3rd Shock Army The 3rd Shock Army ( ) was a field army of the Red Army formed during the Second World War . The ' Shock ' armies were created with the specific structure to engage and destroy significant enemy forces , and were reinforced with more armoured and artillery assets than other combined arms armies . Where necessary the Shock armies were reinforced with mechanised , tank and cavalry formations and units . During the Second World War some Shock armies included armoured train s and air - sled equipped units . Campaign history . The Army was created from the 60th Army ( 1st formation ) , which had been formed in the Moscow Military District in November 1941 . Initially 60th Army comprised the 334th , 336th , 348th , 352nd , 358th , and 360th RD s and the 11th Cavalry Division , and was tasked to fortify the left bank of the Volga River from Unza to Kosmodemiansk . 60th Army was converted into 3rd Shock Army on 25 December 1941 , under the command of General Lieutenant Maksim Purkayev . On 1 January 1942 , the Army was composed of the 23rd , 33rd and 257th Rifle Division s , 20th , 27th , 31st , 42nd , 45th and 54th Independent Rifle Brigades , and a number of artillery and other units . The Shock Army was also singled out by having its own aviation units attached in view of its intended use . These units included : 163rd Fighter Aviation Regiment ( Yak - 1 ) , 728th Fighter Aviation Regiment ( Polikarpov I - 16 ) , 128th short - range bombing regiment ( Pe - 2 ) , 621st aviation regiment ( R - 5 ) and 663rd aviation regiment ( Po - 2 ) . However by the beginning of April this was reduced to one light - bombing regiment ( twelve Po - 2 ) and three fighter regiments with twelve Polikarpov I - 16s in total . It was initially a part of the Moscow Defense Zone in the Reserve of the Supreme High Commander ( RVGK ) . However , 3rd Shock was soon allocated to join North - Western Front from 27 December 1941 as part of the Moscow counteroffensive . Matters were not improved by the lack of supplies , aggravated by horrible communications ; the assault troops did not get a full meal before the offensive due to food shortages . However after a few days the offensive – the Toropets - Kholm operation – began to roll forward , with 3rd Shock approaching Kholm , but it was getting dangerously separated from its neighbour , 4th Shock Army . By mid January , 3 Shock had surrounded Kholm and its forward units had cut the road between Kholm and Toropets . Kholm itself was surrounded on 22 January ( but never taken and relieved on 5 May ) . With some success in view , Stalin widened the operation ' s goals , and with a Stavka directive of 19 January directed 3rd Shock , as part of the wider operation , to head for Velikie Luki , and thence to Vitebsk , Orsha , and Smolensk . Two days later , 3rd Shock was shifted from North - Western Front to the Kalinin Front . However the forces available were becoming dangerously thin for the enormous tasks Stalin was setting them . But the Army got no further than Velikie Luki ( though not taking the town ) in the face of stiffening German resistance and shortages of food , fuel , and ammunition . Velikie Luki was finally taken by Kalinin Front on 17 January 1943 . The Army ' s next major effort was as part of the Nevel ' - Gorodok offensive operation in October - November 1943 . Nevel was taken at the start of the offensive on 6 October 1943 . Kalinin Front had been renamed Baltic Front on 13 October 1943 , and under Yeremenko , used two armies on the left flank , 43rd and 49th , to distract the Germans ’ attention from his main blow , from 3rd and 4th Shock Armies against Third Panzer Army focused on the Nevel area . This would see the Soviets astride the routes leading to the rear of Army Group North and cut vital rail links . Following the Starorussa - Novorzhev offensive operation ( February 1944 ) , the Army ' s next attack was as part of 2nd Baltic Front ' s July 1944 offensive – the Rezhitsa - Dvina offensive operation . Kicking off on 10 July , 3 Shock Army had reached the Velikaya River by 12 July , captured the bridges despite the demolition charges laid on them , and gone on to outflank Idritsa . Idritsa was liberated that same day . Five days later the Army liberated Sebezh after a deep outflanking movement . Rezhitsa ( now Rēzekne , Latvia ) was taken on 26 July 1944 , with the help of 10th Guards Army . 