Moscow Air Defense Front

The front was formed by an order of 5 April 1942 from the Moscow Air Defense Corps Region to provided air defense for Moscow and other key facilities in the Central industrial region, under the command of Lieutenant General Daniil Zhuravlyov.

With its headquarters in that city, the front was the first such formation of its name and scope to be created, in response to a perceived increase in the strength of the German Luftwaffe forces against Moscow, specifically the movement of ten squadrons and detachments of bombers.

It was responsible for the same area as the Moscow Air Defense Corps Region along the line of Kovrov, Yuryev-Polsky, Kashin, Nosilovo, Kalinin, Staritsa, Rzhev, Dobraya, Yukhnov, Tarusa, Serpukhov, Kashira, Zaraysk, Ryazan, and Kasizmov, forming a ring around Moscow.

In mid-1942 the fighter regiments of the 6th IAK were moved to aerodromes that allowed them to intercept German bombers approaching the city.

An increase in the number of anti-aircraft artillery regiments and batteries allowed a consolidation of units to directly defend the capital, and the creation of a stronger ring around it.