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The Southern Military District is headquartered in
Rostov-on-Don, and its current district commander is Colonel General
Sergey Kuzovlev, who has held the position since 23 January 2023.[5] It is considered to be the most effective and competent formation of the Russian military.[6]
History
The Southern Military District was formed on 22 October 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.[2] By order of then Russian Defense Minister
Anatoly Serdyukov, on 22 July 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 directs 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.[7]
In 2016, the District was 98% staffed by contract servicemen.[8]
In November 2020, following the aftermath of the
2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, Russian military peacekeepers were deployed to
Nagorno-Karabakh for securing the
Lachin corridor and along the line of contact for at least five years. A military base was set up with its headquarters at
Stepanakert and is part of the Southern Military District commanded by First deputy commander of the military district Lieutenant General
Rustam Muradov.[9] He was replaced by Deputy military district commander Lieutenant General Alexey Avdeev on 13 May 2021.[10]
In January–February 2021, the
1061st Centre for Material-Technical Support (1061 CMTO), the district's logistics command, was reorganised.[11] A storage base for missile and artillery weapons was formed and transferred to the direct subordination of the 1061 CMTO. The centre itself is located in the 4, 6 7 and 21
Military towns (военных городках) in Novocherkassk. One of the other units of the 1061 CMTO is the warehouse (for storing material and technical equipment of the clothing service) (Military Unit 57229-31) which has been headed by Stanislav Valerievich Yazykov 2011–2018 (in
Stepnoy,
Volgodonskoy District?).[12]
As part of the larger reorganisation, the
49th Army reformed with its headquarters seemingly in the former Institute of Communications of the
Strategic Rocket Forces at
Stavropol.[14] According to warfare.ru, 49th Army (listed at Stavropol/Maikop) has under control the
7th Military Base (in
Abkhazia) and the 8th (former
Taman Guards Motor Rifle Division), 33rd Mountain Motor Rifle and 34th separate Mountain Motor Rifle Brigades (Borzoi, Chechniya, Maikop, and Storozhevaya-2), as well as the 66th Communications Brigade.[15]
19th Motor Rifle Division (Vladikavkaz) (expanded from Brigade to Division strength in 2020–22 period; planned to re-equip with
T-90M main battle tanks)[19][20]
Note: the
42nd Guards Motor Rifle Division, reforming from late 2016 in Chechniya, is drawn from the 8th Guards, 17th, and 18th Guards Motor Rifle Brigades[27]
20th Guards Motor Rifle Division (Volgograd and Kamyshin regions; reconstituted from former 20th Motor Rifle Brigade starting in 2021; transformation to complete in 2022)[20]
242nd Guards Motor Rifle Regiment (Kamyshin, Volgograd Oblast);
255th Motor Rifle Regiment (Volgograd);
33rd Motor Rifle Regiment (Kamyshin);
944th Guards Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment;
358th Guards Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment;
428th Separate Tank Battalion (near Volgograd; planned to re-equip with
T-90M main battle tanks)[29][30]
Lieutenant General
Rustam Muradov (December 2018 – October 2022)
Lieutenant General Alexey Avdeev (January 2019 – summer 2022)
Lieutenant General
Oleg Tsokov (summer 2022 – July 2023)
Commanders of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh
Lieutenant General
Rustam Muradov (11 November 2020 – 9 September 2021)
Major General Mikhail Kosobokov (9 September 2021 – 25 September 2021)
Lieutenant General Gennady Anashkin (25 September 2021 – 12 January 2022)
Major General Andrey Volkov (12 January 2022 – present)
Notes
^1 The federal subjects of Crimea, Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, Sevastopol and Zaporizhzhia are
disputed territories internationally recognized as de jure part of
Ukraine but under the de facto administration of the Russian Federation.
^Ukrainian sources describe the 1st and 2nd (Donbas/Russian) Army Corps in Ukraine's Donbas as "operationally subordinate" to the 8th Army HQ.[34] As of 2021, subordinate units in these two corps are said to include:
^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.
^Galeotti, 2017, 31, with the retention of the 67th AARB and 34 C3 Bde, which he does not list.