Remembering the heroes of the First World War, we must not forget that among them there were many who later proved themselves in the service in the Red Army. After all, not only Wrangel, Kornilov, Yudenich, Denikin, Kolchak, Markov and Kappel distinguished themselves during the Great War, but also Brusilov, Chapaev, Budyonny, Blucher, Karbyshev, Malinovsky, Zhukov. Leaving outside the scope of this brief sketch of General A.A. Brusilov, who became only a cavalry inspector in the Red Army, let us recall the military exploits during the First World War of those who later became prominent military leaders of the Red Army.

Of the first five Red Marshals (Budyonny, Voroshilov, Tukhachevsky, Egorov and Blyukher), only the “Lugansk mechanic” Kliment Voroshilov did not participate in the battles of the First World War. Future Red Marshal Semyon Budyonny served in the tsarist army from 1903, took part in the Russo-Japanese War, meeting World War I as a senior non-commissioned officer of the 18th Seversky Dragoon Regiment. Budyonny bravely fought with the enemy on the German, Austrian and Caucasian fronts, earning a full St. George's bow for his exploits - St. George's crosses and medals of all degrees. Moreover, Budyonny had the chance to receive the St. George Cross, 4th degree, twice. An honestly deserved reward for the dashing capture of an enemy convoy and the capture of about 200 enemy soldiers, he was deprived of it for assault on a senior in rank. However, Budyonny again earned the “George” 4th degree on the Turkish front for the fact that in the battle for the city of Van, while on reconnaissance with his platoon, he penetrated deep into the enemy’s rear, and at the decisive moment of the battle attacked and captured his battery of three guns. And in 1916, Semyon Mikhailovich earned three St. George Crosses at once, having distinguished himself in battles against the Turks.

Another red marshal also distinguished himself during the First World War - Vasily Blucher. Called up for military service during the mobilization of 1914, Blücher soon established himself as an excellent soldier, earning the St. George Medal in 1915. In the battles on the Dunajets River near Ternopil, Blucher was seriously wounded by shrapnel from an exploding grenade (his left thigh, left and right forearms were damaged, and his hip joint was broken). Doctors removed eight fragments from the brave soldier and with difficulty saved his life (Blücher was twice taken to the morgue as dead). This was the end of the world war for Blucher - having received a first-class pension, he was discharged from the army.

Marshal Alexander Egorov and was actually a career officer in the Russian Army. During World War I, with the rank of captain, he served as a staff officer on assignments from the headquarters of the 2nd Caucasian Cavalry Corps. Egorov also had the opportunity to command a battalion and a regiment; he was wounded and shell-shocked five times. The future Red Marshal met the February Revolution with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Mikhail Tukhachevsky, having started the war with the rank of second lieutenant of the famous Semenovsky Guards Regiment, took part in battles with the Austrians and Germans as part of the 1st Guards Division on the Western Front. He had the opportunity to become a participant in the Lublin and Lomzhinsk operations. In battles with the enemy, Tukhachevsky was wounded, and for his heroism he earned five orders of various degrees over the course of six months of war. In a battle on February 19, 1915, near the village of Piaseczno near Lomza, his company was surrounded, and he himself was captured. Tukhachevsky tried to escape four times, after which he was sent to a camp for incorrigible fugitives in Bavaria, where he met Charles de Gaulle. The fifth escape attempt was successful - in 1917, through Switzerland, France, England, Norway and Sweden, Tukhachevsky returned to Russia and was enlisted in his native Semenovsky regiment as a company commander.

Commander 2nd rank Mikhail Levandovsky He was also a career officer in the Tsarist Army. He took part in hostilities in East Prussia, Galicia, and near Warsaw. Levandovsky commanded a machine gun company, was awarded five military awards, and was shell-shocked twice. By the beginning of the revolution, he had the rank of staff captain and served as head of a department in the 1st armored automobile division in Petrograd. Commander Jerome Uborevich, who graduated from the Konstantinovsky Artillery School in the spring of 1916, served with the rank of second lieutenant during the First World War as a junior officer of the 15th heavy artillery division.

One of the most legendary red commanders was also a hero of the First World War Vasily Chapaev. Chapaev was called up for military service in September 1914. The future hero arrived at the front in January 1915 as part of the 326th Belgorai Infantry Regiment, distinguishing himself in battles in Volyn and Galicia. Chapaev met February 1917 with the rank of senior non-commissioned officer and with three St. George's crosses and a St. George's medal on his chest.

The future generals and marshals of the Great Patriotic War distinguished themselves in the First World War - Karbyshev, Shaposhnikov, Malinovsky, Rokossovsky, Zhukov.

Marshal Boris Shaposhnikov was a career officer in the Tsarist Army and met World War I as an adjutant at the headquarters of a cavalry division with the rank of captain. In 1914, he took part in the division’s combat operations in Poland and was shell-shocked in the head by a shell explosion near Sochaczew. In 1915, Shaposhnikov was promoted to lieutenant colonel and transferred to the position of assistant to the senior adjutant of the intelligence department of the army headquarters, and then appointed chief of staff of the Cossack brigade. As the magazine “Russian Invalid” reported, for military services in 1916 Shaposhnikov was awarded the Highest Favor. Boris Shaposhnikov met the October Revolution with the rank of colonel and commander of the Mingrelian Grenadier Regiment.

The hero of the Great Patriotic War, General Dmitry, was also an officer in the regular army. Karbyshev. Trained as a military engineer, Karbyshev took part in the Russo-Japanese War, took part in the Battle of Mukden, ending the fighting with the rank of lieutenant. From the first days of the Great War, Karbyshev was at the front and fought in the Carpathians as part of the 8th Army of General A.A. Brusilov (Southwestern Front). He was a division engineer of the 78th and 69th Infantry Divisions, then chief of the engineering service of the 22nd Finnish Rifle Corps. At the beginning of 1915, Captain Karbyshev distinguished himself during the assault. For his courage and bravery, Karbyshev, who was wounded in the leg, was promoted to lieutenant colonel and awarded the Order of St. Anne. In 1916, he was a participant in the famous Brusilov breakthrough, and in 1917 he led the work to strengthen positions on the border with Romania.

Marshal of Victory Georgy Zhukov was drafted into the cavalry in 1915 and during the war he trained to be a non-commissioned officer. In August 1916, he was enlisted in a dragoon regiment that fought on the Southwestern Front, soon earning two St. George Crosses for his bravery (for capturing a German officer and for being wounded in battle).

A Konstantin Rokossovsky, rightfully considered one of the greatest commanders of the Second World War, in 1914 he volunteered to serve in the 6th squadron of the 5th Kargopol Dragoon Regiment. Already on August 8, 1914, Rokossovsky distinguished himself while conducting mounted reconnaissance near the village of Yastrzhem, for which he was awarded the St. George Cross of the 4th degree and promoted to corporal. In the battle near Ponevezh, Rokossovsky attacked a German artillery battery, for which he was nominated for the St. George Cross, 3rd degree, but did not receive the award. In the battle for the Troskuny railway station, together with several dragoons, he secretly captured a German field guard trench, for which he was awarded the St. George Medal, 4th class. This was followed by the awarding of St. George medals of the 3rd and 2nd degrees.

Marshal Alexander Vasilevsky After an accelerated course of study at the Alekseevsky Military School, he served in the spring of 1915 with the rank of ensign. He had the opportunity to command the 2nd company, recognized as one of the best in the 409th Novokhopersky Infantry Regiment, and take part in the Brusilovsky breakthrough. At the end of April 1916, he received his first award, the Order of St. Anne, 4th class, with the inscription “For bravery,” and a little later, the Order of St. Stanislaus, 3rd class, with swords and a bow. Vasilevsky finished the World War with the rank of staff captain and battalion commander.

Distinguished himself during the First World War and was a marshal Rodion Malinovsky. As a boy, he ran to the front, beginning his service as a carrier of cartridges in the machine gun team of the 256th Elisavetgrad Infantry Regiment. In 1915, Malinovsky received his first “George”. In the battles near Smorgon he was seriously wounded and was in the hospital until February 1916. Having recovered, Rodion, as part of the 1st Brigade of the Expeditionary Force of the Russian Army, left for France, continuing the war with the Germans on the Western Front. Here Malinovsky earned several French military awards, and in 1918, for heroism in breaking through the German defense line, Kolchak’s General Dmitry Shcherbachev nominated him for the 3rd degree Cross of St. George.

Such Soviet marshals as Fedor Tolbukhin,Ivan Konev,Andrey Eremenko and many other Soviet military leaders. Thus, the Russian Imperial Army raised not only the future heroes of the White movement, but also the legendary commanders of the Red Army, including the marshals of the Great Victory.

Prepared Andrey Ivanov, Doctor of Historical Sciences

BATOV Pavel Ivanovich (1897-1985)

Born on May 20 (June 1), 1897 in the village of Filisovo, now Rybinsk district, Yaroslavl region.
In military service since 1915. Participant of the 1st World War (since 1916). For distinction in battles he was awarded two St. George's crosses and two medals. In the Red Army since 1918. For almost 4 years he fought on the fronts of the Civil War in Russia, participated in the suppression of uprisings in Rybinsk, Yaroslav, Poshekhonye. He graduated from the Shot course (1927), and the Higher Academic Courses at the Military Academy of the General Staff (1950). After the war he commanded a company, from 1927 a battalion, then chief of staff and regiment commander. In 1936-37 he took part in the national revolutionary war of the Spanish people. Upon his return, he was commander of a rifle corps (1937), which participated in the Soviet-Finnish war. Since 1940 - Deputy Commander of the Transcaucasian Military District.
Since the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Batov was commander of the 9th Rifle Corps, from August 1941 - deputy, in November-December - commander of the 51st Army of the Southern Front, then commander of the 3rd Army (January-February 1942), assistant commander of the troops Bryansk Front (February-October 1942). Subsequently, until the end of the war, he commanded the 65th Army, which participated in hostilities as part of the Don, Stalingrad, Central, Belorussian, 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts.
The troops under the command of Batov distinguished themselves in the Battles of Stalingrad and Kursk, in the battle for the Dnieper, in the battles during the liberation of Belarus, in the Vistula-Oder and Berlin operations, liberated the cities of Glukhov, Rechitsa, Mozyr, Bobruisk, Minsk, and stormed Rostock, Stettin (Szczecin). Batov skillfully used a double fire shaft to support the attack of infantry and tanks in the Bobruisk operation of 1944, and decisively maneuvered army troops from one direction to another in the Belarusian (1944) and East Pomeranian (1945) operations. The combat successes of the 65th Army under his leadership were noted 23 times in the orders of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.
For organizing clear interaction between subordinate troops during the crossing of the Dnieper, firmly holding a bridgehead on the western bank of the river, and demonstrating personal courage and courage, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The second Gold Star medal was awarded for the initiative and courage shown in organizing the crossing of the Vistula and Oder rivers and the capture of the city of Stettin. During numerous military operations he proved himself to be a decisive, energetic military leader.
After the war, he commanded the mechanized and combined arms armies, was 1st Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (1945-55), commander of the Carpathian (1955-58) and Baltic military districts (1958-59); Southern Group of Forces (1961-62). In 1959-61 - senior military specialist in the People's Liberation Army of China. In 1962-65 - Chief of Staff of the United Armed Forces of the Warsaw Pact member states. Since 1965, in the Group of Inspectors General of the USSR Ministry of Defense. In 1970-81 - Chairman of the Soviet War Veterans Committee. Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th and 6th convocations. He was awarded eight Orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, three Orders of the Red Banner, three Orders of Suvorov, 1st degree, Orders of Kutuzov, 1st degree, and Orders of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, 1st degree. Patriotic War, 1st degree, “For service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR”, 3rd degree, “Badge of Honor”, ​​medals, foreign orders.

GALANIN Ivan Vasilievich (1899-1958)
Lieutenant General

Born on July 13 (25), 1899 in the village of Pokrovka, now Vorotynsky district, Nizhny Novgorod region.
In the Red Army since 1919. During the Civil War he was a private. Participated in the suppression of the Kronstadt uprising of 1921. He graduated from the military school named after the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (1923), the Shot course (1931), and the Military Academy named after M. V. Frunze (1936).
In 1923-38, he held command and staff positions in the Moscow and Trans-Baikal military districts. Since 1938 - commander of a division that took part in the battles on the Khalkhin Gol River (1939). Since 1940 - commander of the rifle corps, with whom he entered the Great Patriotic War, then commander of the 12th Army of the Southern Front (August-October 1941), 59th Army of the Volkhov Front (November 1941-April 1942), commander of the Army Group of Forces 16 1st Army of the Western Front, deputy commander of the Voronezh Front (August-September 1942), commander of the 24th Army of the Don Front (October 1942-April 1943), 70th Army of the Central Front, 4th Guards Army, operating as part of the Voronezh troops , then the Steppe and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts (September 1943 - January 1944), the 53rd Army and again the 4th Guards Army (February-November 1944) of the 2nd Ukrainian Front. Skillfully led troops in operations in Ukraine, in the Battles of Stalingrad and Kursk, in the Iasi-Kishinev and Budapest operations. Awarded two Orders of Lenin, two Orders of the Red Banner, two Orders of Kutuzov, 1st degree (including Order No. 1), Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, 1st degree, and medals. Has foreign awards.

