Southern Military District

The Southern Military District (Russian: Южный военный округ) is a military district of Russia.

Southern Military District
Южный военный округ
Founded22 October 2010
Country Russia
TypeMilitary district
Part of Russian Armed Forces
HeadquartersBudennovsky Prospekt 43, Rostov-on-Don[1]
DecorationsOrder of the Red Banner
Order of Suvorov
Commanders
Current
commander		Army General Aleksandr Dvornikov

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, and Russian bases in South Caucasian post-Soviet states. The Southern Military District was created as part of the 2008 military reforms, and founded by Presidential Decree №1144 signed on September 20, 2010, to replace the North Caucasus Military District, and absorbing the military commands of the Black Sea Fleet and Caspian Flotilla.[2][3] The district began operation on October 22, 2010, under the command of Colonel-General Aleksandr Galkin.

The Southern Military District is the smallest military district in Russia by geographic size. The district contains 151 federal subjects of Russia: Adygea, Astrakhan Oblast, Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Kalmykia, Karachay-Cherkessia, Krasnodar Krai, North Ossetia-Alania, Rostov Oblast, Stavropol Krai, Volgograd Oblast, and since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Crimea and Sevastopol.[3]

The Southern Military District is headquartered in Rostov-on-Don, and its current district commander is Colonel General (later Army General) Aleksandr Dvornikov, who has held the position since 20 September 2016.[4]

History

The Southern Military District was formed on October 22, 2010, according to Presidential Decree of 20 September 2010 № 1144 "On the Military Administrative Division Of the Russian Federation" the Southern Military District was created along with two other new larger military districts: the Central Military District and the Eastern Military District.[5] By order of then Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, on July 22, 2010, interim commanders were named for the new military districts. Thus, the new position of commander of the Southern Military District, was Lieutenant-General Aleksandr Galkin, former Commander of the North Caucasus Military District, with Major-General Nikolai Pereslegin as the chief of staff for the district. Galkin was later promoted to Colonel General soon after his appointment as district commander.

The Southern Military District also features two Russian military bases in Armenia: the 102nd Military Base in Gyumri, and the 3624th Air Base at the civil-military Erebuni Airport in the capital Yerevan, under the joint control of Armenian and Russian authorities.

In April 2014, Crimea and Sevastopol were added to the Southern Military District following the 2014 Crimean crisis in Ukraine, when they were annexed by Russia. The legal status of Crimea (as the Autonomous Republic of Crimea) and the city of Sevastopol is currently under dispute: Ukraine and the majority of the international community considers them an integral part of Ukraine, while Russia considers them an integral part of Russia, with Crimea (as the Republic of Crimea) and Sevastopol approved as federal subjects of Russian Federation.[6]

In 2016, the District was 98% staffed by contract servicemen.[7]

District organization
Branch Ministry of Defense Russian Federation in Simferopol

As part of the larger reorganisation, the 49th Army appears to have reformed with its headquarters seemingly in the former Institute of Communications of the Strategic Rocket Forces at Stavropol.[8] According to warfare.ru, 49th Army (listed at Stavropol/Maikop) has under control the 4th Guards and 7th Military Bases (South Ossetia and Abkhazia) and the 8th (former Taman Guards Motor Rifle Division), 33rd Mountain Motor Rifle Brigade and 34th separate Mountain Motor Rifle Brigades (Borzoi, Chechniya, Maikop, and Storozhevaya-2), as well as the 66th Communications Brigade.[9]

There are also three Spetsnaz brigades (the 100th, 10th, and 22nd), plus two Russian Airborne Troops units also stationed in the district:the 7th Guards Airborne Division at Novorossiysk and the 56th Guards Air Assault Brigade at Kamyshin.[10] The Russian Air Force has the 4th Air and Air Defence Forces Army in the district. Also under the district's control are the Navy's Black Sea Fleet and Caspian Flotilla, including their respective air and Naval Infantry components.

In early 2017, the formation of a new 8th Army, successor to the Soviet 8th Guards Army, began, as part of the Southern Military District. The army's headquarters is located at Novocherkassk and it is to include the 150th Motor Rifle Division and the 20th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade. The first phase of its formation is to be completed in June 2017.[11]

Component units
External image
IISS estimate of major unit dispositions in the Southern Military District, 20 March 2014

58th Army (Vladikavkaz)[14]

Note: the 42nd Guards Motor Rifle Division is reforming from late 2016 in Chechniya from the 8th Guards, 17th, and 18th Guards Motor Rifle Brigades[17]

8th Army (Novocherkassk)

  • 150th Motor Rifle Division (Novocherkassk)
  • 20th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade (Volgograd)
  • 464th Rocket Brigade

49th Army (Stavropol/Maykop)

  • 205th Motor Rifle Brigade (Budennovsk)
  • 34th Motorized Rifle Brigade (Mountain) (Storozhevaya-2)
  • 66th C3 Brigade (Stavropol)
  • 227th Artillery Brigade (Maykop)
  • 1st Guards Rocket Brigade (Krasnodar)
  • 439th Guards Perekop Order of Kurozov Rocket Artillery Brigade (Znamensk)
  • 21st NBC Defense Brigade (Kamyshin)
  • 175th C3 Brigade (Aksay)
  • 176th Communications Brigade (Novocherkassk)
  • 154th ECM Brigade OSN (Izobilny)
  • Logistic Support Brigade in (Stavropol)

102nd Military Base (Gyumri, Armenia)

  • 76th Motorized Brigade (Gyumri, Armenia)
  • 73rd Motorized Brigade (Yerevan, Armenia)
  • 988th Air Defense Regiment (Gyumri, Armenia)

Airborne Troops

Special forces/Reconnaissance

Air Force units

Naval Forces

  • Black Sea Fleet
    • 22nd Army Corps[18]
      • 810th Naval Infantry Brigade[19]
      • 382nd Naval Infantry Battalion
      • 11th Coastal Defense Missile-Artillery Brigade
      • 126th Coastal Defense Brigade
      • 1096th Fleet Rocket Artillery Regiment (Coastal Defense)
      • 8th Field Artillery Regiment (Coastal Defense)
      • 68th Fleet Naval Engineers Regiment
      • 133rd Fleet Logistics and Materiel Regiment
      • 4th Fleet NBC Regiment
  • Caspian Flotilla
    • 177th Naval Infantry Regiment[20][21]
      • Regimental HQ
      • 414th and 727th Naval Infantry Battalions
      • Tank Battalion
    • 46th Coastal Defense Missile Artillery Battalion (Surface to Air)

List of Commanders of the Southern Military District
  • Colonel-General Aleksandr Viktorovich Galkin (December 10, 2010 - June 2016)
  • Colonel-General (later Army General) Aleksandr Dvornikov (September 20, 2016 - present)

Notes
  • ^1 The federal subjects of Crimea and Sevastopol are disputed territories internationally recognized as de jure part of Ukraine but under the de facto administration of the Russian Federation.
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References

Citations
  1. http://eng.mil.ru/en/structure/okruga/south/contacts.htm
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-03-13. Retrieved 2010-12-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. УКАЗ Президента РФ от 20.09.2010 N 1144 "О ВОЕННО - АДМИНИСТРАТИВНОМ ДЕЛЕНИИ РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ" Archived 2012-03-31 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Milenin, Andrei (20 September 2016). "Александр Дворников назначен командующим войсками ЮВО" [Aleksandr Dvornikov appointed commander of the Southern Military District]. Isvestia (in Russian). Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-03-13. Retrieved 2010-12-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. UKRAINE REPORTS RUSSIAN MILITARY ACTIVITY ON CRIMEA BORDER, Newsweek (8 August 2016)
    Gutterman, Steve. "Putin signs Crimea treaty, will not seize other Ukraine regions". Reuters.com. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
    Ukraine crisis timeline, BBC News
    UN General Assembly adopts resolution affirming Ukraine's territorial integrity, China Central Television (28 March 2014)
  7. http://armstrade.org/includes/periodics/news/2017/0125/125039232/detail.shtml
  8. http://russiandefpolicy.wordpress.com/2011/01/10/more-appointments-dismissals-etc/, accessed January 2011, and http://www.ryadovoy.ru/forum/index.php/topic,2479.0.html Archived 2012-03-13 at the Wayback Machine
  9. "Southern Military District". warfare.ru. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  10. Michael Holm, 56th independent Guards Landing-Assault Brigade, accessed January 2014.
  11. Ramm, Alexey; Andreyev, Yevgeny (17 March 2017). "В Южном военном округе появится новая армия" [New army in the Southern Military District]. Isvestia (in Russian). Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  12. "На 4-й российской военной базе в Южной Осетии проведены контрольные стрельбы | Политика | ИА "RSOnews"". www.rsonews.org. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
  13. Galeotti 2017, 31.
  14. Galeotti, 2017, 31, with the retention of the 67th AARB and 34 C3 Bde, which he does not list.
  15. Georgia, Civil. "Civil.Ge | Russia troop deployments menace Georgia". www.civil.ge. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
  16. "67th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
  17. "В ЮВО на территории Чечни завершается формирование 42-й мотострелковой дивизии" [Formation of the 42nd Guards Motor Rifle Division completed in Chechnya in Southern Military District]. structure.mil.ru (in Russian). 7 December 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  18. http://www.armstrade.org/includes/periodics/news/2017/0213/100539513/detail.shtml
  19. "Ukraine says Russian Marines ring coast guard base". Huffington Post. Associated Press. 28 March 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  20. В Каспийске завершено формирование 177-го полка морской пехоты
  21. В новом полку морской пехоты Каспийской флотилии прошло первое занятие по предметам боевой подготовки / mil.ru

Bibliography
  • Galeotti, Mark (2017). The Modern Russian Army 1992–2016. Elite 217. Oxford: Osprey. ISBN 978-1-47281-908-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

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