The 1st Guards Tank Army () is a tank army of the Russian Ground Forces. The army traces its heritage back to the 1st Tank Army, formed twice in July 1942 and in January 1943 and converted into the 1st Guards Tank Army in January 1944. The army fought as part of the Red Army on the Eastern Front during World War II. The army was commanded throughout most of the war by Mikhail Katukov. It fought in the early defense during the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later re ...

, and Operation Uranus, and participated in the Battle of Kursk, Proskurov-Chernovtsy Operation, Lvov-Sandomierz Operation, Vistula-Oder Offensive and the

Battle of Berlin The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. After the Vistula– ...

. After the war, the army was stationed in East Germany as part of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. After the end of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

and the resultant withdrawal of Soviet units in Germany, the army was relocated to Smolensk, and disbanded in 1999. The army was reformed in 2014 as part of Russia's military expansion. This reformed army fought in the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

, where it is said to have suffered heavy casualties following its eventual retreats from the

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

and later Kharkiv.

First formation

The 1st Tank Army was first formed within the Stalingrad Front from the 38th Army in July 1942, under the command of Major General Kirill Moskalenko. The army was encircled and partially destroyed. It was disbanded as a result in August 1942, its headquarters becoming the Southeastern Front headquarters.

Second formation

The 1st Tank Army was formed a second time on 30 January 1943 (order No.46021) from the headquarters of the 29th Army, under the command of famous armoured troops commander Lieutenant General of Tank Troops Mikhail Katukov, personally appointed by Stalin. The army was transferred to the North-Western Front. The 3rd Mechanised Corps (later to become 8th Guards Mechanised Corps) and 6th Tank Corps (later to become 11th Guards Tank Corps) joined it on formation, and served with the army throughout the war. It was quickly transferred to Voronezh Front for the defense of the

Kursk Kursk ( rus, Курск, p=ˈkursk) is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym rivers. The area around Kursk was the site of a turning point in the Soviet–German stru ...

salient's southern shoulder. It was awarded a Guards title and became the 1st Guards Tank Army in April 1944, and Katukov was promoted to Colonel General. On 1 January 1945, the Army's principal combat formations were: *

8th Guards Mechanized Corps The 20th Guards 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 Rifle Brigade. Th ...

(Major General

Ivan Dremov Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...

) (3 January 1944 – 9 May 1945) **

19th Guards Mechanized Brigade The 19th Guards Mechanized Brigade is a formation of the Armed Forces of Belarus based in Zaslonovo ( :ru:Заслоново), a few kilometers east of Lepiel. The brigade traces its history back to the 1942 formation of the 2nd Guards Mechanized ...

** 20th Guards Mechanized Brigade **

21st Guards Mechanized Brigade First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

** 1st Guards Tank Brigade ** 48th Guards Separate Tank Regiment ** 353rd Guards Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment ** 400th Guards Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment ** 265th Guards Mortar Regiment * ** 405th Guards Mortar Battalion * ** 358th Guards Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment ** 8th Guards Motorcycle Battalion *

11th Guards Tank Corps 11 (eleven) is the natural number following 10 and preceding 12. It is the first repdigit. In English, it is the smallest positive integer whose name has three syllables. Name "Eleven" derives from the Old English ', which is first attested i ...

(Colonel Hamazasp Babadzhanian) (25 August 1944 – 9 May 1945) **

40th Guards Tank Brigade 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

** 44th Guards Tank Brigade ** 45th Guards Tank Brigade **

27th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade The 27th Separate Guards Sevastopol Red Banner Motor Rifle Brigade "60th Anniversary of the USSR" () is a tactical formation of the Russian Ground Forces. Its Military Unit Number (V/Ch) is 61899 (military unit 61899). It is part of 1st Guards Tank ...

** 399th Guards Heavy Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment ** 362nd Guards Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment ** 1454th Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment ** 350th Light Artillery Regiment ** 270th Guards Mortar Regiment * ** 53rd Guards Mortar Battalion * ** 1018th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment ** 9th Guards Motorcycle Battalion * Army Troops ** 64th Guards Tank Brigade ** 11th Guards Separate Tank Regiment ** 19th Light Self-Propelled Artillery Brigade ** 197th Light Artillery Brigade ** 79th Guards Mortar Regiment * ** 17th Motorised Engineer Brigade ** 191st Guards Liaison Aviation Regiment ** 6th Motorcycle Regiment ** 12th Guards Motorcycle Regiment * Guards Mortar Regiment (or Battalion) () was the overt designation used for Katyusha rocket launcher units. It participated in the Battle of Kursk, the Proskurov-Chernovtsy Operation, Lvov-Sandomierz Operation, the Vistula-Oder Offensive, and the

