Order of Battle: Russian Army HQ's and Subordinate Commands Deployed Around Ukraine's Borders

This is a basic list, compiled from open sources, of Army level Headquarters deployed, by Russia, around Ukraine's borders. I have also included lists of their normal, peacetime, subordinate commands.

Units of the 155th Naval Infantry Brigade, from Vladivostok, arriving in Belarus (a journey of around 9,000km)

Description and caveats

I have taken open source material to compile a list of Russian military ground force units deployed around the borders of Ukraine. You may find just scrolling through the list shocking. This is no training exercise.

The Army level Headquarters listed, are in place. What I do not know is whether all of their subordinate commands, as listed below the map, have also been deployed. It is inevitable that some have not been, and that there are also units of which I am unaware and have therefore not listed. Furthermore, I have not listed the huge presence of rotary-wing (100s) and fixed wing combat aviation units in forward operation bases/airfields around Ukraine. Nor have I listed the naval units in the Black Sea, of which there are at least 30 combat and assault landing ships, plus submarines. I therefore urge great caution in taking this list as a 100% accurate, complete or correct ‘order of battle’. It does, however, give a reasonably accurate picture of the incredible force facing Ukraine.

Army Command HQs

The parent Russian Federation Army level HQ’s that have been deployed are:

• 98th Guards Airborne Division - presently in Belarus (on Ukraine’s norther border)

• 36th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade - present in Belarus (on Ukraine’s norther border)

• 35th Combined Arms Army - presently in Belarus (on Ukraine’s norther border)

• 36th Combined Arms Army - presently in Belarus (on Ukraine’s norther border)

• 41st Combined Arms Army - presently in Russia (on Ukraine’s norther border)

• 6th Combined Arms Army - presently in Russia (on Ukraine’s eastern border)

• 1st Guards Tank Army - presently in Russia (on Ukraine’s eastern border)

• 20th Guards Combined Arms Army - presently in Russia (on Ukraine’s eastern border)

• 8th Guards Combined Arms Army - presently in Russia (on Ukraine’s eastern border)

• 58th Guards Combined Arms Army - presently in Crimea (on Ukraine’s southern flank)

Map produced by Henry Schlottman (Freelance analyst)

List of Army Level and Independent Commands, with their respective subordinate commands.

Below, I have listed all the parent Army level HQs with their usual subordinate commands as far as I ca decree them, from open sources. I emphasise that I am unable to confirm the presence of all of these subordinate commands, and nor is the list likely to be complete.

N.B. The places shown in brackets are the normal garrison towns of the related units.

Around Ukraine from the north (Belarus and Russia), clockwise, through east (Russia) to south (Crimea):

98th Guards Airbourne Division:

• 98th Division HQ - (Ivanovo)

  15th Maintenance Battalion (Ivanovo)

  36th Medical Detachment (airmobile) (Ivanovo)

  215th Reconnaissance Battalion (Ivanovo)

  674th Guards Signal Battalion (Ivanovo)

  661st Engineer Battalion (Ivanovo)

  728th Courier-Postal station (Ivanovo)

  969th Airborne Support Company (Ivanovo)

  1683rd Logistics Battalion (Ivanovo)

  217th Guards Airborne Regiment (Ivanovo)

  331st Guards Airborne Regiment (Kostroma)

  1065th Guards Artillery Red Banner Regiment (Kostroma)

  5th Guards Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Ivanovo)

  243rd Military Transport Aviation Squadron in Ivanovo

36th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade (Borzya, Zabaykalsky Krai, Russia)

35th Combined Arms Army:

• 35 Army HQ (Belogorsk)

  38th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade (Belogorsk)

  64th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade (Khabarovsk-41)

  69th Separate Fortress 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)

  54th Headquarters Brigade (Belogorsk)

  553th Signal Battalion (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk)

  668th Communication Center (Belogorsk)

  103rd Logistic Support Brigade (Belogorsk)

  253rd Special Purpose Battalion GRU

  38th Motor Rifle Brigade

  64th Motor Rifle Brigade

  69th Fortress Brigade

  165th Artillery Brigade

  107th Rocket Brigade

36th Combined Arms Army (current commander: Major General Dmitry Kovalenko)

• 36t Army HQ (Ulan Ude)

