2nd Tank Army (Soviet Union)
| 2nd Tank Army (1943–1944) 2nd Guards Tank Army (1944–1993) 2nd Guards Red Banner Army (1993–present) |
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|---|---|
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| Active | 1943–1998, 2001– |
| Country |
 Soviet Union Russia
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| Branch | Armoured Forces |
| Type | Field army |
| Role | Breakthrough and Exploitation in Deep Operations |
| Size | 500–800 Tanks |
| Part of | Volga-Urals Military District |
| Engagements |
East Pomeranian Offensive Battle of Berlin |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Semyon Bogdanov Alexei Ivanovich Radzievsky |
The 2nd Guards Tank Army was a large military formation of the Red Army and later the Soviet Army.
The army was originally formed in early 1943 as the 2nd Tank Army. It was the first Red Army unit to enter Berlin during the Battle of Berlin.
It was formed during January and February 1943 from the 3rd Reserve Army of the Belorussian Front.
Originally the Army comprised 11th and 16th Tank Corps, 60th, 112th and 194th Rifle Divisions, the 11th Guards Separate tank brigade, 115th Rifle Brigade, the 28th ski brigade and other units.
In the middle of February the army joined the Soviet Central Front and as part of Central Front in February – March took part in offensive operation on the direction of Bryansk; in July – August – took part in the Orel strategic offensive operation – Operation Kutuzov – within the Kromy’-Orel offensive operation and the Chernigov-Pripyat offensive operation (26.08–30.09.1943) operations. In the beginning of September 1943 the Army was redeployed to the Stavka VGK reserve, and in the middle of January 1944 joined the 1st Ukrainian Front and remained in its structure until the end of January when it participated in repulsing counter-strokes of the German forces in the direction of Vinnitsa; in February the army participated in the south-west in the area of the cities of Korsun-Shevchenkovsky operation. As part of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, and from the middle of June 1944 within the 1st Belorussian Front, the Army participated in the Uman-Botoşani offensive, Lublin – Brest, Warsaw-Poznan offensive, the East Pomeranian Offensive, the Seelow-Berlin offensive operation and the Battle for Berlin operations. For services in combat operations listed above the Army became the Second Guards 'Red Banner' Tank Army in November 1944 and almost all of its formations and units received combat awards, with the majority of sub-units awarded honorifics commemorating operations they distinguished themselves in. It was the first Soviet Army to enter Berlin.
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