As it became known to Kommersant, the 20th Guards Combined Arms Army, whose headquarters and part of the units returned from the Nizhny Novgorod Region to Voronezh at the end of 2014, was headed by Major General Sergei Kuzovlev, Chief of Staff of the 58th Army (Vladikavkaz). Association for a long time Igor Krasin, Deputy Commander for Logistics, was in charge of acting in the status of Acting Commander; now he will be headed by a representative of the most belligerent army of the Russian Federation. In his new position, Major General Kuzovlev will have to deal with the actual reorganization of the association.
A high-ranking source in the Ministry of Defense announced the upcoming appointment of a new commander of the 20th Army to Kommersant at the end of last week. However, the name of the commander until yesterday was not called. Yesterday, two Kommersant sources at once - at the army headquarters and at the Ostrogozhsk training center for the training of junior specialists of the armored service (Voronezh region) - said that Major General Kuzovlev had been appointed to this position. According to a source in the army headquarters, the army commander is already in Voronezh and was recently introduced to the personnel of the association. The Defense Ministry neither confirmed nor denied the appointment of Mr. Kuzovlev yesterday. At the headquarters of the 20th Army, they did not answer the calls of Kommersant.
Sergey Kuzovlev was born in 1967. In 1990 he graduated from the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School. He commanded the 506th Poznan Guards Motor Rifle Regiment (Orenburg Region). Participated in the first and second Chechen wars. From February 1, 2005 to July 2008, he commanded the 15th separate motorized rifle brigade of the peacekeeping forces of the Volga-Urals Military District. In 2008, he entered the Military Academy of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces, which is why he could not take part in the operation to force Georgia to peace, in which the 58th Army was assigned a key role. After graduating from the academy, he headed the 18th separate motorized rifle brigade (Khankala and Kalinovskaya of the Chechen Republic, subordinate to the 58th army). In early 2014, he was appointed chief of staff of the 58th Army, on February 22 he received the rank of major general.
The headquarters and units of the 20th Army (until 1960 - the 4th Guards Tank Army) have been stationed in Voronezh since the withdrawal from the GDR in 1994. However, in 2010 they were transferred to Mulino, Nizhny Novgorod Region, to replace the disbanded 22nd Combined Arms Army. As a result, the western part of the country was actually covered by two combined-arms armies - the 20th and 6th combined-arms armies, and the first was moved away from the border with Ukraine. But at the end of 2014, it was decided to return the army headquarters to Voronezh. As it became known to Kommersant, the 9th control brigade (until 2010 - the 6th separate communications regiment) returned with it. Experts then associated the return of the army precisely with the "aggravation of the geopolitical threat from the West." During the celebrations that took place at the beginning of summer, dedicated to the 72nd anniversary of the formation of the 20th Army, its veterans described the two moves as follows: her from dirt, and there was no certainty. And Kommersant's interlocutors at the army headquarters assessed the move in 2010 as "unjustified and costly."
Acting commander of the 20th Army, Deputy Logistics Officer Igor Krasin, told Kommersant that the army for the time being "will be equipped in the region with the current composition" (in Mulin, only the 6th tank brigade now remains in the army). But during the meeting of Governor Alexei Gordeev on March 13 with the commander of the Western Military District, Colonel-General Anatoly Sidorov, the possibility of expanding the training ground in the Bogucharsky district of the Voronezh region "to train a motorized rifle brigade" was discussed: the 9th separate motorized rifle brigade of the Vislenskaya and 1- I am the Ural-Lvov tank brigade, now reduced to a storage base. Sources close to the headquarters of the 20th Army do not exclude the formation of new units as part of the formation. The Ministry of Defense has not yet officially commented on possible transformations.
In the new geopolitical situation, not only the southern, but also the western borders are being strengthened. Russia is strengthening the military infrastructure on the border with Ukraine. On the territory of the Voronezh and Rostov regions, units and units of the Ground Forces (SV), which were previously in reserve, are being deployed at full staff. The Bogucharsky training ground is being reopened and expanded, and a new military camp will be built near the Baltimore military airfield. At the same time, the headquarters of the 20th combined-arms army, apparently, will soon return to Voronezh.
