Vasily Georgievich Ryazanov was born into a peasant family. Russian by nationality. Member of the CPSU since 1920. In 1920, as a nineteen-year-old boy, he joined the ranks of the Soviet Army. In 1924 he graduated from the Communist University named after Ya. M. Sverdlov, in 1926 - the Military Pilot School, in 1931 - advanced training courses for Air Force command personnel at the Air Force Academy, and in 1935 - the operational department of the same academy. He commanded a flight, squadron, and air brigade.
After the end of the Great Patriotic War, Lieutenant General of Aviation V. G. Ryazanov commanded the aviation corps and air army. Using extensive combat experience, he trained Soviet aviators. In July 1951, he died.
On one of the last days of April 1945, Vasily Georgievich Ryazanov was returning from a meeting of the Military Council of the 1st Ukrainian Front to the headquarters of the aviation corps entrusted to him. The weather was great. A warm rain has just passed. In the evening foggy haze, the roadside trees were densely green, their leaves glittered as if varnished. The young grass on the edges of the ditches shimmered rainbowly in the rays of the setting sun.
It has been a long time since Vasily Georgievich saw, or most likely did not notice in the hustle and bustle of front-line affairs, anything like that. He looked through the windshield of the captured Mercedes at the oak and pine copses running towards him, at the malachite squares of winter crops rushing past, at the quiet lakes in the lowlands and remembered his native village in the Gorky region.
No, the environs of Bolshoy Kozino are completely different: the forests there are wider, the fields are more spacious, and the waters are freer. But even there, in the Volga region, there are the same quiet, thoughtfully tender evenings, when you want to run away from the rural outskirts to the river, throw yourself backwards into the grass on a steep slope and look from there with all your eyes at the bottomless sky or look around the low-lying meadows emanating black steam arable lands, bald hills and gullies overgrown with bushes. And behind them are villages across the river with wide streets, curly willows and tall well cranes.
The closer to the horizon, the smaller the buildings, trees, and fields. And all the more mysterious they seemed to the village boy Vasya Ryazanov, the son of an ancient Russian farmer, poor from backbreaking labor, the extortion of grain dealers and all sorts of royal taxes. And the hungrier he was in the house, the more he wanted to visit the Volga, to see what kind of grain grows there, how people live - perhaps easier, more satisfying.
And at times the boy dreamed of soaring like a seagull over his native village and flying far, far away to find there, behind the forests and valleys, the secret of a happy life. This is a secret to make the father less tired from work and the mother to be more cheerful. Something like the magic word that grandma spoke about in her fairy tale...
Vasily Georgievich smiled internally to his thoughts and glanced at the driver with apprehension. The sergeant would be surprised to know what trifles the general is thinking about. But what about trifles? After all, perhaps it was from that childhood dream that the eighteen-year-old Red Army soldier had a passionate desire to get into aviation. And this wish came true. He graduated with honors from flight school, immediately became a flight commander, and a few months later - a squadron commander!
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My God, how much time has passed since then - a quarter of a century! There are already gray hairs at the temples, wrinkles around the eyes and folds around the mouth. But it seems he hasn’t lived yet. But it only seems, and sometimes you think how many names, deeds, events, endless roads, tens of thousands of kilometers on the ground are already behind, and in the sky - three times more. What is the war worth? Four endless years! How many sleepless nights were there, how many battles?! You won’t remember everything. Kursk, Kharkov, Kremenchug, Znamenka, Kirovograd, Sandomierz - these are just milestones at the sites of the largest battles in which the aviation corps took part...
And here it is, finally, Berlin. From there, from the north, from behind the Teupitz forests, day and night, almost incessantly, the roar of battle can be heard. Even in a car it cannot be drowned out by the noise of the engine. These sounds return the general’s thoughts to their usual course. He recalls a recent meeting at front headquarters. The commander was taciturn. He said that a fierce battle was taking place in Berlin, and showed on the map the location of the main forces of the front, fighting to destroy a large encircled group of fascist troops southeast of the capital of Nazi Germany.
The Germans are trying to break through to the west, the commander said. - The 12th Nazi Army is rushing towards them from the area of Brück, Rostock, Altbork, in the direction of Beelitz - Trebbin, with the obvious goal of releasing the encircled group. I think that Lelyushenko, with the support of Ryazanov, will be able to cool her ardor.
So, with a barely noticeable smile on his face, the commander spoke. He was in a good mood, joked, and at parting he advised us not to become discouraged. Perhaps this is the final decisive battle. And the better it is organized, the faster victory will come.
Then they received a written order, which clearly defined the tasks of the troops to repel the counterattack of the German 12th Army...
Arriving at the corps headquarters, Vasily Georgievich familiarized the division commanders with the order, and then went to the command post of the 4th Guards Tank Army to Colonel General D. D. Lelyushenko. General Ryazanov, even before the Battle of Kursk, made it a rule to be with the combined arms commander during combat operations. From here the situation on the battlefield is clearer and more visible. And we can quickly respond to its changes, launch air strikes where it is most appropriate and necessary to support our motorized rifle and tank units. This was especially important now, when General Lelyushenko’s units and formations were in direct contact with enemy troops who were surrounded and also rushing to their rescue. The front line changed frequently, and in some places it was at times difficult to determine. It was this circumstance that most worried Vasily Georgievich. It’s not surprising to please your own people.
Vasily Georgievich expressed his concerns during a meeting with Colonel General Lelyushenko. Dmitry Danilovich agreed that it would not be easy. But the order must be carried out. And he immediately instructed his chief of staff that the aviators should be immediately notified of any changes in the disposition of ground troops and that our forward units should more clearly indicate their location.
Otherwise, Ryazanov can hit so hard,” the commander grinned, “that you won’t be able to collect any bones.” Look what power is in his hands. We need to root for every person with our souls. People have gone through so much, experienced so much, and suddenly...
Vasily Georgievich was not surprised that the commander was worried about the same thought as him. The end of the war seems to be near. Ours are on the streets of Berlin...
He sat over the map with intelligence data about the enemy for almost an hour. He peered into the green patches of forests, squares of fields, cut by veins of railways and highways, and tried to imagine the location of the battle formations of the fascist troops, the options for their possible movement.
It was clear to Ryazanov that the encircled enemy group was in the grip of our motorized rifle and tank forces, and this grip was inexorably shrinking. Those surrounded have only one hope: to break through to the west with the help of their 12th Army. Apparently, they coordinated their actions both in time and place. The most likely thing is that they will launch a counter strike to connect somewhere in the Beelitz area.
“What is the best way to help our ground forces thwart the enemy's plans? - This question occupied the general’s thoughts most of all. “The most reliable support,” he thought, “is to strike the first echelons of the advancing enemy troops.” But there is a danger of pleasing one’s own people. Maybe at night ours can quietly withdraw their units and subunits from the front line, and in the morning we will “iron” the fascist positions. But the Germans can discover that they are on their territory. They have a lot of eyes here. They will be discovered and will not be given the opportunity to break away; they will immediately occupy the vacated territory, which means that the surrounded units will approach those who will release them. The danger of a breakthrough will increase..."
Ryazanov shared his thoughts with the chief of staff. He proposed that the main efforts be concentrated on destroying the second echelons of the German 12th Army. Then its offensive will quickly fizzle out.
Do you remember, said the chief of staff, how our fascists were hunted down near Belgorod? I even have an extract from the testimony of a captured Nazi officer: “Russian attack aircraft attacked our group of tanks - there were at least a hundred of them. The effect of their actions was unprecedented. During the first attack, one group of attack aircraft knocked out and burned about twenty tanks. At the same time, another group attacked a motorized rifle battalion resting in their vehicles. Small caliber bombs and shells rained down on our heads. Ninety cars were burned and one hundred and twenty people were killed.”
An interesting statement,” the general agreed, “but we must not forget that the second echelons, command posts, as a rule, have the best anti-aircraft cover. This means that the likelihood of losses on our part will increase.
Vasily Georgievich well remembered the battles near Belgorod, which the chief of staff told him about. For three days in a row, the general did not leave the command post and directed the actions of his units to repel the enemy’s offensive in the Belgorod direction, for which he received personal gratitude from the Military Council of the Voronezh Front.