GERASIMENKO Vasily Filippovich (1900-1961)
Lieutenant General
Born on April 11 (24), 1900 in the village of Velikoburomka, now Cherkasy region.
In the Red Army since 1918. Participant of the Civil War in the North Caucasus and the Southern Front. He graduated from command staff courses (1922), Minsk United Military School (1927), Military Academy named after M. V. Frunzs (1931), Higher academic courses at the Military Academy of the General Staff (1949). After the war he commanded rifle units. Since 1931 on staff work.
Since August 1937 - commander of the rifle corps. Since August 1938, deputy, since September 1939, acting commander of the troops of the Kyiv Special Military District. Since July 1940 - Commander of the Volga Military District.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, he commanded the 21st Army (June-July), then the 13th Army (July) on the Western Front. In September-November 1941 - Deputy Commander of the Reserve Front for Logistics, Assistant Chief of the Red Army Logistics for Front Supply. Since December 1941 - commander of the troops of the Stalingrad Military District. In September - November 1943 - commander of the 28th Army on the Stalingrad, Southern and 4th Ukrainian fronts.
The army under the command of V.F. Gerasimenko participated in the Stalingrad defensive operation and in the counter-offensive of 1942-43 in the Astrakhan direction, in the Rostov and Melitopol operations of 1943. From January 1944 - commander of the troops of the Kharkov Military District, in March 1944 - October 1945 - People's Commissar of Defense of the Ukrainian SSR and commander of the troops of the Kyiv Military District. In 1945-53 - deputy and assistant commander of the Baltic Military District. Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 1st convocation.
He was awarded two Orders of Lenin, four Orders of the Red Banner, Orders of Suvorov 1st degree, Orders of Kutuzov 2nd degree and medals.

DANILOV Alexey Ilyich (1897-1981)
Lieutenant General

Born on January 15 (27), 1897 in the village of Mosino, now Vladimir region.
In military service since 1916. Participant of the 1st World War. During the Civil War - platoon and company commander on the Southwestern and Western fronts. In the post-war period - commander of the regiment, head of the regimental school, battalion commander. He graduated from the Alekseevsky Military School (1917), the Shot course (1924), the M.V. Frunze Military Academy (1931), advanced training courses for senior command personnel (1939) and the Higher Academic Courses at the Military Academy of the General Staff (1948). Since 1931 - head of the operational department of the headquarters, then chief of staff of the 29th Rifle Division, chief of staff of the 5th Rifle Corps. Since 1937 - chief of staff of the 81st Rifle Division, chief of staff and commander of the 49th Rifle Corps. Since July 1940 - assistant to the commander of the Kyiv Special Military District for Air Defense.
During the Great Patriotic War, from July 1941 - chief of air defense of the Southwestern Front, from September 1941 - chief of staff, and from June 1942 - commander of the 21st Army. From November 1942 - chief of staff of the 5th Tank Army, from April 1943 - chief of staff, from May 1943 - commander of the 12th Army. Troops under the command of A.I. Danilov took part in the Battle of Kharkov in 1942, the Battle of Stalingrad, the liberation of Donbass and Left Bank Ukraine, the crossing of the Dnieper and the liberation of Zaporozhye. Since November 1943 - commander of the 17th Army, which participated in the Khingan-Mukden operation during the Soviet-Japanese War.
After the war, he commanded the army, the rifle corps (1945-47), was the head of the Higher Academic Courses at the Military Academy of the General Staff (1948-51), assistant to the commander of the Transcaucasian Military District (1954-55). In 1955-57 - chief military adviser to the Korean People's Army. From June 1957 to 1968 - at the General Staff.
Awarded two Orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, five Orders of the Red Banner, two Orders of Suvorov, 1st degree, Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, 1st degree, medals, and foreign orders.

ZHADOV Alexey Semenovich (1901-1977)

Born on March 17 (30), 1901 in the village of Nikolskoye, now Oryol region.
In military service since 1919. In November 1919, as part of a separate detachment of the 46th Infantry Division, he fought against the Denikinites. Since October 1920 - platoon commander in the 11th Cavalry Division of the 1st Cavalry Army, participated in battles with the troops of General P.N. Wrangel, then with armed detachments operating in Ukraine and Belarus. In 1923 he fought with the Basmachi in Central Asia and was seriously wounded. He graduated from cavalry courses (1920), military-political courses (1929), the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze (1934), Higher Academic Courses at the Military Academy of the General Staff (1950).

From October 1924 - commander of a training platoon, then commander and political instructor of the squadron, from May 1934 - chief of staff of a cavalry regiment, in 1935-37 - chief of the operational unit of the headquarters of a cavalry division, from December 1937 - chief of staff of a corps. From May 1938 - assistant, then deputy inspector of the Red Army cavalry. Since 1940 he commanded the division.
During the Great Patriotic War - commander of the 4th Airborne Corps (from June 1941), which, as part of the Western Front, fought on the lines of the Berezina and Sozh rivers. From August 1941 - chief of staff of the 3rd Army on the Central and Bryansk Fronts, took part in the battles near Moscow, and in the summer of 1942 commanded the 8th Cavalry Corps on the Bryansk Front. From October 1942 - commander of the 66th Army (from April 1943 - 5th Guards), operating north of Stalingrad. As part of the Voronezh Front, the army took part in the battle of Prokhorovka, and then in the Belgorod-Kharkov offensive operation. Subsequently, the 5th Guards Army was part of the 2nd, then the 1st Ukrainian Fronts, and fought for the liberation of Ukraine in the Lviv-Sandomierz, Vistula-Odsr, Berlin and Prague operations. For his skillful command and control of troops in battles with the Nazi invaders and the courage and bravery shown at the same time, A. S. Zhadov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
In the post-war period - army commander, then deputy commander-in-chief of the Ground Forces for combat training (1946-49), deputy chief, head of the M. V. Frunze Military Academy (1950-54), commander-in-chief of the Central Group of Forces (1954-55), deputy and 1st Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces (1956-64). Since September 1964 - 1st Deputy Chief Inspector of the USSR Ministry of Defense, took an active part in the development of regulations, manuals and teaching aids, and in improving the methods of training troops. Since October 1969 - in the Group of Inspectors General of the USSR Ministry of Defense. Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 2nd convocation.
He was awarded three Orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, five Orders of the Red Banner, two Orders of Suvorov, 1st degree, and Orders of Kutuzov, 1st degree. Red Star, “For service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR” III degree, medals, as well as foreign orders and medals.

KOZLOV Dmitry Timofeevich (1896-1967)
Lieutenant General
Born on October 23 (November 4), 1896 in the village of Razgulyayka, now Semenovsky district, Nizhny Novgorod region.
In military service since 1915, in the Red Army since 1918. Participant of the 1st World War. During the Civil War and military intervention in Russia - battalion commander, assistant commander and regiment commander, fought on the Eastern and Turkestan fronts. He graduated from the school of warrant officers (1917), the “Shot” course (1924), the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze (1928), Higher academic courses at the Military Academy of the General Staff (1949). Since 1924 (at the end of the Shot course) he commanded a regiment, then - chief of staff of a rifle division, head of the Kyiv Infantry School, commander and military commissar of a rifle division, acting. commander of the rifle corps.

In 1939, while teaching at the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze. During the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-40 he commanded a rifle corps. In 1940-41 - deputy commander of the Odessa Military District, head of the Main Air Defense Directorate of the Red Army, commander of the Transcaucasian Military District.
During the Great Patriotic War, from August 1941 he commanded the Transcaucasian (from December - the Caucasian) and from January 1942 - the Crimean fronts. Under his leadership, the troops of the Caucasian Front, together with the Black Sea Fleet, successfully completed the Kerch-Feodosia landing operation of 1941-42, as a result of which the Kerch Peninsula was liberated. However, the troops of the Crimean Front under the leadership of Kozlov failed in May 1942 to repel the offensive of fascist German troops on the Kerch Peninsula; Having suffered heavy losses, they were forced to leave the peninsula and evacuate to Taman.
From August 1942, he commanded the 24th Army, which took part in the Battle of Stalingrad. From October 1942 - assistant, then deputy commander of the Voronezh Front, representative of the Supreme Command Headquarters on the Leningrad Front (May-August 1943). Since August 1943 - Deputy Commander of the Trans-Baikal Front. Participated in the defeat of the Kwantung Army during the Soviet-Japanese War of 1945. In 1946-54 - deputy commander of the Transbaikal troops, assistant commander of the Transbaikal-Amur and Belarusian military districts.
He was awarded three Orders of Lenin, five Orders of the Red Banner, medals, as well as foreign orders.

KOLPAKCHI Vladimir Yakovlevich (1899-1961)
Hero of the Soviet Union, Army General
Born on August 25 (September 6), 1899 in Kyiv.
In military service since 1916, in the Red Army since 1918. During the Civil War and military intervention in Russia, he fought for Petrograd as a private, then, as a company and battalion commander, he fought in the region of Voznesensk and Odessa (1920), participated in the suppression of the Kronstadt uprising and in battles against the Basmachi on the Turkestan Front (1923-24). Graduated from the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze (1928), Higher academic courses at the Military Academy of the General Staff (1951). Since 1928 - commander of a rifle regiment, since 1931 - chief of staff, in 1933-36 - commander and commissar of a rifle division, since 1936 - deputy chief of staff of the Belarusian Military District. In 1936-38 he participated in the national revolutionary war of the Spanish people. Upon his return, from March 1938 he commanded the 12th Rifle Corps, and from December 1940 - chief of staff of the Kharkov Military District.
At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War - chief of staff of the 18th Army, in October-November 1941 he commanded it, in December 1941 - January 1942 - chief of staff of the Bryansk Front. From January 1942 to May 1943 - assistant commander of the Southwestern Front, deputy commander of the 4th Shock Army, commander of the reserve army, 62nd Army, deputy commander of the 1st Guards Army, commander of the 30th Army, 10th Guards army. From May 1943 - commander of the 63rd Army, from February 1944 - chief of staff of the 2nd Belorussian Front, from April - commander of the 69th Army.

Troops under the command of Kolpakchi fought on the Southern, Southwestern, Kalinin, Stalingrad, Don, Central, 2nd and 1st Belorussian fronts; participated in the defense of Donbass, Moscow, Stalingrad, in the Rzhev-Vyazemsk, Oryol, Bryansk, Lublin-Brest, Warsaw-Poznan, Berlin and other operations. The troops of the 63rd Army especially distinguished themselves during the crossing of the Desna River (1943) and the 69th Army - in the battles for the capture of the cities of Kholm (Chelm), Radom, Lodz, Meseritz.
For the skillful leadership of the troops of the 69th Army in the Warsaw-Poznan operation of 1945, during which the fortified long-term defense of the Nazi troops was broken through and a strong enemy group was defeated, as well as for the successful crossing of the Oder River by the army, Kolpakchi was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union . In the Berlin operation, the 69th Army, under the leadership of Kolpakchi, in cooperation with other armies, broke through the enemy’s defenses covering Berlin from the east, then participated in completing the encirclement and defeating the enemy’s Frankfurt-Guben group.
After the Great Patriotic War, Kolpakchi was commander of the troops of the Baku Military District (1945), then of the 1st Red Banner Army, and in 1954-56 of the troops of the Northern Military District. In 1956-61 - in the Central Office of the USSR Ministry of Defense. As head of the Main Directorate of Combat Training of the Ground Forces, he did a lot of work to improve the training and education of personnel and increase the combat readiness of troops. Killed while on duty in a plane crash.
He was awarded three Orders of Lenin, three Orders of the Red Banner, three Orders of Suvorov I degree, two Orders of Kutuzov I degree, the Order of the Red Star and medals, as well as foreign orders.

KRASOVSKY Stepan Akimovich (1897-1983)

Born on August 8 (20), 1897 in the village of Glukhi, now Mogilev region (Belarus).
In military service since 1916. Participant of the 1st World War. After completing the courses for wireless telegraph mechanics, he served as a non-commissioned officer as head of a radio station in a corps aviation detachment on the Western Front. In the Red Army since 1918. He graduated from advanced training courses for Air Force command personnel (1927). Air Force Academy of the Red Army (1936; now - Air Force Engineering Academy).
During the Civil War in Russia, he was an aircraft mechanic, then the head of communications for the 33rd air squadron on the Eastern Front, and during his service he mastered the specialty of an observer pilot. Since the fall of 1919, he was commissar of an air detachment that was part of the 4th and then 11th armies. Participated in the battles for Astrakhan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia. After the Civil War - military commissar of an air squadron. From November 1927 he commanded an air detachment, from March 1934 - an aviation brigade, from November 1937 - an aviation corps, and from October 1939 - an air base area. The commander of the Murmansk air brigade participated in the Soviet-Finnish war. Since March 1940 - head of the Krasnodar Military Aviation School, then assistant commander of the Air Force of the North Caucasus Military District for military educational institutions, since June 1941 - commander of the Air Force of this district.
During the Great Patriotic War, from October 1941 he commanded the Air Force of the 56th Army, from January 1942 - the Air Force of the Bryansk Front, in May-November 1942 and from March 1943 until the end of the war - the 2nd, from November 1942 to March 1943 - 17th Air Army. Aviation formations and associations under the leadership of Krasovsky, participating in battles on the Southern, Bryansk, Southwestern, Voronezh, 1st Ukrainian fronts, crushed the enemy near Rostov-on-Don, in the Battles of Stalingrad and Kursk, during the crossing of the Dnieper, the liberation of Kiev, in the Korsun-Shevchenko, Lviv-Sandomierz, Lower Silesia, Berlin and Prague operations. During the fighting, he persistently implemented the principle of massive use of aviation. For his skillful command of the air armies, personal courage and heroism, Krasovsky was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
After the war, he commanded the 2nd Air Army, from May 1947 - the Far East Air Force, from October 1950 he was deputy, and from October 1951 - chief military adviser to the PRC. Since August 1952 - commander of the Moscow Air Force, since June 1953 - of the North Caucasus military districts, and since April 1955 - of the 26th Air Army. In 1956-68 - head of the Air Force Academy, professor (1960). From October 1968 to July 1970 - in the Group of Inspectors General of the USSR Ministry of Defense.
Awarded six Orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, four Orders of the Red Banner, Orders of Suvorov I and II degrees, Kutuzov I degrees. Bogdan Khmelnitsky, 1st degree, Red Star, “For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR”, 3rd degree, medals, as well as foreign orders and medals.

