Russian Forces in the Southern Military District

This paper draws on open source material to provide an order-of-battle assessment of existing units that fall under the Southern Military District’s (SMD’s) area of responsibility. It analyzes roles assigned to these units and assesses the effects of the ongoing modernization and reorganization of the SMD’s structures post 2014. This analysis is placed within the context of Russian military operations in Georgia, Ukraine, and Syria.

Russian forces that are deployed within the district need to address a gamut of threats and contingencies, ranging from peacekeeping missions and counterinsurgency operations, through local wars, to high-tempo conventional operations against technologically superior opposing forces. This is reflected in the structures of these units, which, overall, differ significantly from those deployed in the Western Military District (WMD).

As a result, the paper looks at Russian military presence not only in Russia proper, but also in Armenia, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia.

Although the document lists equipment that is fielded into specific units, it does not seek to provide a detailed table of organization and equipment (TO&E).