  5th Separate Guards Tank Tatsinskaya Red Banner Order of Suvorov Brigade (Ulan Ude, Divisionnaya)

  37th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Don Budapest Red Banner Order of the Red Star Brigade (Kyakhta)

  103rd Rocket Brigade (Ulan-Ude)

  1723rd Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment (Jida)

  75th Headquarters Brigade (Ulan-Ude)

41st Combined Arms Army

• 41st Army Headquarters (Novosibirsk)

  144th Motor Rifle Division

  35th Guards Motorised Rifle Brigade (Aleysk)

  55th Mountain Motorised Rifle Brigade (Kyzyl)

  74th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade (Yurga)

  119th Rocket Brigade (Yelansky)

  120th Guards Artillery Brigade (Yurga)

  61st Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade (Biysk)

  35th Headquarters Brigade (Kochenyovo)

  106th Separate Logistic Support Brigade (Yurga)

  10th Separate NBC Protection Regiment (Topchikha)

  6th Tank Regiment of the 90th Tank Division

  THIS AMOUNTS TO AROUND 700 MAIN BATTLE TANKS PLUS THE MOTORISED RIFLE BRIGADE INFANTRY FIGHTING VEHICLES etc

6th Combined Arms Army:

• 6th Army HQ (Agalatovo)

  95th Command Brigade (Gorelovo)

  132nd Signal Brigade

  25th Independent Guards Motor Rifle Brigade (Luga)

  138th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade (Kamenka)

  511th Electronic Warfare Company

  133rd Guards Tank Battalion

  667th Guards Motor Rifle Battalion

  697th Guards Motor Rifle Battalion

  708th Guards Motor Rifle Battalion

  1525th Anti-Tank Artillery Battery

  486th Guards Self-Propelled Artillery Battalion

  721st Self-Propelled Artillery Battalion

  1525th Anti-Tank Artillery Battery

  383rd Rocket Artillery Battalion

  247th Guards Anti-Aircraft Missile Battalion

  49th Guards Engineer Battalion

  9th Guards Artillery Brigade (Luga)

  • 26th Missile Brigade (Luga)

  5th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade (Lomonsov)

  • 1095th Anti-Aircraft Missile Battalion

  1096th Anti-Aircraft Missile Battalion

  1097th Anti-Aircraft Missile Battalion (Kero)

  51st Logistics Brigade (Saint Petersburg)

  6th Independent CBRN Regiment (Sapernoye)

1st Guards Tank Army (Commander: Lieutenant General Sergei Kisel).

The 1st Guards Tank Army is considered the elite army of the Russian Ground Forces and is equipped with the most up to date and capable equipment the Russian Army has. Wherever 1st Guards Tank Army is, it is reasonable to assume it is in the area of President Putin’s main effort (his main focus and the area in which success is most crucial):

• 1st Army HQ (Odintsovo, Moscow Oblast)

  60th Command Brigade (Selyatino village near Odintsovo, Moscow Oblast)

  2nd Guards Motor Rifle 'Tamanskaya' Division (Kalininets, Moscow Oblast)

  4th Guards Tank 'Kantemirovskaya' Division (Naro-Fominsk, Moscow Oblast)

  6th Separate Tank 'Częstochowa' Brigade (Mulino, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast)

  27th Separate Guards Motor Rifle 'Sevastopol' Brigade (Mosrentgen, Moscow City)

  112th Guards Missile 'Novorossiysk' Brigade (Shuya, Ivanovo Oblast) (9K720 Iskander)

  288th Artillery 'Warsaw' Brigade (Mulino, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast)

  49th Missile Air Defence Brigade (Krasnyi Bor, Smolensk Oblast) (Buk-M2)

  96th Separate ISTAR Brigade (Sormovo, Nizhny Novgorod City)

  20th Separate NBC Defence Regiment (Tsentralny, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast)

  69th Separate Logistics Brigade (Dzerzhinsk, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast)

20th Guards Combined Arms Army (Commander: Major General Alexander Peryazev)

• 20th Ary HQ (Voronezh, Moscow District)

  9th Command Brigade

  533rd Command and Intelligence Centre

  236th Artillery Brigade (Kolomna)

  448th Missile Brigade (Kursk)

