# 51st Guards Combined Arms Army

The 51st Guards Combined Arms Donetsk Army (Russian: 51-я гвардейская общевойсковая Донецкая армия) is a military formation of the Russian Ground Forces as part of the Southern Military District, formerly the 1st Army Corps of the Donetsk People's Republic. It was officially incorporated into the Russian Federation on 31 December 2022, after Russia annexed the occupied territory of Donetsk, and then it was reformed into a Combined Arms Army in 2024.

## History
### War in Donbas

The 1st Army Corps was formed on 12 November 2014 as an effort to unite numerous volunteer units under one command. Considered by Ukrainian and Western analysts as a formal part of the Russian 8th Combined Arms Army, it nevertheless had a certain degree of autonomy.
The corps was deployed along the contact line that stretched from the coast of the Sea of Azov to the LPR border north of Debaltseve, where it met with the 2nd Army Corps.

### Russian invasion of Ukraine

The corps played an active role in the Russian offensive in Southern Ukraine, taking part in the battle of Volnovakha and siege of Mariupol.
In January 2023, it was officially incorporated into the Russian Armed Forces and became part of the 8th Combined Arms Army.
In the summer of 2024, the 1st Army Corps was reorganised into the 51st Combined Arms Army.
On September 18, 2024, the 51st Army was awarded the honorary designation "Guards".

#### Operations in Kherson Oblast

A member of the DPR's 109th Regiment was accused of rape during the occupation of the village of Krasnivka [uk], Kherson Oblast, in March 2022.
In July 2022, the 109th, 113th, and 125th Regiments of the DPR were deployed to Zolota Balka, Davydiv Brid, Arkhanhelske, and Vysokopillia in the Kherson Oblast, according to Russian military documents published by Ukrainian officials. In late August 2022, amid a Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Kherson Oblast, Ukrainian military officials claimed that the 109th Regiment had left its positions.

## Structure

* 1st Guards Motorized Rifle Slavyansk Order of the Republic Brigade (MUN 08801)
** Vikings Battalion
** 268th Infantry Battalion
** 1st Reserve Battalion
** 87th Separate Rifle Regiment (MUN 34479) (formerly 119th Rifle Regiment)
* 5th Motorized Rifle Brigade "Oplot" (MUN 08805) (formerly Oplot Brigade)
* 9th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade (MUN 08819) (formerly 9th Separate Marine Regiment)
** 2nd Motorized Rifle Battalion
** Guards "Somalia" Assault Battalion "M. S. Tolstykh" (MUN 08828) (formerly Battalion Somalia)
* 56th Separate Special Purpose Battalion
* 110th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade (MUN 08826) (formerly 100th Motorized Rifle Brigade)
** 3rd Regiment
* 114th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade (MUN 08818) (formerly 11th Motor Rifle Regiment)
** Slavic Unification and Revival Battalion or Svarozhich Battalion
** Steppe Battalion
* 132nd Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade (MUN 08803) (formerly 3rd Motorized Rifle Brigade)
** "Lavina" Battalion
** 101st Separate Rifle Regiment
* 14th Guards Artillery Brigade "Kalmius" (MUN 08802) (formerly Kalmius Brigade)
* Separate Commandant's Regiment (MUN 08816)
* 10th Separate Special Purpose Battalion "Khan" (MUN 08808)
* 10th Separate Guards Uman Tank Battalion "Diesel" (MUN 08810) (formerly Separate Tank Battalion)
* 3rd Special Purpose Battalion (MUN 08827)
* 1st Territorial Defense Battalion
* 2nd Territorial Defense Battalion "Miner's Division"
* 3rd Territorial Defense Battalion
* 4th Territorial Defense Battalion
* 5th Territorial Defense Battalion
* 6th Territorial Defense Battalion
* 80th Guards "Sparta" Reconnaissance Battalion "A. S. Pavlov" (MUN 08806) (formerly Battalion Sparta)
* Anti-aircraft Missile Defense Artillery Battalion (MUN 08817)
* Repair and Recovery Battalion "Congo" (MUN 08813)
* 51st HQ and HQ Services Battalion "Pautina" (MUN 08804)
* Material Support Battalion (MUN 08812)
* Signals Battalion (MUN 08804)
* "Okhotnik" Special Purpose Detachment
* Reserve units:
** 103rd Rifle Regiment
** 105th Rifle Regiment
** 107th Rifle Regiment
** 109th Rifle Regiment [ru]
** 111th Rifle Regiment
** 123rd Rifle Regiment
** 125th Rifle Regiment
** 127th Rifle Regiment