22nd Army Corps (Russia)

22nd Army Corps
22-й армейский корпус/22-y Armeyskiy Korpus
Active	1905–1918 2017–Present
Country	Russian Empire Russian Federation
Branch	Imperial Russian Army Russia Army
Type	Military Corps
Size	Army Corps
Part of	Saint Petersburg Military District Southern Military District
Corps HQ	Helsingfors Sevastopol
Engagements	World War I Defence of the Empire

The 22nd Army Corps, (Russian: 22-й армейский корпус, Latin: 22-y Armeyskiy Korpus) was a tactical formation of the Imperial Russian Army based in the Grand Duchy of Finland before the beginning of the Great War. After seeing much service during the war, the corps was disbanded following the October Revolution. In 2017 the corps was reformed as part of the Southern Military District after the illegal annexation of the Crimea by Russia. The new corps now oversees all of the army troops based in the Crimea.

Russian Empire

In 1905, as part of the ongoing re-organisation of the Imperial Russian Army's higher-up fighting review, the 22nd Army Corps was formed with its headquarters in Helsingfors, today the Finnish capital of Helsinki. This new corps was known as the "Finnish/Finland Corps", as its troops were exclusively from the Grand Duchy of Finland, a sub-division of the Russian Empire. On formation, the new corps was assigned to the Saint Petersburg Military District, itself headquartered just over the border in the capital; Saint Petersburg.

When the Great War began, the corps was placed under command of the 9th Army and transferred from army to army while seeing action of the Eastern Front. In November 1917, just after the October Revolution, the corps joined the new Western Front and was disbanded that next year.

In 1917, the corps transferred control to the new Russian Republic, and later that year after the October Revolution, was disbanded.

Composition

1914

The below organisation is that of the corps on formation:

• 22nd Army Corps, HQ in Helsingfors
  • 20th Finnish Dragoon Regiment
  • Orenburg Cossack Division
  • 22nd Mortar Artillery Division
  • 22nd Sapper Battalion
  • 1st Finnish Rifle Brigade, HQ in Helsingfors
    • 1st Finnish Rifle Regiment
    • 2nd Finnish Rifle Regiment
    • 3rd Finnish Rifle Regiment
    • 4th Finnish Rifle Regiment
  • 2nd Finnish Rifle Brigade, HQ in Vyborg
    • 5th Finnish Rifle Regiment
    • 6th Finnish Rifle Regiment
    • 7th Finnish Rifle Regiment
    • 8th Finnish Rifle Regiment

1916

The structure of the corps after its 1916 reorganisation was:

• 22nd Army Corps Headquarters
  • 6th Ugletsky Orenburg Ataman Cossack Regiment
  • 8th Orenburg Cossack Regiment
  • 30th Separate Don Cossack Squadron
  • 22nd Mortar Artillery Division
  • 22nd Sapper Battalion
  • 1st Finnish Infantry Division
    • 1st Finnish Rifle Artillery Brigade
    • 1st Brigade
      • 1st Finnish Rifle Regiment
      • 2nd Finnish Rifle Regiment
    • 2nd Brigade
      • 3rd Finnish Rifle Regiment
      • 4th Finnish Rifle Regiment
  • 2nd Finnish Infantry Division
    • 3rd Finnish Rifle Artillery Brigade
    • 1st Brigade
      • 9th Finnish Rifle Regiment
      • 10th Finnish Rifle Regiment
    • 2nd Brigade
      • 11th Finnish Rifle Regiment
      • 12th Finnish Rifle Regiment

Russian Federation

On 10 February 2017, after the illegal annexation of the Crimea by Russia, the new 22nd Army Corps was formed to oversee the army troops on the peninsula. The new corps is now subordinated directly to the Black Sea Fleet for administrative purposes, but reports to HQ Southern Military District based in Rostov-on-Don. The current organisation of the corps as of 2020 is:

• 22nd Army Corps, HQ in Sevastopol
  • 127th Separate Reconnaissance Brigade
  • 126th Gorlovskaya Separate Coastal Defence Brigade, in Perevalnoe
  • 8th Separate Artillery Regiment
  • 1096th Separate Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment
  • 4th Separate CBRN Protection Regiment

Commanders

Divisional Commanders

• 1905—1905; Lieutenant General Ivan Makarovich Dzhambakurian-Orbeliani
• 1905—1906; LtGen Anton Egorovich Saltz
• 1906—1908; LtGen, later General of Cavalry Vladimir Alexandrovich Bekman
• 1908—1912; LtGen, later General of Infantry Peter Smitrievich Olkhovsky
• 1913—1917; LtGen, later General of Infantry Alexander Freidrikhovich Brinken
• 1917—1917; LtGen Nikolai Afruchev
• 1917—1917; LtGen Alexander Alekseevich Bezkrovny

Assignments

Imperial Russian Army

Assignments of the corps during the Great War included;

• 1914—1914; 9th Army
• 1914—1915; 10th Army
• 1915—1915; 8th Army
• 1915—1915; 11th Army
• 1915—1917; 7th Army
• 1917—1917; Western Front

in Russian Army

• 2017–Present; Southern Military District — Coastal Defence Troops

See also

• Soviet era corps (22nd Rifle Corps)

References

• Cornish, Nik (2001). The Russian Army 1914-18. Oxford, U.K: Osprey Pub. ISBN 978-1-84176-303-3. OCLC 59531918. 
• British General Staff, Hanbook of the Russian Army | Sixth Edition, 1914 General Staff, War Office.