68th Army Corps (Russia)


The 68th Army Corps is an army corps of the Russian Ground Forces' Eastern Military District, stationed in Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, with its headquarters at Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. The corps was first formed in 1993 from the 51st Army and disbanded in 2010. It was reformed in 2014.

History

The 68th Army Corps was first formed on 11 October 1993 from the 51st Army at Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, part of the Far Eastern Military District. It included the 33rd Motor Rifle Division at Khomutovo, the 18th Machine Gun Artillery Division at Goryachiye Klyuchi, and the 31st Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade at Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. In 1997, its commander, Lieutenant General Gennady Anoshin, died of heart failure on a plane flight just before he was scheduled to retire from active duty. In 2002, the 31st Brigade was disbanded. Sources differ on the date of the corps' disbandment. According to Aleksey Gayday, in Russia's New Army, the corps was disbanded on 1 December 2006. A 2014 news report cited the date of the corps' disbandment as 2010. On 1 June 2009, as part of the reform of the Russian Armed Forces, the 33rd Division was downsized into the 39th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade.
of the 39th Motor Rifle Brigade during Exercise "Vostok-2014" on Sakhalin
In April 2014, the corps was reinstated on the basis the units already stationed in Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands: the 18th Machine Gun Artillery Division and the 39th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade, under the command of Major General Valery Asapov. The 676th Separate Engineer Battalion was formed later that year. In July 2015, Major General Alexander Peryazev took command after Asapov transferred to the Southern Military District. The corps moved to a full contract manning system from August 2016. In February 2017, Major General Dmitry Glushenkov became commander of the corps, replacing Peryazev, who became commander of the 20th Guards Army.

Organisation

In 2019 the corps structure was altered into the following: