The 6th Red Banner Combined Arms Army () is 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 ...

and the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

that was active with the

Russian Ground Forces The Russian Ground Forces (), also known as the Russian Army in English, are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, ...

until 1998 and has been active since 2010 as the 6th Combined Arms Army (в/ч 31807). It was first formed in August 1939 in the

Kiev Special Military District Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

from the Volochiskaya Army Group (a corps-sized formation).

First Formation

In September 1939 it participated in the

Soviet invasion of Poland The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military conflict by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Second Polish Republic, Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Polan ...

. At the beginning of war the Army ( 6th Rifle Corps, 37th Rifle Corps (which included the 80th, 139th, and 141st Rifle Divisions),

4th Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'', a 1972 Soviet drama ...

and 15th Mechanized Corps, 5th Cavalry Corps, 4th

Fortified Region A fortified district or fortified region (, ukreplyonny raion, ukrepraion) in the military terminology of the Soviet Union, is a territory within which a complex system of defense fortifications was engineered. Each fortified district consiste ...

, and 6th Fortified Region (

Rava-Ruska Rava-Ruska (, ; ; ) is a city in Lviv Raion, Lviv Oblast, western Ukraine. It is a border town between Ukraine and Poland. The Rava-Ruska (border checkpoint), border checkpoint is situated west of the city, along the international autoroute Warsa ...

), and a number of artillery and other units) was deployed on the Lviv direction. It started the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II ...

as part of the Southwestern Front. The army's headquarters was disbanded 10 August 1941 after the

Battle of Uman The Battle of Uman (15 July – 8 August 1941) was the World War II German offensive in Uman, Uman, Ukraine against the 6th Army (Soviet Union), 6th and 12th Army (Soviet Union), 12th Soviet Armies. In a three-week period, the Wehrmacht encircle ...

. In this battle, the 6th Army was caught in a huge encirclement south of Kiev along with the 12th Army.

Second Formation

It was immediately reformed within the Southern Front on the basis of the 48th Rifle Corps and other units, and defended the west bank of the Dnepr River northwest of

Dnipropetrovsk Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...

. On 1 September 1941 it consisted of 169th, 226th, 230th, 255th, 273rd, and 275th Rifle Divisions, 26th and 28th Cavalry Divisions, 47th Rifle Regiment (15th

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

Rifle Division), 269th, 274th, and 394th Corps Artillery Regiments, 522nd High-power Howitzer Artillery Regiment гап б/м, 671st Artillery Regiment 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'' ...

(ап РВГК), 14th, 27th Separate Anti-Aircraft Artillery Divisions, and 8th Tank Division. It was then transferred to the

Soviet Southwestern Front The Southwestern Front was a front of the Red Army during the Second World War, formed thrice. It was first created on June 22, 1941 from the Kiev Special Military District. The western boundary of the front in June 1941 was 865 km long, f ...

and took part in defensive actions in the Donbas, the Barvenkovo-Lozovaia operation, and the

Second Battle of Kharkov The Second Battle of Kharkov or Operation Fredericus was an Axis powers, Axis counter-offensive in the region around Kharkov against the Red Army Izium bridgehead offensive conducted 12–28 May 1942, on the Eastern Front (World War II), Easter ...

, but along with the 57th Army, was surrounded in the Izium pocket with the loss of 200,000 plus men in casualties alone, and afterwards formally disbanded.

Third Formation

The Army was reformed in July 1942 for the third time from the 6th Reserve Army, comprising the 45th, 99th, 141st, 160th, 174th, 212th, 219th, and 309th Rifle Divisions plus the 141st Rifle Brigade. It was assigned in sequence to the

Voronezh Voronezh ( ; , ) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the Southeastern Railway, which connects wes ...

, Southwestern, and

3rd Ukrainian Front The 3rd Ukrainian Front () was a Front of the Soviet Red Army during World War II. It was founded on 20 October 1943, on the basis of a Stavka order of October 16, 1943, by renaming the Southwestern Front. It included 1st Guards Army, 8th Gua ...

s. In January 1943, the 6th Army smashed through the defensive lines of the

Alpini The Alpini are the Italian Army's specialist mountain infantry. Part of the army's infantry corps, the speciality distinguished itself in combat during World War I and World War II. Currently the active Alpini units are organized in two operati ...

divisions of the Italian 8th Army as part of

Operation Little Saturn Operation Little Saturn () was a Red Army offensive on the Eastern Front of World War II that led to battles in Don and Chir rivers region in German-occupied Soviet Union territory in 16–30 December 1942. The success of Operation Uranus, lau ...