Such conclusions can be drawn from the results of a recent meeting between the commander of the Western Military District (ZVO), Colonel General Anatoly Sidorov, and the Governor of the Voronezh Region, Alexei Gordeev. This information The Ministry of Defense does not confirm, but does not refute either.
Although the local media willingly quote the words of the governor "about the importance for the Voronezh region of the return of the 20th Army here." “We are happy to relocate. The army was seen off at one time with sadness, because it was always very prestigious for us that it was stationed here, ”the head of the region said last Friday after a meeting with General Sidorov.
The headquarters and administration of the 20th Combined Arms Army was removed from Voronezh in 2010 by order of the then Minister of Defense Anatoly Serdyukov, with the support of ex-Chief of the General Staff Nikolai Makarov. Then, as you know, they "cut" many other units and formations of the Russian army, including in the Nizhny Novgorod region, they disbanded the 22nd Army of the Moscow Military District. In its place, the 20th Army was redeployed. Now, everything seems to be back to normal. The army will not only be returned, but a new military infrastructure will be created in the region. During a meeting with Gordeev, the commander of the Western Military District said that the Ministry of Defense plans to build a new military camp near the Voronezh-Baltimore airfield. According to the plan, the work should be completed in 2015. What specific new military units will appear in this military town is not reported. But it is already clear that very soon the barracks under construction will be replenished with personnel, and the hangars with military equipment.
Another important task for the Ministry of Defense, which was discussed by Gordeev and Sidorov, is “the expansion of the training ground located on the territory of Bogucharsky municipal district". As noted, "for the final solution of this issue, the Ministry of Defense needs to additionally work out the topic with the government of the Rostov region bordering the region." This issue is, of course, significant for the management of the country's defense, since the Rostov Region is included in the zone of responsibility of the Southern Military District (ZVO). And the Voronezh region and all military installations and garrisons stationed in it are part of the Western Military District. Why they are expanding the range, which will already be located on the territory of two military districts and obey the command of the Western Military District, is not reported. The media only reported that a motorized rifle brigade would be stationed in the Boguchar area.
By the way, until 2009, the 10th Guards Tank Division was stationed here, which was withdrawn from Germany in 1991. In addition to the Voronezh region, part of the formation was stationed in the Kursk region (6th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment). Six years ago, by order of Anatoly Serdyukov, the division was reduced, creating on its basis a base for the storage and repair of military equipment. And now this base is being re-deployed to the states of the compound.
With what such steps are connected, the Ministry of Defense does not report. Although the expert community believes that this activity follows from the revised defense plan for 2015, which was recently approved by President Vladimir Putin. And this plan concerns the situation in Donbass. According to military expert Lieutenant General Yuri Netkachev, “in 2014, the Russian Federation faced new military threats. Kiev threatens a revanchist campaign against the Crimea and the transfer of hostilities to the territory of Russia. And here, of course, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu should build up the combat potential of the Armed Forces, including in the west of the country in connection with the emerging military-political situation.”
“If the headquarters of the 20th combined-arms army is again redeployed to Voronezh, then, I think, it will be the right decision", - says Lieutenant General Sergei Skokov, who in 2009-2011 headed the Main Headquarters of the Ground Forces. In his opinion, “then it was obvious to many military leaders and the expert community that the transfer of this association from Voronezh to Mulino (Nizhny Novgorod Region) in 2010 exposed the west of Russia and created difficulties for building a reliable defense there. But these opinions were not taken into account then either by the former Minister of Defense Anatoly Serdyukov, or by the Chief of the General Staff, Nikolai Makarov. Now their mistakes have to be corrected. And, apparently, I will quickly correct them, since the situation in Ukraine is still alarming, and NATO countries are strengthening their groups already in the immediate vicinity of the borders of Russia.”
Plan:
- Introduction
- 1. History
- 2 After the withdrawal from Germany
- 3 Composition of the army in 1991 Notes
Introduction
20th Guards Red Banner Combined Arms Army (abbr. 20 GOA)- military unit of the Armed Forces of the USSR as part of the GSVG (GSOVG, ZGV).
Military unit field mail (HF PP) 83379. Headquarters - Eberswalde-Finow (GDR, Germany), call sign - Vershina.
