The 8th Guards Combined Arms Army (abbreviated 8th GCAA) is an

army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

of 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, ...

, headquartered in

Novocherkassk Novocherkassk () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located near the confluence of the Tuzlov and Aksay Rivers, the latter a distributary of the Don (river), Don River. Novocherkassk is best known as the ...

Rostov Oblast Rostov Oblast ( rus, Росто́вская о́бласть, r=Rostovskaya oblastʹ, p=rɐˈstofskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the Southern Federal District. The oblast ...

, within Russia′s

Southern Military District The Order of the Red Banner Southern Military District () is a military district of Russia. It is one of the five military districts of the Russian Armed Forces, with its jurisdiction primarily within the North Caucasus region of the country ...

, that was formed in 2017. Military Unit в/ч 61877.

Structure

The formation of the new 8th Combined Arms Army began in 2017; the first stage was intended to be completed in June 2017. The 8th Combined Arms Army as of 2021 includes: *

150th Motor Rifle Division The 150th Guards Motor Rifle Berlin-Idritsa Order of Kutuzov Division () of the Russian Ground Forces is a motorized rifle division that was re-instituted in 2016. It is part of the 8th Guards Combined Arms Army, which was reformed in 2017, in ...

(re-established in 2016), also based at

(в/ч 22179). ** 102nd Motor Rifle Regiment (в/ч 91706) ** 103rd Motor Rifle Regiment (в/ч 91708) ** 68th Tank Regiment (в/ч 91714) ** 163rd Tank Regiment (в/ч 84839) ** 174th Reconnaissance Battalion (в/ч 22265) ** 381st Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment (в/ч 24390) ** 224th Separate Anti-Tank Artillery Battalion ** 933rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (в/ч 15269) *

20th Guards Motor Rifle Division The 20th Guards Carpathian-Berlin Motor Rifle Division () is a formation of the Russian Ground Forces, originally formed within the Soviet Red Army as the 3rd Mechanised Corps. The division was reformed in 2021 from the former 20th Guards Motor ...

in the Volgograd region 9 (в/ч 58550) ** 255th Motor Rifle Regiment (Volgograd) (в/ч 34605) ** 33rd Motor Rifle Regiment (Kamyshin) ** ** 944th Guards Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment (в/ч 21511) ** 487th Separate Anti-Tank Battalion ** 358th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (в/ч 26006) * 464th Rocket Brigade with the former 20th Guards Brigade reportedly having expanded into a division-strength formation. * 242nd Mechanized Regiment (Kamyshin, Volgograd Oblast); * 428th Separate Tank Battalion (Volgograd proximity) * 47th Missile Brigade (в/ч 33166) (equipped with the Iskander surface-to-surface missile system) * 238th Artillery Brigade (equipped with 2A65 Msta-B guns and 9K57 Uragan multiple launch rocket systems) * 77th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade was deployed at Korenovsk and equipped with S-300V4 anti-aircraft missile system. Support to the army is to be provided by fighter aircraft, bombers and ground attack aircraft (primarily drawn from the

4th Air and Air Defence Forces Army The 4th Guards Air and Air Defence Forces Army () is an Air army (Soviet Union), air army of the Russian Aerospace Forces, part of the Southern Military District and headquartered in Rostov-on-Don. The 4th Air Army (''4 Vozdushnaya Armiya'') was ...

) and, in certain areas, by ships and submarines of the

Black Sea Fleet The Black Sea Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean Sea. The Black Sea Fleet, along with other Russian ground and air forces on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, are subordin ...

of the

Russian Navy The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...

Russian invasion of Ukraine

Units from the 8th Guards Army participated in the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

under the command of Lieutenant General Andrei Sychevoi. According to experts, the 8th Combined Arms Army was intended to be a centrepiece of the

in the southern European part of the Russian Federation, protecting from threats in that region. Ukraine, the United States, and some analysts describe the 1st (Donetsk) and 2nd (Luhansk) Army Corps of the

Russian separatist forces in Donbas Russian separatist forces in Ukraine, primarily the People's Militias of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), were pro-Russian paramilitaries in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. They were under the o ...

, Ukraine, as under the command of the 8th CAA HQ. As of 2021, subordinate units within these corps are said to include: 4 Motorized Rifle Brigades, 2 Motorized Rifle Regiments, 2 special forces battalions, 1 tank battalion, 1 reconnaissance battalion and 1 artillery brigade (1st Corps) and 3 Motorized Rifle Brigades, 1 Motorized Rifle Regiment, 1 tank battalion, 1 reconnaissance battalion and 1 artillery brigade (2nd Corps). Ukrainian officials reported that the commander of the army's

, Major General Oleg Mityaev, was killed on 15 March in the

Siege of Mariupol The siege of Mariupol began on 24 February 2022 and lasted until 20 May, as part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It saw fighting between the Russian Armed Forces (alongside the Donetsk People's Republic People's Militia) and the Ukrainian ...

. Army commander Lieutenant General

Andrey Mordvichev Andrey Nikolayevich Mordvichev (; born 14 January 1976) is a Russian colonel general who has been Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces since 2025. He previously commanded the Central Military District and the "Center" group of forces ...

was claimed by Ukrainian intelligence to have been

killed in action Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...

near Kherson airport in Chornobaivka on March 18, 2022 during the

2022 Chornobaivka attacks The 2022 Chornobaivka attacks were a series of Ukrainian attacks against the Russian-held Kherson International Airport at Chornobaivka, which began on 27 February 2022 during the southern Ukraine campaign of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. ...

. This was proven wrong when a video showing Mordvichev and

Ramzan Kadyrov Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov (born 5 October 1976) is a Russian politician and current head of the Chechen Republic. He was formerly affiliated with the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Chechen independence movement, through his father who was the ...

was released ten days later. On 16 April, Russian officials admitted the death of army deputy commander Major General Vladimir Petrovich Frolov in combat in Ukraine. The 8th Combined Arms Army has been involved in the

2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive In early June 2023, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine launched a Counter-offensive, counteroffensive against Russian forces Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, occupying its territory with a goal of breaching the front lines ...

around the city of Marinka. On August 5, 2024, by Decree of the

President of the Russian Federation The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation (), is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the Federal State Council and the supreme commander-in-chief of the Russian Armed Forces. I ...

, the army was awarded the honorary title of "Guards" for mass heroism and bravery, fortitude and courage shown by the army personnel in combat operations to protect the Fatherland and state interests in armed conflicts.

Structure

Russian invasion of Ukraine

References

Further reading