The army was formed in February 1943 with the Voronezh Front from the 18th Rifle Corps, under the command of Lieutenant General Mikhail Kazakov.

[1] Without finishing its formation, the army was sent into battle in Operation Star, an offensive which aimed to recapture Kharkov.

When the offensive was stopped by the German counterattack that began the Third Battle of Kharkov in early March, the 69th had reached the area southeast of Oposhnya and southwest of Valka and Sharovka.

[2] During the Third Battle of Kharkov, the army was able to hold the German attacks for three days but was forced to withdraw back to the left bank of the Donets on the line between Shishino and Bezlyudovka, where the German advance was finally halted.

[2] After the end of the war, the army became part of the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany.