History

In 1928, the first maneuvers of troops of the district were held, which was attended by 6th Cavalry Division and 7th Cavalry Division,

5th Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash tha ...

, 8th and

27th Rifle Division The 27th Rifle Division (russian: 27-я стрелковая дивизия) was a tactical unit in the Red Army of Soviet Russia and then the Soviet Union, active between 1918 and 1945. First formed during the Russian Civil War on November 3, 1 ...

s, 33rd territorial division, a tank brigade of the Moscow Military District, artillery, aviation, communication, and engineering units. The People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs, Kliment Voroshilov, attended the exercises. The exercises showed growth in the combat skills of troops. In 1932 it deployed from within the country the 4th Leningrad Cavalry Order of the Red Banner Voroshilov Division commanded by Georgy Zhukov. In 1932–1933, in connection with the development of armored vehicles, it formed seven separate tank brigades, armed with Soviet-made tanks: light T-24, T-26, medium T-28, fast BT-2, BT-5, floating T-37, heavy T-35, T-27 tankettes. In 1937 the district deployed 15 infantry divisions, grouped into five infantry corps and five cavalry divisions. On 26 July 1938, the district was renamed the Belorussian Special Military District (abbreviated as BOVO). After the Soviet/German invasion of Poland in September 1939, it took in most of the former Polish area and was redesignated the Belorussian Special Military District. In July 1940, it was redesignated the Western Special Military District. When the German invasion, Operation Barbarossa, began on 22 June 1941 the district was again redesignated the

. The district was reformed in October 1943 from the staff of the Moscow Zone of Defence (at Smolensk, which moved to

in August 1944). From December 1944 until July 1945, the district was designated Byelorussian-Lithuanian Military District (covering the territory of Belarus and Lithuania), and from 9 July until 26 January 1946 it was divided in two districts –

Military District (from the staff of the 3rd Army), and

Baranovichi Baranavichy ( ; be, Бара́навічы, Łacinka: , ; russian: Бара́новичи; yi, באַראַנאָוויטש; pl, Baranowicze) is a city in the Brest Region of western Belarus, with a population (as of 2019) of 179,000. It is n ...

Military District (from the staff of

3rd Belorussian Front The 3rd Belorussian Front () was a Front of the Red Army during the Second World War. The 3rd Belorussian Front was created on 24 April 1944 from forces previously assigned to the Western Front. Over 381 days in combat, the 3rd Belorussian Front ...

with its headquarters staff at Bobruisk). The district covered the territory of the Byelorussian SSR. On 4 February 1946, the Baranovichi and Minsk military districts are merged again into one district : the Belorussian Military District. From mid February 1949, in accordance with a directive issued 10 January 1949, the

1st Air Army __NOTOC__ The 1st Air Army (russian: 1-я воздушная армия) was an Air Army in the Soviet Air Force which served during World War II. It was formed on May 10, 1942, within the Soviet Western Front, and renamed the 26th Air Army on ...

, present within the district, was redesignated the 26th Air Army. The 26th Air Army was subordinate to the BVO. In 1962 the 26th Air Army comprised the 95th Fighter Aviation Division ( Shchuchin, Grodno Oblast), the 1st Guards Fighter-Bomber Aviation Division ( Lida, Grodno Oblast), and three separate smaller units: the 10th independent Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment (Shchuchin, Grodno Oblast), the 248th independent Mixed Aviation Squadron (Minsk-Lipki, Minsk Oblast), and the 95th independent Mixed Aviation Squadron (Grodno, Grodno Oblast). In April 1980 the 26th Air Army was renamed the VVS Belorussian Military District. In May 1988 it was renamed again as the 26th Air Army. The 95th Fighter Aviation Division was disbanded in 1988. The 26th Air Army included in 1990: *

1st Guards Bomber Aviation Division The 1st Guards Stalingrad Composite Aviation Division (Russian: 1-я гвардейская бомбардировочная Сталинградская ордена Ленина дважды Краснознаменная орденов Суво ...

