35th Combined Arms Army

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35th Combined Arms Army
35-я общевойсковая армия
35th Army great emblem (from 2015)
Active	July 1941 – Late 1945 1969–present
Country	Soviet Union (1941–1945; 1969–1991)  Russia (since 1991)
Branch	Soviet Army (until 1991)  Russian Ground Forces
Type	Combined Arms
Size	Army
Part of	Eastern Military District
Garrison/HQ	Belogorsk, Amur Oblast
Engagements	World War II Invasion of Manchuria Russo-Ukrainian War Invasion of Ukraine Kyiv offensive 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive[1][2]
Commanders
Current commander	Lieutenant General Aleksandr Semyonovich Sanchik
Notable commanders	Nikanor Zakhvatayev
Insignia
NATO Map Symbol	35 ОА

The 35th Combined Arms Red Banner Army is a field army of the Russian Ground Forces. The army was first formed in July 1941 with the Far Eastern Front. After spending most of World War II guarding the border in Primorsky Krai, the army fought in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August 1945, and was disbanded shortly after the end of the war. Reformed at Belogorsk when Sino-Soviet tensions rose in the late 1960s in the Far East, the army became part of the Eastern Military District in 2010.

The 35th Army was formed from the 18th Rifle Corps in July 1941, part of the Far Eastern Front. It included the 35th, 66th and 78th Rifle Divisions, the 109th Fortified Region and smaller artillery and infantry units. It defended the Soviet border in Primorsky Krai. 18th Rifle Corps commander Major General Vladimir Zaytsev became the army commander.^[3] On 1 May 1945 35th Army joined the Maritime Group of Forces. In June, Lieutenant General and Hero of the Soviet Union Nikanor Zakhvatayev became the army commander.^[4] Zaytsev was still a major general and became the army's deputy commander.^[5] The Maritime Group of Forces was transformed on 5 August 1945 to the 1st Far East Front. It had as part of its structure the 66th, 264th and 363rd Rifle Divisions, the 8th and 109th Fortified Regions, the 125th, 208th, and 209th Tank Brigades, and a number of artillery and other units.^[6] With these forces the army participated in the Harbin-Kirin Offensive Operation during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria.^[7]

During the Harbin-Kirin Offensive, the army was tasked with attacking from positions southwest of Lesozavodsk towards Mishan. The army was to defeat elements of the Kwantung Army on the left bank of the Songacha River and capture the Hutou Fortified Area. Parts of the army were assigned to defend the right bank of the Ussuri and Songacha Rivers, as well as defending railways and roads in the Guberovo and Spassk-Dalny areas. At the beginning of the offensive, the army crossed the Ussuri and Songacha Rivers using transports of the Amur Flotilla and captured Hulin. It captured Mishan on 12 August and by the end of the next day had captured Dunan. The army then captured Kentey-Alin and Boli on 16 August. The army cut off the Kwangtung Army's line of retreat at Mudanjiang. By 19 August, the army was in the Linkou County. The army was then involved in disarming surrendering Japanese soldiers. On 1 October 1945, the army became part of the Primorsky Military District and was disbanded within a month.^[8]

• Major General Vladimir Zaytsev (June 1941 – June 1945);
• Lieutenant General Nikanor Zakhvatayev (June–September 1945).

In June 1969 the 29th Army Corps became the 35th Army. In 1968–69 four divisions were gathered to become part of the corps, later army, in the Far East: 265th Motor Rifle Division arrived in 1968, 266th Motor Rifle Division arrived from the North Caucasus Military District and the 31st Guards Motor Rifle Division from the Baltic Military District in 1969, and the 192nd Motor Rifle Division was activated that same year.^[9]

On 16 May 1977, the 31st Guards Motor Rifle Division became the 21st Guards Tank Division. In February 1980, the 67th Motor Rifle Division was transferred to the army from the Leningrad Military District.^[9]

