4th Ukrainian Front

4th Ukrainian Front
The Front's banner in a Moscow museum
Active	1943–45
Country	Soviet Union
Branch	Red Army
Type	Army group
Role	Co-ordination and conduct of Red Army Operations in Ukraine and South-Eastern Europe
Size	2 Armies
Engagements	World War II Battle of the Dnieper Battle of Kiev (1943)

The 4th Ukrainian Front (Russian: 4-й Украинский фронт) was a front (a roughly army group-sized formation) of the Red Army during World War II. It was formed on October 20, 1943 by renaming the Southern Front.

The front's first operations were the Lower Dnieper Strategic Offensive Operation and the Kiev Strategic Offensive and Kiev Strategic Defensive operations. In early 1944, after an amphibious landing against the German-held Crimea, begun the Crimean Strategic Offensive Operation in which 4UF, including 2nd Guards Army, 51st Army and the Separate Coastal Army destroyed the 17th Army which was holding out there. 5th Shock Army and 28th Army were also part of the Front at the time, but do not appear from U.S. military maps to have actually taken part in the battle.

18th Army also served with the front in 1944 and 1945.

On 25 August 1945 the front was disbanded and elements incorporated into the Carpathian Military District.

Order of Battle, 4th Ukrainian Front on 1 April 1944^[1]

• Units subordinated to the Front:
  • 35th Tank-destroyer Artillery Brigade, 530th Tank-Destroyer Artillery Regiment, 4th Guards Mortar Brigade (13th, 30th, 31st Guards Mortar Regiment), 2nd, 4th, 19th, 21st, 23rd, 67th Guards Mortar Regiments, 270th guards AA Artillery Regiment (from 18th AA Artillery Division), 1069th AA Artillery Regiment (from 2nd Division), 1485th AA Artillery Regiment
  • 19th Tank Corps (79th, 101st, 202nd Tank Brigades, 26th Motorized Rifle Brigade, 867th, 875th SP Artillery Regiments, 91st Motorcycle Battalion, 1511th Tank-Destroyer Artillery Regiment, 179th Mortar Regiment, 1717th AA Artillery Regiment)
    • • 6th Guards Tank Brigade, 52nd Motorcycle Regiment, 5th Separate Armored Car Battalion, 46th and 54th Separate
        Armored Train Battalions
  • 7th Engineer-Sapper Brigade, 2nd Pontoon-Bridge Brigade, 3rd Guards, 65th, 240th Separate Engineer Battalions, 17th Guards Mine Battalion, 102nd Pontoon-Bridge Battalion (from 5th Pontoon-Bridge Brigade)
• 2nd Guards Army
  • 13th Guards Rifle Corps
    • 3rd Guards Rifle Division
    • 24th Guards Rifle Division
    • 87th Guards Rifle Division
  • 54th Rifle Corps
    • 126th Rifle Division
    • 315th Rifle Divisions
    • 387th Rifle Division
  • 55th Rifle Corps
    • 87th Rifle Division
    • 347th Rifle Division
    • 116th Fortified Region
    • 2nd Guards Breakthrough Artillery Division (4th Guards Light Artillery Brigade, 114 Gun Artillery Brigade, 5th Guards Howitzer Artillery Brigade, 20th Guards High Power Howitzer Artillery Brigade, 33rd Mortar Brigade)
  • Independent (Army) units: 1095th, 1101st Gun Artillery Regiments, 331st Howitzer Artillery Regiment, 315th and 317th Artillery Battalions of High Impact (heavy artillery), 113th Guards, 14th 1250th Tank-Destroyer Artillery Regiments, 133rd Guards, 483rd Mortar Regiments (MRL), 76th AA Artillery Division (223rd, 416th, 447th AA Artillery Regiments), 591st, 1530th AA Artillery Regiments
  • 1452nd SP Artillery Regiment, 512 Independent Tank Battalion
  • 43rd Special Purpose Engineer Brigade, Independent 258th and 255th Engineer Battalions
• 51st Army:
  • 1st Guards Rifle Corps (33rd Guards, 91st, 346th RD),
  • 10th Rifle Corps (216th, 357th, 279th Rifle Divisions),
  • 63rd Rifle Corps (263rd, 267th, 417th Rifle Divisions)
    • 77th Rifle Division
    • 78th Fortified Region
    • 26th Artillery Division (75th Light Artillery Brigade, 56th Gun Artillery Brigade, 77th Howitzer Brigade)
  • Independent (Army) units: 6th Guards Gun Artillery Brigade (from 2nd Guards Breakthrough Artillery Division), 105th High Impact Howitzer Artillery Brigade (from 7th Breakthrough Artillery Division), 647th, 1105th Gun Artillery Regiments, 85th Guards, 1231st Howitzer Artillery Regiment, 207th Guards Howitzer Artillery Regiment (from 5th Guards Howitzer Artillery Brigade), 5th Guards, 15th, 21st Tank-destroyer Artillery Brigades, 764th 1246th Tank-destroyer Artillery Regiment, 19th Mortar Brigade, 125th Mortar Regiment.
  • Anti-Aircraft Artillery forces
    • 2nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division (1086th, 1113th, 1117th AA Artillery Regiment)
    • 15th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division (281st, 342nd, 723rd, 1264th AA Artillery Regiments)
    • 18th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division (160th and 166th Guards, 297th AA Artillery Regiments)
      77th Guards Artillery Regiment
    • 32nd Guards Tank Brigade, 22nd Guards Separate Tank Regiment, 30th and 33rd Separate Armored Train Battalions
    • 12th Assault Engineer Brigade, 63rd Engineer-Sapper Brigade, 5th Guards, 1504 Separate Engineer Battalions, 275th Separate Sapper Battalion

Sources and references

1. ↑ The OOB is taken from "The combat composition of Soviet Army" handbook