1. History
The 20th Guards Red Banner Combined Arms Army is the heir to the famous 4th Guards Tank Army. 4th Tank Army, created from the 6th Guards Ural Volunteer Mechanized and 11th, 30th Ural Volunteer Tank Corps, 189th (225th Guards) Aviation and 118th (6th Guards) Communications Regiments , joined the battle on the Western Front, then passed into submission to Bryansk. After not entirely successful battles (although the 30th Corps became the 10th Guards), the army was withdrawn to the reserve without the 11th Corps.
In February next year the army became part of the 1st Ukrainian Front and fought in its composition until the end of the war. In the same year, it included the 68th (6th Guards) anti-aircraft division, the 93rd (68th Guards) tank division, the 22nd (70th Guards) self-propelled and the 200th (71st guards) light artillery brigades, as well as the 51st (7th guards) motorcycle, 19th (119th guards) tank engineering and 312th guards mortar regiments, the 20th (3rd guards) motorized engineering brigade.
The army took part in the following operations of the Great Patriotic War- Oryol, Kamenetz-Podolsk, Lviv-Sandomierz, Vistula-Oder, Lower and Upper Silesian, Berlin and Prague operations.
The army itself and the newly included formations became guards only in March 1945, after successful battles in the interfluve of the Vistula and Oder. In anticipation Berlin operation The 5th Guards Mechanized Corps was included in the army.
She was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
After World War II, the 4th Guards Red Banner Tank Army (from 1946 to 1957 the 4th Guards Mechanized Army) became part of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, was renamed in 1960 to the 20th Guards Combined Arms
By the time of the withdrawal from Germany, only one formation from the time of the war remained in the composition - the 90th Guards Tank Division (the former Guards 6th MK, then the 6th MSD). Until the end of the 1970s. the army included its "native" 10th Guards TD (former TK).
In the late 1940s had the status of a cropped tank division.
The 5th and 7th Guards MDs (former MKs of the same name) that were part of the army departed for the Union, and instead of them the 25th TD, 35th and 14th Guards MSDs (former 1st and 14th guards MD), and the last of them in 1982 became the 32nd guards TD.
The army participated in 1968 in the events in Czechoslovakia.
2. After the withdrawal from Germany
The army was withdrawn to Voronezh and became 20th Guards Tank. The army was stationed in Voronezh for 16 years. Currently stationed in the Nizhny Novgorod region, in the village of Mulino.
3. The composition of the army in 1991
- 25th Panzer Red Banner Novograd-Volynskaya Division (Vogelzang) high-frequency division 61000 call sign -Bitochek. (withdrawn in 1989 and disbanded).
- 32nd Guards Tank Poltava Red Banner Orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov Division (Yuterbog) hch pp 60875, call sign - Mikka. Withdrawn to Ukraine as part of the 6th Guards TA and disbanded.
- 35th Motorized Rifle Division Krasnograd Red Banner (Krampnits) high-frequency command line 60654 callsign -Biology.
- 90th Guards Tank Lvov Order of Lenin Red Banner Order of the Suvorov Division (Bernau) military unit 61150.
- Formations and units of Army subordination.
Notes
- NTA-Privolzhye:: The headquarters of the 20th army will be relocated from Voronezh to the Nizhny Novgorod region in August - newspaper - www.nta-nn.ru/news/item/?ID=175184
This abstract is based on an article from the Russian Wikipedia. Synchronization completed on 07/15/11 14:35:32
Related abstracts: 9th Guards Combined Arms Army , 8th Guards Combined Arms Army , 9th Guards Combined Arms Army (USSR) , 6th Combined Arms Army , 58th Combined Arms Army , 3rd Combined Arms Army ,
Increase the number of divisions to fight the enemy. Since July 1941, Soviet troops have been defending themselves, but to no avail, losing more and more positions every day. Each division or battalion has a tragic story.
The history of the creation of the 20th army
In the first months of the Second World War, they actively advanced on the territory and received regular reinforcements. The Soviet troops were not ready for war. Absence combat experience, the illiteracy of the commanders did not allow to repulse the Nazis.
The 20th Army was created at the very beginning of the war on the basis of the Voronezh Military District. At that time, it included a mechanized corps, rifle corps, and a tank division.
