Soviet order of battle for invasion of Poland in 1939

The Soviet order of battle for the invasion of Poland in 1939 shows the main combat units the Soviet Union used when they attacked Poland on September 17, 1939. This happened after Germany had already started their invasion of Poland. Because the Soviet attack was a surprise, they faced only small resistance. There were a few small fights between German and Soviet soldiers, but both countries did not want a bigger war.

Before the attack, the Soviet Union organized its forces into two main groups, called "fronts". These fronts were based on two military areas: the Byelorussian Special Military District became the Byelorussian Front, and the Kiev Special Military District became the Ukrainian Front.

Like the Germans, the Soviets used two main directions for their attack, and each direction was led by a Front commander. Each Front had special mobile groups made from cavalry and mechanized troops. These mobile groups were an early version of the cavalry-mechanized groups used later in the Second World War.

The effects of earlier changes within the Soviet military can be seen in the ranks of the commanders during this invasion. Only one Army commander held the proper rank of Komandarm, specifically 2nd Class (Komandarm 2nd rank, Russian: командарм 2 ранга). The other commanders held lower ranks, such as Corps (Komcor) and Divisional (Komdiv) Commander rank (Russian: комкор, комдив).

Belorussian Front

The Belorussian Front covered the north-eastern part of Poland from the Byelorussian Special Military District. It was led by Komandarm 2nd rank Mikhail Kovalyov, with Komkor Maksim Purkayev as Chief of Staff.

Ukrainian Front

The Ukrainian Front was in the southern part of Poland's border. It started from the Kiev Special Military District. The leader was Semyon Timoshenko, and Nikolai Vatutin was the Chief of Staff.