KRYLOV Nikolai Ivanovich (1903-1972)

Born on April 16 (29), 1903 in the village of Galyaevka (now Vishnevoye) in the Tamalinsky district of the Penza region.
In military service since 1919. He graduated from the Infantry and Machine Gun Courses for Red Commanders (1920), and the Shot Course (1928). During the Civil War and military intervention in Russia, as a private he participated in battles with the White Guards on the Southern Front, and after completing the infantry and machine gun courses, commanding a platoon and company, he fought in the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia, as a battalion commander he took part in the liberation of Spassk and Vladivostok from White Guards and Japanese. After the war - in command and staff positions in formations of the Siberian Military District and the Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army; then chief of staff of the border Danube fortified region.
During the Great Patriotic War he fought on the Southern, North Caucasus, Stalingrad, Don, Southwestern, Western, 3rd Belorussian fronts; at the beginning of it - the head of the operational department, from August 1941 - the chief of staff of the Primorsky Army. In difficult conditions, he provided command and control of troops during the defense of Odessa and Sevastopol. Since September 1942 - chief of staff of the 62nd Army, which participated in the Battle of Stalingrad.
The headquarters, led by Krylov, carried out a lot of work in the troops, who for more than 2 months, with the greatest steadfastness and tenacity, fought defensive battles in the city, generalized the experience of the battles in Stalingrad and introduced it into the regiments and divisions of the army in order to increase the stability of the defense. During the liquidation of the enemy group surrounded at Stalingrad, he successfully provided command and control of the army's troops. From April 1943 - chief of staff of the 8th Guards Army, from May - commander of the 3rd Reserve Army, from July - 21st Army, whose troops took part in the Smolensk operation of 1943. From October 1943 to October 1944 and from December 1944 - commander of the 5th Army. In the Belarusian operation of 1944, the army, acting as part of the strike group of the 3rd Belorussian Front in the Bogushevsky direction, ensured the introduction of a cavalry-mechanized group into the breakthrough, and then the 5th Guards Tank Army. The troops of the 5th Army under the command of Krylov were the first to cross the Berezina River and participated in the liberation of the city of Borisov, and in the East Prussian operation of 1945 - in the liquidation of the Zemland group. For the courage and heroism shown in the fight against the Nazi invaders and skillful leadership of the troops, Krylov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
During the Soviet-Japanese War, during the defeat of the Kwantung Army, the 5th Army of the 1st Far Eastern Front, acting on the main direction of the offensive, broke through a powerful line of long-term enemy defensive structures and ensured the fulfillment of the front's mission. For successful command of the army in the war with Japan N.I. Krylov was awarded the second Gold Star medal.
After the war, he commanded the 15th Army and was deputy commander of the Primorsky Military District (1945-47). In 1947-53 he commanded the troops of the Far Eastern Military District, and since 1953 - 1st deputy commander of the troops of this district. Then he commanded the troops of the Ural (1956-57), Leningrad (1957-60), Moscow (1960-63) military districts. Since March 1963 - Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN) - Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR. He did a lot of work to equip the Strategic Missile Forces with new types of missile weapons, improve the system of training and education of personnel, methods of operation of control bodies, organization and combat duty. Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 3rd-8th convocations. He was awarded four Orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, four Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of Suvorov I degree, Kutuzov I degree and medals, as well as foreign orders. Awarded the Arms of Honor. He was buried on Red Square in Moscow.

KRYUCHENKIN Vasily Dmitrievich (1894-1976)
Lieutenant General
Born on January 1 (13), 1894 in the village of Karpovka, now Buguruslan district, Orenburg region.
In military service since 1915, junior non-commissioned officer; from December 1917 to February 1918 - in the Red Guard, from February 1918 - in the Red Army. During the Civil War and military intervention in Russia, as part of the 1st Cavalry Army (since 1919), he participated in battles against the White movement and Polish troops: platoon commander, squadron commander, assistant commander and commander of a cavalry regiment. He graduated from the cavalry school (1923), advanced training courses for command personnel (1926), advanced training courses for senior command personnel (1935), advanced training courses for senior command personnel at the M. V. Frunze Military Academy (1941), an accelerated course at the Military Academy of the General Staff (1943).
After the Civil War, he commanded a squadron, was the head of a regimental school, chief of staff, military commissar and commander of a cavalry regiment. From June 1938, he commanded the 14th Cavalry Division, with which he entered the Great Patriotic War; from November 1941 to July 1942 - commander of the 5th Cavalry Corps (from December 1941 - 3rd Guards Corps). Since July 1942 - commander of the armies: 28th (July 1942, Southwestern Front), 4th Tank (August-October 1942, Stalingrad Front), 69th (March 1943-April 19441, Voronezh and Steppe Fronts. Reserve Headquarters of the Supreme High Command) and 33rd (April-July 1944, 2nd Belorussian Front); from January 1945 - deputy commander of the 61st Army, then deputy commander of the 1st Belorussian Front.
The troops under the command of Kryuchenkin successfully operated in the Battle of Kharkov and the Battle of Stalingrad, participated in the Belarusian and Vistula-Oder operations, and especially distinguished themselves in repelling the German offensive in the Battle of Kursk, during the liberation of Kharkov, and crossing the Dnieper River.
After the war (until June 1946) - deputy commander of the Don and then North Caucasus military districts.
He was awarded four Orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, four Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of Kutuzov, 1st degree, and medals.

KUZNETSOV Vasily Ivanovich (1894-1964)

Born on January 1 (13), 1894 in the village of Ust-Usolka, now Cherdynsky district, Perm region.
In military service since 1915. Participant in the First World War, second lieutenant. In the Red Army since 1918. During the Civil War and military intervention in Russia, he commanded a company, battalion, and regiment, and participated in battles on the Eastern and Southern fronts. He graduated from the school for warrant officers (1916), the Shot course (1926), the advanced training course for senior command personnel (1929), the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze (1936).
After the Civil War - commander of a rifle regiment, assistant commander and commander of a rifle division (November 1931 - December 1934 and October 1936 - August 1937); from August 1937, he commanded the Rifle Corps, then the Vitebsk Army Group of Forces, and from September 1939, the 3rd Army, formed on the basis of this group. In September 1939, army units took part in a campaign in Western Belarus.
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the 3rd Army under the command of V.I. Kuznetsov (until August 25, 1941) as part of the Western Front in a border defensive battle fought heavy battles with superior enemy forces in the area of ​​Grodno, Lida, Novogrudok. From August 25 to September 1941 - commander of the 21st Army, whose troops took part in the Battle of Smolensk in 1941 (Bryansk Front). In September 1941 he was wounded and after recovery he commanded the Kharkov Military District (October-November 1941). Then he was on the Western, Southwestern, Stalingrad, 1st Ukrainian, 1st Baltic, 1st Belorussian fronts, commanded the 58th (November 1941), 1st shock (November 1941 - May 1942), 63rd th (July-November 1942), 1st Guards (December 1942 - December 1943) armies.
Troops of the 1st Shock Army (Western Front) under the leadership of V.I. Kuznetsov successfully operated in the counter-offensive near Moscow, the 63rd Army in the Battle of Stalingrad, and formations of the 1st Guards Army (Southwestern Front) liberated Donbass and Left Bank Ukraine, participated in Izyum-Barvenkovskaya and other offensive operations. From December 1943 - deputy commander of the 1st Baltic Front, from March 1945 until the end of the war he commanded the 3rd Shock Army, whose troops, as part of the 1st Belorussian Front, took part in the East Pomeranian and Berlin operations. For the skillful organization and conduct of military operations to break through the enemy's defenses on the Oder River and capture Berlin, and for his personal courage and bravery, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
After the war he continued to command the 3rd Shock Army. Since May 1948 - Chairman of the DOSAAF Central Committee, since September 1951 - DOSAAF USSR. In 1953-57 he commanded the troops of the Volga Military District, and from June 1957 to 1960 he worked in the Central Office of the USSR Ministry of Defense. He was elected as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 2nd and 4th convocations.
He was awarded two Orders of Lenin, five Orders of the Red Banner, two Orders of Suvorov, 1st degree, Order of Suvorov, 2nd degree, medals, as well as foreign orders.

LELYUSHENKO Dmitry Danilovich (1901-1987)
Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Army General
Born on October 20 (November 2), 1901, in the Novokuznetsky farmstead, now Zernogradsky district, Rostov region.
During the Civil War and military intervention in Russia at the beginning of 1918, he was in the partisan detachment B.M. Dumenko, then a private in the cavalry regiment, participated in battles against the troops of generals E.M. Mamontova, A.G. Shkuro, P.N. Wrangel. In the Red Army since 1919. He graduated from the Leningrad Military-Political School named after F. Engels (1925), the Cavalry School of Red Commanders (1927), the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze (1933), Military Academy of the General Staff (1949). Since 1925 - political instructor of the squadron, then of the regimental school, military commissar of the cavalry regiment. Since 1933 - company commander, assistant chief and chief of staff of a mechanized brigade, since 1935 - commander of a training battalion, since 1937 - head of the 1st department of the directorate of the chief of armored forces of the Moscow Military District. From June 1938 - commander of a separate tank regiment, and from October 1939 - commander of a tank brigade. Participated in a campaign in Western Belarus in 1939. In the Soviet-Finnish war he commanded a tank brigade; For the brigade's successful military operations and personal courage, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Since June 1940 - commander of the 1st Proletarian Moscow Division.
Since March 1941, Yuda was the commander of the 21st Mechanized Corps, which operated on the North-Western Front from the first days of the Great Patriotic War. Since August 1941 - Deputy Head of the Main Automotive Armored Directorate of the Red Army and Head of the Directorate for the Formation and Recruitment of Automotive Armored Troops. Since October 1941, again in the active army - on the Western, Southwestern, 3rd, 4th and 1st Ukrainian fronts. He took part in the battle of Moscow: as commander of the 1st Rifle Corps in the Oryol-Tula direction, commanded the 5th Army in the Mozhaisk direction, the 30th Army on the closest approaches to the capital and in the counter-offensive in the Dmitrov-Klin direction. During the Battle of Stalingrad, from November 1942, he commanded the 1st Shock Army (from December - the 3rd Guards Army), which played an important role in the encirclement and destruction of Nazi troops near Stapingrad and then participated in the Voroshilovgrad, Donbass, Zaporozhye . Nikopol-Krivoy Rog operations. Its troops especially distinguished themselves in the battles for Donbass, during the liberation of Zaporozhye and Nikopol. From March 1944 - commander of the 4th Tank Army (from March 1945 - Guards), which took part in the Proskurov-Chernovtsy, Lvov-Sandomierz. Lower Silesian, Upper Silesian, Berlin and Prague operations.
For the successful command of the 4th Tank Army during the defeat of the Kielce-Radom enemy group, as well as during the crossing of the Oder River and the courage and courage shown at the same time, he was awarded the second Gold Star medal.
After the war, he commanded the 4th Guards Tank Army, then the armored and mechanized forces of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, from March 1950 - the 1st Red Banner Separate Army, from July 1953 - first deputy commander of the Carpathian Military District, from November he commanded 8th Mechanized Army. Since January 1956 - commander of the Trans-Baikal, and since January 1958 - commander of the Ural military districts. In June 1960 - June 1964 - Chairman of the Central Committee of DOSAAF USSR. Since June 1964 - in the Group of Inspectors General of the USSR Ministry of Defense. He was elected as a deputy of the Supreme Council of the 1st, 5th, 6th convocations. Hero of Czechoslovakia (1970).
Awarded six Orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, four Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of Suvorov I degree, two Orders of Kutuzov I degree, the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky I degree, the Order of the Patriotic War I degree, "Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" III degree and medals, and also foreign orders. Awarded the Arms of Honor (1968).

LOPATIN Anton Ivanovich (1897-1965)
Hero of the Soviet Union, Lieutenant General
Born on January 6 (18), 1897 in the village of Kamenka, now Brest district, Brest region (Belarus).
In military service since 1916. In the Red Army since 1918. During the Civil War and military intervention in Russia, as part of the 1st Cavalry Army, as an assistant platoon commander, then as an assistant commander and squadron commander, he participated in battles on the Tsaritsyn, Southwestern and Western fronts. He graduated from cavalry advanced training courses for command personnel (1925 and 1927) and Higher Academic Courses at the Military Academy of the General Staff (1947). After the Civil War - squadron commander, head of the regimental school, assistant commander, from 1939 - commander of a cavalry regiment, from 1937 - commander of the 6th Cavalry Division; since 1938 - teacher of tactics for cavalry advanced training courses for command personnel, since 1939 - cavalry inspector of the Trans-Baikal Military District, and since 1940 - front group. From June 1940 - deputy army commander, from November - commander of the 31st Rifle Corps.
At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War in August-September 1941, he commanded the 6th Rifle Corps, which distinguished itself in battles in the Lutsk region (Southwestern Front). In October 1941, he was appointed commander of the 37th Army of the Southern Front, which, in the Rostov offensive operation, struck the flank of Kleist’s tank army, and part of its forces went to its rear. The attack by the 37th Army played a decisive role and forced the enemy to retreat to the Mius River. Army troops operated successfully in the Barvenkovo-Lozovsky and Donbass operations of 1942.
Subsequently, he commanded the 9th Army of the Transcaucasian Front (June-July 1942), which participated in repelling the advance of Nazi troops in the Donbass and the great bend of the Don River, then the 62nd Army of the Stalingrad Front (August-September 1942). From October 1942 - commander of the 34th Army, from March 1943 - of the 11th Army, which took part in the Demyansk operations. In September-October 1943 - commander of the 20th Army (Kalinin Front), from January 1944 - deputy commander of the 43rd Army. In July 1944, at his personal request, he was appointed commander of the 13th Guards Rifle Corps (43rd Army), which, as part of the 1st Baltic and 3rd Belorussian fronts, participated in the liberation of the Baltic states, in the East Prussian operation, and then as part of Transbaikal Front - in the war with Japan. For the skillful command of the corps, which distinguished itself during the liquidation of the enemy group in Koenigsberg and the capture of Koenigsberg, as well as for the courage and courage shown, Lopatin was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
In the post-war years, he commanded a rifle corps, was deputy army commander, and assistant commander of the Transcaucasian Military District (until 1954). In January 1954 he was transferred to the reserve due to illness.
He was awarded three Orders of Lenin, three Orders of the Red Banner, two Orders of Kutuzov, 1st degree, the Order of the Red Star and medals.