. In September 1943 it consisted of the 4th Guards Rifle Corps ( 38th Guards, 263rd, 267th Rifle Divisions), 26th Guards Rifle Corps ( 25th Guards, 35th and

47th Guards Rifle Division 47th may refer to: Chicago Transit Authority stations * 47th station (CTA Green Line), on the Green Line * 47th station (CTA Red Line), on the Red Line See also

* {{Disambig ...

s), and the 33rd Rifle Corps ( 50th, 78th, 243rd Rifle Divisions). In 1944 it took part in the Nikopol-Kryvyi Rih, Bereznogova-Snigorovka, and Odessa offensives. It was disbanded in June 1944.

Fourth Formation

The 6th Army was reformed in December 1944 with troops from 3rd Guards and

13th In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the Musical note, note thirteen scale degrees from the root (chord), root of a chord (music), chord and also the interval (music), interval between the root and the thirteenth. The thirteenth is m ...

Armies. On 1 January 1945 the Army consisted of the

22nd Rifle Corps The 22nd Rifle Corps was a corps of the Red Army, formed thrice. It was initially formed from the Estonian Army after the Soviet occupation of that country in June 1940. The corps was destroyed during the Baltic Operation. After large-scale des ...

( 218th and 273rd Rifle Divisions), the 74th Rifle Corps ( 181st and 309th Rifle Divisions), the 359th Rifle Division, the 77th

, and other support units. During 1945 the Army took part in the Sandomierz–Silesia, and the

Lower Silesia Lower Silesia ( ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ) is a historical and geographical region mostly located in Poland with small portions in the Czech Republic and Germany. It is the western part of the region of Silesia. Its largest city is Wrocław. The first ...

offensives. During the Lower Silesia offensive in February 1945, 6th Army, commanded by Marshal

Ivan Koniev Ivan Stepanovich Konev ( rus, Ива́н Степа́нович Ко́нев, p=ɪˈvan sʲtʲɪˈpanəvʲɪtɕ ˈkonʲɪf, links=no; 28 December 1897 – 21 May 1973) was a Soviet general and Marshal of the Soviet Union who led Red Army forc ...

, besieged Fortress Breslau (''Festung Breslau'') in the Battle of Breslau. The army besieged the city on February 13, 1945, and the encirclement of Breslau was completed the following day. The 1st Ukrainian Front forces besieged the city with the 22nd and 74th Rifle Corps, and the 77th Fortified Region, as well as other smaller units. Even approximate estimates vary greatly concerning the number of German troops trapped in Breslau. Some sources claim that there were as many as 150,000 defenders, some 80,000 and some 50,000. The Siege of Breslau consisted of destructive house-to-house street fighting. The city was bombarded to ruin by artillery of the 6th Army, as well as the 2nd Air Army and the

18th Air Army Soviet Long Range Aviation (, literally ''Aviation of Distant Action'' and abbreviated DA) was a sub-branch of the Soviet Air Forces responsible for delivering long-range nuclear or conventional strikes by aircraft (rather than missiles). The ...

. During the siege, both sides resorted to setting entire districts of the city on fire. After the end of the

Second World War 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 6th Army was withdrawn from Germany and stationed briefly 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 ...

before being disbanded in the Voronezh Military District late in 1945.

Fifth Formation

The 6th Army was (re)formed from the 31st Rifle Corps on 2 April 1952 in

Murmansk Murmansk () is a port city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast in the far Far North (Russia), northwest part of Russia. It is the world's largest city north of the Arctic Circle and sits on both slopes and banks of a modest fjord, Ko ...

Murmansk Oblast Murmansk Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an oblast) of Russia, located in the northwestern part of the country, with a total land area of . Its only internal border is the Republic of Karelia to the south, and it is bor ...

. That year it comprised the 45th Rifle Division ( Pechenga, Murmansk Oblast); the

67th Rifle Division The 67th Rifle Division () was an infantry division of the Red Army. The 20th Rifle Division (territorial defence) was formed from militia brigades in the Leningrad Military District in 1923. On May 21, 1936, it was named the 67th Rifle Divisi ...

