[1] It was one of the five military districts of the Russian Armed Forces, with its jurisdiction primarily within the western central region of European Russia.

In the September Zapad 2017 exercise, a significant portion of troops from the Western Military District numbering 12,700 personnel were involved in Belarus, the Kaliningrad Region and Russia's other north-western areas as well.

A December 2018 Russian Ministry of Defense press release said that an independent Spetsnaz company had been formed in a combined arms army of the district.

The 3rd Army Corps' main base and training centre was identified by Ukraine in August 2022 as being located in Mulino, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast.

In addition, there are two formations of the Russian Aerospace Forces within the district's boundaries but under central command: the 1st Special Purpose Air and Missile Defense Army (Moscow SAM and ABM defences) and 15th Special Aerospace Forces Army [ru] (space operations, the former Russian Space Command).

In this transfer, Colonel-General Sergey Kuzovlev was removed from the position of commander of the troops of the Western Military District, after having only been in post for about a month.

[6] "The reason for Kuzovlev's dismissal was the failure of preparations for an offensive in the Lyman [area], but [Ukrainian intelligence assessed it also as a] internal political struggle.. because from the Shoigu-Gerasimov orbit changing for a candidate from the Surovikin-Prygozhin group.