36th Combined Arms Army
Identification
This record matches the headquarters of Russia’s 36th Combined Arms Army, military unit 05776, in Ulan-Ude, Republic of Buryatia, under the Eastern Military District. Historical references place the headquarters in Ulan-Ude from March 2009 after its move from Borzya. On 1 July 2025, Russia officially granted the formation the honorific Guards, so the current formal title is 36th Guards Combined Arms Army. ([understandingwar.org](https://understandingwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/October20122C20202320Russian20Orbat_Final.pdf))
Force structure
ISW’s October 2023 Russian Ground Forces order of battle placed this army HQ in Ulan-Ude with principal subordinate formations in Buryatia: the 37th Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade at Kyakhta; the 5th Guards Tank Brigade, 30th Artillery Brigade, and 103rd Missile Brigade around Divizionnaya/Taltsy; and the 35th Guards Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade in Ulan-Ude. GlobalSecurity separately links military unit 05776 to Ulan-Ude and associates the command with the 5th Tank and 37th Motorized Rifle brigades after relocation to Sosnovy Bor. I did not find equally strong corroboration in this search for every additional support unit named in the metadata. ([understandingwar.org](https://understandingwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/October20122C20202320Russian20Orbat_Final.pdf))
Capabilities
The verified subordinate structure indicates an army-level grouping with armor, motor-rifle maneuver forces, artillery, operational-tactical missile fires, and ground-based air defense under one headquarters. The presence of the 103rd Missile Brigade and 35th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade suggests the Ulan-Ude HQ controls both long-range strike and army-level air-defense functions, while Ulan-Ude’s position on the Trans-Siberian corridor near the Mongolia axis supports movement and sustainment for forces in Buryatia and western Transbaikalia. This is an inference from the observed structure and geography, not a claim about classified readiness. ([understandingwar.org](https://understandingwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/October20122C20202320Russian20Orbat_Final.pdf))
Operational use
Open-source wartime reporting indicates this formation has been used well outside its home garrison. ISW reported in February-March 2022 that reserves or battalion tactical groups of the 36th CAA operated on the western flank of Kyiv and later withdrew into Belarus by 31 March 2022. ISW reporting from 2024 and early 2025 continued to place 36th CAA elements, including the 30th Artillery Brigade, 37th Motorized Rifle Brigade, and 5th Tank Brigade, in the south Donetsk / Velyka Novosilka sector. ([understandingwar.org](https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russia-ukraine-warning-update-russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-february-27?utm_source=openai))
Command note
The current commander is not reliably confirmed in the public sources reviewed for this brief. The supplied metadata naming Maj. Gen. Vitaly Gerasimov was not corroborated by the most recent reporting I found. Local Buryatia reporting named Maj. Gen. Sergey Pelipay in May 2025, while separate local reporting in December 2025 named Maj. Gen. Vladimir Belyavsky; without an official Ministry of Defense confirmation in the searched sources, the command assignment should be treated as unverified. ([infpol.ru](https://www.infpol.ru/271224-zhitelnitse-buryatii-vruchili-medal-za-zaslugi-za-znachitelnyy-vklad-v-podderzhku-boytsov-svo/))