. The 1st Guards Tank Army was awarded the Order of the Red Banner postwar. It became part of the Soviet occupation force in Germany, known as Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, with its headquarters in Dresden. In 1968, it, along with the 11th Guards Tank and 20th Guards Motor Rifle Divisions, took part in the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, and then immediately returned to their respective garrisons. In the late 1980s the Army included the 20th Guards Motor Rifle Division, 9th Tank Division, and

11th Guards Tank Division 11 (eleven) is the natural number following 10 and preceding 12. It is the first repdigit. In English, it is the smallest positive integer whose name has three syllables. Name "Eleven" derives from the Old English ', which is first attested i ...

. The headquarters was withdrawn to Smolensk, in the Moscow Military District in the early 1990s, and lost the 'Tank' from its title in 1995. In its last period within the Russian Army it comprised the 4th Guards 'Kantemir' Tank Division and the 144th Motor Rifle Division (which had been withdrawn from Tallinn in Estonia). It was disbanded in 1998.

1988 structure

The army's composition in 1988 was (with main equipment), with honorific titles in italics: * Army Headquarters, Dresden ** 234th Separate Guard and Security Battalion, Dresden * 3rd Separate Guards ''Carpathian'' Communications Regiment, Dresden * 253rd Separate Radio Engineering Regiment, Merseburg * 51st Separate Radio Engineering Battalion, Dresden * 106th Separate Electronic Warfare Battalion, Dresden * 595th Separate Intelligence Gathering Battalion,

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany a ...

(K-611) * 6th Separate Airborne Battalion, Dresden * 308th Artillery Brigade,

Zeithain Zeithain is a municipality in the district of Meißen, in Saxony, Germany. Historically, it is known for the Zeithain Encampment (''Zeithainer Zeltlager'' or ''Zeithainer Lustlager''), which was a huge agglomeration of tents and troops, involving ...

( 2c5 Hyacinth) * 181st Guards ''Novozybkovskaya Red Banner Orders of Suvorov and Alexander Nevsky'' Missile Brigade, Kochstedt * 432nd Missile Brigade, Wurzen *

53rd Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade The 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade is a surface-to-air missile brigade of the Russian Ground Forces. Part of the 20th Guards Army, the brigade is based at Kursk. Formed from an anti-aircraft regiment in 1967 in Armenia, the brigade was transfe ...

Altenburg Altenburg () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located south of Leipzig, west of Dresden and east of Erfurt. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district and part of a polycentric old-industrial textile and metal production region betw ...

* 443rd Separate Engineer and Combat Engineering Battalion, Dresden * 68th Pontoon Bridge Regiment, Dresden * 41st Materiel Support Brigade, Dresden ** 303rd Separate Repair and Recovery Battalion, Dresden ** 338th Separate Repair and Recovery Battalion, Dresden * 225th Separate Attack Helicopter Regiment, Allstedt ( Mil Mi-24) * 485th Separate Attack Helicopter Regiment, Brandis ( Mil Mi-24) * 6th Separate Transport Helicopter Squadron, Klotzsche (

Mil Mi-8 The Mil Mi-8 (russian: Ми-8, NATO reporting name: Hip) is a medium twin-turbine helicopter, originally designed by the Soviet Union in the 1960s and introduced into the Soviet Air Force in 1968. It is now produced by Russia. In addition t ...

) * 9th ''Bobruisk-Berlin Order of the Red Banner Order of Suvorov'' Tank Division, Riesa * 11th Guards ''Berlin-Carpathian'' Tank Division, Dresden * 20th Guards ''Taganrog Red Banner Order of the Suvorov Division'' Motor Rifle Division, Grimma

Reactivation

After a 15-year hiatus, the Army was reconstituted in November 2014, probably on 13 November 2014. The army was formed as the main ground forces manoeuvre and reserve operational formation of the Western Military District, in addition to the

6th Combined Arms Army The 6th Army is a field army of the Red Army and the Soviet Army that was active with the Russian Ground Forces until 1998. It appears to have been reformed in 2010 as the 6th Combined Arms Army. It was first formed in August, 1939 in the Kiev S ...

(headquartered in Saint Petersburg) and the

20th Guards Combined Arms Army The 20th Guards Combined Arms Army (originally designated as the 4th Tank Army, 4th Guards Tank Army in 1945, 4th Guards Mechanised Army in 1946, and the 20th Guards Army in 1960 within the Soviet Ground Forces) is a field army. In 1991, after th ...

