The army was formed in June 1941 on the basis of the divisions of the Ural Military District (UrVO) as part of the 51st and 62nd rifle corps (a total of six rifle divisions). On June 13, 1941, all divisions of the Ural Military District received a directive to move to the Western Special Military District (ZOVO). The redeployment took place in conditions of strict secrecy: the address of the new quartering division commanders was only informed when passing through Moscow. The command of the army was entrusted to the commander of the Ural Military District, Lieutenant General F. A. Ershakov. The chief of staff of the military district, Major General G.F. Zakharov, became the chief of staff of the 22nd Army, and the headquarters of the Ural Military District became the headquarters of the army. The chiefs of artillery, engineering troops, communications, intelligence, heads of all departments and departments of the district took up their respective positions in the 22nd Army. By the beginning of the war, three rifle divisions arrived in ZOVO: the 98th, 112th and 186th.
On June 25, the army became part of the Army Group of the Reserve of the High Command. At the end of June, the 112th Rifle Division entered the battle at the turn of the Western Dvina River from Kraslava to Druya, then, in connection with the withdrawal of the troops of the North-Western Front, it also retreated to the east.
In the period from July 2, the 22nd Army was included in the Western Front and took part in the Battle of Smolensk.
In late August-September 1941, the army fought stubborn defensive battles with a superior enemy in the Toropetsk direction. Its main forces were surrounded, however, thanks to the high level of organization and heroism of the soldiers, the army managed to maintain combat readiness, break through the encirclement front, withdraw to the Andreapol area and to the north of it and stop the enemy offensive.
In October-December 1941 (since October 19), the army as part of the Kalinin Front participated in the Kalinin defensive operation (October 10 - December 4) and successfully repelled the offensive of the German 9th Army units on Torzhok from the area north of Rzhev.
In January-April 1942, army troops took part in the offensive of the Kalinin Front in the Rzhev-Vyazma direction, defeated the 23rd enemy corps and entered the area north of the town of Bely. In summer and autumn, the army firmly defended the line southwest of Rzhev, ensuring the offensive of the main forces of the Kalinin Front against the Rzhev-Sychev group of German troops.
At the end of 1942, the army troops were attacking a heavily fortified German resistance center in the area of the village of Olenino.
In 1943, as part of the North-Western (from April 21), then from October 13 of the Baltic (from October 20, 1943 - the 2nd Baltic) fronts, she defended herself on the Lovat River in the Kholm, Velikie Luki sector, participated in the Leningrad-Novgorod, Starorussko -Novorzhevsk, Rezhitsko-Dvinsk and Riga offensive operations.
From October 1944, together with other troops of the front, it carried out a blockade of the enemy grouping on the Courland Peninsula.
In June 1945, the army was disbanded, and the administration (headquarters) was sent to form the administration of the Tauride Military District.
22nd Army in the battle of Smolensk (1941)
The defense line of the 22nd Army included the Sebezh and Polotsk fortified areas, then upstream the Western Dvina River to Vitebsk. The border with the North-Western Front passed through the settlements of Kraslava, Dagda, Opochka.
On July 4, German troops occupied a bridgehead near the city of Disna on the right (northern) bank of the Western Dvina River. The battles for the bridgehead continued throughout the first ten days of July: the Germans tried to expand the bridgehead, the Soviet troops tried to liquidate it. Particularly heavy fighting took place on July 8. On this day, the commander of the 126th division, Major General M.A. Kuznetsov, was mortally wounded, two regiment commanders, the division chief of staff and the head of the 1st division of headquarters, were out of action. On July 8, the defense of the 22nd Army was broken through in the area of the village of Ulla west of Vitebsk. Three divisions of the 39th motorized corps of the 3rd tank group of the enemy broke through to Vitebsk. The line of the Sebezh fortified area was also broken.
On July 12, the 57th motorized corps of the 3rd tank group launched an offensive from the bridgehead near the city of Disna and broke through to the Dretun station. As a result, the 22nd Army was dismembered. On July 16, her 174th Rifle Division was forced to leave Polotsk. On July 16, the enemy managed to surround the 51st Rifle Corps of the army west of the city of Nevel, and on July 20 to occupy Velikiye Luki.