(Lida, Grodno Oblast) *50th independent Mixed Aviation Regiment (Minsk, Minsk Oblast) *151st independent Aviation Regiment for Electronic Warfare (Shchuchin, Grodno Oblast) * 927th Fighter Aviation Regiment ( Bereza, Brest Oblast) *206th independent Assault Aviation Regiment (

Pruzhany Pruzhany ( be, Пружа́ны, ; russian: Пружаны, pl, Prużana, yi, פרוזשענע, Pruzhene) is a town in Brest Voblast, Belarus. Pruzhany is the center of the district in Brest Region, Belarus. Its population is about 18,500 people ...

, Brest Oblast) *378th independent Assault Aviation Regiment ( Postavy, Vitebsk Oblast) *397th independent Assault Aviation Regiment ( Kobrin, Brest Oblast) *10th independent Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment (Shchuchin, Grodno Oblast) *302nd independent Helicopter Squadron for Electronic Warfare (Kobrin, Brest Oblast) *56th independent Communications Regiment (Minsk, Minsk Oblast) From the beginning of the 1950s three armies were subordinated to the district: 28th Army, 5th Guards Tank Army and 7th Tank Army, totaling nine tank and two motor-rifle divisions, including training formations.

70th Guards Mechanised Division 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube (algebra), cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion ...

at Postavy became 45th Guards Tank Division in May 1957, but was disbanded in November 1959. 5th Guards Tank Army in 1988 had 8th Guards, 29th, and

193rd Tank Division The 193rd Tank Division was originally a Red Army infantry division that was reorganised after World War II as a mechanised and then a tank division of the Soviet Army. 1st Formation The original 193rd Rifle Division was established in the Kha ...

s while 7th 'Red Star' Tank Army had 3rd Guards, 34th, and 37th Guards Tank Divisions. From the late 1970s the district was subordinate to the Commander-in-Chief of the Western Strategic Direction. On the dissolution of the Soviet Union the 28th Army, headquartered at

Grodno Grodno (russian: Гродно, pl, Grodno; lt, Gardinas) or Hrodna ( be, Гродна ), is a city in western Belarus. The city is located on the Neman River, 300 km (186 mi) from Minsk, about 15 km (9 mi) from the Polish ...

, included the 6th Guards Tank Division (

), 28th Tank Division (

Slonim Slonim ( be, Сло́нім, russian: Сло́ним, lt, Slanimas, lv, Sloņima, pl, Słonim, yi, סלאָנים, ''Slonim'') is a city in Grodno Region, Belarus, capital of the Slonimski rajon. It is located at the junction of the Ščar ...

), 50th Guards Motor Rifle Division ( Brest), and the 76th Tank Division (a cadre formation which became a territorial training centre and then a weapons and equipment storage base), also at Brest. The 120th 'Rogachev' Guards Motorised Rifle Division, subordinated directly to district control, was the district's most prestigious division. Also present was the 51st Guards Artillery Division, two cadre artillery divisions, the

147th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade The 147th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (147 ''zrp'') (; Military Unit Number 96869) is a surface-to-air missile regiment of the Belarusian Air and Air Defense Forces. Stationed at Babruysk, the regiment is equipped with the Osa-AKM short-range, ...

at Bobruisk, intended for direct Front control, two surface-to-surface missile brigades, an independent SSM battalion, and a high-power artillery brigade. The forces of the district became the basis of the Armed Forces of Belarus after the district was disbanded in May 1992 following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

"The Byelorusian Military District is no more. Under a resolution of the Council of Ministers of Belarus all its units, as well as non-strategic formations, have been placed under the Defence Ministry of Belarus."