  • 639th Missile Battalion

    650th Missile Battalion

    697th Missile Battalion

  53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, in Marshala Zhukova

  • 677th Missile Battalion

    679th Missile Battalion

    682nd Missile Battalion

    1578th Missile Battalion

  16th Engineer Regiment (Boguchar)

  152nd Independent Logistics Brigade (Liski)

  3rd Motor Rifle Division (Voronezh)

  692nd Communications Battalion (Valuiki)

  84th Reconnaissance Battalion (Valuiki)

  237th Guards Tank Regiment (Valuiki)

  252nd Guards Motor Rifle Regiment (Boguchar)

  752nd Guards (Volga Cossack) Motor Rifle Regiment (Valuiki)

  99th Guards Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment (Boguchar)

  159th Anti-Tank Artillery Battery

  1143rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Belgogorod)

  337th Engineer Battalion (Boguchar)

  911th Supply Battalion (Boguchar)

  231st Medical Battalion (Boguchar)

  144th Guards Motor Rifle Division (Smolensk)

  686th Communications Battalion (Shatalovo)

  148th Reconnaissance Battalion

  59th Guards Tank Regiment (Yelnya)

  254th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment (Zaymishche)

  488th Motor Rifle Regiment (Kintsy)

  856th Guards Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment (Pochep)

  1259th Anti-Tank Artillery Battery (Yelnya)

  673rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment

  1032nd Supply Battalion (Pochep)

  150th Medical Battalion (Pochep)

  Battalion of the 82nd Separate Radio Engineering Special Purpose Brigade

8th Guards Combined Arms Army (Rostov)

• 150th Motor Rifle Division (Novocherkassk)

  20th Guards Motor Rifle Division (Volgograd)

  464th Rocket Brigade

  20th Guards Division

  242nd Mechanized Regiment (Kamyshin, Volgograd Oblast)

  255th Mechanized Regiment (Volgograd)

  33rd Motor Rifle Regiment (Kamyshin)

  944th Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment

  358th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment

  428th Separate Tank Battalion (Volgograd)

  487th Separate Anti-Tank Artillery Battalion

  47th Missile Brigade (equipped with the Iskander surface-to-surface missile system)

  238th Artillery Brigade (equipped with 2A65 Msta-B guns and 9K57 Uragan multiple launch rocket systems)

  77th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade equipped with S-300V4 anti-aircraft missile

  NOTE:

  1st (Donetsk) and 2nd (Luhansk) Army Corps of the Russian separatist forces in Donbas, Ukraine, as under the command of the 8th CAA HQ. As of 2021, subordinate units within these corps are reportedly:

  1st Corps

  4 Motorised Rifle Brigades

  2 Motorised Rifle Regiments

  2 special forces battalions

  1 tank battalion

  1 reconnaissance battalion

  1 artillery brigade

  2nd Corps

  3 Motorised Rifle Brigades

  1 Motorised Rifle Regiment

  1 tank battalion

  1 reconnaissance battalion

  1 artillery brigade

58th Combined Arms Army (Vladikavkaz, Southern Military District. Commander: Major General Sergei Ryzhkov)

• 58th Army HQ (Vladikavkaz)

  42nd Guards Motor Rifle Division (Khankala, Shali, Kalinovskaya, Borzoy in Chechnya)

  19th Motor Rifle Division (upgraded from brigade to division-level strength in 2020 Vladikavkaz)

  136th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade (Buynaksk in Dagestan)

  12th Rocket Brigade (Mozdok)

  291st Artillery Brigade (Troitskaya)

  67th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade (Vladikavkaz)

  100th Reconnaissance Brigade (Mozdok-7)

  34th Headquarters Brigade (Vladikavkaz)

  40th NBC Protection Regiment (Troitskaya)

  31st Engineer Sapper Regiment (Prokhladny)

  78th Logistic Support Brigade (Budyonnovsk)

  14th Separate Electronic Warfare Battalion (Vladikavkaz)

GENERAL NOTE:

There are additional units deployed around Ukraine, such as the 155th Naval Infantry Brigade from the Pacific Fleet in Vladivostok, 9000km away. However, I’ve been unable to detail all such units and don’t know how they fit into the overall scheme of deployment.