Hard for me to pass on articles on the First Guards Tank Army. That was one of the two Soviet tank armies in the Voronezh Front at Kursk during the defensive operations there. Its operations are discussed in some depth in my book. I found that the First Tank Army at Kursk under Katukov was much better handled than the Fifth Guards Tank Army under Rotmistrov, although Rotmistrov is now much more famous than Mikhail Efimovich Katukov.
Article is here: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/31/world/europe/russia-military-exercise-zapad-west.html
The important part of the article are:
- Russia is doing a 100,000 man exercise this late summer near the Baltic States (who are members of NATO). western Russian, Belarus and Kalingrad (near Poland, also a NATO member).
- It includes of course the First Guards Tank Army.
- “Its establishment represents the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union that so much offensive power has been concentrated in a single command.”
- There is some concern that Russia forces moved into Belarus may not leave.
Anyhow, it is probably just some shirtless swagger and signaling and I would be hesitant to read more into it than that.
There is also a pretty neat map in the article.
[…] This youtube video has just been released called “Mapping Russia’s Mostly Costly Tank Losses Ukraine War.” I found it interesting. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adE5GlQ2Ly4It references our old friend from the Battle of Kursk, Katukov’s First Guards Tank Army. See: First Guards Tank Army and new exercises | Mystics & Statistics (dupuyinstitute.org) […]