2nd Baltic Front was now facing central Latvia , and on 2 August 1944 the armies were on the march again , with 3rd Shock tasked to move south of Lake Lubań and on to south of Madon , but after the Soviet forces seized Krustpils , some heavy fighting followed with only limited success . 3rd Shock forced a passage over a tributary of the Dvina River , the Oger , on 19 August , but then had to fend off a strong German attack mounted by three divisions with air support . Slowly the Soviets moved toward Riga , but the emphasis was shifted south , and 2nd Baltic Front found itself playing a supporting role from early October as Bagramyan ' s First Baltic Front raced for the Baltic coastline itself to sever the remaining connection between the German forces in East Prussia and those in Latvia and Estonia . Riga fell on 13 October and the remaining German forces in the area were bottled up in the Courland area . 3rd Shock then took part in the blockade of the Courland pocket , and the first Soviet attacks started on 16 October . However by the end of October it was seen that despite some advances , there was little hope for full success , and the Army was shifted south . 3rd Shock became part of the 1st Belorussian Front from 31 December 1944 . The Army was placed in the second echelon for the Warsaw - Poznań ' strategic offensive operation , attacking in the direction of Poznań under Zhukov ' s 1st Belorussian Front . It then took part in the Vistula - Oder Offensive between 12 . 1 . 1945 – 3 . 2 . 1945 . As the Army moved quickly across Poland in March 1945 , during the Eastern - Pomeranian strategic offensive operation , it liberated a number of cities : Vangerin ( now Vengozhino , Poland ) and Labes ( now Lobez , Poland ) ( together with the troops of the 1st Guards Tank Army ) on 3 March , and Frayenvalde ( now Khotsivel , Poland ) and Regenvalde ( now Resko , Poland ) on 4 March 1945 . The same day , in conjunction with the Polish 1st Army and the 1st Guards Tank Army 3rd Shock entered Dramburg ( now Dravsko - Pomorske , Poland ) . A day later , 3rd Shock entered Gyultsov ( now Golchevo , Poland ) , and on 6 March : Kammin ( now Kamen ' - Pomorski , Poland ) . On 7 March , 3 Shock entered Shtepenitts ( now Stepnitsa , Poland ) , and liberated Gollnov ( now Golenyuv , Poland ) together with troops of the 2nd Guards Tank Army . The Army was in the 2nd echelon of the 1st Belorussian Front in the Battle of Berlin . In April 1945 the 3rd Shock Army ( HQ Stendal ) as part of the 1st Belorussian Front had the following major component formations and units : The Army took Pankow , a suburb of Berlin , on 23 April 1945 . A week later , two regiments of the 150th Rifle Division , 79th Rifle Corps were responsible for erecting flags over the Reichstag on 30 April 1945 , one of which was known as the " Victory Flag " . A future commander of the Army , V . I . Varennikov , would also command the honour guard of the " Victory Flag " . The curtain came down on the Army ' s war service when fighting ceased in Berlin on 8 May 1945 . Service in Germany . 3rd Shock Army stayed in Germany after the end of the war , becoming part of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany . During the 1960s and early 1970s the Army ' s divisions were equipped with the T - 62 and T - 55 tanks . During the late 1970s the divisions received T - 64A , T - 64B ( one third of each battalion ) , and eventually T - 64BV with dynamic armour . In 1984 a decision was made to re - equip the formations with T - 80BV variants ( 10th Guards Tank Division ) , replacing the T - 64s BMP - 1 / 2 and variants , and various BTR variants . The army kept the descriptive title " shock " into the 1950s , when it was re - titled the 3rd Assault Army , before assuming its final name : the 3rd " Red Banner " Combined Arms Army ( ) . During 1989 – 91 a past commanding officer of the Army ( 1969 ) V . I . Varennikov was the Commander in Chief of the Ground Forces of the Soviet Union . The Army was relocated from Germany during 1990 – 1991 and dispersed throughout the former Soviet Union , with many units and sub - units disbanded or converted to training units and storage depots . Army headquarters was briefly sent to the Far East Military District but then disbanded . Cold War order of battle . For most of the 1970s and 1980s the Army was composed from the following major formations : Late in the Cold War the Army was unique in having four tank divisions as part of its formation . It was located in Magdeburg , and its order of battle included : Formation and units subordinate to Army