Russia has reorganized its military-administrative structure. Two new military districts have been deployed instead of the liquidated Western District, as stated in the new decree of the president of the Russian Federation.

On February 26, 2024, Vladimir Putin signed Decree No. 141, “On the Military-Administrative Division of the Russian Federation,” which reorganized the military-administrative structure of the Russian army.

According to the decree, the Western Military District in the Russian Federation is divided into two smaller ones: Moscow and Leningrad. Instead, the Northern Fleet lost the status of a district.

Starting February 26, 2024, Russia will be divided into five military districts: Moscow, Leningrad, Southern, Central, and Eastern.

According to the new decree, the occupied Ukrainian territories of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions are included in the Southern Military District.

The Leningrad Military District includes the republics of Karelia and Komi, the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, the city of St. Petersburg, as well as the Arkhangelsk, Vologda, Kaliningrad, Leningrad, Murmansk, Novgorod, and Pskov regions.

The Moscow Military District includes the Belgorod, Bryansk, Vladimir, Voronezh, Ivanovo, Kaluga, Kostroma, Kursk, Lipetsk, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Orel, Ryazan, Smolensk, Tambov, Tver, Tula, and Yaroslavl regions, as well as the Russian capital, Moscow.

Reorganization

The new division and reorganization of the Russian army are associated with a revision of the balance of power, which is taking place after Finland’s accession to NATO and Sweden’s potential accession to the North Atlantic Alliance.

As of 2022, the Western Military District, from which the Moscow and Leningrad Military Districts are to be created, had under its command the 1st Tank Army, the 6th and 20th Combined Arms Armies, the 6th Air and Air Defense Forces Army, and the Baltic Fleet with the 11th Army Corps (Kaliningrad).

With the emergence of the occupied territories, the Southern District should officially receive the 1st and 2nd Army Corps of the unrecognized republics, which are already under the control of the Russian Federation.