Belorussian Military District The Byelorussian Military District ( alternative spelling Belorussian ) was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces . Originally in the times of Russian Civil War it formed as the Western Front , and in April 1924 it was renamed to the Western Military District . In October 1926 it was redesignated the Belorussian Military District , with its staff in Smolensk . It covered the territory of the Byelorussian SSR and the western part of the RSFSR ( including Smolensk area , Bryansk area , and parts of Kaluga area ) . In 1928 , the first maneuvers of troops of the district were held , which was attended by 6th Cavalry Division and 7th Cavalry Division , 5th , 8th and 27th Rifle Division s , 33rd territorial division , a tank brigade of the Moscow Military District , artillery , aviation , communication , and engineering units . The exercises have shown growth in the combat skills of troops , which attended the People ' s Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs , Kliment Voroshilov . In 1932 it deployed from within the country the 4th Leningrad Cavalry Order of the Red Banner Voroshilov Division commanded by Georgy Zhukov . In 1932 - 1933 , in connection with the development of armored vehicles , it formed seven separate tank brigades , armed with Soviet - made tanks : light T - 24 , T - 26 , medium T - 28 , fast BT - 2 , BT - 5 , floating T - 37 , heavy T - 35 , slipper T - 27 . In 1937 the district deployed 15 infantry divisions , grouped into five infantry corps and five cavalry divisions . On 26 July 1938 , the district was renamed the Belarussian Special Military District ( ) . After the Soviet / German invasion of Poland in September 1939 , it took in most of the former Polish area and was redesignated the Belorussian Special Military District . In July 1940 , it was redesignated the Western Special Military District . When the German invasion , Operation Barbarossa , began on 22 June 1941 the district was again redesignated the Western Front . The district was reformed in October 1943 from the staff of the Moscow Zone of Defense ( at Smolensk , which moved to Minsk in August , 1944 ) . From December , 1944 until July , 1945 , the district was designated Byelorussian - Lithuanian Military District ( covering the territory of Belarus and Lithuania ) , and from July , 9 , until 26 January 1946 it was divided in two districts - Minsk District ( from the staff of the 3rd Army ) , and Baranovichi District ( from the staff of 3rd Belorussian Front with its headquarters staff at Bobruisk ) . The district covered the territory of the Byelorussian SSR . From mid February 1949 , in accordance with a directive issued 10 January 1949 , the 1st Air Army , present within the district , was redesignated the 26th Air Army . The 26th Air Army was subordinate to the BVO . In 1962 the 26th Air Army comprised the 95th Fighter Aviation Division ( Shchuchin , Grodno Oblast ) , the 1st Guards Fighter - Bomber Aviation Division ( Lida , Grodno Oblast ) , and three separate smaller units : the 10th independent Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment ( Shchuchin , Grodno Oblast ) , the 248th independent Mixed Aviation Squadron ( Minsk - Lipki , Minsk Oblast ) , and the 95th independent Mixed Aviation Squadron ( Grodno , Grodno Oblast ) . In April 1980 the 26th Air Army was renamed the VVS Belorussian Military District . In May 1988 it was renamed again as the 26th Air Army . The 95th Fighter Aviation Division was disbanded in 1988 . The 26th Air Army included in 1990 : From the beginning of the 1950s three armies were subordinated to the district : 28th Army , 5th Guards Tank Army and 7th Tank Army - numbering 9 tank and 2 motor - rifle divisions , including training formations . 5th Guards Tank Army in 1988 had 8th Guards , 29th , and 193rd Tank Division s while 7th ' Red Star ' Tank Army had 3rd Guards , 34th , and 37th Guards Tank Divisions . From the late 1970s the district was subordinate to the Commander - in - Chief of the Western Strategic Direction . On the dissolution of the Soviet Union the 28th Army , headquartered at Grodno , included the 6th Guards Tank Division ( Grodno ) , 28th Tank Division ( Slonim ) , 50th Guards Motor Rifle Division ( Brest ) , and the 76th Tank Division ( possibly a Category ' V ' cadre formation ) , also at Brest . The 120th ' Rogachev ' Guards Motorised Rifle Division , subordinated directly to district control , was the district ' s most prestigious division . Also present was the 51st Guards Artillery Division . Air defence was provided in the 1980s by the 2nd Air Defence Army of the Soviet Air Defence Forces ( PVO ) which included 11th and 28th PVO Corps . The forces of the district became the basis of the Armed Forces of Belarus after the district was disbanded in May 1992 following the dissolution of the Soviet Union . " The Byelorusian Military District is no more . Under a resolution of the Council of Ministers of Byelarus all its units , as well as non - strategic formations , have been placed under the Defence Ministry of Byelarus . " 2nd Air Defence Army 1988 . In 1988 the 2nd Air Defence Army comprised the 11th and 28th Air Defence Corps . The 11th Air Defence Corps was formed on 15 March 1960 in Baranovichi , Minsk Oblast , from the PVO ' s 39th Fighter Aviation Division . 3rd Air Defence Division came under 2nd independent Army of the PVO from March 1960 to November 1977 . In 1988 it comprised : It was taken over by Belarus in early 1992 , and survived to at least 1994 . Over the border in the Ukrainian SSR , the 28th Air Defence Corps was also part of the 2nd Air Defence Army until 1992 . In 1988 it comprised :