MALINOVSKY Rodion Yakovlevich (1898-1967)
Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Marshal of the Soviet Union
Born November 11 (23), 1898 in Odessa.
In military service since 1914. Participant of the 1st World War. Since February 1916 - as part of the Russian expeditionary force in France. In the Red Army since 1919. Graduated from the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze (1930). During the Civil War and military intervention in Russia, he fought with the White Guards on the Eastern Front. From December 1920, after studying at the junior command school, he was the commander of a machine-gun platoon, then the head of a machine-gun team, assistant commander, and from November 1923 to October 1927, a battalion commander. Since 1930 - chief of staff of a cavalry regiment, then served in the headquarters of the North Caucasus and Belarusian military districts. From January 1935 - Chief of Staff of the 3rd Cavalry Corps, from June 1936 - Assistant Inspector of Cavalry of the Belarusian Military District. In 1937-38 he participated in the national revolutionary war of the Spanish people. Since 1939, he has been teaching at the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze, since March 1941 - commander of the 48th Rifle Corps.
The military leadership talent of R.Ya. Malinovsky clearly manifested himself during the Great Patriotic War. From August 1941 he commanded the 6th Army, from December 1941 to July 1942 - the Southern Front, in August-October 1942 - the 66th Army, which fought north of Stalingrad. In October-November 1942 - deputy commander of the Voronezh Front. From November 1942, he commanded the 2nd Guards Army, which in December, in cooperation with the 5th Shock Army and the 51st Army, stopped and then defeated the troops of Army Group Don, who were trying to relieve a large group of German troops encircled near Stalingrad. The rapid advance of the 2nd Guards Army and its entry into battle on the move played an important role in the success of this operation.
Since February 1943, Malinovsky has been the commander of the Southern, and since March - the Southwestern (October 20, 1943 renamed the 3rd Ukrainian) fronts, whose troops fought for the Donbass and Right Bank Ukraine. Under his leadership, the Zaporozhye operation was prepared and successfully carried out: Soviet troops, with a sudden night assault, captured an important enemy defense center - Zaporozhye, which had a great influence on the defeat of the Melitopol group of fascist German troops and contributed to the isolation of the Nazis in the Crimea. Subsequently, the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, together with the neighboring 2nd Ukrainian Front, expanded the bridgehead in the area of ​​​​the Dnieper bend. Then, in cooperation with the troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front, they successfully carried out the Nikopol-Krivoy Rog operation. In the spring of 1944, troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front under the leadership of Malinovsky carried out the Bereznegovato-Snigirevskaya and Odessa operations: they crossed the Southern Bug River, liberated Nikolaev and Odessa. Since May 1944 - commander of the 2nd Ukrainian Front.
In August 1944, front troops, together with the 3rd Ukrainian Front, secretly prepared and successfully carried out the Iasi-Kishinev operation - one of the outstanding operations of the Great Patriotic War. Soviet troops achieved great political and military results in it: they defeated the main forces of the Nazi Army Group “Southern Ukraine”, liberated Moldova and reached the Romanian-Hungarian and Bulgarian-Yugoslav borders, thereby radically changing the military-political situation on the southern wing Soviet-German front.
In October 1944, troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front under the command of Malinovsky successfully carried out the Debrecen operation, during which they inflicted a serious defeat on Army Group South; Nazi troops were expelled from Transylvania. The troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front took an advantageous position for the attack on Budapest and provided great assistance to the 4th Ukrainian Front in overcoming the Carpathians and liberating Transcarpathian Ukraine. Following the Debrecen operation, they, in cooperation with the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, carried out the Budapest operation (October 1944 - February 1945), as a result of which Soviet troops surrounded and then eliminated a large enemy group and liberated the capital of Hungary - Budapest.
At the final stage of the defeat of the Nazi troops on the territory of Hungary and the eastern regions of Austria, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, together with the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, successfully carried out the Vienna operation (March-April 1945). During its course, Soviet troops expelled the Nazi occupiers from Western Hungary, liberated a significant part of Czechoslovakia, the eastern regions of Austria and its capital, Vienna.
During the Soviet-Japanese War, R.Ya. Malinovsky again showed high military leadership. From July 1945, he commanded the troops of the Trans-Baikal Front, which delivered the main blow in the Manchurian Strategic Operation, which resulted in the defeat of the Japanese Kwantung Army. The combat operations of the front troops were distinguished by the skillful choice of the direction of the main attack, the bold use of the tank army in the 1st echelon of the front, the clear organization of interaction during the conduct of the offensive in individual disparate operational directions, and the extremely high pace of the offensive for that time. For great military leadership, courage and bravery R.Ya. Malinovsky was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
After the war with Japan - commander of the troops of the Trans-Baikal-Amur Military District (1945-47), commander-in-chief of the troops of the Far East (1947-53), commander of the troops of the Far Eastern Military District (1953-56). Since March 1956 - 1st Deputy Minister of Defense and Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces. Since October 1957 - Minister of Defense of the USSR. For services to the Motherland in the construction and strengthening of the Armed Forces of the USSR and in connection with the 60th anniversary, he was awarded the second Gold Star medal. Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 2nd-7th convocations.
He was awarded five Orders of Lenin, three Orders of the Red Banner, two Orders of Suvorov, 1st degree, Order of Kutuzov, 1st degree and medals, as well as foreign orders and medals. Awarded the highest Soviet military order "Victory". He was buried on Red Square in Moscow.

MOSKALENKO Kirill Semenovich (1902-1978)
Twice Heroes of the Soviet Union, Marshal of the Soviet Union
Born on April 28 (May 11), 1902 in the village of Grishin, now Krasnoarmeysky district, Donetsk region (Ukraine).
In military service since 1920. Participant in the Civil War and battles during the years of military intervention in Russia: he fought in Ukraine and Crimea as a private in the 6th Cavalry Division. He graduated from the Ukrainian United School of Red Commanders (1922), artillery advanced training courses for the command staff of the Red Army (1928), advanced training courses for senior command personnel at the Artillery Academy named after F. E. Dzerzhinsky (1939). Since 1922 - platoon commander, then battery, division, chief of staff of an artillery regiment. Since 1934 - commander of an artillery regiment. From May 1935 - chief of artillery of the 23rd mechanized brigade in the Far East, and from September 1936 - chief of the 133rd mechanized brigade of the Kyiv Military District. Since 1939 - chief of artillery of the 51st Perekop Rifle Division. Weight of the composition took part in the Soviet-Finnish war. Then the chief of artillery of the 9th Infantry, and from August 1940 to April 1941 - the 2nd Mechanized Corps of the Odessa Military District. Since April 1941 - commander of the 1st motorized anti-tank artillery brigade. In this position he met the Great Patriotic War.
From August 1941 he commanded the 16th Rifle Corps, then deputy commander of the 6th Army, and from February 1942 - commander of the 6th Cavalry Corps. From March 1942 - commander of the 38th Army, from July - 1st Tank Army, from August - 1st Guards Army, from October - 40th Army, from October 1943 - again commander of the 38th Army.
Troops under the leadership of Moskalenko fought on the Southwestern, Stalingrad, Bryansk, Voronezh, 1st and 4th Ukrainian fronts, took part in defensive battles near Vladimir-Volynsky, Rovno, Novograd-Volynsky, Kiev, Chernigov, in Stalingrad and Kursk battles in Ostrogozh-Rossoshanskaya, Voronezh-Kastorninska, Kiev, Zhitomir-Berdichevskaya, Proskurov-Chernivtsi, Lvov-Sandomierz. Carpathian-Dukla, Western Carpathian, Moravian-Ostrava and Prague operations. They distinguished themselves in battles when breaking through strong, deeply layered enemy defenses in the Lvov direction, as well as during the capture of the cities of Kyiv, Zhitomir, Zhmerinka, Vinnitsa, Lvov. Moravska-Ostrava, etc. For skillful command and control of troops during the crossing of the Dnieper and the heroism shown, Moskalenko was awarded the “title of Hero of the Soviet Union.”
After the war, he continued to command the 38th Army, from 1948 he headed the troops of the Moscow region (renamed the district) of the air defense, and from 1953 he was the commander of the troops of the Moscow Military District. In 1960-1962, Moskapenko was Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Missile Forces and Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR; since 1962, Chief Inspector of the Ministry of Defense, Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR. For services to the Motherland in the development and strengthening of the USSR Armed Forces, he was awarded the second Gold Star medal. Since 1983 - in the Group of Inspectors General of the USSR Ministry of Defense. Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR 2-1 of the 1st convocation.
He was awarded seven Orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, five Orders of the Red Banner, two Orders of Suvorov, 1st degree, two Orders of Kutuzov, 1st degree, and Orders of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, 1st degree. Patriotic War 1st degree, “For service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR” 3rd degree, medals, Weapons of Honor, as well as foreign orders and medals.

POPOV Markian Mikhailovich (1902-1969)
Heroes of the Soviet Union, Army General
Born on November 2 (15), 1902 in the village of Ust-Medveditskaya (now the city of Serafimovich), Volgograd region.
In the Red Army since 1920. He fought in the Civil War on the Western Front as a private. He graduated from the infantry command courses (1922), the “Shot” course (1925), the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze (1936). Since 1922 - platoon commander, then assistant company commander, assistant chief and head of the regimental school, battalion commander, inspector of military educational institutions of the Moscow Military District. From May 1936 - chief of staff of the mechanized brigade, then the 5th mechanized corps. From June 1938 - deputy commander, from September - chief of staff, from July 1939 - commander of the 1st Separate Red Banner Far Eastern Army, and from January 1941 - commander of the Leningrad Military District.
During the Great Patriotic War - commander of the Northern and Leningrad fronts (June-September 1941), 61st and 40th armies (November 1941-October 1942). He was deputy commander of the Stalingrad and Southwestern fronts, commander of the 5th Shock Army (October 1942-April 1943), the Reserve Front and the troops of the Steppe Military District (April-May 1943), Bryansk (June-October 1943), Baltic and 2nd m Baltic (October 1943-April 1944) fronts. From April 1944 until the end of the war - chief of staff of the Leningrad, 2nd Baltic, then again Leningrad fronts. Participated in planning operations and successfully led troops in battles near Leningrad, near Moscow, in the Battles of Stalingrad and Kursk, during the liberation of Karelia and the Baltic states,
The troops under his command distinguished themselves during the liberation of the cities of Orel, Bryansk, Bezhitsa, Unscha, Dno, and during the crossing of the Desna River. He skillfully used combat experience in training troops in the post-war period, holding the positions of commander of the Lvov (1945-1946) and Tauride (1946-1954) military districts. From January 1955 - Deputy Chief, then - Head of the Main Directorate of Combat Training, from August 1956 - Chief of the General Staff - First Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces. Since 1962 - military inspector-adviser of the Group of Inspectors General of the USSR Ministry of Defense. Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 2nd-6th convocations.
Hero of the Soviet Union (1965). He was awarded five Orders of Lenin, three Orders of the Red Banner, two Orders of Suvorov, 1st degree, two Orders of Kutuzov, 1st degree, Order of the Red Star, medals, as well as foreign orders.

ROMANENKO Prokofy Logvinovich (1897-1949)
Colonel General
Born on February 13 (25), 1897 in the Romanenki farm, now Ramensky district, Sumy region.
Participant of the 1st World War (since 1914), ensign. For military distinctions at the fronts he was awarded four St. George's crosses. In the Red Army since 1918. He graduated from advanced training courses for command personnel (1925) and advanced training courses for senior command personnel (1930), Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze (1933) and the Military Academy of the General Staff (1948).
After the October Revolution, he was a volost military commissar in the Stavropol province. During the Civil War, he led a partisan detachment, fought on the Southern and Western fronts as a squadron and regiment commander and assistant commander of a cavalry brigade. After the war he commanded a cavalry regiment, and from 1937 a mechanized brigade. Participated in the national revolutionary war of the Spanish people. For heroism shown in Spain he was awarded the Order of Lenin. Since 1938 - commander of the 7th Mechanized Corps. Participant of the Soviet-Finnish war. From May 1941 - commander of the 34th Rifle Corps, then the 1st Mechanized Corps.
During the Great Patriotic War - commander of the 17th Army of the Trans-Baikal Front. From May 1942 in the active army: commander of the 3rd Tank Army, then deputy commander of the Bryansk Front (September-November 1942), from November 1942 - commander of the 5th Tank Army, then commander of the 2nd Tank Army, 48th Army (until December 1944). Headed by P.L. Romanenko's troops took part in the Rzhev-Sychevsk operation, in the Battles of Stalingrad and Kursk, in the Belarusian operation; distinguished themselves during the capture of the cities of Novgorod-Seversky, Rschitsa, Gomel, Zhlobin, Bobruisk, Slonim, as well as when breaking through the heavily fortified enemy defenses in the Bobruisk direction and when crossing the Shary River. In 1945-1947, commander of the troops of the East Siberian Military District. Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 2nd convocation.
He was awarded two Orders of Lenin, four Orders of the Red Banner, two Orders of Suvorov, 1st degree, two Orders of Kutuzov, 1st degree, medals and foreign orders.

RUDENKO Sergey Ignatievich (1904-1990)
Hero of the Soviet Union, Air Marshal, Professor
Born on October 7 (20), 1904 in the village of Korop, now Chernigov region (Ukraine).
In the Red Army since 1923. He graduated from the 1st Military Pilot School (1927), the N. E. Zhukovsky Air Force Academy (1932) and its operations department (1936). Since 1927 - pilot. Since 1932 - commander of a squadron, then an aviation regiment and an aviation brigade, deputy commander of an aviation division, and since January 1941, commander of an aviation division.
During the Great Patriotic War - commander of the 31st Air Division on the Western Front, commander of the Air Force of the 61st Army, deputy commander and commander of the Air Force of the Kalinin Front, deputy commander of the Air Force of the Volkhov Front, commander of the 1st Air Group and 7th Strike Air Group of the Supreme High Command Headquarters . From June 1942 - deputy commander of the Air Force of the Southwestern Front, from October 1942 until the end of the war - commander of the 16th Air Army on the Stalingrad, Don, Central, Belorussian and 1st Belorussian fronts. He took part in the Battles of Stalingrad and Kursk. Belarusian, Warsaw-Poznan, East Pomeranian and Berlin operations. For his skillful leadership of the air army and the courage and heroism shown, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
After the war - in responsible positions in the Air Force: Commander of the Airborne Forces (1948-1950), Chief of the Air Force General Staff (1950), Commander of Long-Range Aviation - Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force (1950-1953), Chief of the General Staff - 1st Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force (1953) -1958), 1st Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force (1958-1968). In May 1968, he was appointed head of the Yu.A. Air Force Academy. Gagarin. Since 1972 - professor. Since 1973 - military inspector-adviser of the Group of Inspectors General of the USSR Ministry of Defense. Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 2nd and 6th convocations.
He was awarded five Orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, four Orders of the Red Banner, two Orders of Suvorov, 1st degree, Orders of Kutuzov, 1st degree, Orders of Suvorov, 2nd degree, “For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR,” 3rd degree, medals, as well as foreign orders.

