Volga–Ural Military District Приволжско-Уральский военный округ |
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Volga–Ural Military District Coat of Arms
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Active | September 1, 1989-2010 |
Country |
Soviet Union (1989–1991) Russian Federation (2001–present) |
Branch | Russian Ground Forces |
Type | Military district |
Headquarters | Yekaterinburg |
Decorations |
Order of the Red Banner |
Commanders | |
Commander of Troops of the Volga–Ural Military District | General-Polkovnik Arkady Bakhin |
The Volga–Ural Military District was a military district of the Russian Ground Forces, formed on 1 September 2001 by the amalgamation of the Volga Military District and the Ural Military District. The headquarters of the Ural Military District, located at Yekaterinburg became the new headquarters of the merged district. In 2010 the District was merged with part of the Siberian Military District to form the new Central Military District.
The new merged district draws upon the history of the former Ural, Volga, and Kazan Military Districts. The Kazan Military District was first to be formed in the Volga province of the Russian Empire, by order of the Defence Minister of 6 August 1864, as one of fifteen military districts being formed. Each district was intended to command combat formations, as well as act as a military-administrative organ on a regional scale - 'the War Ministry on a local level'. The Kazan Military District, with its headquarters in Kazan, took in the Orenburg, Kazan, and Ufa provinces, part of the Perm province, and the Ural and Turgay regions. In 1911, the 16th and 24th Army Corps were formed in the district, and just before the First World War, the district's staff was reorganised as the 4th Army.
Following the October Revolution, the staff of the old imperial military districts hindered the creation of the new Soviet Red Army, and to surmount this, a new structure was established on 31 March 1918, including the creation of the new Volga and Ural Military Districts. Much of the fighting in the Russian Civil War took place on the districts' territory. The official Russian Defence Ministry site notes the combat actions of the 20th, 21st, 24th, 25th, 26th, and 27th Rifle Divisions which took place on the eastern front of the war, as well as other formations and units.