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53-480: The base was designed by architects L. Sh. Khristaforian and R. G. Asratian and design engineers E. N. Tosunian and I. G. Baghramian. In 1938, the 4th Voroshilov Aviation Squadron, part of the Transcaucasian Military District , was based at the airfield, outfitted with I-15, I-16 and I-153 aircraft. In 1939, the 84th Fighter Aviation Regiment was created out of the squadron, which at the beginning of

106-486: A ceasefire and the Soviet forces halted their advance on September 1 short of Tehran . During the rest of the month the 63rd Mountain was stationed at Maku . On September 28 General Krupnikov was moved to the first of many staff assignments he would hold until his retirement in 1958, eventually reaching the rank of lieutenant general. He was replaced in command of the division the next day by Col. Semyon Georgievich Zakiyan. As of

159-501: A flotilla of assault boats landed a German force 1,500m behind the antitank ditch to disrupt the second echelon defenses. Overnight the ditch was bridged, and late on the 9th Manstein was able to commit the 22nd Panzer Division which by the middle of the next day reached the Sea of Azov, cutting off the 51st Army as well as the remnants of the 44th. The what remained of the division was devastated in this mayhem and while some of its men were among

212-617: A treaty with Russia giving the latter a 25-year-long military presence in Armenia. On 27 September 1996 a succeeding agreement was signed which authorized the establishment of Russian aviation bases at Gyumri and Yerevan. Russian aviation forces in Armenia comprise 18 MiG-29 fighters of the 426th Fighter Squadron and the 700th Air Traffic Control Center, both at the 3624th Air Base at Erebuni Airport outside Yerevan. Russian fighter aircraft arrived in four separate batches: five MiG-29s on 16 December 1998, five on 26 February 1999, four more on 18 June and

265-567: The 27th Mechanized Corps . Both armies were deployed on the Iranian border. On 23 August, the military district became the Transcaucasus Front . District headquarters was subordinated to the front's military council and directed the formation of new units. It was disbanded on 14 September 1941. On 28 January 1942, the military district was reformed when the Caucasian Front was divided into

318-474: The 3rd Guards Fighter Aviation Corps with the 13th and 14th Guards Fighter Aviation Divisions; the 188th Bomber Aviation Division; and the 199th Assault Aviation Division, disbanded April 1946. In February 1949 the 7th Air Army was redesignated the 62nd Air Army. As of 2 January 1950 the 7th Air Army became part of the Baku Air Defence Region , and quickly thereafter became the 42nd Fighter Air Army of

371-553: The 76th Mountain (former Armenian Mountain) and 236th Rifle plus the 6th and 54th Tank Divisions . Under the impact of Operation Barbarossa it was vital to ensure the safety of Allied supply lines to the USSR, secure Iranian oil fields and limit German influence in Iran. The Soviet forces attacked jointly with British forces on August 25. The Red Army attacked using three armoured spearheads, totalling over 1,000 tanks and motorised infantry;

424-544: The 77th Аzerbaijani Mountain Rifle Division, named for Grigoriy Ordzhonikidze . On 22 June 1941 the District consisted of the 3rd ( 4th , 20th , and 47th Rifle Divisions ), 23rd Rifle Corps ( 136th and 138th Rifle Divisions ) and 40th Rifle Corps ( 9th and 31st Rifle Division ), the 28th Mechanised Corps , which included the 6th and 54th Tank Divisions and the 236th Motorised Division , five unattached divisions –

477-701: The Air Defence Forces . On 1 May 1955 Soviet forces opposite Eastern Turkey included 13th Mountain Rifle Corps in Georgia (two mountain, one rifle divisions); 7th Guards Combined Arms Army in Armenia with 19th Mountain Rifle Corps (two mountain divisions) and 22nd Rifle Corps with 26th Mechanised Division and two rifle divisions. Further away was 4th Combined Arms Army in Azerbaijan, with five more divisions, of which two were mechanised. In 1979 Scott and Scott reported

530-539: The Kerch Peninsula overnight on December 25/26 with landings in the vicinity of Kerch itself. This was followed on December 28/29 with further landings at the port city of Feodosia which took the defending German XXXXII Army Corps utterly by surprise. The assault was led by naval infantry detachments plus the 633rd Rifle Regiment of the 157th Rifle Division and by 0730 hours the German forces had completely lost control of