SMIRNOV Konstantin Nikolaevich (1899-1981)
Lieutenant General of Aviation
Born October 3(15), 1899 in Moscow.
Participant in the Civil War. In the Red Army since 1918. He graduated from the Yegoryevsk Aviation Pilot School (1921), advanced training courses for command personnel at the Air Force Academy named after N.E. Zhukovsky (1928 and 1930), advanced training courses for senior command personnel at the same academy (1936). Since 1922 - pilot, flight commander, squadron commander. Participated in the liquidation of the Basmachi in the Karakum Desert (1928), commander of an aviation detachment. In 1936 - 1940 - assistant commander, then commander of the bomber aviation brigade, commander of the 46th aviation division. From November 1940 - commander of the 2nd Aviation Corps, with whom he entered the Great Patriotic War.
Since October 1941 - commander of the 101st Fighter Aviation Division. From January 1942 - Commander of the Air Force of the 12th Army, and from July - Commander of the Air Force of the Volga Military District. Since November 1942 - commander of the 2nd Air Army. He fought on the Western, Southwestern, Southern, and Voronezh fronts. Participated in the defensive battles of 1941, the Barvenkoy-Lozovskaya operation, the Battle of Stalingrad, the Ostrogozh-Rossoshanskaya, Voronezh-Kastornenskaya operations. Since May 1943 - Commander of the Air Force of the Volga Military District, since 1946 - Commander of the Aviation of the Airborne Forces.
Awarded two Orders of Lenin, two Orders of the Red Banner, Order of Kutuzov, 1st degree, Order of the Red Star, and medals.

TOLBUKHIN Fedor Ivanovich (1894-1949)
Heroes of the Soviet Union, Marshal of the Soviet Union
Born on June 4 (16), 1894 in the village of Androniki, now Yaroslavl district, Yaroslavl region.
In 1914 he was drafted into the army, graduated from the ensign school (1915), participated in battles on the North-Western and South-Western fronts, commanded a company and battalion, and was a staff captain. In the Red Army since 1918. After the February Revolution, he was elected secretary, then chairman of the regimental committee. During the Civil War, he was the military head of the Sandyrsvsky and Shagotsky volost commissariats in the Yaroslavl province, then assistant chief and chief of staff of the division, head of the operational department of the army headquarters, took part in battles with the White Guards on the Northern and Western fronts. He graduated from the Staff Service School (1919), advanced training courses for senior command personnel (1927 and 1930), and the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze (1934). Then he served as chief of staff of a rifle division and corps. From September 1937 - commander of a rifle division, and from July 1938 to August 1941 - chief of staff of the Transcaucasian Military District. He was distinguished by a high staff culture and paid a lot of attention to combat training and command and control of troops.
During the Great Patriotic War - chief of staff of the Transcaucasian, Caucasian and Crimean fronts (1941-42). In May-July 1942 - deputy commander of the troops of the Stalingrad Military District. From July 1942 - commander of the 57th Army on the Stalingrad Front, from February 1943 - commander of the 68th Army on the North-Western Front. From March 1943 - commander of the Southern Front, from October - the 4th Ukrainian Front, from May 1944 until the end of the war - the 3rd Ukrainian Front. At these posts, F.I.’s organizational abilities and military leadership talent were especially clearly demonstrated. Tolbukhin. The troops under his command successfully operated in operations on the Mius and Molochnaya rivers, during the liberation of Donbass and Crimea.
In August 1944, the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, together with the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, secretly prepared and successfully carried out the Iasi-Kishinev operation. After its completion, troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front participated in the Belgrade, Budapest, Balaton and Vienna operations. In these operations, F.I. Tolbukhin skillfully organized joint combat operations of the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front and the formations of the Bulgarian and Yugoslav armies that interacted with them. For successful military operations in the Great Patriotic War, commanded by F.I. Tolbukhin, were noted 34 times in the orders of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Since September 1944 - Chairman of the Union Control Commission in Bulgaria, as part of the Soviet delegation participated in the Slavic Congress (December 1946). In July 1945 - January 1947 - Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Group of Forces, then commander of the Transcaucasian Military District. Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 2nd convocation. Hero of the People's Republic of Bulgaria (posthumously, 1979).
He was awarded two Orders of Lenin, three Orders of the Red Banner, two Orders of Suvorov, 1st degree, Orders of Kutuzov, 1st degree, the Red Star, medals, as well as foreign orders and medals. Awarded the highest military order "Victory". A monument was erected to F.I. Tolbukhin in Moscow; his name was given to one of the rifle divisions, the Higher Officer School of Self-Propelled Artillery. The city of Dobrich in Bulgaria was renamed to Tolbukhin, the village of Davydkovo in the Yaroslavl region - to Tolbukhin; Memorial plaques were installed on the buildings of the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze and the headquarters of the Transcaucasian Military District. He was buried on Red Square near the Kremlin wall in Moscow.

TRUFANOV Nikolay Ivanovich (1900-1982)
Colonel General
Born on May 2 (15), 1900 in the village of Velikoye, now Ganrilov-Yamsky district, Yaroslavl region.
In the Red Army since 1919. During the Civil War - a private, then - the head of a field telephone office on the South-Eastern and Southern fronts. He graduated from the United Military School named after the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (1925), the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze (1939) and Higher Academic Courses at the Military Academy of the General Staff (1950). In 1921-37 - assistant military commissar of a cavalry regiment, commander of a cavalry platoon, assistant commander and commander of a cavalry squadron, head of a regimental school, assistant commander and chief of staff of a cavalry regiment. Since 1939 - chief of staff of the 4th Infantry Division, participated in the Soviet-Finnish war.
From January 1941 - assistant commander of the 23rd Infantry, from March - chief of staff of the 28th mechanized corps, from August - chief of staff of the 47th Army in Transcaucasia. Since December 1941 - in the active army on the Crimean, North Caucasus, Stalingrad, Voronezh, 2nd Ukrainian, 2nd and 1st Belorussian fronts: chief of staff, then chief of logistics and deputy commander of the 47th Army, in April - In June 1942 he commanded the 1st Separate Rifle Corps, from July 1942 to February 1943 - the 51st Army, from June 1943 - deputy commander of the 69th Army, and from March 1945 - commander of the 25th Rifle Corps. He took part in the Battles of Stalingrad and Kursk, in the defeat of Nazi troops in Belarus, the Lublin-Brest, Vistula-Oder, East Pomeranian and Berlin operations.
After the war - in senior positions in the Soviet military administration in Germany. Since June 1950 - head of the combat and physical training department of the troops of the Far East, and then the Far Eastern Military District, since January 1954 - in senior command positions in the troops, since January 1956 - 1st deputy commander of the troops of the Far Eastern Military District, since June 1957 - chief military adviser, then senior military specialist in the Chinese army.
He was awarded two Orders of Lenin, three Orders of the Red Banner, two Orders of Kutuzov, 1st degree, Orders of Suvorov, 2nd degree, Orders of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, Red Star, medals, as well as foreign orders and medals.

KHARITONOV Fedor Mikhailovich (1899-1943)
Lieutenant General
Born on January 11 (24), 1899 in the village of Vasilyevskoye, now Rybinsk district, Yaroslavl region.
In the Red Army since 1919. Participated in the Civil War on the Eastern and Southern fronts, a Red Army soldier. In 1921-30 he worked at the military registration and enlistment office. He graduated from the Shot course (1931) and advanced training courses for senior command personnel at the Military Academy of the General Staff (1941). Since 1931 - commander of a rifle regiment. In 1937-41 - chief of staff of the 17th rifle division of the 57th rifle corps and head of the headquarters department of the Moscow Military District.
During the Great Patriotic War, from June 1941 - deputy chief of staff of the Southern Front, from September - commander of the 9th Army of the same front, from July 1942 - 6th Army of the Voronezh, then Southwestern Fronts. He took part in defensive battles in Western Ukraine, Moldova and Donbass. The troops of the 9th Army under the command of Kharitonov especially distinguished themselves during the Rostov defensive operation of 1941. Relying on the strong anti-tank defense created by the army, its right-flank formations repelled numerous attacks by enemy tanks. He successfully led troops in the Rostov offensive operation, the Battle of Stalingrad, the Ostrogozh-Rososhan operation and in the battles in the Kharkov direction.
Awarded the Order of the Red Banner, Order of Kutuzov, 1st degree.

KHRYUKIN Timofey Timofeevich (1910-1953)
Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel General of Aviation
Born on June 8 (21), 1910 in the city of Yeisk, Krasnodar Territory.
In the Red Army since 1932. He graduated from the Lugansk Military Pilot School (1933), and advanced training courses for senior command personnel at the Military Academy of the General Staff (1941). Since 1933 - military pilot, then flight commander. In 1936-1937, during the national revolutionary war of the Spanish people, in the ranks of the Republican Army: bomber pilot, then commander of an aviation detachment. For his heroism and courage he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
In 1938, he volunteered to fight against the Japanese militarists in China - a squadron commander, then a bomber group commander. For exemplary performance of tasks he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. During the Soviet-Finnish War - commander of the Air Force of the 14th Army. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, which he entered as commander of the Air Force of the 12th Army, he had about 100 combat missions.
Since August 1941 - Commander of the Air Force of the Karelian Front; did a great job of organizing aviation combat operations in the north, which, together with the country's air defense, reliably covered the Kirov Railway and Murmansk from the air. In June 1942 he headed the Air Force of the Southwestern Front. In the most difficult situation, he led the combat operations of aviation at Stalingrad. At the same time, he carried out the tasks of forming the 8th Air Army, which then, under his command (June 1942 - July 1944), participated in the Battle of Stalingrad, the liberation of Donbass, Right Bank Ukraine, and Crimea. Since July 1944 - commander of the 1st Air Army, which participated as part of the 3rd Belorussian Front in the battles for the liberation of Belarus, the Baltic states, in East Prussian and other operations. For his skillful command of the army and the heroism and courage displayed at the same time, he was awarded the second Gold Star medal.
After the Great Patriotic War, he held senior positions in the Air Force and was deputy commander-in-chief of the Air Force (1946-47 and 1950-53). In 1947-50 - in responsible command positions in the Air Force and Air Defense Forces of the country.
He was awarded the Order of Lenin, three Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of Suvorov I degree, two Orders of Kutuzov I degree, the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky I degree, Suvorov II degree, the Order of the Patriotic War II degree, the Red Star, medals, as well as foreign orders.

TSVETAEV Vyacheslav Dmitrievich (1893-1950)
Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel General
Born January 5 (17), 1893 in St. Maloarkhangelsk is now Oryol region.
Since 1914 in the army. Participant of the 1st World War, company commander, then battalion commander, lieutenant. In the Red Army since 1918. He graduated from the Higher Academic Courses (1922) and advanced training courses for senior command personnel at the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze (1927).
After the October Revolution he went over to the side of Soviet power. During the Civil War, he commanded a company, battalion, regiment, brigade and the 54th Infantry Division on the Northern and Western Fronts. After the war - commander of a rifle brigade and division. He took part in the fight against Basmachi in Central Asia. Since 1931 - senior teacher at the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze, from February 1937 he commanded the 57th Infantry Division, from September 1939 he was again a senior teacher, and from January 1941 he was the head of the department at the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze.
During the Great Patriotic War in 1941-42 - commander of the operational group of forces of the 7th Army, deputy commander of the 4th Army, commander of the 10th Reserve Army, from December 1942 - 5th Shock Army. In May-September 1944 - deputy commander of the 1st Belorussian Front, then commander of the 6th and 33rd armies. Troops under his command participated in the Rostov, Melitopol, Nikopol-Krivoy Rog, Bereznegovato-Snigirev, Odessa, Vistula-Oder and Berlin operations. For the courage and dedication shown by V.D. Tsvetaev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
After the war - Deputy Commander-in-Chief and Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Group of Forces. Since January 1948 - head of the Military Academy named after M. V. Frunze.
He was awarded two Orders of Lenin, four Orders of the Red Banner, three Orders of Suvorov, 1st class, Orders of Kutuzov and Bogdan Khmelnitsky, 1st class, and medals.

CHISTYAKOV Ivan Mikhailovich (1900-1979)
Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel General
Born on September 14 (27), 1900 in the village of Otrubnivo, now Kashinsky district, Kalinin region.
In the Red Army since 1918. He graduated from the machine gun school (1920), the Shot courses (1927 and 1930), and the Higher Academic Courses at the Military Academy of the General Staff (1949). He participated in the Civil War as a private and as an assistant platoon commander. After the war, he commanded a platoon, company, battalion, was an assistant commander of a rifle regiment and chief of the 1st part of the headquarters of a rifle division. Since 1936 - commander of a rifle regiment, since 1937 - of a rifle division, since 1939 - assistant commander of a rifle corps, since 1940 - head of the Vladivostok Infantry School, since 1941 - commander of a rifle corps.
During the Great Patriotic War, he commanded the 64th Rifle Brigade on the Western Front, the 8th Guards Rifle Division, and the 2nd Guards Rifle Corps on the Northwestern and Kalinin Fronts (1941-42). Since October 1942 - commander of the 21st (from April 1943 - 6th Guards) Army. He fought on the Don, Voronezh, 2nd and 1st Baltic fronts. Troops under the command of Chistyakov took part in the battle of Moscow, in the Battles of Stalingrad and Kursk, in the defeat of the enemy’s Nevel group, in the Belorussian, Siauliai, Riga, Memel operations and in the liquidation of the enemy’s Courland group. For skillful command of the army and the courage and heroism shown by I.M. Chistyakov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. In combat operations against Japanese troops in the Far East, he commanded the 25th Army.
After the war, in command positions in the troops, since 1954 - first deputy commander of the Transcaucasian Military District, since 1957 - in the Group of Inspectors General of the USSR Ministry of Defense. Retired since 1968. Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 2nd and 4th convocations,
He was awarded two Orders of Lenin, five Orders of the Red Banner, two Orders of Suvorov, 1st degree, two Orders of Kutuzov, 1st degree, Order of Suvorov, 2nd degree and medals, as well as foreign orders and medals.