(Murmansk, Murmansk Oblast); the 341st Rifle Division ( Alakurtti, Murmansk Oblast); and the 367th Rifle Division (

Sortavala Sortavala (; Finnish language, Finnish and ; ), previously known as Serdobol () until 1918, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located at the northern tip of Lake Ladoga near the Finland, Finni ...

Karelian ASSR The Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Karelian ASSR for short, sometimes referred to as Soviet Karelia, East Karelia or simply Karelia, was an autonomous republic of the Russian SFSR within the Soviet Union, with its capital in Petr ...

). The army was disbanded at Murmansk in early 1960. The army was reformed again from Headquarters Northern Military District in May–June 1960 with headquarters at

Petrozavodsk Petrozavodsk (, ; Karelian language, Karelian, Veps language, Vepsian and ) is the capital city of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, which stretches along the western shore of Lake Onega for some . The population of the city is 280,890 as of 2022. ...

. On 15 January 1974, it was awarded the

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner () was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. It was the highest award of S ...

. In 1977 the 88th Independent Helicopter Squadron was moved from Nurmalitsy to

Apatity Apatity ( rus, Апатиты, p=əpɐˈtʲitɨ, lit. apatites) is a town in Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located along the Murman Railway, west of Kirovsk and south of Murmansk, the administrative center of the oblast. The town is named after one ...

. In 1988 the army consisted of: *16th Motor Rifle Division (

) (mobilisation) *109th Motor Rifle Division (Alakurtti) (mobilisation) *116th Motor Rifle Division (Nagorniy/Нагорный) (

) (mobilisation) *

54th Motor Rifle Division 54 may refer to: * 54 (number) * one of the years 54 BC, AD 54, 1954, 2054 * ''54'' (novel), a 2002 novel by Wu Ming * Studio 54, a New York City nightclub from 1977 until 1981 * ''54'' (film), a 1998 American drama film about the club * ''54'' ...

( Alakurtti) Established on 4 June 1957 in Alakurtti from the 54th Rifle Division. Composed of 338th Guards Tank Regiment, 221st Guards и 251 (Кандалакша), 281st Motor Rifle Regiments, 441st Artillery Regiment, 454 зрап. In 1987 the 338th Guards Tank Regiment was reduced and renamed 82nd independent Tank Battalion. * 111th Motor Rifle Division (

), 379th Tank Regiment (

Lakhdenpokhya Lahdenpohja (; Finnish and Swedish: ; ) is a town and the administrative center of Lakhdenpokhsky District of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located west of Petrozavodsk on the Aurajoki River. Population: History ''Lahdenpohja'' lite ...

, Karelian ASSR) 182* и 185 (Лахденпохья), 184 109 ап, 1037 зрап. In 1987 the tank regiment was reduced to a battalion. * 131st Motor Rifle Division ( Pechenga) *88th Independent Helicopter Squadron (

, from 1977) Disbanded 1991 or 1994. ( Kirovsk-Apatity Airport) *840th Independent Engineer-Sapper Battalion * 6th Missile Brigade ( Pinozero, Murmansk Oblast), equipped with R-11 and R-17 SRBMs until 1991, and then

OTR-21 Tochka OTR-21 ''Tochka'' () is a Soviet Union, Soviet tactical ballistic missile. Its GRAU designation is 9K79. Its NATO reporting name is the SS-21 Scarab. One missile is transported per 9P129 vehicle and raised prior to launch. It uses an inertial gu ...

SRBMs until its disbandment in 1998 *and several other independent brigades, regiments, and battalions In 1989 the 16th Motor Rifle Division (mobilisation) became the 5186th Base for Storage of Weapons and Equipment (БХВТ) (30th мотострелковая бригада), and the 37th similarly became a weapons and equipment storage base (VKhVT). In 1994-95 the 111th Motor Rifle Division (

) became the 20th Independent Motor Rifle Brigade and shifted into the 30th Guards Army Corps. In January 1996 it consisted of the 161st Artillery Brigade, the 182nd MRL Regiment, the 485th Separate Helicopter Regiment, the 54th Motor Rifle Division (Allakurtti), and the 131st Motor Rifle Division ( Pechenga). It finally disbanded after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1997–98.

Sixth Formation

6th Combined Arms Army - Organization 2024

In 2010, as part of the creation of the

Western Military District The Western Military District () was a Military districts of Russia, military district of Russia, in existence from 2010 until its abolishment as a unitary military command on February 26, 2024, succeeded by the newly reconstituted Moscow Mil ...

