SOVIET MILITARY FORCES IN THE FAR EAST

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000700150017-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: R
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 13, 2011
• Sequence Number: 17
• Publication Date: November 13, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/14: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700150017-5
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD NO.
CENT RALINTEELIGENCE AGENCY REPORT
CLASSIFICATION RESTRICTED
COUNTRY USSR, Soviet Orbit
SUBJECT Military - Ground, naval, air 0/B
HOW
PUBLISHED Semiweekly newspaper
WHERE
PUBLISHED Abidjan
DATE
PUBLISHED 11 Sep 1953
LANGUAGE French
DATE OF
INFORMATION 1953
DATE DIST. / 3 Nov 1953
NO. OF PAGES 3
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
European public opinion is concerned about the threat posed to the Western
European nations within the Atlantic Pact by the nt,urically great effectives of
the Soviet Union; however, it is not sufficiently aware of the US government's
preoccupation with the size and organization of the Soviet forces stationed in
the Far East.
In Eastern Siberia, the USSR has reinforced and modernized the troops it
had in the area at the end of World War II, and has also made great efforts to
develop industry and reduce the nevi to bring in supplies from Europe. There
is coal in the Lena Valley as well as iron and oil in Khabarovsk, on Sakhalin
Island, and near Petropavlovsk on Kamchatka. Many more Europeans are settling
in the area, and convict labor is freely available. The Trans-Siberian Railroad
has been double-tracked; to avoid the need of going through Chinese territory,
a railroad line has been built which goes around the northern shore of Lake
Baykal, passes to the north of the Amur River, reaches the Pacific coast 350
kilometers north of Vladivostok, and then comes into that great military port.
infantry brigades, one motorized heavy artillery division, about 15 antiaircraft
batteries, and a corresponding proportion of technical troops.
divisions (among which the proportion of mechanized or armored units tends to
increase), 3 heavy artillery divisions (at least one of them motorized), at
least one antiaircraft artillery brigade, 8 or 10 motor transport brigades, and
railway, engineering, signal communications, and other troops.
The Maritime Military District, with headquarters in Vladivostok, has 6
Island, the Kurile Islands, and all of northeastern Siberia up to Bering Strait.
The Far East Military District .as about 20 infantry, mechanized, or armored
Ground forces are divided between two military districts. To the east is
the Far East Military District with headquarters in Khabarovsk city; it comprises
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Port Arthur and Dairen a:= garrisoned by one infantry division each. Sak-
halin Island and the Kurile islands, where the Japanese-built fortifications
have been completed, are held by one infantry division and three fortifications
brigades. Northeastern Siberia, because of its many forced-labor camps full of
political deportees, is occupied solely by special security troops of the MVD
and detachments of border guards.
The Transbaykal Military District, to the west, compr'3es the upper valley
of the Amur River and the area between Lake Baykal and Manchuria. In it there
are 14 infantry divisions, 7 mechanized divisions, 6 armored divisions, one mo-
torized heavy artillery division, L arttair raft artillery regiments, and secur-
ity troops and border guard..
Finally, Soviet troops in the Mongolian People's Republic consist of two
infantry divietons, three mechanized divisions, and three cavalry divisions.
The Mongolian Army, which is staffed to a large extent by Soviet officers, com-
prises 3 infantry brigades, 10 cavalry divisions, one antiaircraft artillery
regiment, and 30,000 border gusrda.
The Soviet air forces in the Par East and throughout northern Siberia must
have at their disposal about 100 airfields and between 4,000 and 5,000 military
aircraft of all categoric Civil aviation, under ;he command of a general,
includes a large number of air lines crisscrossing all of Siberia. During World
War II, it was taken over for military service, with the exception of the equip-
ment essential to the operation of the lines. The crews are specially trained in
all-weather flying.
During World War II, a large proportion of the aircraft turned over to the
USSR by the US was flown by Soviet pilots from Alaska across Siberia into Europe.
A movement in the opposite direction is quite feasible. Soviet civil aviation
would be an important factor if the USSR became involved in war in the Far East.
The Soviet Navy has at its disposal the great port of Vladivostok and the ~.
port of Petropavlovsk on the :oast of Kamchatka. These, as well as the Kurile
Islands and the Sakhalin coast, are accessible even in winter through the use
of icebreakers. Port Arthur and the commercial port of Dairen are accessible
throughout the year. The Soviet fleet in the Pacific used to be almost completely
isolated from European eaters, but the Soviet government has been able, with the
help of the icebreaker, aviation, and :ts weather service, to open for at least.
a considerable part of the year the sea iarc along the northern coast of Siberia.
In the Pacific the USSR has several cruisers and destroyer squadrons as well
as many submarines, the total number of which is undetermined. The Soviet war
fleet is the world's second in tonnage, with between 300 and 350 submarines, and
can play an important role in the Pacific as well as in European waters.
The presence of Soviet ground forces in the Far East enables the USSR to
engage in powerful operations there, even if Mao Tse-tung's China were to become
hostile to it -- a development which is utterly improbable in the near future,
On the other hand, it would take the USSR a very long time to move into Europe
the approximately 50 divisions (infantry, mechanized, or armored), the numerous
artillery, and the technical troops which it has in the Far East. The same would
apply to its troops in Western Siberia and to those which, in order to police
the country and because of the existing political;, situation, it must maintain in
Turkestan and the Caucasus. The latter can be estimated to be at least 30 divi-
sions.
At the outset of a war in Europe, the USSR could count on hardly one half of
its ground forces. To this might be added between 70 and 80 divisions from the
Satellite armies, but the usefulness of these remains to be seen. Their equip-
ment, furnished almost entirely by the USSR, is constantly improving, but their
STAT
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morale is an unknown factor. Their zest in putting down the more or less seri-
ous disturbances which have o.curred in practically all the Satellite countries
and in Bast Germany has been mediocre, and they have often had to appeal to the
Soviet occupation forces or the special police units. The Soviet troops them-
selves have not always been proof against failure. This is a little-understood
factor which bears watching.
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