On July 21, 1941, army formations drove the enemy out of Velikiye Luki and decisively counterattacked him in the Nevel area, ensuring that the 51st Rifle Corps exited the encirclement and the entire army retreated to the heights east of Nevel. Subsequently, the army entrenched itself at the line: the upper reaches of the Lovat River - Velikie Luki - Lake Dvinye, and held it for a month, pinning down up to 10 enemy divisions and providing a junction between the North-Western and Western Fronts until the end of August 1941.
In the battles near Smolensk, the 22nd Army defended itself along a 280-kilometer front, having neither aviation nor anti-aircraft artillery. Despite difficult conditions, she thwarted enemy attempts to bypass the left flank of the Northwestern and the right flank of the Western fronts.
Ershakov Philipp Afanasyevich (1893–1942), lieutenant general. Commander of the UrVO (1938–1941), commander of the 22nd and 20th armies. Participated in the battle of Smolensk, the defense of Polotsk. In the battles near Vyazma he was taken prisoner, where he died on June 9, 1942.
Zakharov Georgy Fedorovich (1897–1957) - Soviet military leader, general of the army (1944), commander of the Great Patriotic War. April 1939 to June 1941–Chief of Staff of the Ural Military District. June to August 1941–Chief of Staff of the 22nd Army.
Gagen Nikolai Alexandrovich (1895–1969), lieutenant general. Commander of the 153rd Rifle Division in the UrVO (1940–1941) and on the Western Front (June 1941–January 1942).
Biryukov Nikolai Ivanovich - lieutenant general. Commander of the 186th Rifle Division of the 22nd Army. 1941
in tactical exercises. The commander of the Ural Military District (UrVO) F. A. Ershakov among the soldiers. 1940
Sniper I. F. Rudek in a firing position. UrVO teachings. 1940
in tactical exercises. A machine-gun crew of the 153rd Rifle Division crosses the river. 1940
The Urals go to the front. 1941
Soldiers of the Red Army near Smolensk. Summer 1941.
Smolensk battle. Tanks T-26 on the offensive. August 1941
Smolensk battle. 1941
Map-scheme of the actions of the parties during the battle of Smolensk. 10 –July 18, 1941
Ural Military District arr. by order of the Supreme military Council of March 31, 1918. The decision was enshrined in a decree of the Council of People's Commissars of May 4, 1918. Initial. included the territory of Perm., Ufim., Vyatka, Orenb. and Kazan Province. Environment Management stationed in Ekat. (in July… … Yekaterinburg (encyclopedia)
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Commander of the Western Military District, Colonel General
Biography
In 1986 he graduated from the Chelyabinsk Higher Tank Command School, in 1996 - the Military Academy of Armored Forces named after Marshal of the Soviet Union R. Ya. Malinovsky, in 2008 - the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
He served in the Central Group of Forces. After graduating from the Military Academy of Armored Forces in 1996, he served in the troops of the Far Eastern Military District, where he rose from chief of staff of a tank regiment to commander of a motorized rifle division.
In 2008 he graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Then he served as deputy commander of the combined arms army in the North Caucasus Military District.
In June 2010 he was appointed commander of the combined arms army of the Volga-Urals Military District.
In December 2013, he was appointed to the post of Deputy Commander of the Central Military District.
Since May 2015 - Chief of Staff - First Deputy Commander of the Southern Military District.
In 2016-2018 commanded a grouping of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the Syrian Arab Republic.
Since March 2017 - Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
Since November 2017 - Commander of the Eastern Military District.
In November 2018, by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation, he was appointed Commander of the Western Military District.
During his service, Colonel-General Alexander Zhuravlev was awarded the orders "For Military Merit", "For Merit to the Fatherland" IV degree, "Suvorov", the medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" I degree, the medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" II degree , many departmental medals.
In 2018, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.
Married, has two children.
