8th Guards Combined Arms Army
8th Guards Combined Arms Army: Overview
The 8th Guards Combined Arms Army is a field army of the Russian Ground Forces under the Southern Military District, re-established in 2017. Its mission set follows the standard Russian combined-arms army profile, integrating motor rifle, tank, artillery, missile, air-defense, engineer, signal, logistics, and NBC protection units for operations along Russia’s southwest strategic direction. Public sources consistently place its headquarters in Rostov Oblast, with the army’s operational focus aligned to the Donbas border area. Core formations and enablers associated with the army include the 47th Missile Brigade, the 238th Artillery Brigade, and the 39th NBC Protection Regiment, among others.
Headquarters (military unit 33744), Novocherkassk, Rostov Oblast
Military unit 33744 is identified in open sources as the headquarters of the 8th Guards Combined Arms Army in Novocherkassk, Rostov Oblast. The headquarters performs operational command and control, planning, personnel administration, and coordination with higher Southern Military District structures. Its location benefits from proximity to major rail and road lines in the Rostov hub, facilitating deployment and sustainment. Precise internal organization, manning, and restricted facilities details are not publicly disclosed.
Command Leadership
Public reporting in 2023–2024 identifies Lieutenant General Gennady V. Anashkin as the commander of the 8th Guards Combined Arms Army. Russian Ground Forces general-officer assignments are periodically rotated, and the Ministry of Defense does not always publish timely updates on army-level command appointments. Where official confirmation is absent, attribution relies on concurrent open-source reports and state media releases. If an appointment is not publicly announced, it cannot be verified beyond such reporting.
47th Missile Brigade (military unit 33166)
The 47th Missile Brigade (m/u 33166) is reported in open sources to be based in Korenovsk, Krasnodar Krai, within the Southern Military District and associated with the 8th Guards Combined Arms Army. The brigade fields the 9K720 Iskander-M system, typically organized around 9P78-1 launcher vehicles with associated transporter-loaders, command, maintenance, and support elements. Russian official data and defense references describe Iskander-M as capable of employing quasi-ballistic 9M723 missiles and ground-launched cruise missiles (e.g., 9M728), with a stated range up to 500 km and precision guidance (claimed circular error probable on the order of a few meters). Brigade complements commonly total approximately 12 launchers, though exact holdings and the current missile stock are not publicly released.
238th Artillery Brigade and 2A65 Msta-B
The 238th Artillery Brigade provides army-level fire support and is associated in open-source reporting with the 8th Guards Combined Arms Army. Documented equipment for this formation includes the 152 mm 2A65 Msta-B towed howitzer. The 2A65 Msta-B (introduced in the late 1980s) has a typical maximum range of about 24.7 km with standard high-explosive projectiles and approximately 28–29 km with base-bleed ammunition; rocket-assisted projectiles can extend this further. It employs separate-loading ammunition, supports laser-guided munitions such as 2K25 Krasnopol, and has a crew of roughly eight, with a practical rate of fire of about 5–6 rounds per minute; exact quantities fielded by the brigade are not publicly disclosed.
39th NBC Protection Regiment (military unit 16390)
The 39th NBC (Radiation, Chemical, and Biological) Protection Regiment (m/u 16390) is identified in public sources as a regiment-level CBRN unit associated with the 8th Guards Combined Arms Army. Its core tasks include chemical and radiological reconnaissance, decontamination, smoke/aerosol masking, and flame/incendiary support in accordance with Russian RChBZ doctrine. Typical equipment in such regiments across the Russian Ground Forces includes reconnaissance vehicles (e.g., RKhM-series), ARS-14KM decontamination systems, and TDA/TMS smoke-generating systems; allocation of specific items to m/u 16390 is not officially published. Many RChBZ formations field TOS-1A heavy flamethrower systems, but their presence in this regiment cannot be confirmed from official sources.
Order of Battle and Associated Formations
Beyond the missile, artillery, and NBC units cited, the 8th Guards Combined Arms Army is widely reported to include combined-arms divisions and brigades located in Rostov Oblast and adjacent areas, notably the 150th Motor Rifle Division formed in the 2016–2017 period around the Kadamovsky/Persianovsky training areas. In 2022–2023, the Russian Ministry of Defense publicly stated that the 1st Donetsk Army Corps and the 2nd Luhansk Army Corps were incorporated into the Russian Armed Forces within the Southern Military District; multiple open-source assessments place these corps under the operational framework of the 8th Army, although formal MoD documentation of exact subordination is not publicly available. The army’s full detailed order of battle, including current strengths and equipment counts, remains largely undisclosed. Consequently, associations beyond those publicly reported should be treated as unconfirmed.
Geographic and Infrastructure Context
Novocherkassk lies within the Rostov-on-Don logistics hub, with access to the M-4 Don highway and extensive rail networks connecting southern Russia to the Caucasus and the Black Sea region. The city is roughly 150–170 km by air from Donetsk and within approximately 60–120 km of various segments of the Russia–Ukraine border in Rostov Oblast, facilitating staging and sustainment. Rostov rail yards, river port facilities on the Don in the wider region, and nearby depots support movements of heavy equipment and ammunition. The proximity to established training grounds in Rostov Oblast enables rapid force generation and rotation for subordinate formations.
Training Areas and Exercises
Units associated with the 8th Guards Combined Arms Army regularly use regional training areas, including Kadamovsky, Kuzminsky, and Persianovsky ranges in Rostov Oblast, for combined-arms live-fire and maneuver training. The army’s elements have participated in Southern Military District strategic-operational exercises reported by the Russian Ministry of Defense (e.g., Kavkaz series), which validate command-and-control, logistics, and joint fires integration. Such events typically involve coordination with supporting aviation and air-defense assets from the 4th Air and Air Defense Army under district-level control. Specific exercise force lists and scenarios vary by year and are only partially detailed in public releases.
Information Gaps and Classification Notes
Exact personnel strengths, complete equipment inventories, real-time dispositions, secure communications architectures, and internal headquarters layouts for military units 33744, 33166, and 16390, as well as the 238th Artillery Brigade, are not publicly available and are likely classified. Unit locations and alignments can change due to rotations and reassignments; where official confirmation is absent, only cautious attribution based on multiple open sources is appropriate. Any details beyond those publicly released by the Russian Ministry of Defense or visible in verifiable open-source reporting cannot be provided. All assessments above are limited to information in the public domain as of the latest available reporting.