The Southwestern Front was a front of the Red Army during the Second World War, formed thrice. It was first created on June 22, 1941 from the Kiev Special Military District. The western boundary of the front in June 1941 was 865 km long, from the Pripyat River and the town of Wlodawa to the Prut River and the town of Lipkany at the border with Romania. It connected to the north with the Western Front, which extended to the Lithuanian border, and to the south with the Southern Front, which extended to the city of Odessa on the Black Sea. Operational history The Southwestern Front was on the main axis of attack by the German Army Group South during Operation Barbarossa. At the outbreak of war with Germany, the Front was commanded by Mikhail Kirponos and contained the Soviet 5th, 6th, 26th, and 12th Armies along the frontier. 16th and 19th Armies were in reserve behind the forward forces. These forces took part in the tank battles in western Ukraine and were surrounded and destroyed at the Battle of Uman and the Battle of Kiev (1941) in August and September 1941. Kirponos himself was killed during the Battle of Kiev. The Front was immediately re-established with new forces. During the period of the Battle of Moscow it was under the command of Marshal Timoshenko, and included from north to south the 40th, 21st, 38th and 6th Armies. It was formally disbanded on July 12, 1942 and the forces transferred to the Stalingrad Front and Southern Front. The Front was reformed from reserve armies on October 22, 1942. It was renamed the 3rd Ukrainian Front on October 20, 1943. 3rd Ukrainian Front's first operations were the Battle of the Dnieper and the Battle of Kiev (1943). Southwestern Front on 22 June 1941 Composition Subordinate Front units directly under Commander of the Front: 31st Rifle Corps 193rd Rifle Division 195th Rifle Division 200th Rifle Division 36th Rifle Corps: 140th Rifle Division 146th Rifle Division 228th Rifle Division 49th Rifle Corps 190th Rifle Division 197th Rifle Division 199th Rifle Division 55th Rifle Corps 130th Rifle Division 169th Rifle Division 189th Rifle Division 1st Airborne Corps 1st Airborne Infantry Brigade 204th Airborne Infantry Brigade 211th Airborne Infantry Brigade Fortified Regions 1st Kiev 3rd Latichov 5th Khorosten 7th Novogrudok–Volynsk 13th Shepetovka 15th Ostropol 17th Izaslav Front Artillery 5th Anti-Tank Brigade 205th Corps Artillery Regiment