And here is what Air Marshal S. A. Krasovsky writes about the combat missions of the corps pilots on the Kursk Bulge: “On July 7, our mechanized troops, supported by two concentrated strikes by eighty attack aircraft from the corps of General V. G. Ryazanov, successfully repelled the attack of four enemy tank divisions from the area Syrtsovo, Yakovleve in the direction of Krasnaya Dubrovka and Bol. Beacons. After concentrated attacks, the attack aircraft continuously operated in small groups, destroying enemy tanks and motorized infantry. As a result of joint efforts, over two hundred burning enemy tanks remained on the battlefield.”
A telegram was received from the headquarters of the 6th Guards Army addressed to the corps commander, General Ryazanov: “The commander of the 6th Guards Army told you that the ground units are very pleased with the work of the attack aircraft. Stormtroopers help a lot." And dozens of such reviews accumulated over the war years. The name of General Ryazanov was mentioned more than once in the orders of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.
Then a victorious counter-offensive, but as part of the Steppe Front. The joy, even delight, was unforgettable when it was announced that for the first time during the war, on August 5, 1943, fireworks were given in Moscow. And it sounded in honor of the hero-liberators of Orel and Belgorod, and therefore in honor of the aviators who took an active part in these battles. A little more time passed, and for successful actions to liberate Ukraine, all three divisions that were part of General Ryazanov’s assault air corps received honorary names - Krasnogradskaya, Poltava, Znamenskaya. The building began to be called Kirovograd.
And in February 1944, on the eve of the Soviet Army Day, a message was received: “For dedicated combat work, high skill in managing combat units on the battlefield, excellent training of personnel, for the correct organization of interaction with ground troops and demonstrated personal heroism to the commander of the 1st of the Guards Assault Aviation Kirovograd Guard Corps, Aviation Lieutenant General V. G. Ryazanov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.”
All this was fresh in my memory. But Vasily Georgievich did not boast of victories. He prepared for every battle, for every battle, as if for a new, previously unseen test. A test of military leadership, the ability to flawlessly carry out a combat mission, and inflict the greatest blow on the enemy with the least possible losses.
Do you know how many veterans are left in the regiment and corps? - the general asked the chief of staff. - Those who have been fighting since the first day of the organization?.. No? I recently inquired with personnel officers. About twenty percent. Fifth part. Do you feel it? A little...
Vasily Georgievich almost burst out: “How I want to save them! Every one of them. So that each of them sees the end of the war and experiences the joy of victory. After all, this is now the highest idea of happiness!..” But the general did not say a word about this. He knew too well how dangerous pity, which softens the soul, can be before a battle. You can regret one, but lose ten... As if in response to his thoughts, he said:
Send the most experienced people on reconnaissance missions in the morning. And then lead it continuously. The situation will change. It's important to react quickly...
Vasily Georgievich gave the necessary orders to the chief of staff, and he himself decided to go to one of the units. He tried to visit the troops more often, especially before major battles. Meetings with military commanders, political workers, and pilots helped to feel the mood of the people, confirm their decision or make some adjustments to it.
On the way to the regiment - this time he chose the 140th Guards - Vasily Georgievich remembered the battles on the Sandomierz bridgehead. The Nazis wanted to drive these troops out of the western bank of the Vistula at any cost. They attacked continuously, although they suffered heavy losses. One day the situation became critical. 20 German tanks threatened to crush the flank units of the motorized rifle regiment.
Ryazanov ordered eight “Ilovs” to be immediately sent there, which were ready for takeoff. The attack by the stormtroopers turned out to be so successful that the Nazis, having suffered great damage, were forced to roll back and stop their attacks until the next day. This short respite gave our command the opportunity to send reinforcements to the bridgehead and strengthen its defense. But from now on, until our troops launched a wide offensive, the attack aircraft day after day “ironed” the fascist battle formations and bombed concentrations of enemy infantry and tanks.
“Who led this strike eight? - Vasily Georgievich tried to remember. “After all, they then placed bombs literally two hundred meters from our front line.”
He went through dozens of names in his memory and finally remembered that the eight was commanded by Captain Savelyev, a short, thick-shouldered Siberian who had distinguished himself in battles more than once before. This is who should have been sent to attack the advanced units of the 12th Nazi Army. But then he was wounded near Sandomierz. Did you have time to heal?
I remembered Vasily Georgievich and Yuri Balabin, who showed exceptional courage and skill in September 1944 in the Carpathians. For several days, our ground troops stormed Height 718 near the village of Gamry, but the Nazis entrenched themselves so thoroughly on it that it was impossible to dislodge them from there. On instructions from the corps commander, Captain Balabin flew there at the head of twelve “silts”. Vasily Georgievich personally instructed the pilots and personally observed their actions together with the commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front, I. S. Konev.
Having performed an anti-aircraft maneuver, the attack aircraft appeared from behind the mountains and began, one after another, to dive to the height of “718”. The famous “Ilovsky circle” has turned into a well-functioning carousel. Bombs exploded in the very thick of enemy fortifications, and soon the entire high-rise building was covered with craters and shrouded in fire and smoke. The way was open for the ground troops, and they gave a victorious “hurray!” broke into enemy positions.
The attack aircraft were still in the air when I. S. Konev announced on the radio his gratitude to Yu. Balabin and his subordinates.
As soon as General Ryazanov arrived at the 140th Regiment, he immediately asked to find out about Balabin.
“He is in the hospital due to injury,” they reported to the general.
Vasily Georgievich met with the regiment command, introduced the pilots to the situation at the front, and advised them to make wider use of their accumulated experience for more effective actions in battle. Then there was a conversation with veterans of the unit. Among them, Ryazanov met his old acquaintance, Lieutenant Ivan Drachenko. He distinguished himself during the battles on the Kursk Bulge. Later, Drachenko’s plane was shot down over enemy-occupied territory, and the pilot, seriously wounded, ended up in a fascist prisoner of war camp. There, our Soviet doctor performed an operation on him and removed the fragments from his head. In short, he saved the pilot from death, but the lieutenant was left without his right eye. Having slightly recovered from his wounds, Drachenko escaped from captivity, received medical treatment in Moscow, and in the spring of 1944 he again found himself in his native regiment and began flying on combat missions.
The doctors, having learned about this, demanded Drachenko’s immediate removal from flying. He didn't want to hear about it. They reported to the corps commander. Vasily Georgievich then came to the regiment, personally observed Ivan Drachenko’s flights, his military operations and said:
It would be good if all our pilots were as masterful of the machine and the tactics of its use as this one-eyed one. Let him fly and destroy the fascists.
After that, Ivan Drachenko made more than two hundred combat missions, participated in the most difficult operations and each time emerged victorious from battles with the enemy. Three Orders of Glory, the Order of Lenin, and the Golden Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union were added to his military awards.
Having met Drachenko now, Vasily Georgievich hugged him like his own brother. Immediately, among the pilots, they started talking and remembered the most difficult battles. Gradually other aviators joined the conversation. The conversation was about the situation in Berlin.
Vasily Georgievich said:
The Nazis continue to fight in several resistance centers. The most important of them, of course, is Berlin, and the second most important, perhaps, is here, southeast of the fascist capital...
Vasily Georgievich introduced the regiment veterans to the situation in this sector of the front and asked them to express their thoughts on how to more effectively finish off the enemy in the current situation.
The pilots willingly and lively shared their thoughts. Some suggested operating at minimally low altitudes. This allowed us to better see our troops, as well as concentrations of enemy manpower and equipment. Others spoke out in favor of launching massive attacks on the enemy’s immediate rear, headquarters, command and observation posts in order to demoralize his leadership and force him to surrender as quickly as possible. Still others saw the key to success in the active operations of small groups of attack aircraft against enemy resistance centers located directly in front of our advancing ground forces...
Vasily Georgievich listened to the pilots with great satisfaction. He was pleased with their tactical maturity, breadth of outlook, ability to soberly assess the situation and draw appropriate conclusions. And what is, perhaps, the most important thing is that these conclusions for the most part coincided with the opinion of the corps commander himself, with the proposals of his chief of staff. It turned out that the thoughts of the command coincided with the thoughts of ordinary pilots. And Vasily Georgievich always valued this unity of views very highly and considered it the most important condition for successful actions in battles with the enemy.
The corps commander reminded the pilots about retargeting in the air, which was widely used last summer during the defeat of an enemy tank group in the Plugava area. General Ryazanov, as always, was at the command post of the commander of the 3rd Guards Tank Army. He had a clear view of the entire battlefield - both our tanks moving to the west and enemy firing points that were firing at our troops. Vasily Georgievich called groups of attack aircraft on the radio, assigned them specific tasks, and helped them find targets.
The situation was very dynamic. Often, retargeting had to be done when the attack aircraft were already on a combat course. However, the masters of assault attacks V. A. Andrianov, T. Ya. Begeldinov, S. E. Volodin, G. U. Chernetsov, I. X. Mikhailichenko and M. P. Odintsov, flying out two to three times a day, struck precise and crushing strikes against the enemy in close proximity to our troops. The tankers warmly thanked the pilots for their help.
Concluding his conversation with the pilots, the general said that he was pleased with their high fighting spirit. He believes that their actions in the upcoming battles will be decisive, tactically competent and at the same time prudent. Vasily Georgievich left the regiment with some special lightness in his soul. Hesitations and doubts faded into the background and were replaced by firm confidence in the correctness of the decision made and the methods for its implementation.
Lieutenant General Ryazanov, through the chief of staff, gave the necessary instructions to the troops; they specifically emphasized the need to combine massive attacks on enemy rear areas with dispersed actions of small groups of attack aircraft along the enemy’s front line, using air and ground reconnaissance data for target designation. In each group of attack aircraft it was recommended to have a combat veteran with experience in targeted bombing and anti-aircraft maneuvers.
On the night of April 26, the command of the fascist German troops, surrounded southeast of Berlin, having created, in pursuance of Hitler's order, a strong group consisting of a motorized rifle, three infantry and the remnants of a tank division, began an offensive in the direction of Luckenwalde. Having created a numerical superiority here, the Nazis advanced and occupied the city of Barut. Our aviation took an active part in repelling this counterattack. Attack aircraft, bombers, and fighters continuously “hung” in the air, inflicting great damage on the enemy in terms of people and equipment.
At this time, the Nazi 12th Army again launched an offensive from the west in the Beelitz-Treienbritzen zone. The pilots of the 1st Guards Assault Corps had to work especially hard here. Vasily Georgievich almost did not close his eyes for two days. All this time he was at the command post of the 4th Guards Tank Army. The Nazis attacked the positions of our ground troops with great persistence.
From the commanders of tank corps and rifle divisions, the commander of the attack aircraft corps continuously received information about accumulations of enemy manpower and equipment and requests to destroy them from the air. General Ryazanov ensured that the air divisions immediately carried out these requests.
Thus, the combined forces of ground troops and aviation repulsed attacks by enemy infantry and tanks near Nimek, Schwabeck and Zana. Our troops went on the offensive and occupied several settlements, but the enemy still did not let up.
A difficult situation has arisen in the area of the city of Dana. Our tank regiment, which had rushed forward, was attacked by fascist artillery, which occupied positions not far from the western outskirts of the city, on the forest edge. The Thirty-Fours were forced to retreat under the protection of stone buildings. Progress here has been delayed.
It was necessary to immediately suppress the fascist barrier. The target was small and was very close to our tanks. An experienced ace was needed who could quickly find the target and deliver a bomb strike with great accuracy.
General Ryazanov remembered Ivan Drachenko and advised the division commander to send him with eight “silts” to this target. About two hours later the division commander reported that the task had been completed. The blow was delivered expertly.
By the end of this day, our ground troops, after thorough aviation preparation, broke into the outskirts of the city
Wittenberg, and to the south they crossed the Elbe and occupied Pratau. In those days, almost every attack aircraft made 20 or even more sorties, and the losses in pilots and combat vehicles were insignificant. Soon, Lieutenant General Ryazanov and his subordinates celebrated the bright Victory Day with all our people. They celebrated it with a sense of honorably fulfilled military duty.
For these battles at the final stage of the war, hundreds of pilots of the 1st Guards Assault Aviation Corps of Kirovograd were awarded high government awards. And their guard commander, Aviation Lieutenant General Vasily Georgievich Ryazanov, received the second “Gold Star” of the Hero of the Soviet Union.
| Tombstone | ||
| Bust in the village of Bolshoye Kozino (view 1) | ||
| Stele in Nizhny Novgorod | ||
| Bust in the village of Bolshoye Kozino (view 2) | ||
| Bust in the village of Bolshoye Kozino (fragment) | ||
| Memorial plaque in the village of Bolshoye Kozino | ||
| Memorial plaque in Nizhny Novgorod |
R Yazanov Vasily Georgievich - commander of the 1st assault aviation corps (5th air army, Steppe Front), lieutenant general of aviation; commander of the 1st Guards Assault Aviation Corps (2nd Air Army, 1st Ukrainian Front), Guard Lieutenant General of Aviation.
Born on January 12 (25), 1901 in the village of Bolshoye Kozino (now an urban-type settlement in the Balakhninsky district of the Nizhny Novgorod region). Russian. In 1914 he graduated from 5 classes of a rural school, in 1916 – 4 classes of a higher primary school in the city of Balakhna. He served at the post office at the Ruzaevka railway station, and in 1917 at the post office in the village of Sormovo (now within the boundaries of Nizhny Novgorod). In 1918 he worked at the Krasnoe Sormovo plant, then as an instructor at the Balakhninsky extra-curricular district department of public education.
In the army since May 1920. Until 1921, he was a lecturer and agitator at the Nizhny Novgorod Provincial Military Commissariat. In 1922 he graduated from the workers' faculty at Moscow State University, in 1924 from the Communist University named after Y.M. Sverdlov. Until 1925, he was an instructor in the political department of a rifle division in the Moscow Military District.
In 1926 he graduated from the Borisoglebsk Military Aviation School of Pilots, in 1927 from the Serpukhov Higher School of Air Shooting and Bombing. Was a flight instructor at: Leningrad Military Aviation School of Observer Pilots (1927-1928), Orenburg Military Aviation School of Pilots (1928-1929), Leningrad Military Theoretical School of the Air Force (1929-1930), Odessa Military Aviation School of Pilots ( 1930-1931), Moscow School of Special Services (1931-1933). In 1930 he graduated from the Advanced Training Course for Commanding Officers at the N.E. Zhukovsky Air Force Academy, and in 1935 – its Operations Faculty. He was the commander of the aviation brigade of the N.E. Zhukovsky Air Force Academy.
Since 1936, he commanded the 44th air brigade (in the Siberian Military District). In April 1938, Colonel Ryazanov V.G. was illegally repressed and dismissed from the army. In September 1939 he was reinstated in the army. Was a teacher at the Air Force Academy named after N.E. Zhukovsky.
Participant of the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940. Since March 1940, he was a teacher of Air Force tactics, then the head of the training department of the Air Force Academy of Command and Navigation Staff of the Red Army Air Force (Monino).
Participant of the Great Patriotic War: in June-August 1941 - deputy commander of the Air Force of the 5th Army (Southwestern Front), in August-December 1941 - head of the control group of the Air Force Directorate of the Southwestern Front, in December 1941 - March 1942 - commander of the 76 1st mixed aviation division (Southern Front), in April-July 1942 - commander of the maneuver air group of the Southwestern Front, in July 1942 - commander of the 2nd Fighter Aviation Army of the Supreme High Command Reserve. Participated in defensive battles in Ukraine and the defense of Stalingrad. Major General of Aviation (03/27/1942).
From September 1942 - commander of the 1st (from February 1944 - 1st Guards) assault aviation corps. He fought on the Kalinin, North-Western, Voronezh, Steppe and 2nd Ukrainian fronts. Units of the corps under his command participated in the Velikiye Luki operation, the Battle of Kursk, and the Belgorod-Kharkov operation. Liberation of Left Bank Ukraine, Kirovograd and Korsun-Shevchenko operations.
For high skill in commanding corps units in battle, skillful organization of interaction with ground troops during the crossing of the Dnieper and personal heroism to Lieutenant General of Aviation Ryazanov Vasily Georgievich By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated February 22, 1944, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.
As part of the 1st Ukrainian Front, units of the corps under his command participated in the Uman-Botosha, Lvov-Sandomierz, Sandomierz-Silesian, Berlin and Prague operations.
For distinction in the battles at the turn of the Vistula River and during the defeat of the Czestochowa-Radom group of the enemy guard, the aviation lieutenant general was awarded the second Gold Star medal by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 2, 1945.
After the war he continued to command a corps (in the Central Group of Forces, Austria). In February 1947 - April 1949 he commanded the 14th Air Army (Carpathian Military District). From April 1949 he commanded the 69th Air Army (Kiev Air District).
He was elected as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR, a candidate member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine.
Lived in the city of Kyiv (Ukraine). Died July 8, 1951. He was buried at the Lukyanovsky military cemetery in Kyiv.
Lieutenant General of Aviation (03/17/1943). Awarded 2 Orders of Lenin (22.02.1944; 1945), 3 Orders of the Red Banner (02.1943; 3.11.1944; 15.11.1950), Orders of Bogdan Khmelnitsky 1st degree (1944), Orders of Suvorov 2nd degree (27.08.1943), Red Star (12/29/1941), medals, foreign awards.
In the village of Bolshoye Kozino there is a bronze bust of V.G. Ryazanov and a memorial plaque on the house in which he was born and lived. The village school, in which the V.G. Ryazanov Museum was created, bears his name. A secondary school in Kyiv and streets in the village of Bolshoye Kozino and the city of Balakhna are also named after the Hero. In the city of Nizhny Novgorod, on the territory of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, a stele and a memorial plaque were installed.
The Great Patriotic War found V.G. Ryazanov in Moscow. He headed the faculty at the Air Force Academy. On the first day of the war, he submitted a report with a request to be sent to the active army. June 28, 1941 Colonel V.G. Ryazanov was appointed to the Southwestern Front as deputy commander of aviation of the 5th Army.
At the end of 1941, on the Southern Front, commanding the 76th Assault Aviation Division, he participated in the Rostov offensive operation. After the winter counter-offensive of the Red Army near Moscow, when the fascist troops were thrown back hundreds of kilometers, there was hope for a quick victory.
In May 1942, Aviation Major General V.G. Ryazanov is the commander of the maneuverable aviation group of the South-Western direction. The offensive planned by the command with the goal of defeating the Kharkov enemy group and liberating Kharkov turned out to have tragic consequences for our troops - the encirclement of troops in the Barvenkovsky ledge.
Soon V.G. Ryazanov was recalled from the front to Moscow. He was received by the Commander of the Air Force and Deputy People's Commissar of Defense, Lieutenant General of Aviation.
He explained to V.G. Ryazanov the reason for the call: a decision was made to create air and air armies and homogeneous air divisions and armies instead of the previously existing front air forces. V.G. Ryazanov was appointed commander of the 2nd Fighter Aviation Army on July 1, 1942 and immediately began its formation.
But carry out this order to the end by V.G. Ryazanov did not have time. During its formation, his army was divided into two groups of two air divisions, with which on July 27, 1942 the 1st and 3rd Air Armies were reinforced, respectively. By this time, the practice of combat operations had shown the inexpediency of having an air and aviation armies as part of one front.
At the end of August 1942, the formation of reserve aviation corps of the Supreme High Command began, which, if necessary, strengthened the air armies in the most important operations. September 10, 1942 V.G. Ryazanov was instructed to form and lead the 1st assault aviation corps on the basis of the emerging aviation army. He was to command “flying tanks” - that’s what the front-line soldiers called the attack aircraft designed by designer Ilyushin.
The formation of the 1st assault aviation corps took place in Moscow. Regiments belonging to two assault aviation divisions of the corps flew to airfields near Moscow. Despite the short preparation period, General V.G. Ryazanov skillfully put together a leadership team of subordinate units, organized the training of young attack pilots on the Il-2, and fighter pilots on the Yak-1.
When the formation of the corps was completed, General V.G. Ryazanov was summoned by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and given him the task of developing tactics for the massive use of attack aircraft.
The corps began its combat journey in October 1942 on the Kalinin Front, located in a wooded and swampy area near Andriapol. Autumn slush further worsened the roads and field airfields of this difficult theater of military operations. Despite the bad weather, snowstorm and low clouds, pilots V.G. Ryazanov supported the offensive of the troops of the Kalinin Front, helped break through the heavily fortified enemy defenses and inflict a major defeat on him.
March 17, 1943 V.G. Ryazanov was awarded another military rank - lieutenant general of aviation. A day after this, the Headquarters decided to transfer the corps of V.G. Ryazanov to the Voronezh Front under the operational subordination of the 2nd Air Army.
In June 1943, V.G. joined the corps. Ryazanov entered the 203rd Fighter Aviation Division. The extensive experience in fighting tanks and mechanized enemy units accumulated by attack aircraft was especially useful in the fighting on the Kursk Bulge, which began in July 1943.
Units of the corps carried out intense combat work to repel the enemy's offensive in the Belgorod direction. On the morning of July 7, 1943, in the Belgorod area, our attack aircraft attacked a group of fascist tanks - there were at least a hundred of them. The effect of their actions was unprecedented.
During the first attack, one group of attack aircraft knocked out and burned about 20 tanks. At the same time, another group attacked a motorized rifle battalion resting in their vehicles. Small-caliber bombs and shells rained down on the heads of the invaders. 90 cars were burned and 120 people were killed.
On that day, our mechanized troops, supported by two concentrated attacks by eighty attack aircraft from the corps of Lieutenant General V.G. Ryazanov, successfully repelled the attack of four enemy tank divisions from the Syrtsovo, Yakovlevo area in the direction of Krasnaya Dubrovka and Bolshie Mayachki. After concentrated attacks, the attack aircraft continuously operated in small groups, destroying enemy tanks and motorized infantry. As a result of joint efforts, over two hundred burning enemy tanks remained on the battlefield.
Under the command of Lieutenant General V.G. Ryazanov's stormtroopers-guards acted exceptionally boldly and boldly. Like a tornado, they fell on enemy tanks and infantry, and a concentration of vehicles. At the Kursk bridgehead, pilots used anti-tank bombs (ATBs) for the first time. Each Il-2 aircraft carried 312 of these bombs. The crushing attacks of stormtroopers terrified the Nazis.
For the excellent leadership of combat units, the Military Council of the Voronezh Front expressed gratitude to Lieutenant General V.G. Ryazanov and all the personnel of the aviation corps who participated in the defeat of the advancing enemy armored forces.
On July 19, 1943, the aviation corps was reassigned to the Steppe Front, which was in the reserve of the Supreme High Command during the period of defensive battles, and then launched a counter-offensive.
Having extensive experience in commanding large aviation formations, Lieutenant General V.G. Ryazanov perfectly organized the work of interacting with ground troops and controlling air combat operations on the battlefield. Even before the Battle of Kursk, he made it a rule to be at the forefront of the front line along with the combined arms commander. From here he directed the attack aircraft, and their strikes were extremely effective and deservedly aroused the delight and gratitude of the ground troops. Armored Tigers, Panthers, and Ferdinands were on fire from the well-aimed blows of the attack aircraft.
Building on their success, the troops of the Steppe Front rapidly advanced westward, towards the Dnieper. Aviation Corps of Lieutenant General V.G. Ryazanov liberated Krasnograd, Poltava, Kremenchug, which the Nazis tried to keep in their hands as a bridgehead fortification on the banks of the Dnieper. Overcoming the fierce resistance of the Nazis, the advanced units of the front reached the Dnieper on September 21, 1943.
The right bank of the river, eighty meters high, was a serious natural barrier, and having powerful fortifications, it became, in the opinion of Hitler’s generals, who called this line of defense the “Eastern Wall,” insurmountable for Soviet troops. But the enemy’s hopes for positional defense were not realized. On the very first night, our troops crossed a wide barrier. The struggle to seize the bridgeheads began.
Operating as part of the 5th Air Army, the 1st Assault Aviation Corps played a decisive role in holding the bridgeheads. Lieutenant General V.G. Ryazanov, being in a forward position, from the command post of the rifle regiment indicated targets to the attack aircraft by radio, concentrating firepower in the most important areas. The “Ilas” continuously rained rockets, bombs and cannon and machine-gun fire on the counter-attacking enemy troops.
In the battles on Right Bank Ukraine, the corps of Lieutenant General V.G. Ryazanova actively supported the advancing troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front during the liberation of Znamenka and Kirovograd. The corps received the honorary name Kirovograd, and its three distinguished aviation divisions began to be called Krasnograd, Poltava, Znamenskaya. On February 5, 1944, the corps became the 1st Guards.
In July 1944, the corps of Lieutenant General V.G. Ryazanov, as part of the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front, participated in the offensive operation in the Lvov direction. The enemy had a deeply echeloned long-term defense here, and the massive use of aviation was widely used to break through it.
