The Siberian Military District was a military district of the Russian Ground Forces. The district was originally formed as a military district of the Russian Empire in 1864. In 1924 it was reformed in the Red Army. After the end of World War II the district was split into the Western and Eastern Siberian Military Districts. In 1956 the western district's name was changed back to Siberian Military District, and in 1998 the Transbaikal Military District was merged into it. In 2010 it was divided between the two newly formed Central and Eastern Military Districts.
History The Siberian Military District was originally formed in 1864, as the Western Siberian Military District, being one of the ten original military districts of the Russian Empire. It was renamed the Omsk Military District in 1882, until renamed again Western Siberian Military District in 1918-1919.
The Siberian Military District was created in June 1924 with the consolidation of the Western, Central and Eastern Siberian Military Districts, which had become the Imperial Military Districts in the area. In June 1941 the District was host to the 24th Army, under Lieutenant General Stepan Kalinin, which comprised two Rifle Corps, the 52nd and 53rd.See Leo Niehorster, http://niehorster.org/012_ussr/41_oob/stavka-reserves/army_24.html and http://niehorster.org/012_ussr/41_oob/interior/_siberia.html The 52nd, with its headquarters in Novosibirsk along with the 133rd Rifle Division, additionally had the 166th Rifle Division at Barabinsk and the 178th Rifle Division at Omsk. The 53rd Rifle Corps at Krasnoyarsk, where the 119th Rifle Division was stationed, also included the 107th Rifle Division at Barnaul and the 91st Rifle Division at Achinsk.
Among the many, many formations the district raised during the Second World War was the 75th Cavalry Division, formed in September and October 1941.
Immediately after the end of World War II, on July 9, 1945, to facilitate the demobilisation process, the Siberian Military District was divided into the Western and Eastern Siberian Military Districts. The Western Siberian Military District was headquartered at Novosibirsk, and created from HQ 8th Army, covered the Tyumen Oblast, the Omsk Oblast, Novosibirsk, the Tomsk Oblast, the Kemerovo Oblast and Altay. The Eastern Siberian District was located at Irkutsk and created from HQ 50th Army. The Eastern Siberian District was disbanded in 1953 with its region being split between the Western Siberian District and the Transbaikal Military District. On January 4, 1956 the Western Siberian Military District was again renamed the Siberian Military District.
In 1959 the 74th Temryukskaya Red Banner Motor Rifle Division (74-я мотострелковая Темрюкская Краснознамённая дивизия) (в/ч 77087) at Krasnoyarsk was disbanded, with two units joining the 85th Motor Rifle Division.
In 1968 the 33rd Army Corps was transferred into the district from the Turkestan Military District, establishing its headquarters at Kemerovo. The 13th Motor Rifle Division at Biysk was assigned to it. Among the mobilisation divisions formed in the district from the late 1970s was the 167th Motor Rifle Division, whose equipment storage area was co-located with the barracks of the 13th MRD.
The 242nd Motor Rifle Division was established at Abakan in 1972.
In 1974 for their great contributions to the cause of strengthening the defence of the Soviet State and its armed protection, successes in combat and political training, the Transbaikal Military District was rewarded with the Order of Lenin, and the Siberian Military District with the Order of the Red Banner.
The 33rd Army Corps disbanded in July 1991 and its personnel and assets were absorbed by the arriving 28th Army Corps from Czechoslovakia.Feskov et al 2013, 563-564. General Major Nikolai Loktionov remained in command of the merged formation, having been appointed as the 33rd Army Corps commander in June 1991.
In August 1992, the 21st Motor Rifle Division, withdrawn from the 2nd Guards Tank Army in East Germany, was moved to Omsk.Feskov et al. 2013, 396; Holm, 21st Taganrogskaya Motorised Rifle Division In October 1992, the 300th Guards Parachute Regiment of the 98th Guards Airborne Division at Kishinev in the Odessa Military District was split out of the division and sent to Abakan. In the city of Abakan, four years later, the 300th Guards Parachute Regiment was reorganised as the 100th independent Guards Airborne Brigade, but was then disbanded circa 1998.
