58th Army (Russia)

58th Army
Lineup	November 1941
Country	Russia
Armed forces	Russian armed forces
Armed forces	Russian army
Type	army
headquarters	Vladikavkaz
Butcher	Second World War Second Chechen War South Ossetia 2008
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The 58th Army ( Russian: 58-я армия ) is a major unit of the Russian armed forces . She was previously a member of the Soviet Army .

history

Second World War

1. Formation

During the German-Soviet War , the army was set up on November 10, 1941 in the Siberian military district with direct subordination to the Stawka .

• It comprised the 362nd, 364th, 368th, 370th, 380th, 384th rifle divisions and the 77th cavalry divisions.

Shipped to the territory of the Arkhangelsk military district , a line of defense was built from Lake Onega to Lake Beloje. On May 25, 1942, the High Command of the 58th Army was called in to form the 3rd Panzer Army .

2. Formation

The 2nd formation of the 58th Army was set up on June 25, 1942 at the Kalinin Front .

• It comprised the 16th and 27th Guards, 215th, 375th Rifle Divisions and the 35th and 81st Tank Brigades.

The army was in the Ostashkov area as a front reserve, but did not take part in the fighting. On August 8, 1942, the second formation of the army was disbanded and its units used to form the 39th Army .

3. Formation

The 3rd formation of the 58th Army was set up during the German invasion of the Caucasus from August 28, 1942 from the command of the 24th Army within the framework of the Transcaucasus Front .

• The new 58th Army comprised the 317th, 328th, 337th Rifle Divisions, the NKVD Division of Makhachkala and the 3rd Rifle Brigade and other units.

The 58th Army concentrated its troops in Chechnya and Dagestan , where positions were formed at Makhachkala and Grozny in anticipation of the German offensive . At the end of November 1942, the main forces were concentrated on the Terek River in the Malgobek area. In January 1943, the 58th Army took part in the counterattack of Soviet troops in the North Caucasus . When the army launched the offensive on January 1, 1943, it crossed the Terek River and on January 3 liberated the cities of Mosdok and Malgobek. In the course of another offensive, their troops reached the coast of the Azov Sea in early February 1943 . They took part in the operation against Krasnodar as part of the front assault group and reached the Protoka River at the end of the operations. In the second half of March they continued their offensive and reached the city of Temryuk on April 4th . Until September the army defended the coast of the Azov Sea from Margartowki to Akhueva.

On September 10, 1943, the army was withdrawn to reserve headquarters and disbanded on November 15. As part of the North Caucasus Front , she was involved in the Kerch-Eltigen operation in November 1943 . After that, it formed the headquarters of the Volga Military District.

Commander

• Lieutenant General Vasili Ivanovich Kuznetsov (November 1941)
• Colonel Nikolai Afanassjewitsch Moskvin (November 1941 to May 1942)
• Major General Alexei Ivanovich Zygin (June to August 1942)
• Major General Vasily Afanassjewitsch Chomenko (September to November 1942)
• Major General / Lieutenant General Kondrat Semenowitsch Melnik (November 1942 to October 1943)

Russian army

Structure of the 58th Army in 2003

As part of the restructuring of the Russian army, the 58th Army formed the headquarters of the North Caucasian military district in Vladikavkaz from 1995 .

The army was involved in the First Chechen War from 1994 to 1996 . During the operations in Chechnya, its commander, Vladimir Shamanov , was repeatedly accused of human rights violations, particularly because of poor troop discipline.

From August 8, 2008, the 58th Army was deployed in Georgia , where it intervened in the South Ossetia conflict . There was also fighting with Georgian troops there .

According to Ukrainian reports, heavy weapons from the army were used by separatist forces in the Ukraine war . For example, a Grad launcher was captured by Ukrainian troops near Dobropillia in June 2014, which the Ukrainian authorities assigned to the 58th Army.

References

1. ↑ Torrey Clark and Greg Walters, Putin Says 'War Has Started,' Georgia Claims Invasion (Update4) , Bloomberg.com, Aug. 8, 2008.
2. ↑ Oleg Shchedrov: Russian troops close to S. Ossetian capital - RIA ( English ) alertnet.org. August 8, 2008. Retrieved June 27, 2010.
3. ↑ "Statement by the Delegation of Ukraine at the 774-th FSC plenary meeting" OSCE of December 10, 2014, viewed on March 2, 2015.