Western Military District

Western Military District Западный военный округ
Emblem of the Western Military District
Founded	October 20, 2010 – present
Country	Russia
Type	Military district
Part of	Russian Armed Forces
Headquarters	Saint Petersburg
Decorations	Order of Lenin
Commanders
Colonel General	Andrey Kartapolov

Western Military District (Russian: Западный военный округ) is one of the four operational strategic commands of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The district was formed in Presidential Decree №1144 signed on September 20, 2010. The district includes the Baltic Fleet and the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy.

The district controls the 6th and 20th Guards Armies, formations and units of the Russian Airborne Troops (including the 76th Air Assault Division), and Baltic Fleet coastal defence units under Fleet HQ in Kaliningrad, as well as the 1st Air and Air Defence Forces Command of the Russian Air Force. It is headquartered in Saint Petersburg's General Staff Building on the north end of Palace Square.

On 26 February 2014, during the Crimean crisis, President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian Armed Forces to be "put on alert in the Western Military District as well as units stationed with the 2nd Army Central Military District Command involved in aerospace defense, airborne troops and long-range military transport." Despite media speculation it was for in reaction to the events in Ukraine, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said it was not connected to the unrest in Ukraine.