In 1988 the 35th Army consisted of the:^[10]

Headquarters 35th Red Banner Army (Belogorsk, Amur Oblast):

• 21st Guards Tank Division (Belogorsk): 2nd Guards Tank Regiment, 125th Guards Tank Regiment (Ekaterinoslavka), 111th Guards Tank Regiment, 277th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment, 64th Guards Artillery Regiment, 1064th Guards Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment
• 67th Мotor Rifle Division (Skovorodino): 422nd Tank Regiment, 1212th Motor Rifle Regiment, 1216th Motor Rifle Regiment, 1217th Motor Rifle Regiment, 1302nd Artillery Regiment, 1042nd Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment
• 192nd Motor Rifle Division (Blagoveshchensk): 371st Tank Regiment (Svobodnyy), 190th Motor Rifle Regiment (Shimanovsk), 684th Motor Rifle Regiment (Svobodnyy), 679th Motor Rifle Regiment (Blagoveshensk), 1219th Artillery Regiment (Svobodnyy), 1414th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment (Blagoveshchensk)
• 265th Мotor Rifle Division (Vozzhaevka (Belogorsk-15), Belogorsky District): 373rd Tank Regiment, 212th, 421st and 695th Motor Rifle Regiments, artillery regiment, anti-aircraft rocket regiment^[10]
• 266th Мotor Rifle Division (Raychikhinsk/Raichikhinsk): 376th Tank Regiment, 155th, 430th, 785th Motor Rifle Regiments, artillery regiment, anti-aircraft rocket regiment^[10]
• 12th Fortified Area (Blagoveshchensk)
• Army Troops
  • 768th Separate Protection and Security Company (Belogorsk)
  • 49th Separate Tank Regiment (Belogorsk)
  • 827th Separate Spetsnaz Company (Belogorsk)
  • 153rd Rocket Brigade (Belogorsk)
  • 178th Separate Helicopter Squadron (Belogorsk)
  • Separate Unmanned Reconnaissance Squadron (Belogorsk)
  • 54th Separate Communications Regiment (Belogorsk)
  • 668th Communications Center (Belogorsk)
  • Separate Chemical Defense Battalion (Belogorsk)
  • 14th Separate Armored Train (Magdagachi)
  • 15th Separate Armored Train (Svobodny)
  • 16th Separate Armored Train (Arkhara)
  • 165th Machine Gun Artillery Brigade (Nikolskoye)
  • 38th Reactive Artillery Regiment (Berezovka)
  • Reconnaissance Artillery Regiment (Berezovka)
  • 1983rd Separate Engineer-Sapper Battalion (Berezovka)
  • 396th Separate Reconnaissance Artillery Battalion (Nikolskoye)
  • 71st Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade (Srednebelaya)
  • Separate Pontoon-Bridge Battalion (Dzhalinda)
  • 318th Separate Radiotechncial Regiment of Special Designation (OsNaz) (Ledyanaya)
  • Separate Electronic Warfare Battalion (Ledyanaya)
  • 1719th Separate Radio Relay and Cable Battalion (Pozdeyevka)
  • 1899th Separate Radiotechnical Battalion PVO (Panino)
  • 43rd Materiel Support Brigade (Tomichi)
  • 6508th Repair and Restoration Base (Vozzhayevka)

The 35th Army is still stationed in the Eastern Military District with its headquarters at Belogorsk.

Until the 2008–2011 reform when it became the 35CAA, it consisted of three divisions: the 21st Guards (Belogorsk) and 270th (Krasnaya Rechka, Khabarovsk) Motor Rifle Divisions, and the 128th Machine-Gun Artillery Division (Babstovo), along with smaller combat and support units.

In 2009, the 128th Machine-Gun Artillery Division became the 69th Separate Fortress Brigade.^[11] In 2010, the 270th Motor Rifle Division became the 243rd Weapons and Equipment Storage Base.^[12] The 21st Guards Motor Rifle Division appears to have become the 38th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade.

In 2016, the army consisted of the following units:^[13]

• 38th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade (Belogorsk)
• 64th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade (Khabarovsk-41)
• 69th Covering Brigade (Babstovo)
• 107th Rocket Brigade (Birobidzhan/Semistochny)
• 165th Artillery Brigade (Nikolskoye, Amur Oblast)
• 71st Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade (Srednebeloye-2)
• 35th NBC Protection Regiment (Belogorsk) (MUN 59792)
• 54th Headquarters Brigade (Belogorsk)
• 553th Signal Battalion (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk)
• 668th Communication Center (Belogorsk)
• 103rd Logistic Support Brigade (Belogorsk)
• 240th Weapon Storage and Repair Base (Belogorsk)
• 243th Weapon Storage and Repair Base (Khabarovsk)
• 253th Special Purpose Battalion GRU

In the context of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, elements of the 35th Army (including units from the 38th Motor Rifle Brigade, 64th Motor Rifle Brigade, 69th Fortress Brigade, 165th Artillery Brigade and 107th Rocket Brigade) had been deployed to Belarus and were participating in active combat operations.^[14]

In June 2022, Russian military bloggers reported that the 35CAA was routed in the battle of Izyum and that the remnants of the army withdrew to Belgorod,^[15] claiming that the number of infantry in the brigades of the army had fallen to "12-15 people (64th brigade), the combined number of 38th and 64th motorised brigades – less than 100 of truly combat-ready infantry in each brigade."^[16] On 4 June 2022 Ukrainian sources claimed that Ukrainian forces had almost completely annihilated the 35CAA.^[17]

In August 2022 the remnants of the 35CAA were reportedly sent to defend the occupied territory of Kherson Oblast on the West Bank of the Dnieper river, alongside the 49th Combined Arms Army.^[18]

The following officers commanded the 35th Army from 1969 to 1991.^[9]

• Major/Lieutenant General Yury Zarudin (25 April 1967 – 8 February 1973)
• Lieutenant General Yury Potapov (9 February 1973 – 18 December 1975)
• Major/Lieutenant General Vyacheslav Dubinin (January 1976 – 1979)
• Major/Lieutenant General Ivan Morozov (1982 – September 1984)
• Major/Lieutenant General Fyodor Kuzmin (September 1984 – 5 February 1987)
• Major General V. I. Kotin (February 1987 – October 1988)
• Lieutenant General Vladimir Toporov (October 1988 – August 1989)

• Lieutenant General Yevgeny Vysotsky (August 1989 – September 1991)
• Lieutenant General Evgeni Nikolaevich Malakhov (December 1993 – June 1996)
• Lieutenant General Anatoli Mikhailovich Nutrikhin (June 1996 – August 1999)
• Lieutenant General Aleksandr Vladimirovich Kutikov (August 1999 – June 2002)
• Lieutenant General Oleg Leonidovich Salyukov (June 2002 – November 2003)
• Lieutenant General Nikolai Vasilyevich Bogdanovski (November 2003 – June 2006)
• Lieutenant General Igor Nikolaevich Turchenyuk (June 2006 – March 2011)
• Lieutenant General Sergei Vitalyevich Solomatin (April 2011 – January 2017)
• Lieutenant General Sergei Valeryevich Chebotaryov (January 2017 – September 2020)
• Lieutenant General Aleksandr Semyonovich Sanchik (September 2020 – present)

• Feskov, V.I.; Golikov, V.I.; Kalashnikov, K.A.; Slugin, S.A. (2013). Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской [The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II: From the Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land Forces] (in Russian). Tomsk: Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing. ISBN 9785895035306.
• Galeotti, Mark (2017). The Modern Russian Army 1992–2016. Elite 217. Oxford: Osprey. ISBN 978-1-47281-908-6.
• http://samsv.narod.ru/Arm/a35/arm.html