In July 1941, the army was given over to Western front who defended the territory of Belarus.
During the first year of the war, the composition of the army was planned to expand and collect all its units and formations in the vicinity of the city of Khimki. But in connection with the German offensive on the capital in 1941, the soldiers of the 20th Army took part in the battles without waiting for reinforcements.
The army of the second formation was created in December 1941, it was disbanded in April 1944.
Battles during WWII
In January 1942, the 20th Army became part of the Ukrainian Front. The story goes that she participated in the battle of Smolensk. From July 6 to 10, 1941, the army was defeated near Lepel. For her command, the offensive of the German invaders came as a surprise, against Soviet troops Panzer divisions were sent. The victory in this battle allowed the Nazis to reach Smolensk in a week. During the battle, Lukin M.F. led the 20th Army with the rank of lieutenant general.
The soldiers of this army also took part in the battle for Moscow. This time, Lieutenant General Ershakov F.A. led the combat formations. During the Vyazemsky operation, the 20th Army was surrounded. In total, during this operation, 688 thousand soldiers were captured by the Nazis, only 85 thousand managed to get out of the encirclement.
During the Battle of Moscow, the 20th Army played an important role. The year 1941 was remembered by its fighters for the lost battles. However, already on December 2, the enemy attack was repelled, and on December 3 and 5, 1941, the army dealt a crushing blow to the invaders and began to push him away from the capital.
During the battle for Moscow, it was possible to stop the enemy's offensive and save the main forces. This allowed the Soviet troops to launch a counteroffensive.
army commanders
The command of the 20th Army changed regularly during the battle for Moscow. Ten generals succeeded each other.
Lieutenant General M.F. Lukin was captured and seriously wounded. After his release from captivity, he was returned to the post of commander, which was not typical for that time.
Another general, A. A. Vlasov, commanding the 20th Army, was also captured, where he began to cooperate with the Nazis. Both officers met in captivity, and Vlasov invited Lukin to go over to the side of the Nazis, but he refused.
What prompted Vlasov to become a traitor, historians still do not know. Perhaps it was an offer to become famous and rich, to receive benefits after the end of the war, or perhaps it was his unfulfilled ambitions in the USSR.
Another general, N. E. Berzarin, was resolute and reckless, sometimes exposing soldiers to unnecessary risks. The general also did not escape injury, he was found on the battlefield bloody and without signs of life. An urgent blood transfusion was required, one of the soldiers volunteered to save the life of the commander. N. E. Berzarin was replaced by A. N. Ermakov.
After the war
Having participated in many battles during the Great Patriotic War, the 20th Army received the Order of the Red Banner. After the end of the war, it was transferred to Germany, and after the withdrawal of Soviet troops, it was renamed the 20th Guards Combined Arms.
From 1991 to 2007, the location of the 20th Army was in Voronezh. Later, she was transferred to the Novgorod region, but in 2015 the troops returned to the Voronezh region again.
On November 17, command and staff training (CST) began in the Western Military District (ZVO) with the command and control bodies of the formations and military units of the 20th combined arms army, which is deployed in the Voronezh, Bryansk and Belgorod regions.
On the westbound NATO pressure remains, anti-Russian rhetoric does not subside in the countries of the alliance and in Ukraine, and the maneuvers of the 20th Army remain highly relevant (from Belgorod to Kiev in a straight line - only 430 km).
According to the plan of the KSHT, a military operation is being carried out using a wide range of weapons. Headquarters at different levels in a difficult situation must make prompt decisions and ensure continuous and stable command and control of troops. During the training round the clock work out the exchange of information on automated system control, algorithms for the preparation of operations (combat operations) and command and control of troops are being specified.
The training centers of the Western Military District at the end of the academic year (in the army it ends on November 30) graduated more than 3,000 junior specialists, who today have the opportunity to confirm their class qualifications in the field.
And yet, for what purpose did the 20th Combined Arms Army return from the Nizhny Novgorod Region to the western borders of the country?