/ Western Operational-Strategic Command with headquarters at St. Petersburg, the army was reformed. The new 6th Army may include: * 6th Combined Arms Army Headquarters in Agalatovo,

Leningrad Oblast Leningrad Oblast (, ; ; ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). The oblast has an area of and a population of 2,000,997 (2021 Russian census, 2021 Census); up from 1,716,868 recorded in the 2010 Russian census ...

* 95th Command Brigade in Gorelovo, Leningrad Oblast * 132nd Signals Brigade in Agalatovo, Leningrad Oblast * 25th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade ( в/ч 29760) Vladimirsky Lager,

Pskov Oblast Pskov Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the west of the country. Its administrative center is the Classification of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Pskov. As of the Russian Census ...

* 69th Guards Motor Rifle Division (в/ч 02511) Kamenka, Leningrad Oblast * 9th Guards Artillery Brigade (в/ч 54006)

Luga, Leningrad Oblast Luga (; Finnish: ''Ylä-Laukaa'' or ''Laukaa''; ; ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of Luzhsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the Luga River south of Saint Petersburg, St.&nbs ...

* 5th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade (в/ч 74429) Lomonosov, Leningrad Oblast * 26th Rocket Brigade,

(surface-to-surface missiles) * 30th Engineering Regiment, Kerro,

* 6th

Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense (CBRN defense) or Nuclear, biological, and chemical protection (NBC protection) is a class of protective measures taken in situations where chemical warfare, chemical, biological warfar ...

Regiment in Sapyornoye, Leningrad Oblast (MUN 12086) * 51st Logistics Brigade in Saint Petersburg, Leningrad Oblast The army took part in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Its units fought during the Northeastern Ukraine offensive around

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

, but failed to capture the city. Reportedly, the army's commander, Lieutenant General Yershov, was dismissed and placed under house arrest at the end of March. As of April 2023, the army is conducting operations along the Svatove-Kreminna line in

Luhansk Oblast Luhansk Oblast (; ), also referred to as Luhanshchyna (), is the easternmost Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Luhansk. The oblast was established in 1938 and bore the n ...

. In May 2024, the 138th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade was expanded into the 69th Guards Motor Rifle Division.

Commanders

* Lieutenant-General Filipp Golikov (09/28/1939 – July 1940) * Lieutenant-General Ivan Muzychenko (07.26.1940 – 08/10/1941) (captured) * Major General, Lieutenant-General

Rodion Malinovsky Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky (; ; – 31 March 1967) was a Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union. He served as Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union from 1957 to 1967, during which he oversaw the strengthening of the Sov ...

(08/25/1941 – 12/24/1941) * Major General, Lieutenant-General Avksenty Gorodnyansky (01/25/1942 – 05/27/1942) (KIA 05/27/1942) * Major General, Lieutenant-General Fyodor Kharitonov (07/08/1942 – 05/20/1943) (died 05/28/1943) * Lieutenant-General Ivan Shlemin (05/21/1943 – 05/28/1944) * Colonel General Vyacheslav Tsvetayev (September 12, 1944 – September 28, 1944) * Major General Fyodor Kulishev (09/29/1944 – 12/06/1944) * Lieutenant-General Vladimir Gluzdovsky (12/07/1944 – 05/09/1945) * ... * Lieutenant General Yevgeny Alekseyevich (January 2011 – April 2013) * Lieutenant General Sergei Vasilyevich Kuralenko (May 2013 – December 2015) * Lieutenant General Andrei Vladimirovich Kuzmenko (February 2016 – February 2019) * Lieutenant General Vladislav Nikolaevich Yershov (February 2019 – March 2022 ismissed * Lieutenant General Andrey Peryazev (August 2023 – present)

References

6-я армия - страница клуба "Память" Воронежского госуниверситета
*Keith E. Bonn, Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front, Aberjona Press, Bedford, PA, 2005 {{Armies of the Russian Armed Forces

006 Alec Trevelyan is a fictional character who is the main antagonist in the 1995 James Bond film ''GoldenEye,'' portrayed by actor Sean Bean. Bean's likeness was also used as the model for Alec Trevelyan in the 1997 video game '' GoldenEye 007' ...

Military units and formations established in 1939 Armies of the Russian Federation