49th Combined Arms Army
Identification
This record is best matched to the headquarters of Russia’s 49th Combined Arms Army in Stavropol, not to a subordinate brigade or support site. CNA’s 2021 force study places the army-group HQ in Stavropol, and ISW’s October 2023 Russian ORBAT lists the 49th Combined Arms Army as military unit 35181 in Stavropol, Stavropol Krai. ([cna.org](https://www.cna.org/reports/2021/08/Russian-Forces-in-the-Southern-Military-District.pdf))
Mission
In CNA’s assessment, the 49th CAA is oriented toward three regional tasks: protection of Russia’s Black Sea littoral, support for ground operations toward/through Abkhazia, and mountain-warfare missions in the Caucasus. CNA also judged in 2021 that it was the smallest combined-arms army in the Southern Military District and would require reinforcement for large-scale coastal or Abkhazia-focused operations. ([cna.org](https://www.cna.org/reports/2021/08/Russian-Forces-in-the-Southern-Military-District.pdf))
Force structure
Published open-source ORBAT reporting attributes to the Stavropol HQ a compact but complete army set: the 205th Motor Rifle Brigade at Budyonnovsk/Pokoynoye, 34th Mountain Motor Rifle Brigade at Storozhevaya, 227th Artillery Brigade, 1st Missile Brigade at Molkino, 90th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade at Afipsky, 99th Logistics Brigade, 32nd Engineer-Sapper Regiment, and the 7th Military Base at Gudauta. CNA further identifies the 66th Command/C4I Brigade as the HQ’s command backbone and links the 217th electronic-intelligence and 689th command-intelligence centers to the army’s operational SIGINT/intelligence function. These affiliations are well supported for 2021-2023; later changes are not fully public. ([understandingwar.org](https://understandingwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/October20122C20202320Russian20Orbat_Final.pdf))
Operational posture
The headquarters has been tied to sustained wartime employment in Ukraine. A March 2023 U.S. Army review of Chornobaivka states that Ukrainian strikes repeatedly hit command posts including the 49th CAA HQ during the Kherson campaign. ISW later assessed that most of the 49th CAA had remained on the east bank of Kherson Oblast after Russia’s November 2022 withdrawal from west-bank Kherson, and ISW reporting from January 8, 2025 still placed 205th Brigade elements in Kherson while separately reporting 34th Brigade elements in Kursk Oblast. This suggests the Stavropol HQ functions primarily as a rear command node for formations that are frequently deployed forward. ([armyupress.army.mil](https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/military-review/Archives/English/Online-Exclusive/2023/Graveyard-of-Command-Posts/The-Graveyard-of-Command-Posts-UA2.pdf))
Command status
Lieutenant General Yakov Rezantsev is verifiable in official records only as commander as of February 2022: Australia’s sanctions list identifies him as commander of the 49th Combined Arms Army at that date. Ukrainian officials later claimed he was killed at Chornobaivka in March 2022; the reviewed sources did not provide Russian official confirmation. By August 3, 2023, Stavropolskaya Pravda was interviewing an acting army commander, Vladimir Glumilin, indicating that the command had at least an interim replacement. The current commander could not be confirmed from authoritative open sources reviewed here. ([legislation.gov.au](https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2014L00745/2023-06-11/2023-06-11/text/original/pdf?utm_source=openai))