CHUIKOV Vasily Ivanovich (1900-1982)
Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Marshal of the Soviet Union
Born on January 31 (February 12), 1900 in the village of Serebryanye Prudy (now an urban village) in the Moscow region.
In 1917 he served as a cabin boy in a detachment of miners in Kronstadt, in 1918 he participated in the suppression of the counter-revolutionary rebellion of the left Socialist Revolutionaries in Moscow. During the Civil War, he was an assistant company commander on the Southern Front, from November 1918 - an assistant commander, and from May 1918 - a regiment commander on the Eastern and Western Fronts; participated in battles against the White Guards and White Poles, and was awarded two Orders of the Red Banner for bravery and heroism.
He graduated from military instructor courses in Moscow (1918), the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze (1925), oriental department of the same academy (1927) and academic courses at the Military Academy of Mechanization and Motorization of the Red Army (1936), From 1927 - military adviser in China, In 1929-32 - head of the headquarters department of the Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army. From September 1932 - head of advanced training courses for command personnel, from December 1936 - commander of a mechanized brigade, from April 1938 - 5th Rifle Corps, from July 1938 - commander of the Bobruisk Group of Forces in the Belarusian Special Military District, then the 4th Army , which participated in the liberation campaign in Western Belarus. During the Soviet-Finnish War he commanded the 9th Army. From December 1940 to March 1942 - military attaché in China.
During the Great Patriotic War from 1942 - in the active army on the Stalingrad, Don, South-Western, 3rd Ukrainian and 1st Belorussian fronts. From May 1942, he commanded the 1st Reserve Army (from July - the 64th), then the operational group of the 64th Army, which conducted active combat operations against the Nazi group of troops that broke through in the Kotelnikovsky area. From September 1942 until the end of the war (with a break in October-November 1943) - commander of the 62nd Army (from April 1943 - 8th Guards), which fought from Stalingrad to Berlin.
In the fierce battles for Stalingrad, the military talent of V.I. Chuikov, who developed and creatively applied various methods and techniques of military operations in the city. After the Battle of Stalingrad, army troops under the command of Chuikov participated in the Izyum-Barvenkovskaya, Donbass, Nikopol-Krivoy Rog, Bereznegovato-Spigirevskaya and other operations, in the crossing of the Sevsr Donets and the Dnieper, the night assault on Zaporozhye, and the liberation of Odessa. In July-August 1944, during the Lublin-Brest operation, the army crossed the Western Bug River, then, having crossed the Vistula, captured the Magnuszew bridgehead. In the Vistula-Oder operation, troops of the 8th Guards Army took part in breaking through the enemy's deeply layered defenses, liberated the cities of Lodz and Poznan, and then captured bridgeheads on the western bank of the Oder. In the Berlin operation of 1945, operating in the main direction of the 1st Belorussian Front, the army broke through the strong enemy defenses on the Seelow Heights and successfully fought for Berlin. The troops commanded by Chuikov were noted 17 times in the orders of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief for their differences in battles during the Great Patriotic War. For the skillful management of them and the heroism and dedication shown by V.I. Chuikov was twice awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
After the war - Deputy, 1st Deputy Commander-in-Chief (1945-49) and Commander-in-Chief of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (1949-53), at the same time from March to November 1949 he was the commander-in-chief of the Soviet military administration in Germany, and from November 1949 - Chairman Soviet Control Commission in Germany. Since May 1953 - Commander of the Kyiv Military District, since April 1960 - Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces and Deputy Minister of Defense, and since July 1961 - simultaneously Head of the USSR Civil Defense. Since June 1964 - Head of the USSR Civil Defense. Since 1972 - in the Group of Inspectors General of the USSR Ministry of Defense. Since 1961 - member of the CPSU Central Committee. Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 2nd-10th convocations. He was buried in Volgograd on Mamayev Kurgan.
He was awarded nine Orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, four Orders of the Red Banner, three Orders of Suvorov, 1st degree, the Order of the Red Star, medals, foreign orders and medals, as well as the Weapon of Honor.

SHUMILOV Mikhail Stepanovich (1895-1975)
Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel General
Born on November 5 (17), 1895 in the village of Verkhtschenskoye, now Shadrinsky district, Kurgan region.
Participant of the 1st World War, ensign. In the Red Army since 1918. He fought with the White Guards on the Eastern and Southern fronts, commanded a platoon, company, and regiment. He graduated from the command and political courses (1924), the Shot course (1929), the Higher Academic Courses at the Military Academy of the General Staff (1948), and the Chuguev Military School (1916). After the Civil War - commander of a regiment, then a division and a corps, participated in the liberation campaign in Western Belarus (1939) and the Soviet-Finnish War.
During the Great Patriotic War - commander of the rifle corps, deputy commander of the 55th and 21st armies on the Leningrad and Southwestern fronts (1941-42), from August 1942 until the end of the war - commander of the 64th Army (reformed in March 1943 to the 7th Guards), operating as part of the Stalingrad, Don, Voronezh, Steppe and 2nd Ukrainian fronts. Troops under the command of M.S. Shumilov participated in the defense of Leningrad, in battles in the Kharkov region, heroically fought at Stalingrad and together with the 62nd Army in the city itself, defended it from the enemy, participated in the battles of Kursk and the Dnieper, in the Kirovograd, Uman-Botoshan, Yassko- Chisinau, Budapest, Bratislava-Brnov operations; liberated Romania, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. For excellent military operations, the army troops were noted 16 times in the orders of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. For skillful leadership of the combat actions of troops in operations and the heroism shown by M.S. Shumilov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
After the war - commander of the troops of the White Sea (1948-49) and Voronezh (1949-55) military districts. In 1956-58 - retired; since 1958 - in the Group of Inspectors General of the USSR Ministry of Defense. Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 3rd and 4th convocations. He was buried in Volgograd on Mamayev Kurgan.
He was awarded three Orders of Lenin, four Orders of the Red Banner, two Orders of Suvorov, 1st degree, Orders of Kutuzov, 1st degree, Red Star, “For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR”, 3rd degree, medals, as well as foreign orders and medals.

Rising from the Ashes [How the Red Army of 1941 turned into the Victory Army] Glanz David M

Commanders of tank armies

Commanders of tank armies

While the Red Army's mobile corps contributed to most of the victories achieved in 1941 and 1942, from November 1942 until the end of the war, tank armies became the main striking force of the Soviet forces. From now on, the success of the Red Army as a whole directly depended on the combat performance of its tank armies and their commanders.

1942 In the summer of 1942, the Stavka experimentally formed the first four tank armies of “mixed composition” (1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th), using them at the head of offensives on the most critical sectors of the front during the German operation “ Blau." In July 1942, the 1st, 4th and 5th Tank Armies entered the battle near Voronezh, but performed poorly and suffered terrible losses, while the 3rd Tank Army had hardly better results in August failed offensive near Bolkhov. However, after the reorganization, the 5th Tank Army won lasting glory for itself, leading the successful offensive at Stalingrad in November. In the last six months of 1942, the Red Army's four tank armies were commanded by six generals - an average of 1.5 commanders per army, or three commanders over a whole year. During the same period, the four tank armies experienced eight appointments or changes of command - an average of two commanders per army, or four if counted per year (446). Although one tank army commander was killed in action that year, by 1 January 1943 five others were still in command of the armies. A.I. Lizyukov, the first commander of the 5th Tank Army, died in a battle near Voronezh at the end of July - after he was relieved of his duties as army commander and was put in command of the 2nd Tank Corps. On the other hand, K.S. Moskalenko and V.D. Kryuchenkin, who commanded the 1st and 4th tank armies from July to October 1942, commanded the field armies by the end of the year, and P.L. Romanenko, P.S. Rybalko and M. M. Popov commanded their 2nd, 3rd and 5th tank armies (447) with considerable success until the end of the year.

1943 Since the mixed tank armies put on the field by the Headquarters in the second half of 1942 were unable to fulfill its hopes, starting in January 1943, the Soviet command began to develop a new and more effective structure of tank armies. Meanwhile, until the end of the winter campaign, the 2nd, 3rd and 5th Tank Armies of the previous model were used for operations to develop success. However, as at the end of 1942, these earlier tank armies achieved only limited success. For example, Rybalko's 3rd Tank Army, after leading successful offensives on Ostrogozhsk and Rossosh and on Kharkov in March, was destroyed near Kharkov and soon after was transformed into the 57th Army. At the same time, in January-February 1943, the Headquarters withdrew its mobile corps from the 5th Tank Army and transformed it into the 12th Army in April. After performing in mid-February at the forefront of the Central Front's offensive west of Kursk, the 2nd Rodina Tank Army, although it was defeated in early March, retreated to the Kursk region almost intact. After this, the Headquarters formed four new tank armies - the 1st, 3rd Guards, 4th and 5th Guards, and in the late spring and early summer of 1943 it reorganized the 2nd Tank Army according to the new state.

Thus, counting General Popov’s mobile group, which was formed and used practically as a tank army before being destroyed in the Donbass in February 1943, in 1943 the Headquarters formed a total of nine tank armies. During this period, nine generals served as commanders of these armies (including the mobile group), an average of one per tank army, as opposed to three in 1942. Although the three tank armies of the previous model had experienced significant rotation of command, the new tank armies knew nothing like this (448).

As for the individual fate of the nine generals who commanded tank armies or mobile groups in 1943, not one of them died or was captured until the end of the war. Eight were still commanding fronts or armies by January 1, 1944, and one ended the year at front headquarters. These eight, who continued to command at army level or higher by the end of the year, included M. M. Popov, who became front commander, M. E. Katukov, S. I. Bogdanov, P. S. Rybalko, V. M. Badanov and P. A. Rotmistrov, who remained in command of the tank armies, as well as P. L. Romanenko and I. T. Shlemin, who became commanders of the combined arms armies. And finally, A.G. Rodin became the head of armored and mechanized forces at the front level by the end of the year.

The glory of most commanders of the tank armies of 1943 did not fade by the end of the war. For example, Katukov, Bogdanov and Rybalko in May 1945 still commanded the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Guards Tank Armies, and Rotmistrov, who had excellent command of the 5th Guards Tank Army for almost the entire year of 1944, ended the war as deputy chief of tank and mechanized troops of the Red Army. As for the other five, Romanenko ended the war as the commander of a military district, Shlemin as the commander of the army, Popov as the chief of staff of the front, Rodin as the chief of armored forces in several fronts, and Badanov as the chief of combat training of armored and mechanized forces.

Together and separately, these commanders of tank armies received baptism of fire and basic experience commanding tank divisions, brigades and corps in 1941 and 1942. They became the most outstanding and most capable generals in the entire Red Army:

“The most gifted, courageous and decisive generals were selected for the positions of commanders of tank armies, who were able to take full responsibility for their actions and not look back. Only such people could solve the tasks assigned to tank armies. These armies were usually introduced into a breakthrough and, operating in operational depth, in isolation from the main forces of the front, destroyed the enemy’s reserves and rear areas, disrupted the control system, captured advantageous positions and the most important objects" (449) .

The most capable commanders of the tank armies of the Red Army in 1943 (and perhaps during the entire war) were P. S. Rybalko, M. G. Katukov, P. A. Rotmistrov and S. I. Bogdanov (450).

Pavel Semenovich Rybalko, who commanded the 3rd Tank Army from October 1942 to April 1943, and in the last two years of the war - the 3rd Guards Tank Army, contributed significantly to many of the most important victories of the Red Army. For example, in July-August 1943, Rybalko’s tank army defeated the Wehrmacht defenses around Orel, in September it led the rapid advance of the Voronezh Front to the banks of the Dnieper, in November it took Kyiv, and in December it advanced far into Ukraine. In March-April, and then in July-August 1944, Rybalko's tank army, continuing to increase his glory, led the offensive of the 1st Ukrainian Front on Proskurov - Chernivtsi and on Lviv - Sandomierz. It achieved even greater success in 1945, operating as part of the same front during the offensives in January, April and May on the Vistula and Oder, Berlin and Prague. For these and other achievements, Rybalko ended the war twice as a hero of the Soviet Union, and soon after the end of the war he received the baton of Marshal of the Armored Forces.

As the memoirist writes, Rybalko “He commanded a tank army for the longest time... He was a very erudite, strong-willed man. In the first post-war years, he had the honor of leading all of our armored forces. He put a lot of work and energy into their reorganization and rearmament" (451) .

“Continuously driving, demanding, Rybalko rushed forward, imposing his inventive and direct leadership style on all aspects of his command. Impatient and at times rude to his subordinates, he could fall into a judicious, satirical mood. He was always fair. He carried out military operations with speed and surprise, which made him a kindred spirit to American General George S. Patton.Rybalko understood the nature and potential of large tank units, was well aware of the technical capabilities and limitations of tanks - this was his hallmark as a commander of tank forces. The adaptable and cunning Rybalko's nerves of steel allowed him to fight on the very brink of disaster... Rybalko ended the war, eclipsing all other tank commanders with his swift dash through Poland and the bold capture of Berlin, which put him in first place among tank commanders" (452) .

Almost on the heels of Rybalko in terms of longevity as army commander and the scale of military achievements followed Mikhail Efimovich Katukov, commanded the 1st (later 1st Guards) Tank Army from its formation in January 1943 until the assault on Berlin in May 1945. In July 1943, Katukov's tank army took part in the defeat of the Wehrmacht's southern tank group near Kursk, in December 1943 it defeated von Manstein's tank forces west of Kiev, and then became famous for its dramatic 500-kilometer breakthrough into the Wehrmacht rear during the offensive of the 1st Ukrainian Front in March-April 1944 on Proskurov and Chernivtsi, during which it cut off and almost destroyed the German 1st Tank Army. Katukov crowned his brilliant career by skillfully outflanking German troops near Lvov in July 1944, seizing a bridgehead across the Vistula in August of the same year, carrying out an impressive operation in January 1945 to build on the success of the breakthrough through Poland to the Oder River and disrupting the Wehrmacht defenses at the turn of the Neisse River in April 1945, which helped to encircle and take Berlin. By the end of the war, Katukov also became twice a hero of the Soviet Union, and in 1959, somewhat belatedly, a marshal of armored forces. As one colleague noted:

“Mikhail Efimovich Katukov is a real soldier, a great expert in combat training and tactics of tank forces. The tank brigade he commanded at the Battle of Moscow was the first in the Soviet Army to receive the title of Guards. From the very beginning until the last day of the Great Patriotic War, Mikhail Efimovich did not leave the battlefields" (453) .

A conservative and at the same time a master of reasonable risks, Katukov earned a reputation as an attentive, cautious commander who always carefully developed plans, weighed the consequences of certain actions, trying to foresee practical results before committing a single tank from his reserves. This caution was especially noticeable at first, when he developed his fighting skills. He preferred that the enemy meet him on his terms and on terrain known to him. Katukov loved it when events were controlled and took great pleasure in stabilizing the situation. He quickly realized that Soviet tank forces were able to increase their tactical advantage due to the superior mobility of their tanks. Later, when he commanded a corps and army, he sought to avoid a massive and mindlessly straightforward approach to solving operational and tactical problems. He preferred to quickly open the lock with a master key than to hit it with a sledgehammer. During raids, Katukov liked to make extensive use of forward detachments in order to know the situation in advance and forestall enemy actions.

“Katukov's leadership style and the way he used his staff make him a good example of the collective approach to leadership encouraged by the Soviet ideal of command. Fighting from the first to the last days of the war, Katukov often led the offensive, leading his armored guards against the masters of tank warfare and defeating them(454)."

Combat service Pavel Alekseevich Rotmistrov ended in the late summer of 1944 - perhaps because the combat effectiveness it demonstrated did not satisfy Stalin. Nevertheless, by the end of 1943, he became the most famous commander of the tank forces of the Red Army - primarily because his 5th Guards Tank Army won a victory on the “tank field” near Prokhorovka during the Battle of Kursk. After participating in the capture of Kharkov as part of the Steppe Front in August 1943, Rotmistrov's tank army in September led the pursuit of the enemy by the Steppe (2nd Ukrainian) Front to the Dnieper, and at the end of 1943 - beginning of 1944 entered into a bloody struggle to capture Krivoy Rog and "Big Bend" of the Dnieper. Then she took part in the encirclement and partial destruction of two Wehrmacht army corps near Korsun-Shevchenkovsky in January-February 1944. In March-April 1944, Rotmistrov's tank army led the 2nd Ukrainian Front's impressive advance through Ukraine to the Romanian border, and then was defeated at Tirgu Frumos in the failed invasion of Romania in late April and May 1944. At the end of May 1944, Rotmistrov's tank army was transferred to Belarus, where at the end of June and July it took part in the massive offensive of the Red Army. However, Stalin removed Rotmistrov from command - most likely due to the heavy losses his army suffered, especially in the battles for Vilnius. Despite his removal from office and subsequent appointment as deputy commander of the armored and mechanized forces of the Red Army under Fedorenko, Rotmistrov nevertheless earned high marks for his performance as a commander, at least until his removal from his post:

“Rotmistrov had an uncanny ability to quickly analyze the situation and apply a creative approach to solutions. Decisions were easy for Rotmistrov - in a word, he was a creator. As an authoritative theorist and practitioner, he took an active part in the reorganization of the structure of Soviet tank forces. At times this put him at odds with management - especially when he thought he had a better idea. Rotmistrov was aware of the level of his critics, but he was not impressed by either title or position. He was extremely pragmatic. Rotmistrov's fighting style is a strong, direct and fast blow designed to crush the enemy. Taking full advantage of the flexibility of tank forces, he split the main enemy forces, surrounded them and destroyed them piece by piece. His rapid rise was a combination of his demonstrated erudition and his bold, decisive initiative on the battlefield. In its struggle for survival, the Red Army tolerated such eccentric natures among the top tier of theorists and architects of its armored guards" (455) .

“Undoubtedly, Pavel Alekseevich Rotmistrov is one of the outstanding tank commanders. Drawing on his rich practical experience acquired on the battlefield and extensive theoretical knowledge, he also made a significant contribution to the post-war development of tank equipment and the training of qualified command personnel" (456) .

After being removed from the post of commander of the tank army in 1944, but also belatedly, Rotmistrov became marshal of the armored forces in 1962, and in 1965 - a hero of the Soviet Union.

The last general in this illustrious four commanders of tank armies during the war was Semyon Ilyich Bogdanov, who from September 1943 until the end of the war commanded the 2nd (2nd Guards) Tank Army. Bogdanov and his tank army first distinguished themselves in July 1943 with the stubborn defense of the northern flank of the Kursk Bulge, as well as the September offensive on Sevsk, which upset the Wehrmacht defenses and prompted them to quickly retreat beyond the Dnieper. After several months of replenishment and reorganization, Bogdanov's tank army took part in the bloody struggle near Korsun-Shevchenkovsky in January-February 1944, and then led the advance of the 2nd Ukrainian Front through Ukraine in March-April 1944 - only to in April-May 1944, suffered defeat in northern Romania near Tirgu Frumos.

After recovering from wounds received in the July 1944 battle for Lublin, Bogdanov led his army in a dramatic advance across Poland to the Oder in January 1945 and fought alongside Katukov's 1st Guards Tank Army in the Battle of Berlin (457). Like his colleague Rybalko, Bogdanov became a twice hero of the Soviet Union during the war, and in 1945 - a marshal of armored forces. As for his combat performance as a commander, according to one colleague:

“The commander of the 2nd Guards Tank Army, Semyon Ilyich Bogdanov, was distinguished by amazing courage. Beginning in September 1943, his army took part in almost all the decisive battles of the Great Patriotic War. Semyon Ilyich showed outstanding abilities in the post-war period - he was the head of the academy, and for almost five years - the commander of the tank forces of the Soviet Armed Forces" (458) .

Regarding his manner of command, the biographer notes:

“German commanders respected General Bogdanov as a good organizer and for his personal courage, seeing in him one of the best commanders of the tank forces of the Red Army... Bogdanov was a true paladin of courage and efficiency - he moved onto the battlefield to ensure that the commanders under him understood their goals and objectives. Using his physical presence to motivate and inspire the troops, and thanks to his ability to clearly define the task, he was able to resolve all problems and eliminate difficulties on the spot. His presence on the battlefield from the first to the last days added tenacity and energy to the troops. Bogdanov was an example of a universal commander who should always be in front of the army with a sword in his hand. Taking advantage of the enemy's mistakes, Bogdanov always sought to push the enemy back, and it was precisely at the point of his weakness that he threw his armored troops" (459) .

With the exception of the most famous representatives of the Headquarters and front commanders, no senior Soviet officer contributed more to the final victory of the Red Army than this outstanding group of tank army commanders.

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Combat schedule of enemy forces in front of the armies of the Southern Front according to the intelligence department as of October 1, 1920 October 1, 1920 KharkovSOUTHERN RUSSIAN FRONTCommander-in-Chief General WrangelNashtaglav General

The Red Army was created, as they say, from scratch. Despite this, she managed to become a formidable force and win the civil war. The key to success was the construction of the Red Army using the experience of the old, pre-revolutionary army.

On the ruins of the old army

By the beginning of 1918, Russia, which had survived two revolutions, finally emerged from the First World War. Her army was a pitiful sight - soldiers deserted en masse and headed to their homes. Since November 1917, the Armed Forces did not exist de jure - after the Bolsheviks issued an order to dissolve the old army.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the former empire, a new war was breaking out - a civil one. In Moscow the battles with the cadets had just died down, in St. Petersburg - with the Cossacks of General Krasnov. Events grew like a snowball.

On the Don, generals Alekseev and Kornilov formed the Volunteer Army, in the Orenburg steppes the anti-communist uprising of Ataman Dutov unfolded, in the Kharkov region there were battles with cadets of the Chuguev Military School, in the Yekaterinoslav province - with detachments of the Central Rada of the self-proclaimed Ukrainian Republic.

Labor activists and revolutionary sailors

The external, old enemy was not asleep either: the Germans intensified their offensive on the Eastern Front, capturing a number of territories of the former Russian Empire.

At that time, the Soviet government had at its disposal only Red Guard detachments, created locally mainly from labor activists and revolutionary-minded sailors.

During the initial period of general partisanship in the civil war, the Red Guards were the support of the Council of People's Commissars, but it gradually became clear that voluntariness should be replaced by the conscription principle.

This was clearly shown, for example, by the events in Kyiv in January 1918, where the uprising of the working detachments of the Red Guard against the power of the Central Rada was brutally suppressed by national units and officer detachments.

The first step towards the creation of the Red Army

On January 15, 1918, Lenin issued a Decree on the creation of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. The document emphasized that access to its ranks is open to all citizens of the Russian Republic at least 18 years of age who are ready to “give their strength, their lives to defend the won October Revolution and the power of the Soviets and socialism.”

This was the first, but half-hearted step towards creating an army. So far it was proposed to join it voluntarily, and in this the Bolsheviks followed the path of Alekseev and Kornilov with their voluntary recruitment of the White Army. As a result, by the spring of 1918, no more than 200 thousand people were in the ranks of the Red Army. And its combat effectiveness left much to be desired - most of the front-line soldiers were resting at home from the horrors of the World War.

A powerful incentive to create a large army was given by the enemies - the 40,000-strong Czechoslovak corps, which in the summer of the same year rebelled against Soviet power along the entire length of the Trans-Siberian Railway and overnight captured vast areas of the country - from Chelyabinsk to Vladivostok. In the south of the European part of Russia, Denikin’s troops were not asleep; having recovered from the unsuccessful assault on Ekaterinodar (now Krasnodar), in June 1918 they again launched an attack on Kuban and this time achieved their goal.

Fight not with slogans, but with skill

Under these conditions, one of the founders of the Red Army, People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs Leon Trotsky proposed moving to a more rigid model of army building. According to the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars on July 29, 1918, military conscription was introduced in the country, which made it possible to increase the number of the Red Army to almost half a million people by mid-September.

Along with quantitative growth, the army also strengthened qualitatively. The leadership of the country and the Red Army realized that slogans alone that the socialist fatherland was in danger would not win the war. We need experienced personnel, even if they do not adhere to revolutionary rhetoric.

So-called military experts, that is, officers and generals of the tsarist army, began to be conscripted en masse into the Red Army. Their total number during the Civil War in the ranks of the Red Army was almost 50 thousand people.

The best of the best

Many later became the pride of the USSR, such as Colonel Boris Shaposhnikov, who became Marshal of the Soviet Union and Chief of the Army General Staff, including during the Great Patriotic War. Another head of the General Staff of the Red Army during World War II, Marshal Alexander Vasilevsky entered the Civil War as a staff captain.

Another effective measure to strengthen the middle command ranks were military schools and accelerated training courses for Red commanders from among soldiers, workers and peasants. In battles and battles, yesterday's non-commissioned officers and sergeants quickly rose to become commanders of large formations. Suffice it to recall Vasily Chapaev, who became a division commander, or Semyon Budyonny, who headed the 1st Cavalry Army.

Even earlier, the election of commanders was abolished, which had an extremely harmful effect on the level of combat effectiveness of units, turning them into anarchic spontaneous detachments. Now the commander was responsible for order and discipline, albeit on an equal basis with the commissar.

Kamenev instead of Vatsetis

It is curious that a little later whites also joined the conscript army. In particular, the Volunteer Army in 1919 largely remained so only in name - the ferocity of the Civil War imperiously demanded that opponents replenish their ranks by any means.

Former colonel Joakim Vatsetis was appointed the first commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the RSFSR in the fall of 1918 (since January 1919, he simultaneously led the actions of the army of Soviet Latvia). After a series of defeats for the Red Army in the summer of 1919 in European Russia, Vatsetis was replaced in his post by another tsarist colonel, Sergei Kamenev.

Under his leadership, things went much better for the Red Army. The armies of Kolchak, Denikin, and Wrangel were defeated. Yudenich's attack on Petrograd was repulsed, Polish units were driven out of Ukraine and Belarus.

Territorial police principle

By the end of the Civil War, the total strength of the Red Army was more than five million people. The Red Cavalry, initially numbering only three regiments, over the course of numerous battles grew to several armies that operated on widely extended communications of countless fronts of the civil war, serving as shock troops.

The end of hostilities required a sharp reduction in the number of personnel. This, first of all, was needed by the country's war-depleted economy. As a result, in 1920-1924. demobilization was carried out, which reduced the Red Army to half a million people.

Under the leadership of the People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs Mikhail Frunze, most of the remaining troops were transferred to the territorial-militia principle of recruitment. It consisted in the fact that a small part of the Red Army soldiers and unit commanders carried out permanent service, and the rest of the personnel were called up for five years for training sessions lasting up to a year.

Strengthening combat capability

Over time, Frunze's reform led to problems: the combat readiness of the territorial units was much lower than the regular ones.

The thirties, with the advent of the Nazis in Germany and the Japanese attack on China, began to smell distinctly of gunpowder. As a result, the USSR began transferring regiments, divisions and corps to a regular basis.

This took into account not only the experience of the First World War and the Civil War, but also participation in new conflicts, in particular, the clash with Chinese troops in 1929 on the Chinese Eastern Railway and Japanese troops on Lake Khasan in 1938.