At the beginning of the operation, the 2nd Air Army had nine corps and three separate air divisions. About 1,300 bombers, attack aircraft and fighters took part in the first massive strike on the first day of the offensive alone. On the same day, July 14, 1944, more than 1,400 aircraft took part in the second massive attack on enemy reserves.
The next day, units of our 38th Army in the central sector of the offensive found themselves in a difficult situation. It was counterattacked by a large group of enemy tanks. Aviation saved the critical situation. The massive attack on the enemy tank group lasted four hours. That day, the attack aircraft of the 1st Guards Corps also inflicted considerable damage on the enemy.
On July 16, 1944, south of the Koltów point, the enemy’s defenses were broken through to a depth of 18 kilometers and 4-6 kilometers in width. Large groups of German troops were hanging on the flanks of the breakthrough from the north and south. It was into this Koltuvsky corridor that the 3rd Guards Tank Army of the general was introduced.
Pilots of the 1st Guards and 8th Assault Aviation Corps, as well as the 10th Guards Assault Aviation Division covered the tankers. Using echeloned actions, they destroyed the enemy on the flanks of the breakthrough area and on the routes of movement of the guards tankers.
Lieutenant General V.G. Ryazanov with an operational group and two radio stations was in the narrowest place of the Koltuvsky corridor, near the village of Nusche. From here the terrain was clearly visible, and he used the radio to direct squadrons of attack aircraft to the most important objects that posed a threat to our tankers.
Following the 3rd Guards Tank Army, the general's 4th Tank Army was brought into the battle. On July 18, 1944, the tankers linked up with a cavalry-mechanized group advancing to the north, encircling eight enemy divisions in the area of the city of Brody, and together with aviation, by the end of July 22, 1944, destroyed them.
On July 27, 1944, our troops liberated Lviv. The German Army Group Northern Ukraine suffered a heavy defeat. The remnants of the defeated divisions retreated to the Vistula and the Carpathians.
Together with the advanced units of the front, the corps of Lieutenant General V.G. Ryazanov went to the Vistula in the last days of July 1944. He covered the troops when crossing the river and on the western bank, when, south of Sandomierz, units of the general's 13th Army and the general's 1st Guards Tank Army, and to the north, units of the general's 3rd Guards Army captured small bridgeheads.
The Nazis sought to eliminate the bridgeheads at all costs. Only continuous attacks by attack aircraft held back the onslaught of fascist tanks. Day after day they “ironed” the tank groups, but, regardless of losses, the Nazis tried to throw our troops into the river.
During this intense period of fighting on the western bank of the Vistula, the marshal decided to create a strike group of four air corps under the command of Lieutenant General V.G. Ryazanov. Group V.G. Ryazanova completed her combat mission. Later, the commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front, Marshal, would say that the Sandomierz bridgehead was defended by aviation.
The battles to expand the bridgehead continued until January 1945. Corps personnel V.G. Ryazanov showed courage and heroism in destroying the encircled enemy group northwest of Sandomierz and the Czestochowa-Radom group. Units of the corps provided effective assistance to ground forces in capturing a number of large enemy strongholds in southern Poland and Upper Silesia.
The flight work was carried out in extremely difficult meteorological conditions, and all this time V.G. Ryazanov personally led the attack aircraft on the battlefield. On February 15, 1945, the corps of Lieutenant General V.G. Ryazanov was awarded the Order of Suvorov, 2nd degree. These days he was conducting combat work already in Germany, on the western bank of the Oder in the area of the besieged city of Breslau. Soon the advanced units of the front reached the Neisse River.
From here, on April 16, 1945, after powerful artillery preparation, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front went on the offensive. The battle for Berlin has begun. Building V.G. Ryazanov assisted the infantry with tanks in crossing the Neisse. Before the start of the offensive, the attack aircraft laid a smoke screen in the direction of the main attack of the front.
In the area of Kebeln, Jömlitz, Muskau, when breaking through the first line of defense, the general's 5th Guards Army stopped its advance under heavy enemy artillery fire. V.G. Ryazanov sent 100 attack aircraft there under the cover of 65 fighters, and after their work, twisted metal and corpses of enemy soldiers remained at the site of the artillery batteries. Our troops rushed forward and captured strongholds.
On the afternoon of April 17, 1945, tank armies and tanks were brought into battle. Covering the tankers, the corps of V.G. Ryazanov destroyed fire weapons, counterattack tanks and enemy troops with continuous strikes. The tank armies crossed the Spree on the move, broke through the third line of defense and began a rapid advance towards Berlin with the task of encircling the Berlin group.
On April 21, 1945, they reached the outskirts of Berlin, and on April 25, together with combined arms armies, they surrounded two enemy groups isolated from each other - in Berlin and southeast of it, which became known as the Frankfurt-Guben group. She sought to break through to the west, from where the 12th German Army rushed to her aid. V.G. was tasked with blocking her path and preventing her from breaking through to the area of the village of Beelitz. Ryazanov and .
They were at the same command post on a narrow strip of land that separated the encircled enemy group from Wenck's army. On April 30, 1945, there were only three or four kilometers between them. But the Nazis were never able to overcome them. Lieutenant General V.G. Ryazanov, as usual, in a calm and confident voice called stormtroopers onto the battlefield, who destroyed the counterattacking troops with continuous attacks.
On April 29, 1945 alone, attack aircraft carried out 400 sorties. Reliable air support helped our tankers repel all counterattacks. The 12th Army was never able to break through to help the encircled. On May 1, 1945, the Frankfurt-Guben group was completely defeated.
Guards fighters from the 2nd Air Army that day dropped a red banner with the inscription “Victory” by parachute over the Reichstag. For selfless combat work during the storming of the capital of the Third Reich, the corps of Lieutenant General V.G. Ryazanov was awarded the Order of Kutuzov, 2nd degree and given the honorary name - Berlin.
Pilots of the corps of Lieutenant General V.G. During the war years, Ryazanov made more than 58 thousand combat sorties, destroyed 3,770 tanks, 21,200 vehicles, 633 field artillery batteries, 94 anti-aircraft batteries, 54 railway trains, 400 different warehouses, 1,166 enemy aircraft and much other military equipment.
Twice Heroes of the Soviet Union. - M.: Military Publishing House, 1973. Commanders of the air armies. M.: Patriot, 2006. Kuznetsov V.K. Fiery dawns. M., 1985 People of immortal feat. Book 2. M., 1975 Cherushev N.S. From the Gulag to battle. Moscow, 2006.
Ryazanov Vasily Georgievich Encyclopedia "Aviation"
Ryazanov Vasily Georgievich- V. G. Ryazanov Ryazanov Vasily Georgievich (1901–1951) Soviet pilot, lieutenant general of aviation (1943), twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1944, 1945). In the Soviet Army since 1920. Graduated from the Borisoglebsk Military Pilot School (1926),... ... Encyclopedia "Aviation"
- (1901 51) twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1943, 1945), lieutenant general of aviation (1943) ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (2/22/1944 and 6/2/1945), lieutenant general of aviation (1943). Member of the CPSU since 1920. In the Red Army since 1920.… … Great Soviet Encyclopedia
- (1901 1951) Soviet pilot, lieutenant general of aviation (1943), twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1944, 1945). In the Soviet Army since 1920. Graduated from the Borisoglebsk Military Pilot School (1926), the Red Army Air Force Academy named after Professor N.E.... ... Encyclopedia of technology
- (1901 1951), Hero of the Soviet Union (1944, 1945), lieutenant general of aviation (1943). During the Great Patriotic War in attack aircraft; corps commander. * * * RYAZANOV Vasily Georgievich RYAZANOV Vasily Georgievich (1901 51), Soviet pilot, ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
- (01/25/1901 07/08/1951) Soviet military leader, twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1944, 1945), Guard Lieutenant General of Aviation (1943). In aviation since 1926. In 1939 he taught at the VVIA named after. N. E. Zhukovsky. Participant of the Soviet-Finnish War. WITH… … Large biographical encyclopedia
- (January 25, 1901 July 8, 1951) Soviet military leader, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, lieutenant general of aviation, commander of the 1st Guards Assault Corps. Contents 1 Biography 2 Awards ... Wikipedia
Vasily Georgievich Ryazanov (January 25, 1901 July 8, 1951) Soviet military leader, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, lieutenant general of aviation, commander of the 1st Guards Assault Corps. Contents 1 Biography 2 Awards ... Wikipedia
What did the archives tell us?
