force in the Battle of Smolensk (1943). On 1 August 1943, the 70th Rifle Corps was listed on the Soviet order of battle, as a headquarters with no troops assigned, directly subordinate to the front. On 24 April 1944, the Front was divided into the 2nd Belorussian Front and 3rd Belorussian Front. Status today Russian ground troops continue the Soviet Army's organizational arrangement of having military districts that have both a wartime territorial administration role and the capability to generate formation headquarters (HQs) to command fronts. This was emphasized by reports of a Moscow Military District exercise in April 2001, when the district's units were to be divided into two groups, "one operating for the western front and the other for the wartime military district". Commanders General of the Army Dmitri G. Pavlov (to 28 June 1941; executed) Andrey Yeryomenko (28 June – 2 July 1941) Marshal Semyon K. Timoshenko (2 July – September, 1941) Lt. General Ivan S. Konev [promoted to Colonel General in September 1941] (September–October 1941; August 1942 – February 1943) General Georgy K. Zhukov (October 1941 – August 1942) Colonel General V. D. Sokolovsky [promoted to full General in August 1943] (February 1943 – April 1944) References Steven J. Main "The Belarusian Armed Forces: a Military-Political Analysis 1991-2003", G126, Conflict Studies Research Centre, October 2003, available via CSRC website Western Front