(headquartered in Voronezh). It is considered an elite formation of the Russian Ground Forces. The army carries on the traditions of the chronologically first army of the Soviet Union to reach '''Guards status. It commands the 2nd Guards Motor Rifle and the 4th Guards Tank Divisions, which are considered the elite formations of their respective combat arms. The most decorated divisions of the Soviet Army, they were garrisoned the closest to Moscow for the city's defense. Due to their proximity to the capital, extra scrutiny was applied to personnel of these formations, making these postings especially prestigious. These units received the latest hardware and were thus known as the 'household' divisions of the Soviet Army. Their loyalty to the government was demonstrated by their involvement in the

1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt The 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, also known as the August Coup,, "August Putsch". was a failed attempt by hardliners of the Soviet Union's Communist Party to forcibly seize control of the country from Mikhail Gorbachev, who was Soviet ...

. The divisions retained their elite status within the Russian Army. The army also included the 6th Separate Guards Tank and the 27th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigades. While the 4th Guards Tank Division uses T-80 tanks, the rest of the Army uses T-72B and T-90 tanks, and Kurganets-25 fighting vehicles. Today the Army is composed of: * Army Headquarters ( Odintsovo,

Moscow Oblast Moscow Oblast ( rus, Моско́вская о́бласть, r=Moskovskaya oblast', p=mɐˈskofskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ), or Podmoskovye ( rus, Подмоско́вье, p=pədmɐˈskovʲjə, literally "under Moscow"), is a federal subject of Rus ...

) * 60th Command Brigade (Selyatino village near Odintsovo,

) * 2nd Guards Motor Rifle '''Tamanskaya Division (

Kalininets Kalininets (russian: Кали́нинец) is an urban locality (a work settlement) in the Naro-Fominsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia. The town's name is a derivative form an unofficial name for a soldier of Taman Division, which is in turn ...

) * 4th Guards Tank '''Kantemirovskaya Division (

Naro-Fominsk Naro-Fominsk (russian: На́ро-Фоми́нск) is a town and the administrative center of Naro-Fominsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Nara River, southwest from Moscow. Population: History The Fominskoye village was fir ...

) with T-80 tanks *

47th Guards Tank Division The 47th Guards Tank Division () is a tank division of the Russian Ground Forces. It was formed in October 1942, during World War II from the first formation of the 154th Rifle Division as the 47th Guards Rifle Division. It served with the 8t ...

( Mulino, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, reestablished 2022) * 27th Guards Motor Rifle '''Sevastopol Brigade ( Mosrentgen, Moscow City) * 112th Guards Missile '''Novorossiysk Brigade ( Shuya, Ivanovo Oblast) ( 9K720 Iskander) * 288th Artillery '''Warsaw Brigade ( Mulino, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast) *

49th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade The 49th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade () (russian: 49-я зенитная ракетная бригада (49 зрбр), translit=49-ya zenitnaya raketnaya brigada (49 zrbr); Military Unit Number 21555) is a surface-to-air missile brigade of the ...

( Krasnyi Bor, Smolensk Oblast) ( Buk-M2) * 96th ISTAR Brigade ( Sormovo, Nizhny Novgorod City) * 20th NBC Defence Regiment ( Tsentralny, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast) (MUN 12102) * 69th Logistics Brigade ( Dzerzhinsk, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast)

Russo-Ukrainian War

During the

2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis In March and April 2021, Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian military to begin massing thousands of personnel and equipment near its border with Ukraine and in Crimea, representing the largest mobilization since the annex ...

, elements of the 1st Guards Tank Army were reported to have forward deployed to the Pogonovo training ground south of Voronezh.

Main battle tanks A main battle tank (MBT), also known as a battle tank or universal tank, is a tank that fills the role of armor-protected direct fire and maneuver in many modern armies. Cold War-era development of more powerful engines, better suspension sys ...

