36th Army (Soviet Union)

The 36th Army was a military formation of the Red Army and the Soviet Ground Forces, formed twice.

Formed in mid-1941, the army spent much of World War II as part of the Transbaikal Military District guarding the Manchurian and Mongolian-Soviet borders. During the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August 1945, the army advanced over the Greater Khingan mountains and overran the Japanese Hailar fortified region in fierce fighting. It was disbanded after the end of the war in mid-1948.

The army was reformed in 1976 from the 86th Army Corps, which had been itself established in 1968 as a result of rising Sino-Soviet tensions. It garrisoned the Transbaikal until being reduced to the 55th Army Corps in 1989 as the Cold War ended.