583-746: The Red Army 's Separate Caucasian Army, which became the Red Banner Caucasian Army in August 1923. On 17 May 1935, the Red Banner Caucasus Army was redesignated the Transcaucasian Military District. The Georgian, Armenian, and Azerbaijani national formations, plus units from the 11th Soviet Red Army , all joined the new district about this time. In July 1936 the District's formations and units received designations according to

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636-592: The 236th which was badly defeated in a single day of fighting, in part because Kozlov was convinced the German objective was Vladislavovka and therefore concentrated most of his reserves to this sector. Feodosia fell to the Axis on January 17 and the 63rd Mountain then came under attack, losing its positions and being forced back toward the Black Sea as the XXX Army Corps attempted to isolate the 236th. The 236th Rifle Division

689-486: The 44th Army, which was defending a sector about 6 km (3.7 mi) long with five rifle divisions and two tank brigades. Although defenses in depth had been prepared, almost all the rifle units were deployed within 3 km (1.9 mi) of the front line. They were backed by an 11m-wide antitank ditch across the Parpach Isthmus which was protected by minefields, barbed wire and steel girders planted vertically. When

742-462: The 46th to retreat from the Kerch area despite the fact that nearly 20,000 Romanian troops were on hand to counterattack Feodosia. Sponeck ordered two Romanian brigades to counterattack the Soviet lodgement (now organized as the 9th Rifle Corps ) on December 30 but these troops, tired from countermarching and without artillery or air support, were quickly repulsed. 9th Corps now pushed northward to complete

795-477: The 63rd had four regiments and no battalion structure. Instead each regiment had five rifle companies plus companies of supporting arms. This organization, designed for semi-independent operations in isolated mountain passes, also proved useful in amphibious operations. By the start of August 1941 the 63rd Mountain had been assigned to the new 47th Army in Transcaucasus Military District, joining

848-514: The 63rd, 76th , and 77th Rifle , the 17th Mountain Cavalry Division and the 24th Cavalry Division , and three fortified regions. On 1 August 1941 the 46th Army was formed from the 3rd Rifle Corps headquarters. 45th Army was formed from the 23rd Rifle Corps. 45th and 46th Armies guarded the Turkish border. The 44th Army was formed from the 40th Rifle Corps and the 47th Army formed from

901-590: The Axis forces in the Crimea. In late December 1941 it landed at Feodosia as part of 9th Rifle Corps . Along with the remainder of the Corps the 63rd Mountain hindered but failed to block the retreat of Axis forces from Kerch , where the 51st Army had also made landings. After a German counteroffensive retook Feodosia in mid-January 1942 the division fell back to the Parpach Isthmus where it took part in trench warfare near

954-457: The Black Sea coast into the spring, gradually losing strength. On May 8 it was caught up in the opening stage of Operation "Bustard Hunt" ( Trappenjagd ) and in a few hours was overwhelmed and largely destroyed by German air and artillery bombardment in support of infantry and armor attacks. Less than a week later it was stricken from the Red Army's order of battle and was never rebuilt. The division

1007-522: The Corps command post at Ismail-Terek by infantry and T-26 tanks of 44th Army failed with the loss of 16 vehicles knocked out. Despite this setback the Army appeared to be in a good position with 23,000 troops ashore and the Axis forces appearing weak and disorganized. The 236th Rifle Division was holding about 13 km (8.1 mi) west of Feodosia on the Biyuk-Eget ridge while the 63rd Mountain remained on

1060-624: The District became the Group of Russian Forces in the Transcaucasus (Russian Группа российских войск в Закавказье – ГРВЗ; GRVZ). After many of the divisions listed above had disbanded or become part of the former republics' armed forces, in the mid 1990s the GRVZ's dispositions were: General Major Aleksander Studenikin, former deputy commander of the Moscow Military District 's 20th Army, commanded

1113-627: The District' headquarters address as Tbilisi-4, Ulitsa Dzneladze, Dom 46. The District became part of the Southern Direction, headquartered in Baku and including the North Caucasus and Turkestan Military Districts , in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1988, dispositions within the District were as follows: In addition, the 104th Guards Airborne Division of the Soviet Airborne Forces