Answering the challenges of NATO
After the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Warsaw Pact countries in the 1990s Russian armies and divisions were systematically reduced for decades. And in early XXI century, the western direction and the capital of Russia was defended by only the 20th Guards Combined Arms Army (withdrawn from the GDR), which was stationed in a truncated form in twelve regions of the Central federal district. In 2010, the army headquarters and its individual units were transferred from the Voronezh region to the east, to Nizhny Novgorod. And from Smolensk to Moscow there were only military registration and enlistment offices. The reverse movement began only in 2014, against the backdrop of aggravated relations with Ukraine.
In February 2016, for the first time in a quarter of a century, Russia was. And today the western borders of the country are covered by two full-blooded military associations. This is not a repeat experience. cold war XX century, but the answer to the modern Western.
New military units and new combined-arms training grounds appear near the state border. So, recently in the Voronezh region, the cleaning of unexploded shells and preparations for the reconstruction of the Pogonovo training ground began, and the possibility of expanding the combined arms training ground near Boguchar is being discussed. In the same place, on a plot of 206 hectares, two military camps are being built, in which they plan to place more than 5 thousand military personnel (the cost of the project will be about 2.1 billion rubles).
The commander of the 20th Guards Army, Major General Yevgeny Nikiforov, recently announced that two divisions are being formed in the Voronezh region - on the basis of the 9th separate motorized rifle Vislenskaya and 23rd separate guards motorized rifle Petrokovskaya brigades. The process must be completed by December 1, 2016. The 28th separate Simferopol motorized rifle brigade, transferred from Yekaterinburg, will remain in the army and the unit in the Bryansk region.
© AP Photo / Evan Vucci
© AP Photo / Evan Vucci
Meanwhile, on November 18, Republican American senators told The Weekly Standard that they did not know what position the elected US President Donald Trump would take regarding Ukraine, and in any case they planned to convince his team to "help Kiev in the fight against Russian aggression."
So that 1941 does not repeat itself
Not all important troop exercises and trainings are made public, but Russia is vigorously strengthening its defenses in the western direction. The intensity of training in the field is increasing, and even command and staff exercises and training have a pronounced practical orientation.
Earlier in November, the exercises of the 20th Army took place, during which management methods were improved in general, the training of commanders and staffs, and command and control bodies. Organized and managed various kinds fighting, modern organization work at control points. The goal is to get as close as possible to the high-tech parameters of information exchange. In modern conflicts, the one who makes the right decisions faster wins.
In September, servicemen of the motorized rifle formation of the Western Military District (ZVO) with the support of helicopters at the Pogonovo training ground in the Voronezh region of the state border. And later, as if completing the liquidation of the breakthrough, the gunners successfully.
At a recent expanded meeting of the military council of the Western Military District in St. Petersburg, the results of the district's activities for the year were summed up. Colonel-General Andrey Kartapolov, commander of the Western Military District, said: "In 2016, more than 1,100 exercises and trainings at various levels were conducted in the district, more than one thousand units of modern military equipment were received by the troops, large-scale work was done to improve the infrastructure and commission new combat training facilities ".
The tasks of the ZVO for the new academic year have been determined. Priority attention will be paid to the recruitment of units and military units of the district with military personnel under the contract.
For the security of the state
On November 16, Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the successes of Russian servicemen in combat training. And besides, the rearmament of the troops continues strictly according to plan - on November 17, at a meeting with the leadership of the armed forces of the Russian Federation and defense enterprises, Vladimir Putin said: "The ability of industry, enterprises, if necessary, to immediately establish or increase the output of the necessary products, to ensure the supply of weapons, equipment ... volumes is one of the main conditions for ensuring the security of the state.
Inferiority missile complex: why Iskander worries NATOBy deploying Iskander-M missile systems on its territory, in Siberia or the Kaliningrad region, Russia strengthens national and international security, Alexander Khrolenko notes.Despite the trials of the past two decades, Russia has managed to maintain its defense potential and state sovereignty. There is merit in this and the 20th guards army, which began its combat path in July 1942 (as the 4th Panzer Army), fought for Stalingrad, smashed the Lvov and Breslav groupings of German troops.
Later, the servicemen of the 20th Army passed with honor through Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Moldova, North Caucasus, Africa, Yugoslavia. And today, in the classrooms and at the training grounds, the guardsmen are preparing to adequately meet any enemy - in the western strategic direction.