The 85th Rifle Corps () was a

rifle corps A rifle corps () was a Soviet corps-level military formation during the mid-twentieth century. Rifle corps were made up of a varying number of rifle divisions, although the allocation of three rifle divisions to a rifle corps was common during th ...

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 later 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 ...

. Formed in 1943 as part of the 17th Army of the

Transbaikal Front The Transbaikal Front () was a front formed on September 15, 1941, on the basis of the Transbaikal Military District. Initially, it included the 17th and 36th armies, but in August 1942 the 12th Air Army was added to the front, and, finally, in ...

, the corps spent the next two years as a garrison unit. In August 1945 its headquarters was used to provide a headquarters for the Soviet–Mongolian Cavalry-Mechanized Group during the

Soviet invasion of Manchuria The Soviet invasion of Manchuria, formally known as the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation or simply the Manchurian Operation () and sometimes Operation August Storm, began on 9 August 1945 with the Soviet Union, Soviet invasion of the Emp ...

. Postwar, the corps garrisoned the

Kuril Islands The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands are a volcanic archipelago administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast in the Russian Far East. The islands stretch approximately northeast from Hokkaido in Japan to Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, separating the ...

before being disbanded in the early 1950s.

World War II

The corps was formed in September 1943, under the command of Major General Nikаnor Samonov. Part of the 17th Army of the

, it included the 36th and 57th Motor Rifle Divisions, stationed in the

Mongolian People's Republic The Mongolian People's Republic (MPR) was a socialist state that existed from 1924 to 1992, located in the historical region of Outer Mongolia. Its independence was officially recognized by the Nationalist government of Republic of China (1912� ...

, as well as the

284th Rifle Division The 284th Rifle Division began service as a standard Red Army rifle division shortly after the German invasion. Moved to the front soon after, it helped defend the Soviet lines west of the Ukrainian capital for more than a month, but was then destr ...

and the 1st and 3rd Motor Rifle Regiments. On 4 April 1944, 57th Motor Rifle Division commander Major General

Viktor Nikiforov Viktor Vasilievich Nikiforov (December 4, 1931 – March 4, 1989) was a Soviet ice hockey player. He won a gold medal at the 1956 Winter Olympics. He was born in Moscow, Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), co ...

replaced Samonov. The 284th Division and the two motor rifle regiments were directly subordinated to the army headquarters in December, leaving the 85th with only the 36th and 57th Divisions. From July 1945, the corps headquarters was used to provide a headquarters for the Soviet–Mongolian Cavalry-Mechanized Group. In this capacity, it participated in the

. Nikiforov served as chief of staff of the group during this period.

Postwar

On 26 September 1945, the corps headquarters was transferred from the Transbaikal region to the

. The corps, with

Military Unit Number A Military Unit Number (Russian: войсковая часть, в/ ч; Ukrainian: військова частина, в/ ч) is a numeric alternate designation for military units in the armed forces and internal troops of post-Soviet ...

64105, was headquartered in

Kurilsk Kurilsk (; ''Shana-mura'') is a town and the administrative center of Kurilsky District of Sakhalin Oblast, Russia, located on the island of Iturup. Population: History Ainu have been known to inhabit the present site of Kurilsk since the ...

, part of the

Far Eastern Military District The Far Eastern Military District () was a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2010 it was merged with the Pacific Fleet and part of the Siberian Military District to form the new Eastern Military District. Histo ...

. It included the

355th Rifle Division The 355th Rifle Division () was a standard Red Army rifle division of World War II, formed twice. The division's first formation began forming in August 1941 in the Kirov Oblast. During the winter counteroffensive in the Moscow region it was comm ...

Iturup Iturup (; ), also historically known by #Names, other names, is an island in the Kuril Archipelago separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean. The town of Kurilsk, administrative center of Kurilsky District, is located roughly mi ...

, the 2nd Separate Rifle Brigade at

Urup Urup (; , ) is an uninhabited volcanic island in the Kuril Islands chain in the south of the Sea of Okhotsk, northwest Pacific Ocean. Its name is derived from the Ainu language word ''urup'', meaning "sockeye salmon". Geography and climate U ...

, and the 113th Separate Rifle Brigade at

Kunashir Kunashir Island (; ; ), possibly meaning ''Black Island'' or ''Grass Island'' in Ainu language, Ainu, is the southernmost island of the Kuril Islands. The island has been under Russia, Russian administration since the end of World War II, when S ...

. In 1946 the 23rd Machine-Gun Artillery Brigade at Kunashir was part of the corps; it was formed from the 112th (Khorol) Fortified Region. In the spring of 1948, the 23rd Brigade became the 36th Machine-Gun Artillery Regiment, while around the same time the 355th Division, 2nd Brigade, and 113th Brigade were reorganized into the 7th, 20th, and 15th Machine-Gun Artillery Divisions, respectively. The corps was disbanded in January 1954.

Commanders

The following officers are known to have commanded the corps: * Major General Nikanor Samonov (15 September 1943–3 April 1944) * Major General

(4 April 1944–January 1946) * Lieutenant General

Alexei Danilov Alexey ( ; ), is a Russian and Bulgarian male given name derived from the Greek ''Aléxios'' (), meaning "Defender", and thus of the same origin as the Latin Alexius. Similar Ukrainian and Belarusian names are romanized as Oleksii (Олек ...

(January–June 1946) * Lieutenant General Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov (June 1946–October 1949)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{Soviet Union corps Rifle corps of the Soviet Union Military units and formations established in 1943 Military units and formations disestablished in 1954