*Moscow RIA in English 1653 GMT 7 May 92

Air Defence Forces in the District

2nd Air Defence Army traced its history back to 5 November 1941, when the 5th Air Defence Division was formed by the directive of Deputy People's Commissar of Defence of the USSR No. 3024 in Kuybyshev. The basis for the formation of the division were components of the Moscow Air Defence Corps, relocated to Kuybyshev. In September 1944, during the completion of Operation Bagration, the division, reorganized into the 14th Air Defence Corps, moved forward to Minsk to organize air defence of the territory liberated by the

. The corps defended airfields, railway junctions and the cities of

, Borisov, Lida, Molodechno. In July 1944 the corps units, in cooperation with fighter aviation, shot down 19 enemy aircraft. The 927th Fighter Aviation Regiment (927 IAP), located at Loshitsa airfield particularly distinguished itself. The regiment was commanded by Hero of the Soviet Union, Lieutenant-Colonel N. Kozlov (later major-general of aviation, deputy commander of the 2nd independent Air Defence Army). After the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the corps was reorganized into the Belorussian Air Defence District (1951), then to the Minsk Air Defence Corps (1954). In 1960 the 2nd Independent Air Defence Army (Russian: 2-я отдельная армия ПВО) of the Soviet Air Defence Forces was established. In 1988 the Army comprised the 11th and 28th Air Defence Corps. The 11th Air Defence Corps was formed on 15 March 1960 in Baranovichi, Minsk Oblast, from the PVO's 39th Fighter Aviation Division.

3rd Air Defence Division Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * High ...

came under 2nd independent Army of the PVO from March 1960 to November 1977. In 1988 it comprised: *Headquarters,

*61st Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO (

, Minsk Oblast) (MiG-25/Su-27) *201st Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO ( Machulischi, Minsk Oblast) (MiG-23)(taken over by Belarus in 1992, and disbanded in 1994) *15th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade (Fanipol) *115th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade (Brest) *127th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Lida) *377th Guards Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Polotsk) *1146th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Orscha) *8th Radio-Technical Brigade (Baranovichi, Minsk Oblast) *49th Radio-Technical Regiment (Polotsk) *an independent Electronic Warfare Battalion It was taken over by

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

in early 1992, and survived to at least 1994. Over the border in the Ukrainian SSR, the 28th Air Defence Corps was also part of the 2nd Air Defence Army until 1992. In 1988 it comprised: *Headquarters, Lvov *179th Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO (

Stryy Stryi ( uk, Стрий, ; pl, Stryj) is a city located on the left bank of the river Stryi in Lviv Oblast (region) of western Ukraine 65 km to the south of Lviv (in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains). It serves as the administrative cent ...

, Lvov Oblast) Converted to

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-23; NATO reporting name: Flogger) is a variable-geometry fighter aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the Soviet Union. It is a third-generati ...

M 1978; taken over by Ukrainian Air Defence Forces 1992; became 10th Aviation Base October 1994; disbanded December 1996. * 894th Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO ( Ozerne) (MiG-23ML/MLD) (Formed 9 June 1942; taken over by Ukraine 3.1.92.)Holm, http://www.ww2.dk/new/air%20force/regiment/iap/894iap.htm *254th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment ( Mukachevo, Zakarpatskaya Oblast) *540th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Kamenka-Bugskaya, Lvov Oblast) *270th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Lvov, Lvov Oblast) *312th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Nadvornaya, Ivan-Frankovsk Oblast) *438th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Kovel, Volynskaya Oblast) *521st Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Borshschev, Ternopol Oblast) *1st Radio-Technical Brigade (Lipniki, Lvov Oblast) *10th Radio-Technical Regiment (Stryy, Lvov Oblast) *17th independent Electronic Warfare Battalion (Kolomyya, Ivan-Frankovsk Oblast) *38th Communications Center (Lvov, Lvov Oblast)

Commanders (1924–91)

* August Kork (April 1924 – February 1925) * Mikhail Tukhachevsky (February 1925 – November 1925) * August Kork (November 1925 – May 1927) * Alexander Yegorov (May 1927 – April 1931) * Ieronim Uborevich (April 1931 – June b1937) * Ivan Belov (June 1937 – December 1937) * Mikhail Kovalyov (April 1938 – July 1940) *Colonel General Dmitry Pavlov (July 1940 – June 1941) *Lieutenant General

Vladimir Kurdyumov Vladimir Nikolayevich Kurdyumov (russian: Владимир Николаевич Курдюмов 1 October 1895, Ilmen14 February 1970) was a Soviet Lieutenant General. Kurdyumov served in the Red Army since 1918 in World War I and the Russian Civ ...

