# Southwestern Front (Soviet Union)

The Southwestern Front was a front of the Red Army during the Second World War, formed thrice.
It was first created on June 22, 1941 from the Kiev Special Military District. The western boundary of the front in June 1941 was 865 km long, from the Pripyat River and the town of Wlodawa to the Prut River and the town of Lipkany at the border with Romania. It connected to the north with the Western Front, which extended to the Lithuanian border, and to the south with the Southern Front, which extended to the city of Odessa on the Black Sea.

## Operational history

The Southwestern Front was on the main axis of attack by the German Army Group South during Operation Barbarossa. At the outbreak of war with Germany, the Front was commanded by Mikhail Kirponos and contained the Soviet 5th, 6th, 26th, and 12th Armies along the frontier. 16th and 19th Armies were in reserve behind the forward forces. These forces took part in the tank battles in western Ukraine and were surrounded and destroyed at the Battle of Uman and the Battle of Kiev (1941) in August and September 1941. Kirponos himself was killed during the Battle of Kiev.
The Front was immediately re-established with new forces. During the period of the Battle of Moscow it was under the command of Marshal Timoshenko, and included from north to south the 40th, 21st, 38th and 6th Armies. It was formally disbanded on July 12, 1942 and the forces transferred to the Stalingrad Front and Southern Front.
The Front was reformed from reserve armies on October 22, 1942. It was renamed the 3rd Ukrainian Front on October 20, 1943. 3rd Ukrainian Front's first operations were the Battle of the Dnieper and the Battle of Kiev (1943).

### Southwestern Front on 22 June 1941

Composition Subordinate Front units directly under Commander of the Front:
* 31st Rifle Corps
    193rd Rifle Division
    195th Rifle Division
    200th Rifle Division
* 36th Rifle Corps:
    140th Rifle Division
    146th Rifle Division
    228th Rifle Division
* 49th Rifle Corps
    190th Rifle Division
    197th Rifle Division
    199th Rifle Division
* 55th Rifle Corps
    130th Rifle Division
    169th Rifle Division
    189th Rifle Division
* 1st Airborne Corps
    1st Airborne Infantry Brigade
    204th Airborne Infantry Brigade
    211th Airborne Infantry Brigade
* Fortified Regions
    1st Kiev
    3rd Latichov
    5th Khorosten
    7th Novogrudok–Volynsk
    13th Shepetovka
    15th Ostropol
    17th Izaslav
* Front Artillery
    5th Anti-Tank Brigade
    205th Corps Artillery Regiment
    207th Corps Artillery Regiment
    368th Corps Artillery Regiment
    457th Corps Artillery Regiment
    458th Corps Artillery Regiment
    507th Corps Artillery Regiment
    543rd Corps Artillery Regiment
    646th Corps Artillery Regiment
    305th Cannon Artillery Regiment (RGK)
    355th Cannon Artillery Regiment (RGK)
    4th High Power Howitzer Regiment (RGK)
    168th High Power Howitzer Regiment (RGK)
    324th High Power Howitzer Regiment (RGK)
    330th High Power Howitzer Regiment (RGk)
    526th High Power Howitzer Regiment (RGK)
    331st Howitzer Regiment (RGK)
    376th Howitzer Regiment (RGK)
    529th Howitzer Regiment (RGK)
    538th Howitzer Regiment (RGK)
    589th Howitzer Regiment (RGK)
    34th Independent Special Artillery Division
    245th Independent Special Artillery Division
    315th Independent Special Artillery Division
    316th Independent Special Artillery Division
    263rd Independent Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division
* Front PVO
    3rd Air Defense Division
    4th Air Defense Division
    11th Air Defense Brigade
    Air Defense Brigade Regions:
       Stanislavov
       Rovno
       Zhitomir
       Tarnopol
       Vinnitsa
* Front Tank/Mechanized Troops
    19th Mechanized Corps:
       40th Tank Division
       43rd Tank Division
       213th Mechanized Division
       21st Motorcycle Regiment
    24th Mechanized Corps:
       45th Tank Division
       49th Tank Division
       216th Mechanized Division
       17th Motorcycle Regiment
    1st Independent Armoured Car Division
* Front Air Forces
    44th Fighter Aviation Division
    64th Fighter Aviation Division
    19th Bomber Aviation Division
    62nd Bomber Aviation Division
    14th Mixed Aviation Division
    15th Mixed Aviation Division
    16th Mixed Aviation Division
    17th Mixed Aviation Division
    63rd Mixed Aviation Division
    36th Fighter Aviation Division (PVO)
    315th Air Reconnaissance Regiment
    316th Air Reconnaissance Regiment
* Front Engineer Troops
    45th Engineer Regiment
    1st Pontoon Bridge Regiment

## Commanders

* Colonel General Mikhail P. Kirponos (June 1941 – September 1941: killed in action)
* Marshal Semyon K. Timoshenko (September 1941 – December 1941; April–July 1942)
* Lieutenant General Fyodor Kostenko (December 1941 – April 1942)
* Lieutenant General Nikolai F. Vatutin [promoted to Colonel General in December 1942] (October 1942 – March 1943)
* Colonel General Rodion Ia. Malinovsky (March 1943 – October 1943)

## References and notes

* ↑ Boevoi Sostav Sovietskoi Armii czast I juni-dekabr 1941 Moskva 1966 page 9