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 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 ...

) 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 ...

. In 1991, after the dissolution of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, the army became part 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, ...

. в/ч 89425.

1st formation (4th Tank Army)

The army was first formed by

Stavka The ''Stavka'' ( Russian and Ukrainian: Ставка, ) is a name of the high command of the armed forces used formerly in the Russian Empire and Soviet Union and currently in Ukraine. In Imperial Russia ''Stavka'' referred to the administrat ...

order within

Stalingrad Front The Stalingrad Front was a front, a military unit encompassing several armies, of the Soviet Union's Red Army during the Second World War. The name indicated the primary geographical region in which the Front first fought, based on the city of St ...

on July 22, 1942, based on the remaining elements of the headquarters of the former 28th Army, which had been largely destroyed in recent fighting. Major General

Vasily Kryuchenkin Vasily Dmitryevich Kryuchyonkin (; 13 January 1894 – 10 June 1976) was a Soviet Lieutenant general during World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict ...

, commander of the former 28th Army, was given command of 4th Tank Army. The new formation incorporated the

22nd Tank Corps 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and the only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many ...

, under Major General Aleksandr Shamshin, and Major General Abram Khasin's

23rd Tank Corps The 23rd Budapest Red Banner Order of Suvorov Tank Corps was a tank corps of the Red Army during World War II. It was part of the "operational army" or "active army" ( :ru:Действующая армия и флот) from April 12, 1942, to May ...

, plus three rifle divisions transferred from the

Far Eastern Front The Far Eastern Front (Russian: Дальневосточный фронт) was a front — a level of military formation that is equivalent to army group — of the Red Army during the Second World War. Early war service Тhe Far Eastern Front wa ...

, two anti-tank regiments and two anti-aircraft regiments. 8th Separate Fighter Air Brigade provided support. It was committed to battle without being fully formed, as German forces had broken through. The Army attempted to stop the German 6th Army, but was not successful and lost a large number of tanks. On 1 August 1942 official Soviet records show the Army as comprising the 22nd Tank Corps (133rd, 173rd, 176th, and 182nd Tank Brigades plus the 22nd Motor Rifle Brigade), the 18th and 205th Rifle Divisions, an independent brigade, and two artillery regiments. In August 1942 it fought on the southern approaches to Stalingrad, having conducted some successful counterattacks against units of the German 48th Panzer Corps. 4th Tank Army later came under command of General

Konstantin Rokossovsky Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky ( 1896 – 3 August 1968) was a Soviet and Polish general who served as a top commander in the Red Army during World War II and achieved the ranks of Marshal of the Soviet Union and Marshal of Poland. He a ...

Don Front The Don Front was a front of the Soviet Red Army during the Second World War, which existed between September 1942 and February 1943, and was commanded during its entire existence by Konstantin Rokossovsky. The name refers to Don River, Russia. F ...

. On 22 October Kryuchenkin was replaced by General

Pavel Batov Pavel Ivanovich Batov (; – April 19, 1985) was a senior Red Army general during the World War II, Second World War and afterwards, twice Hero of the Soviet Union. Batov fought in World War I, where he was awarded the Cross of St. George twi ...

. The much diminished army was re-designated the 65th Army on 27 October, and served for the duration under Batov's command.

2nd formation (4th Guards Tank Army)

On 15 July 1943, after an abortive attempt to form the Army for a second time had been called off in February, it was reformed as 4th Guards Tank Army drawing on the headquarters of the previous 19th Cavalry Corps. Initially the new army consisted of 11th and 30th Ural Volunteer Tank Corps and

6th Guards Mechanised Corps G6, G.VI, G.6 or G-6 may refer to: International politics * G6 (EU), the six largest European Union members * Group of Six, a 1975 international summit which led to the G7 and G8 * 44th G7 summit, referred to as the "G6+1" or just "G6" due ...

. Its first operation as 4th Tank Army, under Lt. General Tank Tr. Vasily Badanov, (July 1943 – March 1944) was at Orel, the counterattack (

Operation Kutuzov Operation Kutuzov was the first of the two counteroffensives launched by the Red Army as part of the Kursk Strategic Offensive Operation. It commenced on 12 July 1943, in the Central Russian Upland, against Army Group Center of the German ''Ger ...