In 1998, seven years after the fall of the Soviet Union, the District absorbed most of the territory and responsibilities of the former Transbaikal Military District, retaining the name Siberian Military District, but on their merger gave up the vast Sakha Republic (also known as Yakutia) to the expanded Far Eastern Military District.
District forces in 1990 The Siberian Military District has traditionally been a source for creating new wartime reserves, as demonstrated by the crucial role the Siberian rifle divisions have played in the Battle of Moscow during the Second World War. For that reason by the end of the Cold War the Siberian MD's land forces were modest by Soviet standards and air forces were non-existent. The 33rd Guards Berlislavsko-Khinganskaya, twice awarded the Order of the Red Banner and awarded the Order of Suvorov Strategic Missile Army (33-я гвардейская ракетная Бериславско-Хинганская дважды Краснознамённая, ордена Суворова армия) of the Strategic Rocket Forces with its HQ in Omsk and the 14th independent Red Banner Air Defence Army of the Air Defence Forces with its headquarters in Novosibirsk were based in the Siberian Military District's area of responsibility, but were independent operational formations.
Formations and units under direct district subordination District Command and Headquarters (Управление командующего и штаб) - Novosibirsk
373rd Separate Staff Security and Supply Battalion (373-й отдельный батальон охраны и обеспечения штаба) - Novosibirsk 67th Separate Spetsnaz Brigade (67-я отдельная бригада специального назначения) - Berdsk (GRU formation operationally attached to the district) 172nd Radio-technical Brigade OsNaz (172-я радиотехническая бригада ОсНаз) - Biysk (GRU formation operationally attached to the district) 233rd Radio-electronic Warfare Regiment (233-й полк РЭБ) - Shilovo village (EW Directorate of the General Staff's (Управление РЭБ ГШ СССР) unit operationally attached to the district) 103rd Separate Signals Brigade (103-я отдельная бригада связи) - Yagunovo village 135th Separate Tallinskaya, awarded the Order of the Red Star Signals Brigade (135-я отдельная Таллинская ордена Красной звезды бригада связи) - Kochenyovo village 1310th Separate Troposphere Signals Battalion (1310-й отдельный батальон тропосферной связи) - Kyzyl 130th Separate Landing Assault Brigade [cadred] (130-я отдельная десантно-штурмовая бригада (кадра)) - Abakan 485th Separate Motor Rifle Regiment (485-й отдельный мотострелковый полк) - Aktash village 6th Guards SSM Brigade (6-я гвардейская ракетная бригада) - Taksino village 1168th Separate SSM (or possibly MLRS) Battalion (1168-й отдельный ракетный дивизион) - Pashino village 351st High Power Artillery Brigade (351-я артиллерийская бригада большой мощности) - Shilovo village 520th Gun Artillery Brigade (520-я пушечная артиллерийская бригада) - Krasnoyarsk 314th Separate Radio-technical Regiment (314-й отдельный радиотехнический полк) - Krasnoyarsk 247th Separate Radio-technical Battalion (247-й отдельный радиотехнический батальон) - Taskino village 11th Chemical Defence Brigade (11-я бригада химической защиты) - Topchikha village 40th Chemical Defence Brigade (40-я бригада химической защиты) - Pospelikha village 430th Separate Sapper Engineer Battalion (430-й отдельный инженерно-сапёрный батальон) - Pospelikha village 309th Pontoon Bridging Regiment (309-й понтонно-мостовой полк) - Mochishte village 587th Separate Pontoon Bridging Battalion (587-й отдельный понтонно-мостовой батальон) - Achinsk 84th Separate Overhaul and Complex Repair and Maintenance Battalion (84-й отдельный ремонтно-восстановительный батальон комплексного ремонта) - Shilovo