The Far Eastern Military District traces its history originally to the East Siberian Military District originally formed in 1918, during the Russian Civil War. Its headquarters were at Khabarovsk. Current Commander of the Far Eastern Military District is Colonel General Oleg Saljukov since December 2008.
Following the Soviet victory in the Civil War the Soviet forces in the area became the Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army (OKDVA) of the Far Eastern Republic. The District was first briefly formed in 1935 from those forces, but then reverted to the title Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army, under Marshal of the Soviet UnionVasily Blyukher, while still functioning as a military district. The Army became the Soviet Far East Front in June 1938, after Blyukher's torture and death at the hands of the NKVD during the Great Purge. The Soviet invasion of Manchuria was launched against the Japanese held region of Manchukuo, the Japanese protectorates of Inner Mongolia and Korea, and several Japanese-claimed islands from the Soviet Far East by the Far Eastern Direction, with the two Far East Fronts under its command, under Marshal Vasilevsky... Read More