) on the northern side of the Kursk bulge after the German defeat at the

Battle of Kursk The Battle of Kursk, also called the Battle of the Kursk Salient, was a major World War II Eastern Front battle between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in southwestern Russia during the summer of 1943, resulting in ...

proper. John Erickson wrote that "at 1100 on 26 July, two of Badanov's corps (11th Tank and 6th Guards Mechanised) put in a ragged attack towards

Bolkhov Bolkhov () is a town and the administrative center of Bolkhovsky District in Oryol Oblast, Russia, located on the Nugr River ( Oka's tributary), from Oryol, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: 12,800 (1969); 20,703 (1897). ...

. For the next few hours, under the very gaze of

Ivan Bagramyan Ivan Khristoforovich Bagramyan, born Hovhannes Baghramyan ( – 21 September 1982), was a Soviet military commander of Armenian origin who held the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union. As commander of the 1st Baltic Front, he orchestrated the ...

ommander of 11th Guards Army, whose sector 4th Tank was attacking through">11th_Guards_Army.html" ;"title="ommander of 11th Guards Army">ommander of 11th Guards Army, whose sector 4th Tank was attacking throughand Badanov, both corps were heavily battered by the concealed German tanks and assault guns." It took part in the winter battles in Ukraine in 1944 ( Proskurov-Chernovitsy), then the Lvov–Sandomierz offensive">Lvov–Sandomierz Operation in the summer. Its commander was Lt. Gen. (later Col. Gen.) Dmitry Lelyushenko (March 1944 – May 1945). It then participated in the Lower Silesian offensive, Lower Silesian, Upper Silesian offensive, Upper Silesian, Battle of Berlin, Berlin, and Prague offensive, Prague operations. In the last days of the war, it achieved Guards status by an order of the NKO dated 17 March 1945 ( Krasnaya Zvezda).

Cold War

200px, in Berlin, 1981 It was initially part of the

Central Group of Forces The Central Group of Forces (Russian: Центральная группа войск) was a formation of the Soviet Armed Forces used to incorporate Soviet troops in Central Europe on two occasions: in Austria and Hungary from 1945 to 1955 and tr ...

, but in 1947 was moved to eastern Germany. In the first days of the Soviet occupation of eastern Germany, it had its headquarters at

Eberswalde Eberswalde () is a major town and the administrative seat of the district Barnim in Brandenburg in north-eastern Germany, about northeast of Berlin. Population 42,144 (census in June 2005). The town is often called Waldstadt (forest town), beca ...

and consisted of the

5th Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth Avenue * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a cont ...

and 6th Guards Mechanised Corps and the 10th Guards Tank Corps. From 1946 to 1957 the Army was named 4th Guards Mechanised Army. It was renamed 20th Guards Army in 1960, and served for many years as part of the

Group of Soviet Forces in Germany The Western Group of Forces (WGF), previously known as the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany (GSOFG) and the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSFG), were the troops of the Soviet Army in East Germany. The Group of Soviet Occupation ...

. It took part in the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. In 1982 the 14th Guards Motor Rifle Division became the 32nd Guards Tank Division, and two motor rifle regiments became tank regiments. In 1985 the former 6th Guards Motor Rifle Division became the 90th Guards Tank Division. In the late 1980s it controlled the

25th Tank Division Fifth is the Ordinal number (linguistics), ordinal form of the number 5, five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth Avenue * Fifth column, a politic ...

(HQ Vogelsang, disbanded 1989),

32nd Guards Tank Division The 32nd Guards Tank Division was a tank formation of the Soviet Army/Soviet Ground Forces. Its predecessor, the 9th Guards Airborne Division, was a Red Army Airborne division of World War II. On 19 June 1945, it became the 116th Guards Rifle Di ...

(HQ

Jüterbog Jüterbog () is a historic town in north-eastern Germany, in the Teltow-Fläming district of Brandenburg. It is on the Nuthe river at the northern slope of the Fläming hill range, about southwest of Berlin. History The Polabian Slavs, Slavic se ...

, disbanded 1989), 90th Guards Tank Division (HQ Bernau, withdrawn to Chernorech'e in the Volga Military District, early 1990s), the 35th Motor Rifle Division (HQ

Krampnitz Krampnitz Kaserne was a military complex, in Fahrland, Potsdam, created by the Germans during German re-armament, the rearmament period. It was used by the Germans until the end of the Second World War. After the war it was used by Soviet Union, ...

, withdrawn to Chebarkul and disbanded, December 1991 – April 1992), the 6th Guards Separate Motor Rifle Brigade at

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Karlshorst Karlshorst (, ; ; literally meaning ''Karl's nest'') is a locality in the borough of Lichtenberg in Berlin. It is home to a harness racing track, the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin (''HTW''), the largest University of Applied Scien ...

