Military district (Russian: вое́нный о́круг (voyenny okrug)) is a territorial association of military units, formations, military schools, and various local military establishments. This territorial division type was utilized in Imperial Russia, USSR and is currently in use in Russian Federation.

Such territorial division provides convenient management of army units, their training and other activities regarding the country’s readiness to defend itself.

History

In Imperial Russia, military districts were first formed in 1862-1864. In USSR, the first six military districts (Yaroslavsky, Moskovsky, Orlovsky, Belomorsky, Uralsky, and Privolzhsky) were formed in March of 1918 during the Russian Civil War in 1918-1920 in order to prepare big army reserves for the front.

The number of military districts varied depending on the circumstances and with the evolution of the Soviet Army. For example, before the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 there were 16 military districts and one front. Right after the war, it changed to 33, however, by October of 1946, it had been reduced to 21.

Russian Federation

A military district operates under the command of the District Headquarters headed by the District Commander subordinated to the Defense Minister.

In today's Russia, there are 6 military districts:

• Moscow military district (Моско́вский, Moskovsky)—Moscow region
• Leningrad military district (Ленингра́дский, Leningradsky)—St. Petersburg region
• Northen Caucasus military district (Се́веро-Кавка́зский, Severo-Kavkazsky)—Northern Caucasus region
• Volga-Urals military district (Приво́лжско-Ура́льский, Privolzhsko-Uralsky)—Volga region and the Urals
• Siberian military district (Сиби́рский, Sibirsky)—Siberia region
• Far Eastern military district (Дальневосто́чный, Dalnevostochny)—Russian Far East

In this classification, Kaliningrad and the surrounding Kaliningrad Oblast are considered to be a special region.