Red Army

The Soviet Army, often known even within the USSR as the "Red Army", was the second largest army in the world when the war broke out in 1984. Soviet forces were extensively deployed throughout Eastern Europe for the ostensible purpose of defending the Soviet Union's allies. The Soviet presence in Poland under the auspices of the Northern Group of Forces was the third largest foreign deployment of the Soviet Army after East Germany and Afghanistan. Roughly 70,000 Soviet soldiers were stationed in Poland with the chief mission of securing supply lines between the Soviet forces in Germany and the USSR. The Northern Group were commanded by a Soviet Colonel General based in the town of Legnica, in western Poland.

When the war broke out, Soviet forces in Poland remained in place and concentrated on defending Soviet supply lines from civilian sabotage and NATO air strikes. Although suppression of Polish anti-Soviet partisans was usually delegated to Polish soldiers and police, the Soviet military often got indirectly or even directly involved in the fighting. When the NATO counter-offensive drove back Soviet forces in Germany, many of the Soviet tank divisions based in Poland were sent to the frontline in Germany, and replaced by poorly trained conscripts from the Soviet Union. The deteriorating military situation, exacerbated by poor discipline, increasing civil disorder, supply shortages and crumbling infrastructure, led to many soldiers deserting.

When NATO forces entered East Germany, the remnants of the Soviet forces deployed in that country mostly withdrew into Poland. Although these surviving forces were mostly from elite frontline units, they were also demoralised and had suffered major casualties. When the nuclear exchange began, communications from Moscow were cut off, and Soviet commanders pursued their own initiative. Several units stopped responding to orders - the 9th Tank Division disintegrated into competing Marauder bands, while the 11th Tank Division was taken over by Ukrainian nationalists among its officer corps and withdrew to Ukraine to attempt to establish an independent government.

Despite this disintegration of organisation and morale, there are still significant troops in Poland who consider themselves to be Soviet soldiers. Not all of them regard themselves as hostile to NATO or Free Poland - for many commanders, simply maintaining their unit's integrity and command structure is difficult enough without trying to continue the war. There is no overall command structure any more, and lack of reliable long distance communications means that local Soviet commanders essentially act independently, even if they regard one another as on the same side.