Vladimir Putin announced the re-establishment of the Leningrad Military District. We explain what it is and why the district was previously disbanded.
Putin on plans to recreate the Leningrad Military District said in an interview with a journalist To Pavel Zarubin on the program "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin," explaining this by Finland's accession to NATO and promising problems for the country.
The Leningrad Military District (originally the St. Petersburg Military District) was created in 1864 as a result of Alexander II's military reform. During the Soviet era, the district's primary mission was to defend the border with Finland.
As a result of the signing of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) by the USSR in 1990, the district was demilitarized: the amount of military equipment that could be deployed on its territory was significantly limited.
President Dmitry Medvedev In 2010, he signed a decree abolishing the Leningrad Military District as part of a troop command and control reform. By that time, it covered the territories St. Petersburg, Leningrad Oblast, Komi Republic, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Vologda, Murmansk, Novgorod и Pskov region and was the smallest of all military districts, with a troop strength of 28,700.
In its place, the Western Military District was established with headquarters in St. Petersburg. He included Leningradsky and (also abolished) Московский districts Kaliningrad region. Some experts believed that the letter Z on Russian military equipment meant that it belonged to the Western Military District.
A year ago, the Moscow and Leningrad military districts were recreated announced secretary of defense Sergey Shoigu, attempting to counter the then-plans for Sweden and Finland to join NATO. Experts attributed this to the fact that, in the Ministry of Defense's view, the Western Military District had too large a zone of responsibility.
In May 2023, Vladimir Putin signed an order to withdraw from the CFE Treaty, that is, to renounce the treaty under which the Leningrad District was demilitarized in 1990.
Several months ago, the Ministry of Defense published a draft presidential decree removing the Komi Republic, the Arkhangelsk and Murmansk regions, and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug from the Northern Fleet's jurisdiction and transferring them to the Leningrad Military District. A military expert Yuri Fedorov in a conversation with the Agency explained, that the authorities are thus trying to prepare for a possible conflict with Finland and the Baltic countries, and that perestroika itself is designed for the period after the end of the war in Ukraine.
Read our article on how various organizations are profiting from the war in Ukraine. special project.
Photo by: kremlin.ru