(June 1941 – August 1941) * German occupation *Lieutenant General Vsevolod Yakovlev (October 1943 – February 1945) *Lieutenant General

Trifon Shevaldin Trifon Ivanovich Shevaldin (russian: Шевалдин, Трифон Иванович, Pristan, Krasnoufimsky Uyezd, Perm Governorate, 1 February 1888 – Samara, 2 July 1954) was a Soviet Lieutenant-General (1940). Biography Shevaldin partici ...

(February 1945 – July 1945) *Lieutenant General Vladimir N. Razuvaev (July 1945 – February 1946) *

Marshal of the Soviet Union Marshal of the Soviet Union (russian: Маршал Советского Союза, Marshal sovetskogo soyuza, ) was the highest military rank of the Soviet Union. The rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union was created in 1935 and abolished in 19 ...

Semyon Timoshenko (February – March 1946) *Colonel General Sergei Trofimenko (04.1946 – 03.1949) (former commander of the 7th Army) *Marshal of the Soviet Union Semyon Timoshenko (03.1949 – 04.1960), *Colonel General

Vladimir Nikolayevich Komarov Vladimir may refer to: Names * Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name * Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name * Volodymyr for the Ukr ...

(04.1960 – 07.1961) *Army General V. A. Penkovsky (07.1961 – 07.1964) *Colonel General S. S. Maryakhin (07.1964 – 09.1967) *Colonel General Ivan Tretyak (September 1967 – June 1976) *Colonel General Mikhail Zaitsev (June 1976 – November 1980) *Army General Yevgeni Ivanovski (December 1980 – February 1985) *Colonel General Vladimir Shuralyov (February 1985 – January 1989) *Colonel General Anatoly Kostenko (January 1989 – dissolution)

Chiefs of Staff (1945–91)

* Alexander Barmin (July – September 1945) * Alexander Pokrovsky (September 1945 – February 1946) *

Semyon Ivanov Semyon Pavlovich Ivanov (russian: Семён Павлович Иванов; 13 September 1907 – 26 September 1993) was a Soviet general. Hero of the Soviet Union (1945). Biography Early life Ivanov was born to a peasants' family. He began wor ...

(March 1946 – November 1948) * Pyotr Malyshev (November 1948 – March 1950) * Nikanor Zakhvatayev (March 1950 – December 1951) * Anatoly Gryzlov (April – July 1952) * Alexander Pulk-Dmitriev (July 1952 – October 1954) * Grigory Arico (October 1954 – March 1961) * Alexander Shevchenko (March – December 1961) * Nikolai Ogarkov (December 1961 – December 1965) * Grigory Arico (2nd time) (December 1965 – March 1974) * Vladimir Konchits (March 1974 – November 1977) * Mikhail Tereshchenko (December 1977 – July 1979) * Ivan Gashkov (July 1979 – December 1983) * Vasily Sokolov (December 1983 – August 1988) * Alexander Chumakov (August 1988 – ?)

Notes

References

*Feskov et al., "The Soviet Army in the Period of the Cold War, 1945–89," 2004 *{{Cite book, title=Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской, last=Feskov, first=V.I., last2=Golikov, first2=V.I., last3=Kalashnikov, first3=K.A., last4=Slugin, first4=S.A., publisher=Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing, year=2013, isbn=9785895035306, location=Tomsk, language=Russian, trans-title=The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II: From the Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land Forces , ref={{harvid, Feskov et al, 2013 *А. Г. Ленский, Сухопутные силы РККА в предвоенные годы. Справочник. — Санкт-Петербург Б&К, 2000

History

Air Defence Forces in the District

Commanders (1924–91)

Chiefs of Staff (1945–91)

Notes

References

Further reading