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1166-845: The GRVZ was totally withdrawn, Russian troops continue to remain in peacekeeping roles in Abkhazia and South Ossetia , de jure parts of Georgia. There are about 1,600 men on the Abkhazian-Georgian boundary (serving alongside UNOMIG ) and a battalion in South Ossetia. According to the Russian authorities, the Gudauta military base is also now used by the peacekeeping forces, but no international monitoring has ever been allowed there. 63rd Mountain Rifle Division The 63rd Mountain Rifle Division

1219-692: The Ground Forces, and Admiral Vladimir Chernavin , Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, to negotiate military issues with Azerbaijan. As a result, Azerbaijan received a helicopter squadron, the Baku Combined Arms Command School, and a large part of the Rear Services (combat service support) units of the Fourth Army. The Soviet Air Forces ' presence in the district consisted of the 34th Air Army. It

1272-478: The Group in 2004 with General (Major?) Andrei Popov as his deputy. The Russian presence at Vaziani was withdrawn in the late 1990s and an agreement over the withdrawal of the 12th and 62nd Bases by 2007–08 was made in 2005. The Akhalkalaki 62nd base was officially transferred on schedule to Georgia on 27 June 2007. The 12th Military Base in Batumi was transferred earlier than scheduled; scheduled for February 2008, it

1325-453: The Iranians had no tanks in the area. 47th Army broke through the border and moved from Soviet Azerbaijan into Iranian Azerbaijan . It then moved towards Tabriz and Lake Urmia and soon captured the city of Jolfa . Following a delay there the Army moved south, capturing Dilman (100 km [62 mi] west of Tabriz) and then Urmia (Oromiyeh). On August 29 the Iranian forces accepted

1378-564: The Second World War served as the basis for the formation of two regiments. The first (July 1941) was the 84th “A” Fighter Aviation Regiment, equipped with I-153s, dividing the 84th IAP into two parts. The 84th "A" Fighter Aviation Regiment became part of the 135th Mixed Air Division of the Trancaucasian Military District Air Force. It was subsequently redesignated the 348th Fighter Aviation Regiment. The second

1431-566: The Soviet Union. It was disbanded by being redesignated as a Group of Forces in the early 1990s, after the Soviet Union collapsed . The military district formed as a basis of the modern day armed forces of Armenia , Azerbaijan , and Georgia as well as unrecognized polities of Abkhazia , the Republic of Artsakh and South Ossetia . The Transcaucasian Military District was originally formed from

1484-592: The Transcaucasian Military District and the Crimean Front . The district was commanded by Ivan Tyulenev and included the 45th and 46th Armies, as well as 4 rifle divisions and a rifle brigade. On 28 April 1942, the district became the second formation of the Transcaucasian Front. On 9 July 1945, the Tbilisi and Baku Military Districts were formed from the Transcaucasian Front. Tbilisi Military District Headquarters

1537-687: The Transcaucasus Military District (ZakVO), commanded by Maslennikov. Sometime in the first half of 1946, a new air army, the 7th, was established in the Baku Military District. The air army was given the designation 7th Air Army, taking up a previous designation of a formation which was becoming the 3rd Air Army of the Long Range Aviation in the Far East. Initially it included the 8th Guards Fighter Aviation Division ; 309th Fighter Aviation Division ; 236th and 259th Fighter Aviation Divisions;

1590-529: The attack began on May 8 German airstrikes quickly achieved air superiority and a 10-minute artillery preparation on the 63rd Mountain and 276th Divisions began at 0415 hours. The 251st Mountain Regiment held a very strong position on the 40m high "Tatar Hill" north of the Feodosia–Kerch road but was not entirely tied in with the 346th Regiment to the south. Ju 87 dive bombers of Sturzkampfgeschwader 77 blasted

1643-452: The beginning of December it was still in 47th Army in Transcaucasus Front along with the 138th Mountain and the 392nd and 394th Rifle Divisions . On December 25 Colonel Zakiyan handed his command to Lt. Col. Pyotr Yakovlevich Tsindzenevskii. On the same day the division again joined the active army, now in the 44th Army of the new Crimean Front. It was at virtually full strength, as follows: Crimean Front began its operations to retake

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1696-600: The countrywide numbering scheme and became: the 9th (formerly 1st Caucasus) Mountain Rifle Division, named for the Central Executive Committee of the Georgian SSR ; the 20th (formerly 3rd Caucasus) Mountain Rifle Division ; the 47th (former 1st) Georgian Mountain Rifle Division, named for Joseph Stalin ; the 63rd (former 2nd) Georgian Mountain Rifle Division, named for Mikhail Frunze ; the 76th Armenian Mountain Rifle Division , named after Comrade Voroshilov, and