The total number of the Red Army increased, the troops were actively rearming. This primarily concerned artillery and armored forces. New troops were created, for example, airborne troops. Mother infantry became more motorized.

Premonition of World War

Aviation, which had previously performed mainly reconnaissance missions, was now becoming a powerful force, increasing the proportion of bombers, attack aircraft and fighters in its ranks.

Soviet tank crews and pilots tried their hand at local wars taking place far from the USSR - in Spain and China.

In order to increase the prestige of the military profession and the convenience of serving in 1935, personal military ranks were introduced for career military personnel - from marshal to lieutenant.

The territorial-militia principle of recruiting the Red Army was finally put to rest by the law on universal conscription of 1939, which expanded the composition of the Red Army and established longer terms of service.

And there was a big war ahead.

Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny - Soviet military leader, commander of the First Cavalry Army of the Red Army during the Civil War, one of the first Marshals of the Soviet Union.

He created a revolutionary cavalry detachment that acted against the White Guards on the Don. Together with the divisions of the 8th Army, they defeated the Cossack corps of generals Mamontov and Shkuro. Troops under the command of Budyonny (14th Cavalry Division of O.I. Gorodovikov) took part in the disarmament of F.K. Mironov’s Don Corps, which went to the front against A.I. Denikin, allegedly for attempting to raise a counter-revolutionary rebellion.

Post-war activities:

Budyonny is a member of the RVS, and then deputy commander of the North Caucasus Military District.

Budyonny became the “godfather” of the Chechen Autonomous Region

Budyonny is appointed assistant to the commander-in-chief of the Red Army for cavalry and a member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR.

Inspector of the Red Army cavalry.

Graduates from the Military Academy. M. V. Frunze.

Budyonny commanded the troops of the Moscow Military District.

Member of the Main Military Council of NGOs of the USSR, Deputy People's Commissar.

First Deputy People's Commissar of Defense

Blucher V.K. (1890-1938)

Vasily Konstantinovich Blucher - Soviet military, state and party leader, Marshal of the Soviet Union. Knight of the Order of the Red Banner No. 1 and the Order of the Red Star No. 1.

He commanded the 30th Infantry Division in Siberia and fought against the troops of A.V. Kolchak.

He was the head of the 51st Infantry Division. Blucher was appointed sole commander of the 51st Infantry Division, transferred to the reserve of the Main Command of the Red Army. In May, he was appointed head of the West Siberian sector of military and industrial maintenance. Appointed Chairman of the Military Council, Commander-in-Chief of the People's Revolutionary Army of the Far Eastern Republic and Minister of War of the Far Eastern Republic.

Post-war activities:

He was appointed commander of the 1st Rifle Corps, then commandant and military commissar of the Petrograd fortified area.

In 1924 he was seconded to the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR

In 1924 he was sent to China

Participated in the planning of the Northern Expedition.

Served as assistant commander of the Ukrainian Military District.

In 1929 he was appointed commander of the Special Far Eastern Army.

During the fighting at the lake, Khasan led the Far Eastern Front.

• He died from beatings during the investigation in Lefortovo prison.

Tukhachevsky M.N. (1893-1937)

Mikhail Nikolaevich Tukhachevsky - Soviet military leader, military leader of the Red Army during the Civil War.

He voluntarily joined the Red Army and worked in the Military Department of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. Joined the RCP(b), appointed military commissar of the Moscow defense region. Appointed commander of the newly created 1st Army of the Eastern Front. Commanded the 1st Soviet Army. Appointed assistant commander of the Southern Front (SF). Commander of the 8th Army of the Southern Fleet, which included the Inzen Rifle Division. Takes command of the 5th Army. Appointed commander of the Caucasian Front.

Kamenev S.S. (1881-1936)

Sergei Sergeevich Kamenev - Soviet military leader, army commander of the 1st rank.

From April 1918 in the Red Army. Appointed military leader of the Nevelsky district of the Western section of the veil detachments. From June 1918 - commander of the 1st Vitebsk Infantry Division. Appointed military commander of the Western section of the curtain and at the same time military commander of the Smolensk region. Commander of the Eastern Front. He led the offensive of the Red Army in the Volga and Urals. Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of the Republic.

Post-war activities:

Inspector of the Red Army.

Chief of Staff of the Red Army.

Chief Inspector.

Head of the Main Directorate of the Red Army, chief head of the cycle of tactics at the Military Academy. Frunze.

At the same time a member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR.

Deputy People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs and Deputy Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR.

Was accepted into the CPSU(b).

Was appointed head of the Red Army Air Defense Directorate

• Kamenev was awarded the rank of army commander of the 1st rank.

Vatsetis I.I. (1873-1938)

Joachim Joakimovich Vatsetis - Russian, Soviet military leader. Commander of the 2nd rank.

After the October Revolution, they went over to the side of the Bolsheviks. He was the head of the operational department of the Revolutionary Field Headquarters at Headquarters. He led the suppression of the rebellion of the Polish corps of General Dovbor-Musnitsky. Commander of the Latvian Rifle Division, one of the leaders of the suppression of the Left Socialist Revolutionary uprising in Moscow in July 1918. Commander of the Eastern Front, Commander-in-Chief of all Armed Forces of the RSFSR. At the same time commander of the Army of Soviet Latvia. Since 1921, he has been teaching at the Military Academy of the Red Army, commander of the 2nd rank.

Post-war activities:

On July 28, 1938, on charges of espionage and participation in a counter-revolutionary terrorist organization, he was sentenced to death by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR.

Rehabilitated March 28, 1957

Chapaev V.I. (1887-1919)

Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev - commander of the Red Army, participant in the First World War and the Civil War.

Elected to the regimental committee, to the council of soldiers' deputies. He joined the Bolshevik Party. Appointed commander of the 138th regiment. He was a participant in the Kazan Congress of Soldiers' Soviets. He became commissar of the Red Guard and head of the Nikolaevsk garrison.

Chapaev suppressed a number of peasant uprisings. He fought against the Cossacks and the Czechoslovak Corps. Chapaev commanded the 25th Infantry Division. His division liberated Ufa from Kolchak’s troops. Chapaev took part in the battles to relieve the siege of Uralsk.

Formation of the White Army:

The General Staff began to take shape on November 2, 1917 in Novocherkassk by General M.V. Alekseev under the name “Alekseevskaya Organization.” From the beginning of December 1917, General L. G. Kornilov, who arrived in the Don General Staff, joined the creation of the army. At first, the Volunteer Army was staffed exclusively by volunteers. Up to 50% of those who signed up for the army were chief officers and up to 15% were staff officers; there were also cadets, cadets, students, and high school students (more than 10%). There were about 4% Cossacks, 1% soldiers. From the end of 1918 and in 1919-1920, due to mobilizations in territories controlled by whites, the officer cadre lost its numerical dominance; During this period, peasants and captured Red Army soldiers made up the bulk of the military contingent of the Volunteer Army.

December 25, 1917 received the official name "Volunteer Army". The army received this name at the insistence of Kornilov, who was in a state of conflict with Alekseev and dissatisfied with the forced compromise with the head of the former “Alekseev organization”: the division of spheres of influence, as a result of which, when Kornilov assumed full military power, Alekseev still retained political leadership and finance. By the end of December 1917, 3 thousand people had signed up as volunteers. By mid-January 1918 there were already 5 thousand of them, by the beginning of February - about 6 thousand. At the same time, the combat element of the Dobrarmiya did not exceed 4½ thousand people.

General M.V. Alekseev became the supreme leader of the army, and General Lavr Kornilov became the commander-in-chief of the General Staff.

White Guard uniform

The uniform of the White Guards, as is known, was created on the basis of the military uniform of the former tsarist army. Caps or hats were used as headdress. In the cold season, a bashlyk (cloth) was worn over the cap. An integral attribute of the White Guard uniform remained the tunic - a loose shirt with a stand-up collar, made of cotton fabric or thin cloth. You could see shoulder straps on her. Another important element of the White Guard uniform is the overcoat.

Heroes of the White Army:

Wrangel P.N.

Denikin A.I.

Dutov A.I.

Kappel V.O.

Kolchak A.V.

Kornilov L.G.

Krasnov P.N.

Semenov G.M.

• Yudenich N.N.

Wrangel P.N. (1878-1928)

Pyotr Nikolaevich Wrangel is a Russian military leader, a participant in the Russo-Japanese and First World Wars, one of the main leaders of the White movement during the Civil War. Entered the Volunteer Army. During the 2nd Kuban campaign he commanded the 1st Cavalry Division, and then the 1st Cavalry Corps. Commanded the Caucasian Volunteer Army. He was appointed commander of the Volunteer Army operating in the Moscow direction. Ruler of the South of Russia and Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army. Since November 1920 - in exile.

Post-war activities:

In 1924, Wrangel created the Russian All-Military Union (ROVS), which united most of the participants in the White movement in exile.

In September 1927, Wrangel moved with his family to Brussels. He worked as an engineer in one of the Brussels companies.

On April 25, 1928, he died suddenly in Brussels after suddenly contracting tuberculosis. According to his family, he was poisoned by his servant's brother, who was a Bolshevik agent.

Denikin A.I. (1872-1947)






Anton Ivanovich Denikin - Russian military leader, political and public figure, writer, memoirist, publicist and military documentarian.

Took part in the organization and formation of the Volunteer Army. Appointed head of the 1st Volunteer Division. During the 1st Kuban Campaign he served as Deputy Commander of the Volunteer Army of General Kornilov. Became Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the South of Russia (AFSR).


Post-war activities:

• 1920 - moved to Belgium

  The 5th volume, “Essays on the Russian Troubles,” was completed by him in 1926 in Brussels.

  In 1926, Denikin moved to France and began literary work.

  In 1936 he began publishing the newspaper “Volunteer”.

  On December 9, 1945, in America, Denikin spoke at numerous meetings and addressed a letter to General Eisenhower calling on him to stop the forced rendition of Russian prisoners of war.

Kappel V.O. (1883-1920)












Vladimir Oskarovich Kappel - Russian military leader, participant in the First World War and Civil wars. One of the leaders White movement in the East of Russia. General Staff Lieutenant General. Commander-in-Chief of the armies of the Eastern Front of the Russian Army. He led a small detachment of volunteers, which was later deployed into the Separate Rifle Brigade. Later he commanded the Simbirsk groupVolga FrontPeople's Army. He headed the 1st Volga Corps of Kolchak's army. He was appointed commander of the 3rd Army, composed mainly of captured Red Army soldiers who had not received sufficient training. January 26, 1920 near the city of Nizhneudinsk , died of bilateralpneumonia.





Kolchak A.V. (1874-1920)

Alexander Vasilievich Kolchak - Russian oceanographer, one of the largest polar explorers, military and political figure, naval commander, admiral, leader of the White movement.

Established a military regime dictatorship in Siberia, the Urals and the Far East, liquidated by the Red Army and partisans. Member of the board of the CER. He was appointed Minister of War and Naval Affairs of the Government of the Directory. was elected Supreme Ruler of Russia and promoted to full admiral. Kolchak was shot along with the Chairman of the Council of Ministers V.N. Pepelyaev at 5 o’clock in the morning on the bank of the Ushakovka River.

Kornilov L.G. (1870-1918)

Lavr Georgievich Kornilov - Russian military leader, general. Military intelligence officer, diplomat and traveler-explorer. ParticipantCivil War, one of the organizers and Commander-in-ChiefVolunteer Army, leader of the White movement in the South of Russia, pioneer.

Commander of the created Volunteer Army. Killed on 04/13/1918 during the storming of Ekaterinodar (Krasnodar) in the 1st Kuban (Ice) campaign.

Krasnov P.N. (1869-1947)

Pyotr Nikolaevich Krasnov - general of the Russian Imperial Army, ataman All-Great Don Army, military and political figure, famous writer and publicist.

Krasnov's Don Army occupied the territoryRegions of the Don Army, knocking out parts from there Red Army , and he himself was elected ataman Don Cossacks. The Don Army in 1918 was on the verge of destruction, and Krasnov decided to unite with the Volunteer Army under the command of A.I. Denikin. Soon Krasnov himself was forced to resign and went toNorthwestern Army Yudenich , based in Estonia.

Post-war activities:

Emigrated in 1920. Lived in Germany, near Munich

Since November 1923 - in France.

Was one of the founders of "Brotherhood of Russian Truth»

Since 1936 lived in Germany.

Since September 1943 chief Main Directorate of Cossack TroopsImperial Ministry for the Eastern Occupied Territories Germany.

In May 1945 surrendered to the British.

He was transferred to Moscow, where he was kept in Butyrka prison.

By verdict Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSRP. N. Krasnov was hanged in Moscow, inLefortovo prison January 16, 1947.

Grigory Mikhailovich Semenov - Cossack ataman, leader of the White movement in Transbaikalia and the Far East,lieutenant general White Army . Continued to form into Transbaikalia mounted Buryat-Mongolian Cossack detachment. Three new regiments were formed in Semenov’s troops: 1st Ononsky, 2nd Akshinsko-Mangutsky and 3rd Purinsky. Was created military school for cadets . Semyonov was appointed commander of the 5th Amur Army Corps. Appointed commander of the 6th East Siberian Army Corps, assistant to the chief commander of the Amur region and assistant commander troops of the Amur Military District, commander of the troops of the Irkutsk, Transbaikal and Amur Military Districts.

In 1946 he was sentenced to death.

Yudenich N.N. (1862-1933)












Nikolai Nikolaevich Yudenich- Russian military leader, infantry general.

In June 1919, Kolchak appointed him commander-in-chief of the north-west. army formed by Russian White Guards in Estonia, and became part of the Russian White Guard Northwestern government formed in Estonia. Undertook from the north-west. army's second campaign against Petrograd. The offensive was defeated near Petrograd. After the defeat of the north-west. army, was arrested by General Bulak-Balakhovich, but after the intervention of the allied governments he was released and went abroad. Died frompulmonary tuberculosis.




Results of the Civil War




In a fierce armed struggle, the Bolsheviks managed to retain power in their hands. All state formations that arose after the collapse of the Russian Empire were liquidated, with the exception of Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland.