The Russian Third Army was a

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Russian field army that fought on the Eastern theatre of war. Field management was established in July 1914 at the headquarters of the

Kiev Military District The Kiev Military District (; , abbreviated ) was a military district of the Imperial Russian Army and subsequently of the Red Army and Soviet Armed Forces. It was first formed in 1862, and was headquartered in Kiev (Kyiv) for most of its exist ...

. The unit was disbanded in the beginning of 1918. At the beginning of the war the 3rd Army was composed of the IX, X, XI, XXI Army Corps. A detachment of two aircraft "Ilya Muromets" was based at the Bereza airfield, from the 4th aviation company based at the airfield

Lida Lida is a city in Grodno Region, western Belarus, located west of Minsk. It serves as the administrative center of Lida District. As of 2025, it has a population of 103,262. Etymology The name ''Lida'' arises from its Lithuanian name ''Ly ...

. The detachment operated jointly with the 3rd Army from February 1915 and, in addition to Bereza, was also based at airfields in Brest-Litovsk and Slutsk.

Military Fronts in which the 3rd Army participated

* Southwestern Front (July 1914 – June 1915) *

Northwestern Front The Northwestern Front (Russian: ''Северо-Западный фронт'') was a military formation of the Red Army during the Winter War and World War II. It was operational with the 7th and 13th Armies during the Winter War. It was re-c ...

(June–Aug. 1915) * Western Front (August 1915 – June 1916) * Southwestern Front (June–July 1916) * Western Front (July 1916 – the beginning of 1918)

Mobilisation

The Third Army was originally based in

Dubno Dubno (, ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality located on the Ikva River in Rivne Oblast (oblast, province) of western Ukraine. It serves as the capital city, administrative center of Dubno Raion ...

. It comprised four Army Corps and three cavalry divisions, with the 3rd Caucasian Division joining them later. They were part of the invasion of Galicia, with the first stop for the staff officers was at Penyaki where they were made welcome by the servants of a house owned by a major in the Austrian Army. The building was set on fire by unknown people following their departure for Zolochev. Here the Army HQ was accommodated in a three-storey stone building which had previously been a bank.''From Tsarist General to Red Army Commander'' by Mikhail Bonch-Bruyevich, translated by Vladimir Vezey,

Progress Publishers Progress Publishers was a Moscow-based Soviet Union, Soviet publisher founded in 1931. Publishing program Progress Publishers published books in a variety of languages: Russian, English, and many other European and Asian languages. They issued ma ...

, 1966

Engagements

* Battle of Gnila Lipa (26–30 August, 1914) *

Battle of Limanowa The Battle of Limanowa-Łapanów took place from 1 December to 13 December 1914, between the Austro-Hungarian Army and the Russian Army near the town of Limanowa ( south-east of Kraków). The Austro-Hungarian high command had assumed that the G ...

(1–13 December, 1914)

Commanders

* 19.07.1914 – 03.09.1914 — General of Infantry Nikolai Ruzsky * 03.09.1914 – 20.05.1915 — General of Infantry Radko Dimitriev * 03.06.1915 – 03.08.1917 — General of Infantry Leonid Lesh * 03.08.1917 – 11.08.1917 — Lieutenant-General Mikhail Kvetsinsky * 11.08.1917 – 09.09.1917 — Lieutenant-General Januarius Tsikhovich * 12.09.1917 – 09.10.1917 — Lieutenant-General Ilia Odishelidze * 09.09.1917 – 08.11.1917 — Lieutenant-General Dmitri Parsky * 08.11.1917 — Sergey Anuchin

References

03 Military units and formations established in 1914 1914 establishments in the Russian Empire Military units and formations disestablished in 1918 {{mil-unit-stub

Military Fronts in which the 3rd Army participated

Mobilisation

Engagements

Commanders

See also

References