, self-propelled and towed artillery, and long-range multiple rocket launchers (MRLs), reportedly drawn from the 4th Guards Tank Division and the 2nd Motorised Rifle Division, were reported to have been positioned in the vicinity of Voronezh. A few months before the invasion, the

was formed from the 6th Separate Guards Tank Brigade. After the invasion began in February 2022, the Army took part in the

Northeastern Ukraine offensive The northeastern Ukraine campaign was a theatre of operation from 24 February to 8 April 2022 in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine for control of two provinces (oblasts) in Ukraine — Chernihiv Oblast and Sumy Oblast. On 4 April 2022, Ukra ...

of the

, with the 2nd Guards MRD taking part in the failed Siege of Chernihiv. After 3 weeks of fighting 1st Guards Tank Army had lost 409 men (61 KIA, 209 WIA, 44 missing, 96 surrendered) and 308 units of military equipment according to Russian military documents according to Ukraine. The United Kingdom

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

reported on 19 May 2022 that army commander General-Lieutenant Sergey Kisel had been suspended for his failure to capture Kharkiv. On 13 September 2022, UK Defence Intelligence identified 1st Guards Tank Army as the primary force that retreated from Kharkiv Oblast during the

Ukrainian Kharkiv counteroffensive The 2022 Kharkiv counteroffensive was a Counter-offensive, counteroffensive by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the Russian occupation of Kharkiv Oblast, Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory of the Kharkiv Oblast which was launched on 6 September ...

. Having suffered heavy casualties, it described the army as "severely degraded" and its ability to counter NATO "severely weakened."

Commanders of the Army

# Katukov, Mikhail Yefimovich – Guard ColGen, 1943–1947 # Belov, Yeftikhin Emelyanovich – Guard LtGen, 1947–1951 # Govorunenkov, Pyotr Dmitrievich – Guard GenLt, 1951–1953 # Yakubovsky, Ivan Ignatyevitch – Guard GenLt, 1953–1957 # Tolubko, Vladimir Fyodorovich – Guard

MajGen Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

, 1957–1958 # Ukhov, Vladimir Dmitrievich – Guard MajGen, 1958–1961 # Ivanovski, Yevgeny Filippovich – Guard MajGen, 1961–1964 # Kotsasnov, Konstantin Grigoryevich – Guard GenLt, 1964–1968 # Gerasimov, Ivan Aleksandrovich – Guard GenLt, 1968–1971 # Lushev, Pyotr Georgievich – Guard GenLt, 1971–1973 # Snetkov, Boris Vasilievich – Guard LtGen, 1973–1975 # Popov, Nikolai Ivanovich – Guard LtGen, 1975–1979 # Sovotskin, Roman Mikhailovich – Guard LtGen, 1979–1981 # Osipov, Vladimir Vasilyevich – Guard LtGen, 1981–1983 # Shein, Boris Pertovich – Guard LtGen, 1983–1986 # Tchernitsov, Anatoli Kupyanovich – Guard LtGen, 1986–1990 # Kolchkin, Gennadi Andreevich – Guard LtGen, 1990–1992 # Shevtsov, Leonti Pavlovich – Guard LtGen, 1992–1993 # Sosyedov, Vasili Petrovich – Guard LtGen, 1993–1995 # Roshchin, Viktor Mikhailovich – Guard LtGen, 1995–1999 # Did not exist (1999–2014) #

Aleksandr Chaiko Aleksandr Yuryevich Chaiko (Russian: Александр Юрьевич Чайко; born on 27 July 1971) is a Russian army officer and war criminal who was formerly the commander of the Eastern Military District from 12 November 2021 until he was ...

– Guard LtGen, 2014–2018 # Kisel, Sergei Aleksandrovich - Guard LtGen, 2018–2020"First Russian Soldier Standing Trial for War Crime in Ukraine Asks for Forgiveness Faces Life Imprisonment," ''Kyiv Independent,'' May 19, 2022
/ref>

References

* Bonn, K.E. 'Slaughterhouse – The Handbook of the Eastern Front', Aberjona Press, 2005 * Duncan, Andrew 'Russian Forces in Decline – Part 3', Jane's Intelligence Review, November 1996. * V.I. Feskov, Golikov V.I., K.A. Kalashnikov, and S.A. Slugin, ''The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II, from the Red Army to the Soviet (Part 1: Land Forces).'' (В.И. Слугин С.А. Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской (часть 1: Сухопутные войска))

Tomsk Tomsk ( rus, Томск, p=tomsk, sty, Түң-тора) is a city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast in Russia, located on the Tom River. Population: Founded in 1604, Tomsk is one of the oldest cities in Siberia. The city is a not ...

, 2013. * Glantz, David M. 'Companion to Colossus Reborn' University Press of Kansas, 2005. * {{Armies of the Russian Armed Forces Tank armies of the Soviet Union Military units and formations established in 1942 Military units and formations awarded the Order of the Red Banner Guards Armies Armies of the Russian Federation