A LITTLE-KNOWN PAGE FROM LIFE
LIEUTENANT GENERAL
V. G. RYAZANOVA
Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, holder of many orders, Lieutenant General of Aviation Vasily Georgievich Ryazanov is our fellow countryman, a resident of Gorky. A bronze bust of the hero was installed in the village of Bolshoye Kozino. Local schoolchildren, teachers, and veterans of the Great Patriotic War often gather here. Former soldiers who defended our country in battles with the Nazi invaders as part of the illustrious formation - the First Guards Assault Kirovograd-Berlin Red Banner Order of Suvorov and Kutuzov Aviation Corps - often come here, to the homeland of their commander. The same corps that was commanded by General Ryazanov from the day of its formation in September 1942 until the last days of the war.
The First Guards Attack Air Corps traveled a glorious battle path from Moscow to Berlin and Prague. He fought at the forefront of the main attacks of the Red Army. At first it was moved to the north-west of the capital, to where the Nazis were supposed to launch a new offensive on Moscow. Then, in the summer of 1943, attack pilots were transferred to the southern front of the Kursk Bulge. In the bloody battle of Prokhorovka, General Ryazanov’s corps supported Rotmistrov’s 5th Guards Tank Army. In these battles, out of every three aircraft, every two did not return to their airfields. Then the battle of Belgorod and Kharkov, the liberation of Left Bank Ukraine, the crossing of the Dnieper, participation in the liberation of Kirovograd. The corps played a major role in the victorious completion of the Korsun-Shevchenko operation. Then assault attacks near Chisinau and Iasi, support for the tank army of Rybalko and Lelyushenko in the battle for Lvov, battles for the preservation and expansion of the Sandomirov bridgehead, and the liberation of Poland. In the Battle of Berlin, Ryazanov’s attack aircraft provided invaluable assistance to the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front, which stormed the capital of the “Third Reich” from the south, southwest and southeast. It was they, together with the tank crews of General Lelyushenko, who stood to the death before the counterattacks of Wenck’s 12th Army, which the Fuhrer really hoped for. This army of fascists failed to break through the ring of Soviet troops around Berlin. And then there was an unprecedented raid together with tank crews into the rebellious Prague. The corps ended hostilities on May 11, 1945: it was ordered by the Soviet command to destroy the group of Field Marshal Scherner, who did not want to sign surrender, as well as the traitors to the Motherland, the Vlasovites, who were trying to escape to the west.
Ryazanov's corps is rightly called the flagship of Soviet attack aircraft. Among the factors that made it possible to win this glory, one must name something that most commanders were afraid of. Vasily Georgievich Ryazanov selflessly defended at all levels the pilots and air gunners who, by chance, were captured and escaped. Ryazanov’s risk lay in something else. Before each combat operation, he located his CP (command post) at the very front line and from there, by radio, directed the attack aircraft to enemy targets. The CP, of course, was spotted by the Nazis and brutally fired at with long-range artillery and bombed from airplanes. Many times the corps commander was on the verge of death, but each time it turned out that his risk was completely justified.
And here is the result of fatherly treatment of subordinates, skillful command: by the end of the war, 103 Heroes of the Soviet Union had grown up in the corps, seven of them, including Ryazanov, were awarded this title twice, and pilot I. G. Drachenko became the only holder of three in the Air Force Orders of Glory and Gold Star medals. Among the Heroes of the Soviet Union who fought as part of the corps were Gorky residents. These are: M. S. Malov, S. E. Volodin, N. T. Eliseev.
You can talk a lot about the military affairs of General Ryazanov and his pilots. “Gorkovskaya Pravda” wrote about them more than once. Today we are talking about something that has never been written about, and this has become possible thanks to the atmosphere of democracy and openness proclaimed by the Communist Party. There should be no white spots anywhere or in anything.
During the war years and subsequent years, few people knew that in 1938, literally the smallest thing was missing to turn the commander-pilot into an “enemy of the people.” Working in the Central Archive of the USSR Ministry of Defense in Podolsk, we became familiar with several documents from that time. However, everything is in order.
The biography of Vasily Georgievich until 1937 was developing quite well. By December of the thirty-seventh, Colonel Ryazanov served as commander-commissar of the 44th attack air brigade. The situation with the material part was unimportant. The brigade consisted of 41 P-5 aircraft and 12 U-2 training aircraft with 120 pilots.
Colonel Ryazanov had a hard time organizing full-fledged combat training. Despite the shortage of aircraft and difficult weather conditions, the pilots made bombing missions to the training ground and learned to shoot accurately from airborne weapons.
Flights in difficult conditions on worn-out aircraft did not always go well. “Over the past six months, in the 44th ShAB,” the inspection report noted, “there have been two aircraft accidents, one engine accident and 10 forced landings.” By that time, most of the commanders I knew had been arrested and declared “enemies of the people,” including the head of the Red Army Air Force, Yakov Ivanovich Alksnis, who had once sent political commissar Ryazanov to a military pilot school. And yet it happened unexpectedly. The archive documents contain an extract from protocol No. 4 of the meeting of the district party commission of the Siberian Military District dated January 10, 1938. We will present this extract in its entirety, because it shows how charges were fabricated against a person in those years.
Ryazanov Vasily Georgievich member of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) since 1920. Party card No. 0472668, year of birth 1901, Russian, from the peasantry. Higher education. In the Red Army from May 1924 - brigade commander, colonel. Has no party penalties.
Rybin reports. The crux of the matter. Ryazanov’s connection with the enemies of the people and their defense. His former brigade chief in Moscow, Prokudin, is now arrested as an enemy of the people (rehabilitated in 1956 - Author). Ryazanov was closely associated with him but hid all this from the party organization. Only at the suggestion of the commission was Ryazanov forced to write a statement to the party organization about his connections with Prokudin, in which he praised the enemy of the people, Prokudin, as a good worker. In addition, Ryazanov petitioned the headquarters of the Red Army Air Force to appoint Prokudin as chief of staff of the air brigade.
Smirnov (an employee of the air brigade headquarters), who turned out to be the worst enemy of the people. He was also defended by Ryazanov, who said that “We don’t have material to analyze Smirnov at the party meeting, especially since I consider him a good worker.”
Lomakin is the former head of the Krasnoyarsk cavalry division, who turned out to be an enemy of the people, who was exposed at a party activist. And Ryazanov made a defensive speech for Lomakin, where he stated: “He was appointed by the party and the government. He needs to be helped, not criticized!..."
Bryanskaya (head of the summer canteen of the 44th Shab.-Avt.) turned out to be a spy. But Ryazanov did not want to fire her, saying that she was a good worker and a trusted person.
Ryazanov, together with the enemy of the people Denisov, organized a farewell party for the enemy of the people Prokhorov, at which they made laudatory speeches about Prokhorov and regretted his departure. In addition, Ryazanov insincerely told the party organization about his connections with the enemy of the people Alksnis and Subbotin. All these facts have been established and confirmed by documents that Ryazanov is associated with the enemies of the people and defended them.
Ryazanov did not lead a decisive struggle to expose the enemies of the people and their accomplices and eliminate the consequences of sabotage in the brigade. Even as a commissar, he did not direct the secretary of the party bureau to expose the enemies of the people, although he had signals of political trouble in the party organizations of the 18th squadron and the park.
In his practical work, Ryazanov showed himself to be an apolitical person and a rotten communist. When making a report on the decisions of the March Plenum of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, he based it only on the shortcomings of the units, without saying a word about the party’s policy. In his speeches at the garrison party activist, Ryazanov expressed dissatisfaction with the abolition of unity of command in the army. All this speaks of his apoliticality and loss of party affiliation...”
The accusations at that time were more than serious. However, this was not enough for the “accusers”. Here is how the above-mentioned instructor of the district party commission, Rybin, further sets out the essence of the matter: “The economy of the air brigade is in a chaotic state. Thanks to the criminal management of the farm, great damage was caused to the state: damage to 32 engines, idle fuel tanks (worth 25,000 rubles), neglect of vehicles, etc. Various products, curtains, toys for his son were delivered to Ryazanov’s apartment, for which there is testimony from civilian workers of the brigade.
All this suggests that he was finally curbed by petty-bourgeoisism and everyday instability. For the above facts, the party organization of the 44th air brigade expelled Ryazanova from the members of the CPSU (b).
Resolved: to approve the decision of the brigade party commission. For protecting the enemies of the people, for the lack of a decisive struggle to uproot the enemies of the people and eliminate the consequences of sabotage, for petty-bourgeois licentiousness, for clamping down on self-criticism in the brigade... Vasily Georgievich Ryazanov should be expelled from the ranks of the CPSU (b). Responsible secretary of the district party commission of the Siberian Military District, battalion commissar Kozlov.
The investigation into this case lasted for about a year and a half. Subsequently, he did not even tell his loved ones about these days... Only once did he say to his wife: “If I had broken down and signed even one piece of paper, I would have signed my own death sentence.”
At the end of July 1939, the investigation into Ryazanov’s case was terminated and he was released. The archive contains several documents from that time written in his hand:
“To the Military Council of the Siberian Military District from Colonel V.G. Ryazanov, former commander of the 44th air brigade.
On March 12, 1938, I was arrested on the basis of false and slanderous testimony. In connection with this order, NKO dated April 19, 1938, number 0318, was dismissed from service.
On July 25, 1939, I was released from investigation due to the termination of my case due to the lack of evidence of a crime. Having worked almost my entire life in the Red Army, having sufficient experience in flying, I cannot imagine myself outside the Red Army, especially at the present period in the life of the country.
I ask you to reconsider the question about me and file a petition with the People's Commissar of Defense to reinstate me in the ranks of the Red Army. Detailed information about me can be provided by the district prosecutor, Comrade. Likhovidov.
The Military Council granted Ryazanov's petition and sent all documents to Moscow. The answer from there came very quickly. And soon Vasily Georgievich was handed a document with the following content: “Ryazanov Vasily Georgievich, by order of NKO No. 04141 dated September 17, 1939, was appointed teacher of the Department of Air Force Tactics of the Air Force Academy.
Paragraph of the NKO order No. 0318 dated April 19, 1938 on his transfer to the Red Army reserve under Article 44, paragraph “c”, was cancelled.”
And at this time, the flames of the Second World War were already raging over Europe, and it was, as they say, ill-advised to throw away experienced military personnel. Already in June 1941, Colonel Ryazanov and the first group of academy teachers went to the front. But “connection with the enemies of the people,” four years of war, the rank of general, awards, and high positions did not change his character. During the war, no one paid any attention to this, and then... In the corps of General Ryazanov, many pilots fought (and fought well!), whose military fate was not very happy. They were shot down, captured, fled, crossed the front, returned to their unit and continued to fight again. The corps commander took responsibility for this.
But the “vigilant” comrades had the following opinion: he was in captivity, which means he was a traitor. And they “signaled”. After the war, when General Ryazanov was nominated for the position of commander of the air army, the characterization was written: “Not enough is being done in the selection and placement of personnel. Among the officers of the apparatus, at the headquarters of regiments and divisions until December 1948, there were officers who had been convicted in the past, who had been captured and surrounded, and who were brought to party responsibility!”
And we would like to dwell on one more document. This is an extract from the minutes of the meeting of the party commission of the Main Political Directorate of the Armed Forces of the USSR No. 32, paragraph 10 of April 11, 1950.
“Lieutenant General V. G. Ryazanov, member of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) since May 1920 (party card No. 2662 446 - in hand), commander of the air army, twice Hero of the Soviet Union.
It turned out that Comrade. On January 10, 1938, Ryazanov was expelled from the membership of the CPSU (b) by the district party commission of the Siberian Military District for petty-bourgeois debauchery and suppression of criticism in the brigade, and his party card No. 0472668 was taken away from him. After clarifying the circumstances in the case of comrade. Ryazanov, he was given a new party card as a replacement. However, the decision to expel Comrade. Ryazanov was not removed from membership of the CPSU(b).
Decided: to cancel the decision of the district party commission of the Siberian Military District of January 10, 1938 on the expulsion of V. G. Ryazanov from members of the CPSU (b) as having lost its basis.
Responsible secretary of the party commission at
Main Political Directorate of the Soviet Army
Colonel Leonov"
This is how it happened that for more than 12 years Vasily Georgievich formally remained non-party. True, 10 years - with a party card in your pocket. He did not live long, just over 50 years. And in our opinion, not only the war is to blame for this.
One can only regret that before the start of the Great Patriotic War, the Red Army found itself without educated, talented commanders. It can be assumed that if they had been at their posts, the war, which claimed tens of millions of lives of Soviet people, would have been different, less bloody, for the military leaders shot in the Yezhov-Beriev prisons and camps would have fulfilled their duty to the Motherland in the same way as Marshal K.K. Rokossovsky, Army General A.V. Gorbatov, Lieutenant General V.G. Ryazanov, on whom fate had mercy, and they miraculously survived the meat grinder of the 30s and 40s.
__________________________________________________________________
Fate decreed that the former military prosecutor I.K. Likhovidov lived and worked in the city of Gorky in the last years of his life.
L. Ryazanov
N. Chesnokov
Biography
Ryazanov, Vasily Georgievich (1901-1951) - lieutenant general of aviation. Vasily Georgievich was born on January 25, 1901 in the village of Bolshoye Kozino, Balakhninsky district, Nizhny Novgorod region, into a peasant family. The Ryazanov family lived a hard life. As the eldest, Vasily had to take on many household chores, patiently and carefully nurse his younger brothers and sisters (of whom there were already six by 1911), and help his parents with housework.
In 1909 Vasily went to school. Despite the difficulties and poverty, the boy grew up cheerful and inquisitive - he really wanted to study at school... From the first days of school, Vasya Ryazanov was distinguished by his liveliness and curiosity. His teacher Nachinsky V.N. recalls: “He was active during lessons and asked a lot of questions. He especially loved arithmetic and history. The results were immediate - he became one of the best students in the class. From 1901 to 1919, Vasily Ryazanov lived in the village of Bolshoye Kozino. On rare free days, Ryazanov was drawn to the river, where, together with his peers, he played Cossack robbers and fished. After school, Ryazanov entered the Balakhna School. Sometimes it was necessary to get to Balakhna on foot, sometimes by passing cart or car. As a student at the Balakhninsky School, Ryazanov had to earn extra money as a postman (in 1914 at the Ruzaevka station, then in Sormovo) and work at a brick factory. Realizing that his younger brothers and sisters needed his help, in 1918 and 1919 Ryazanov lived and worked as a teacher in his native village of Bolshoye Kozino. At the age of 19, Vasily Ryazanov was accepted into the ranks of the Bolshevik Party. He actively participates in the public life of the Nizhny Novgorod province - in 1920 he conducted circle work at the Higher Party School, from where he received a referral to study in Moscow. In 1920, V. G. Ryazanov entered the workers' faculty at Moscow State University and in 1921 became a student at the Ya. M. Sverdlov Communist University in Moscow. Thanks to his good knowledge of the working audience, he is appointed head of a shortened school of political literacy organized for workers. In those difficult years, the Young Soviet Republic needed a strong army and air fleet. In 1920, Vasily Georgievich connected his life with the USSR Air Force. In 1926, assistant military commissar Vasily Georgievich Ryazanov graduated from the Borisoglebsk pilot school. Already an instructor in the division's political department, in 1927 he completed a course of study at the Serpukhov Air Combat School. In 1930 he entered the Zhukovsky Academy at the Faculty of Operations, graduating with honors. In 1935 he became commander and commissar of the air brigade.
Memoirs of Ryazanov Vasily Georgievich
This is how Vasily Georgievich talked about himself in a conversation with his comrade in arms Boris Ignatievich Krassiy. Their conversation is described in detail in the documentary story by L. Ryazanov and N. Chesnokov “General Ryazanov”. “After the revolution, I was a teacher in a rural school for about a year. He created a Komsomol organization in his village. For some time he served as an inspector of the district education system. I really wanted to study, so I studied and study constantly. Simultaneously with the Communist University in Moscow, he graduated from the workers' faculty at Moscow State University. Then he served in the 17th Nizhny Novgorod Rifle Division. There he met Ivan Stepanovich Konev. Since 1925, I have completely associated myself with aviation. Borisoglebsk, Leningrad, Serpukhov, Odessa, Orenburg - in these cities there were military pilot schools. There he did political work and at the same time learned to fly. In '27, I was entrusted first with a flight, and then with a squadron and a detachment. In the thirty-third in Moscow - commander of the Air Force Special Services School. And then he was a commander-commissioner of an air brigade at the Air Force Academy. He graduated from the operational department of the academy and in 1936 was appointed commander-commissar of an air brigade in the Siberian Military District... - Vasily Georgievich kept silent about 1938. – Afterwards he took part in the battles on the Karelian Isthmus, and then, until the start of the war, he taught Air Force tactics at the Air Force Academy of Command and Navigation Staff. He was the head of the educational department. At the front from the first days.”