1749-620: The course of the year. On 4 November 2008, an Mi-24 attack helicopter of the Armenian Air Force crashed as it was preparing for a training flight. Captain Arshak Nersisyan died in the accident. Transcaucasian Military District The Transcaucasian Military District , a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces , traces its history to May 1921 and the incorporation of Armenia , Azerbaijan , and Georgia into

1802-465: The defense in and around Vladislavovka as the 51st Army moved up from the Kerch area. In fact the 44th Army was overextended and the Crimean Front was hampered by the inept leadership of Lt. Gen. D. T. Kozlov . By January 13 the commander of 11th Army, Gen. d. Inf. E. von Manstein , had concentrated more than four divisions outside Feodosia. His counteroffensive began at dawn on January 15, focused on

1855-449: The division for the remainder of its existence. By the beginning of February the 9th Rifle Corps had been abolished and the 251st Mountain Regiment was serving as a separate regiment within 44th Army but later that month it returned to divisional command. From February 27 to April 11 Crimean Front launched a series of efforts to break out west of Parpach toward Sevastopol but these had little result beyond heavy Soviet casualties. 51st Army on

1908-700: The final four on 22 October 1999. In November 2013, the Armenian government announced its intention to expand the space allotted to the Russian Air Force to house new buildings, fuel-storage facilities, and helicopter landing pads to host a squadron of 18 attack helicopters. In January 2014, the press service of the Russian Southern Military District confirmed that a contingent of Mi-24P (Hind-F) attack helicopters, Mi-8MT and Mi-8SMV military transport helicopters would be deployed at Erebuni through

1961-485: The isolation of XXXXII Corps. Over two days the 46th Infantry marched 120 km (75 mi) westward in a snowstorm; fuel shortages led to some motor vehicles being abandoned and heavy weapons lagged behind. When its lead elements reached the crossroads town of Vladislavovka they were shocked to find it held in strength by the 63rd Mountain Division. The German divisional commander ordered his lead regiments to crash through

2014-563: The northern part of the line did most of this fighting with 44th Army offering diversionary support; as one further result the bulk of the Front's forces ended up massed on this northern flank. At the start of May the Army had the 63rd Mountain, 157th, 276th , 396th and 404th Rifle Divisions under command. Before the last of these offensives ended General von Manstein began planning an operation to destroy all three armies of Crimean Front in one stroke. Operation Trappenjagd would initially target

2067-530: The port. By the end of the day elements of three Red Army divisions were ashore, including the 251st and 291st Mountain Regiments. The response of the German Corps commander, Lt. Gen. H. von Sponeck , was one of near panic as the communications of his own 46th Infantry Division were in immediate danger of being cut off from the rest of the Crimea. He disobeyed orders from the headquarters of 11th Army and directed

2120-501: The position but this failed due to exhaustion and lack of artillery. Inexplicably the 9th Corps had left a 9km-wide gap between its pincer and the south shore of the Sea of Azov through which the German division was able to escape with light losses in personnel. By January 1, 1942 the XXXXII Corps had established a new line roughly 16 km (9.9 mi) west of Feodosia. An attack that day on

2173-432: The strongpoints of the 291st Regiment on the coast by 0445 hours. After "Tatar Hill" was taken the leading German forces reached the west side of the antitank ditch about an hour later and the 49th Jäger Regiment had forced a crossing by 0755 hours in the face of scattered resistance from isolated Red Army units. In only three-and-a-half hours the 63rd Mountain's front line regiments had been irreparably shattered. Meanwhile,

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2226-483: The top of the hill just as troops of the 28th Jäger Division left their start line. Shortly after the air attacks ended one regiment of the Jäger division, supported by 21 StuG III Ausf. B assault guns and 18 captured Soviet tanks, was able to first bypass and then overwhelm the isolated 346th Regiment. About 3 km (1.9 mi) to the south the lead regiments of the 132nd Infantry Division and 22 assault guns overran

2279-403: Was (July 30, 1941) was the second 84th “A” fighter Aviation Regiment (also made up of I-153s), separate from the 84th IAP. It was redesignated the 101st Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment. The 84th Fighter Aviation Regiment was dissolved on December 24, 1942. After Armenia's independence, to help redress its relative military weaknesses compared to Azerbaijan and Turkey, on 16 March 1995 it signed

2332-764: Was 21052. Army composition : The Soviet Air Defence Forces had the 19th Army of Air Defence Forces located in the District. By Ukaz No. 260 of the President of the Russian Federation of 19 March 1992 the Soviet Transcaucasian Military District and the Caspian Flotilla were transferred to the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation . On 26 September 1992 the district was disbanded. Another, earlier report said on 1 January 1993,

2385-579: Was as follows: From May 9, 1940 the division was under the command of Kombrig Aleksandr Markovich Krupnikov; this officer would have his rank modernized to major general on June 4. It inherited the Order of the Red Star that had been awarded to the 2nd Georgian on February 24, 1936 as well as the honorific "in the name of M. V. Frunze " that had been granted in April 1927. In common with other Soviet mountain divisions

2438-559: Was commanded by Colonel general Vladimir Kolpakchi , former 69th Army commander. In October 1945, Army General Ivan Maslennikov took command. On 15 November 1945, control of forces in the Nakhichevan ASSR was transferred from the Tbilisi Military District to the Baku Military District. Lieutenant General Mikhail Ozimin became Tbilisi Military District commander in April 1946. In May 1946, both districts became part of

2491-498: Was established in Tbilisi as the 11th Air Army in 1946, redesignated as the 34th Air Army in 1949, redesignated the Air Forces of the Transcaucasian Military District (VVS ZKVO) in 1980, and then given the name 34th Air Army again in 1988. It was made up of the 36th Bomber Aviation Division , 283rd Fighter Aviation Division and six independent aviation regiments, totaling twelve aviation regiments. The formation's Military Unit Number

2544-552: Was formed as a specialized infantry division of the Red Army in July 1936, based on the 2nd Georgian Mountain Division. When the German invasion of the Soviet Union began it was in the Transcaucasus Military District and was soon assigned to the 47th Army for the invasion of Iran. Following this it was moved to the western Caucasus region where it joined the 44th Army of Crimean Front for amphibious operations against

2597-432: Was in Tbilisi and was formed from the Transcaucasian Front headquarters. The district controlled forces in the Georgian and Armenian SSRs . The district was commanded by Colonel General Sergei Trofimenko , former 27th Army commander. The headquarters of the Baku Military District was formed from 69th Army headquarters and was located in Baku. The district controlled forces in the Azerbaijan SSR and Dagestan ASSR . It

2650-430: Was officially converted from the 2nd Georgian Mountain Division at Tbilisi in the Transcaucasus Military District in July 1936 following the decision of the STAVKA to abolish "national" divisions and other such formations. By 1940 it was stationed at Kirovakan in the Armenian SSR . Based on the prewar shtat ( table of organization and equipment ) for mountain rifle divisions, as of June 22, 1941 its order of battle

2703-521: Was soon annihilated with the 63rd Mountain and 157th Divisions being forced back to the Parpach Isthmus. After January 20 the two sides dug in along this 17km-wide line which soon acquired the characteristics of a WWI battlefield with extensive trenches, dugouts and barbed wire. 44th Army was effectively crippled and the addition of 51st Army did not allow Crimean Front to do more than hold its ground. On February 24 Lt. Colonel Tsindzenevskii handed his command to Col. Matvei Vasilevich Vinogradov, who would lead

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2756-526: Was stationed at Kirovabad , directly subordinated to VDV Headquarters. The division was withdrawn to Ulyanovsk and this process was in progress by spring 1993. The 75th Motor Rifle Division was reassigned to the KGB Border Guards in January 1990. On September 23, 1991, on the basis of the directive of the General Staff of August 28, 1991 No. 314/3/042Sh, it was returned to the Ministry of Defence. In February 1992, Russian President Boris Yeltsin sent General Boris Gromov , First Deputy Commander-in-Chief of

2809-495: Was transferred on 13 November 2007. The 'Zvezda' command post (probably the former District war headquarters) in the town of Mtskheta , just north of Tbilisi, was handed over by early September 2005. Due to the espionage conflict between Russia and Georgia , the Transcaucasus Group of Forces headquarters in Tbilisi was closed down ahead of schedule. Defence Minister Sergey Ivanov said that 387 servicemen and 484 civilians would leave early. Lenta.ru referred to Rian.ru . Even after

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