village 12th Automobile [Transport] Brigade (Automotive Troops) (12-я автомобильная бригада) - Mochishte village 48th Automobile [Transport] Brigade (Automotive Troops)(48-я автомобильная бригада) - Biysk Separate Heavy Vehicle Automobile [Transport] Battalion (Automotive Troops)(Отдельный автомобильный батальон тяжёлых машин) - Abakan 51st Brigade for Material Support (51-я бригада материального обеспечения) - Barnaul 121st Brigade for Material Support (121-я бригада материального обеспечения) - Shilovo village 250th Pipeline Brigade (250-я трубопроводная бригада) - Kamarchaga village 465th District Training Center (465-й окружной учебный центр) - Omsk
Divisions under direct district subordination
33rd Army Corps (33-й армейский корпус) - Kemerovo 5349th Weaponry and Equipment Storage Base (5352-я БХВТ) in Biysk since 1989. Previously the 1010th Territorial Training Center (1010-й территориальный учебный центр) itself formed on the base of the 167th Motor Rifle Division [cadred] (167-я мотострелковая дивизия (кадра)) in 1987. 5351st Weaponry and Equipment Storage Base (5351-я БХВТ) in Biysk since 1989. Previously the 13th Motor Rifle Division. In July 1992 took over the traditions, honors and awards from the disbanded 23rd Guards Motor Rifle Division, and was renamed 13th Guards Motorised Rifle Division.Holm, 13th Motorised Rifle Division, and Feskov et al 2013, Chapter 29.1 (33 AK). 5352nd Weaponry and Equipment Storage Base (5352-я БХВТ) in Omsk since 1989. Previously the 62nd Motor Rifle Division (62-я мотострелковая дивизия) - Itatka village 85th Leningradsko-Pavlovskaya Red Banner Motor Rifle Division (85-я мотострелковая Ленинградско-Павловская Краснознамённая дивизия) - Novosibirsk (the sole active combat division in the district) 5350th Weaponry and Equipment Storage Base (5350-я БХВТ) since Dec. 1, 1989. Previously the 242nd Motor Rifle Division in Abakan under the 33rd Army Corps 95th Motor Rifle Division [cadred] (95-я мотострелковая дивизия (кадра)) - Stepnoy village 190th Motor Rifle Division [cadred] (190-я мотострелковая дивизия (кадра)) - Berdsk 218th Motor Rifle Division [cadred] (218-я мотострелковая дивизия (кадра)) - Biysk 227th Motor Rifle Division [cadred] (227-я мотострелковая дивизия (кадра)) - Svetliy village 261st Motor Rifle Division [cadred] (261-я мотострелковая дивизия (кадра)) - Stepnoy village 241st Rear Area Security Division [cadred] (241-я дивизия охраны тыла (кадра)) - Novosibirsk 84th Deep Reserve Artillery Division (84-я артиллерийская запасная дивизия) - Taskino village 67th Deep Reserve Tank Division [cadred] (67-я запасная танковая дивизия (кадра)) - Shilovo village 68th Deep Reserve Tank Division [cadred] (68-я запасная танковая дивизия (кадра)) - Topchikha village 71st Deep Reserve Tank Division [cadred] (71-я запасная танковая дивизия (кадра)) - Omsk
Air Forces of the Siberian Military District Air Forces of the Siberian Military District (ВВС Сибирского военного округа) - Novosibirsk
137th Separate Composite Aviation Squadron (137-я отдельная смешанная авиационная эскадрилья) - Tolmachevo Airport, Novosibirsk (sometimes also listed as Tolmachevo - Ob) - Il-22, An-12, An-26, An-24, Mi-8 (under direct district HQ control) Barnaul Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots named after Chief marshal of aviation K. A. Vershinin (Барнаульское высшее военное авиационное училище лётчиков имени Главного Маршала авиации К. А. Вершинина) - Barnaul 96th Training Air Regiment (96-й учебный авиационный полк) - Kamen-na-Obi - MiG-21 59th Training Air Regiment (59-й учебный авиационный полк) - Slavgorod, based at two airfields called North (Северный) and South (Южный) - MiG-21, L-29