(withdrawn to

Kursk Kursk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur (Kursk Oblast), Kur, Tuskar, and Seym (river), Seym rivers. It has a population of Kursk ...

) and many combat support and service support units, including the 387th Guards Artillery Brigade, 27th and 464th Rocket Brigades, a SAM brigade, an engineer-sapper brigade, and two helicopter regiments. After the fall of the Soviet Union 20th Guards Army was withdrawn to

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 ...

in the

Moscow Military District The Order of Lenin Moscow Military District () is a Military districts of Russia, military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Originally it was a district of the Imperial Russian Army until the Russian Empire's collapse in 191 ...

Post Cold War

In June 2006 elements of the Army took part in the "Shield of Union" joint Russian–Belarusian exercises. From 2009 to 2014 the 6th Separate Czestochowa Tank Brigade at Mulino was part of the army. In 2014 it transferred to the

1st Guards Tank Army The 1st Guards Tank Red Banner Army () is a tank army of the Russian Ground Forces (Military Unit Number 73621). 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 ...

. In mid-August 2016, Major General

Yevgeny Nikiforov Yevgeny Valeryevich Nikiforov (; born 1 January 1970), is a Russian military officer who was the commander of the Western Military District between 23 January 2023 and 26 February 2024. He had previously been the Chief of Staff - First Deputy Co ...

became the army commander. 68th Army Corps commander Major General Alexander Peryazev took command in February 2017 as Nikiforov transferred to the

58th Army The 58th Guards Combined Arms Army () is an army of the Russian Ground Forces, headquartered at Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia-Alania, within Russia's Southern Military District. It was formed in 1941 as part of the Soviet Union's Red Army and has be ...

Units subservient to 20th Army

* 3rd Motor Rifle Division (в/ч 54046) (Boguchar) ** 752nd Motor Rifle Regiment (в/ч 34670) ** 252nd Motor Rifle Regiment (в/ч 91711) ** 237th Guards Tank Regiment (в/ч 91726) ** 84th Reconnaissance Battalion (в/ч 22263) ** 99th Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment (в/ч 91727) ** 159th Separate Anti-Tank Battalion (в/ч 81989) ** 1143rd Separate Anti-Aircraft Missile Battalion (в/ч 48422) *

144th Guards Motor Rifle Division The 144th Guards Yelnya Red Banner Order of Suvorov Motor Rifle Division () is a motorized infantry division of the Russian Ground Forces, reestablished in 2016 with its headquarters at Yelnya, Smolensk Oblast. History Formation & World War I ...

(в/ч 23060) (

Yelnya Yelnya () is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. ;Urban localities * Yelnya, Yelninsky District, Smolensk Oblast, a town in Yelninsky District of Smolensk Oblast; administratively incorporated as Yelninskoye Urban Settlement ;Ru ...

) ** 254th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment (в/ч 91704) ** 488th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment (в/ч 12721) ** 59th Guards Tank Regiment (в/ч 94018) ** 148th Reconnaissance Battalion (в/ч 23872) ** 856th Guards Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment (в/ч 23857) ** 1259th Separate Anti-Tank Artillery Battalion ** 673rd Separate Anti-Aircraft Missile Battalion (в/ч 53821) * 236th Guards Artillery Brigade (в/ч 53195) (

Kolomna Kolomna (, ) is a historic types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, situated at the confluence of the Moskva River, Moskva and Oka Rivers, (by rail) southeast of Moscow. Population: History Mentioned for the fir ...

) * 448th Rocket Brigade (в/ч 35535) (

) * 53rd Guards Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade (в/ч 32406) (Kursk) * 99th Weapons and Equipment Storage Base (

Tver Tver (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative centre of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is situated at the confluence of the Volga and Tvertsa rivers. Tver is located northwest of Moscow. Population: The city is ...

) * 7015th Weapons and Equipment Storage Base (Mulino) * 152nd Logistic Support Brigade ( Liski) * 9th Guards Command Brigade (Voronezh) * Battalion of the 82nd Separate Warsaw Radio Engineering Special Purpose Brigade

Commanders

The following officers have commanded the army:

References and sources

Citations

Bibliography

*Keith E. Bonn (ed.), Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front, Aberjona Press, 2005, p. 334 *see also (Ru) http://polk69wunsdorf.narod.ru/simple11.html * *Glantz, David M. 'Companion to Colossus Reborn' Univ. Press of Kansas, 2005. {{Armies of the Russian Armed Forces Tank armies of the Soviet Union Military units and formations established in 1942 Armies of the Russian Federation Guards Armies