The List of Soviet military sites in Germany contains all military installations and units of the former Soviet Union on German territory. In correlation to Russian native document, original site designations of the Soviet armed forces are used as deemed to be necessary (e.g. later changes of site names are avoided). The units and formations were subordinated to the WGF Supreme Commands in Wünsdorf.
accreditation to United States Army Europe, Heidelberg (USAREUR Soviet Military Liaison Mission Control Facility, Frankfurt am Main, Creighton W. Abrams Complex)
New states of Germany
Dislocation map HQ WGT and HQ of the WGF Armies on territory on the former GDR
The English designation of military units and formations of the WGF (column 1) is in line to these in NATO, as deemed to be necessary. Honorary titles, names, or distinctions are omitted. In case of doubt, the original designation in Russian language is authoritative.
Column 2 contains the original site's designation, in accordance with – Soviet troops in Germany 1945 to 1994, memorial album, edition Moscow, published by «Jang Guard», 1994; ISBN5-235-02221-1, pages 15 to 22.
Supreme Command GSFG (WGF) and direct subordinates
The Supreme Command GSFG (WGF) comprised the staff divisions and direct subordinated units, formations and facilities, as follows (in 1991):
↑ Soviet troops in Germany 1945 to 1994, memorial album, edition Moscow, published by «Jang Guard», 1994; ISBN5-235-02221-1.
↑ Constituted on 30 July 1945 initially at the US Forces headquarters in the American sector. The Soviet Union rejected the originally planned seat, the former Reich Aviation Ministry on Leipziger Straße in the Mitte district (along with every other proposed location in the Soviet sector). The Allied Control Council for Germany met 82 times before the Soviet Union walked out of the council on 20 March 1948. The principle of unanimity prevailed. Between meetings, the coordinating committee and control staff with 12 directors managed the work. Not a German executive body.
↑ Feskov "The Soviet Army in the Years of the Cold War," 2004, p. 105.
The Western Group of Forces (WGF), previously known as the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany (GSOFG) and the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSFG), were the troops of the Soviet Army in East Germany. The Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany was formed after the end of World War II in Europe from units of the 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts. The group helped suppress the East German uprising of 1953. After the end of occupation functions in 1954 the group was renamed the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. The group represented Soviet interests in East Germany during the Cold War. Before changes in Soviet foreign policy during the early 1990s, the group shifted to a more offensive role and in 1989 became the Western Group of Forces. Russian forces remained in the eastern part of Germany after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and German reunification until 1994.
The 8th Guards Order of Lenin Combined Arms Army is an army of the Russian Ground Forces, headquartered in Novocherkassk, Rostov Oblast, within Russia′s Southern Military District, that was reinstated in 2017 as a successor to the 8th Guards Army of the Soviet Union's Red Army, which was formed during World War II and was disbanded in 1998 after being downsized into a corps. Military Unit в/ч 61877.
The Leningrad Military District was a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2010 it was merged with the Moscow Military District, the Northern Fleet and the Baltic Fleet to form the new Western Military District. In December 2022, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu proposed to reestablish it along with the Moscow Military District, a decision confirmed in June 2023 by Deputy Chief of the General Staff Yevgeny Burdinsky.
The North Caucasus Military District was a military district of the Russian Armed Forces from 1992-2010. Before 1992 it had been part of the Soviet Armed Forces since 1918. In 2010 it became the Southern Military District and lately also included the Black Sea Fleet and Caspian Flotilla.
The Byelorussian Military District was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces. Originally formed just before World War I as the Minsk Military District out of the remnants of the Vilno Military District and the Warsaw Military District, it was headed by the Russian General Eugen Alexander Ernst Rausch von Traubenberg.
The 16th Red Banner Air Army was the most important formation of the Special Purpose Command. Initially formed during the Second World War as a part of the Soviet Air Force, it was from its 2002 reformation to its 2009 disbandment the tactical air force component of the Moscow Military District. The 16th Air Army took part in the Battle of Berlin with 28 Aviation divisions and 7 Separate aviation regiments, and was located with the GSFG in East Germany until 1994. Withdrawn to Kubinka in that year, the army was disbanded and reformed as a corps in 1998. From 1949 to 1968, it was designated as the 24th Air Army.
A rifle corps was a Soviet corps-level military formation during the mid-twentieth century. Rifle corps were made up of a varying number of rifle divisions, although the allocation of three rifle divisions to a rifle corps was common during the latter part of World War II.
The 5th Guards Tank Army was a Soviet Guards armored formation which fought in many notable actions during World War II. The army was formed in February 1943. Until the aftermath of the Vilnius Offensive in July 1944, it was commanded by Pavel Rotmistrov.
The 3rd Guards Tank Army was a tank army established by the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II. The 3rd Tank Army was created in 1942 and fought in the southern areas of the Soviet Union and Poland, then in Germany and Czechoslovakia until the defeat of Germany in 1945. Postwar, the army served as occupation troops in East Germany, went through several name changes, and was finally deactivated in 1969.
The 78th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, formed in 1932, in Novosibirsk, in the Siberian Military District. After being used to provide cadres for new divisions, in September 1939 the division was reformed for the second time. In 1940 the division was transferred to Khabarovsk in the Far Eastern Front.
The 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Division was an Aviation Division of the Soviet Air Forces, active from 1942 to 1998. Originally activated in 1942 as the 258th Fighter Aviation Division from the Air Forces of the 14th Army, then the 258th Mixed Aviation Division 27.2.43; redesignated in accordance with NKO Decree No. 264 as the 1st Guards Composite Aviation Division от 24.08.43; redesignated 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Division 11 November 1944.
The 36th Army was a military formation of the Red Army and the Soviet Ground Forces, formed twice.
Mikhail Mitrofanovich Zaitsev was a general of the Soviet Army. Zaitsev's principal commands were the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany and the southern military districts of the Soviet Union.
Boris Vasilievich Snetkov was a Soviet Army and briefly Russian Ground Forces Army General.
The 7th Guards Tank Division was a tank division of the Soviet Army during the Cold War.
The 41st Guards Rocket Division was a division of the Soviet and Russian Strategic Rocket Forces, active from 1961 to 2001.
The Training Center for Junior Specialists of the Kazakh Ground Forces named after Karasai Batyr is a Ground Forces formation of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The 140th Borisov Order of Kutuzov Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade is an air defense brigade of the Russian Ground Forces' 29th Army in the Eastern Military District, stationed at Domna in Zabaykalsky Krai.
The 47th Guards Nizhnedneprovskaya Red Banner Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky Tank Division, is a tank division of the Russian Ground Forces.
Matvey Prokopyevich Burlakov was a Soviet and Russian colonel general. As the last commander of the Western Group of Forces between 1990 and 1994, he was responsible for supervising the withdrawal of Russian troops from Germany.
"Soviet troops in Germany 1945 to 1994", memorial album, edition Moscow, published by «Jang Guard», 1994; ISBN5-235-02221-1, pages 15 – 22.
"The Radar Control Troops of the German Democratic Republic's Air Defence Forces", history and stories, by Wolf-Rüdiger Stuppe and Siefried Fiedle, 1st edition 2013 (p.89-95, author L. Pflügner, Colonel r.), Publishing House Steffen/Steffen GmbH, ISBN978-3-942477-39-0.
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