Years of war. The beginning of the war.
In 1940, experienced pilot V.G. Ryazanov took part in the war with the White Finns, where for the first time he fully showed himself as a talented organizer of air operations. Having experience of combat operations in 1941, Ryazanov V.G. He headed the exemplary brigade and faculty at the Zhukovsky Academy. The summer of 1941 was approaching. The Patriotic War found Vasily Georgievich in Moscow, where he headed the faculty at the Air Force Academy... On the first day of the war, he submitted a report with a request to be sent to the active army. On June 28, Colonel Ryazanov was appointed to the Southwestern Front as deputy commander of aviation of the 5th Army... At the end of the forty-first on the Southern Front, commanding the 76th assault air division, he participated in the Rostov offensive operation. For his skillful leadership of the division in the fight against enemy tanks, he was awarded the Order of the Red Star. In December 1941, Ryazanov headed the air division, which participated in the battles for Rostov, which in history became known as the “Rostov offensive operation.” As a result, units of the 1st German Tank Army were defeated, Rostov was liberated, and the forces of the united army “South” were pinned down, which allowed the launch of a major counteroffensive near Moscow. Taking into account the experience of combat operations near Rostov, consisting of 8 regiments, an air group of the South-Western Front is created, designed to eliminate tank breakthroughs. It was headed by Vasily Georgievich Ryazanov. In December 1941, Ryazanov headed the air division, which took part in the battles for Rostov, which received the name “Rostov offensive operation” in history. As a result, units of the 1st German Tank Army were defeated, Rostov was liberated, and the forces of the united army “South” were pinned down, which made it possible to launch a major counteroffensive near Moscow. Taking into account the experience of combat operations near Rostov, consisting of 8 regiments, an air group of the South-Western Front is created, designed to eliminate tank breakthroughs. It was headed by Vasily Georgievich Ryazanov. The Nazis called Ryazanov’s attack aircraft the “Black Death.” The filigree precision of maneuver and the utmost coordination of the actions of aviation and tanks turned the equipment and defensive structures of the fascists into shapeless piles of metal. This is how the 1st Guards Assault Aviation Kirovograd-Berlin Red Banner Order of Suvorov and Kutuzov Corps began its journey.
Battle of Kursk (1943)
Two huge tank armies collided. Against the reinforced armor of the tigers, Ryazanov’s attack aircraft use new missile shells and a new technical technique - they attack in large groups of up to 50 aircraft at once while adjusting from the battlefield by radio. The Germans form special groups of tanks to destroy the observation post from which Ryazanov directs the battle, but all is in vain – Il-2 “flying tanks” destroy the enemy hundreds of meters from the OP. Results of the battles: more than 200 tanks were destroyed, Orel and Belgorod were liberated. On August 23, with massive support from attack aircraft, tanks liberated Kharkov. January 1944, the Soviet command was marked by the beginning of the Korsun-Shevchen operation, during which a large enemy group was surrounded and destroyed in a short time. In the most difficult weather conditions, in the harsh winter, Ryazanov’s ground troops and attack aircraft were tasked with destroying this group of German troops. Realizing the hopelessness of their situation, the Germans make an attempt to escape from the cauldron at night. They are met by targeted aircraft fire and an avalanche of fire and armor from Soviet tanks. Only small groups of fascists left into the snowy night. For the clear and correct organization of the combat work of the corps units to disrupt the enemy’s offensive in the Velikiye Luki direction, and then for participation in the liberation of the city of Velikiye Luki and in the defeat of the enemy’s Demyansk group, Vasily Georgievich was awarded the Order of the Red Banner in February 1943. In the battles on Right Bank Ukraine, Ryazanov’s corps actively supported the advancing troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front during the liberation of Znamenka and Kirovograd. The corps received the honorary name Kirovograd, and its three distinguished air divisions began to be called Krasnogradskaya, Poltava, Znamenskaya. On February 5, the corps became the First Guards, and on February 22, Lieutenant General V.G. Ryazanov was awarded title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Among the numerous congratulations received by the hero, there was a letter from his homeland, from the residents of the village of Bolshoye Kozino.
Correspondence with fellow countrymen
He sent them a large response letter: “My dear friends, fellow countrymen, relatives! I sincerely thank you for your attention and your warm congratulations on awarding me the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Together with you, dear comrades, I am proud of my Motherland and my people , who raised hundreds of thousands of heroes fighting on the fronts of the Patriotic War and selflessly working in the rear in our factories, factories, and collective farms... Our Red Army is uncontrollably driving the enemy from its sacred land, writing bright new pages in our history. Motherland. In the battles for the Soviet Motherland, the aviation unit entrusted to me received a high guards rank. For the courage, valor and heroism shown in battles, our attack aircraft and fighter pilots were awarded numerous government awards, and many of them received the high title of Hero. Soviet Union. I personally regard the awarding of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union as the result of great and intense combat work of the entire team... of the formation, devoting all its strength and skill to the task of carrying out the combat mission of defeating the Nazi occupiers. antlers. Having received the high title of Hero, I promise you, my friends, together with my comrades in arms, to increase the military deeds and traditions of the entire formation, and to raise our combat skills even higher. You, comrade countrymen, being in the deep rear, multiply your production successes, work even better and harder in order to give the front new echelons of weapons, ammunition, equipment and food necessary to defeat the enemy. I promise you, dear friends, to celebrate our victory with you in your native village, in the circle of your close friends and comrades, who are now giving all their strength, skill and skill in the fight against the hated fascist beast. I sincerely wish you success. I shake your hands tightly."
Winner Awards
On February 5, 1945, for selfless combat work, excellent control of combat units during the conquest of the bridgehead on the western bank of the Vistula River and the defeat of the Częstochowa-Radom group of Germans and the courage, bravery and heroism displayed, the command of the 2nd Air Army presented General V.G. Ryazanov to the title of twice Hero of the Soviet Union. On June 2, 1945, by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Ryazanov V.G. Awarded the second Gold Star medal.
After the victory
Soon after the victory, General Ryazanov led the air army. He was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR, a candidate member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine. On June 8, 1951, Vasily Georgievich’s heart stopped beating. “He died after the war, relatively young, and I grieved this loss,” wrote Marshal I.S. Konev. He was buried in Kyiv, the city he liberated. In the village of Kozino, according to the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated June 2, 1945, a bronze bust of twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Lieutenant General of Aviation Vasily Georgievich Ryazanov, was erected. In the village of Bolshoye Kozino, a bronze bust of V. G. Ryazanov was installed. ON THE old school building there is a memorial plaque. A street in Balakhna, Bolshoi Kozino and the pioneer squad of school No. 81 in Sormovo are named after him. Every year on January 25, on the birthday of V.G. Ryazanov, the school opens a month of defense-mass work. On this day, the “Yunarmeets, forward!” relay race takes place, where the guys can compete in agility, strength, endurance, a guard of honor is set up at the bust of the Hero by the military patriotic club “Young Patriot”. This club has been operating at the school since 1998. During this time, dozens of children went through a school of courage, endurance and camaraderie there. The club members are the winners of the district and regional competitions “Safety School” - Nizhny Novgorod Zarnitsa”, the winners of the regional military-industrial complex shooting review, and the winners of the regional game “Cascade”. At the district military-industrial complex meeting in 2005, the team took 1st overall team place. And this, of course, is the special merit of the head of the club, Vladimir Leonidovich Balykin, an enthusiast of his work, a favorite of the guys, who is a graduate of school No. 20.
Nizhny Novgorod outback,
Home side
From great-grandparents
We have been given as an inheritance
Never in my native village
The hero will not be forgotten
The school is named after him
And in the center there is a bust
There is Ryazanov Street,
Here are the people who knew him,
And there is also immortality -
Glory to our hero!
Evgenia Kolomeichenko,
Graduate of school No. 20
them. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union V.G. Ryazanov p. B-Kozino.
List of sources used
1. Materials provided by the museum of school No. 20 of the Balakhninsky district of the Nizhny Novgorod region