49th Combined Arms Army

The 49th Combined Arms Army (Russian: 49-я общевойсковая армия) is a combined arms (field) army (CAA) of the Russian Ground Forces, formed in 2010 and headquartered in Stavropol. Military Unit в/ч 35181.

Part of the Southern Military District, the army traces its heritage back to the Soviet Red Army's 49th Army, formed in 1941 after the German invasion of the Soviet Union in World War II. The 49th Army served through the entire war and was disbanded postwar in the summer of 1945.

On 6 August 1941, a Stavka directive ordered the formation of the 49th Army. One day later the army was formed as part of the Reserve Front, based on the 35th Rifle Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General Ivan Zakharkin. The army initially comprised 194th Mountain Rifle Division, 220th, 248th, 298th Rifle Divisions, the 4th People's Militia Division, 396th Corps Artillery Regiment, and other units. By 17 August 1941 the army was deployed in the rear of the Western Front, concentrated in the Dorogobuzh area with the task of manning the reserve defensive line of the front. On 1 October, the army was transferred to the direct subordination of Stavka and renamed the "49th Reserve Army," but was moved back to the Reserve Front on 7 October.

On 12 October 1941, the 49th Army was placed on the Mozhaisk defense line in the Kaluga area, after giving up its sector to the 32nd Army. The Mozhaisk line was credited for slowing down the German approach toward Moscow. A day later, the army was transferred to the Western Front and saw its first combat in the Mozhaisk-Maloyaroslavets Defensive Operation, which lasted until 30 October. In fierce fighting from 14 to 20 November, the 49th Army was able to weaken the advancing German XIII Army Corps, finally stopping it in early December on the line west of Serpukhov and Sukhodol, 20 kilometers southeast of Aleksin. During the Soviet counteroffensive at Moscow, the army fought in the Tula Offensive between 6 and 16 December, and the Kaluga Offensive between 17 December and 5 January 1942.

On 8 January, the 49th Army began fighting in the Rzhev-Vyazma Strategic Offensive, which aimed to eliminate the heavily fortified Rzhev salient, which threatened Moscow. On 5 March, troops of the army recaptured Yukhnov, and by 20 April reached the Ugra and the Ressa Rivers, both west of Yukhnov. The 49th Army held the same positions until March 1943. Between 2 and 31 March 1943, the army fought in the Rzhev–Vyazma Offensive, which attempted to stop Operation Büffel, the German phased withdrawal from the Rzhev salient. In June, Lieutenant General Ivan Grishin, who would command the army until the end of the war, took command.

From 7 August to 2 October, the 49th Army participated in the Smolensk Operation, advancing towards Spas-Demensk, Stodolishche, and Khislavichi in its first phase, the Spas-Demensk Offensive. Operating in conjunction with the 33rd Army, the army recaptured Spas-Demensk on 13 August. Overcoming fierce German resistance, the army reached the line of Tsirkovschina and Zimtsy. Resuming the attack in the Yelnia-Dorogobuzh Offensive on 28 August, the army advanced through the forests south of Yelnya and crossed the Desna River and the Sozh River. On 28 September the army recaptured Mstsislaw, and in early October reached the Pronya River in the Drybin Raion, 35 kilometers north of Chavusy, where it went on the defensive.

From 24 April 1944 to the end of the war, the 49th Army was subordinated to the 2nd Belorussian Front. From late June, the army fought in Operation Bagration, the Soviet strategic offensive in Belorussia and eastern Poland. During the Mogilev Offensive from 23 to 28 June, the 49th broke through German lines, crossed the Basya River, the Rasta River, and the Dnieper before storming Mogilev alongside the 50th Army on 28 June. Subsequently, the army fought in the Minsk Offensive between 29 June and 4 July. At the beginning of the second half of July, the army was regrouped southwest of Navahrudak. During the Belostock Offensive between 5 and 27 July, the 49th Army helped break stubborn German resistance between Grodno and Svislach. On 24 July, the army captured Sokółka, and by the end of 27 July reached the area north and west of the city. During August and early September the army fought in the Lublin–Brest Offensive, and by 15 September reached the Narew in the Łomża area, where it transitioned to defense.

From 13 January to 25 April 1945, the 49th Army fought in the East Prussian Offensive. Between 10 February and 4 April, it participated in the East Pomeranian Offensive. The army captured Czersk on 21 February and Berent on 8 March. The army continued its advance towards Danzig, which was taken on 30 March alongside the 2nd Shock Army, the 65th Army, and the 70th Army. The army's last operation was the Berlin Offensive, from 16 April to 8 May, during which it advanced in the main shock group of the front. At the end of the war, the 49th Army reached the Elbe in the Ludwigslust area, where it met troops of the British Second Army. It ended the war as part of the 2nd Belorussian Front, with the 42nd Rifle Division being among its units. The army became part of the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany when it was formed on 9 June, with headquarters at Wittenburg. Between July and August 1945, the army was relocated to Gorky Oblast and disbanded there in August. Its headquarters was used to form the headquarters of the Gorky Military District.