Afanasy Pavlantyevich Beloborodov (russian: Афанасий Павлантьевич Белобородов; – 1 September 1990) was general in the Red Army during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

who was twice awarded the title

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...

. Between 1963 and 1968, he commanded the

Moscow Military District The Order of Lenin Moscow Military District was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The district was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1968. In 2010 it was merged with the Leningrad Military Di ...

Early life

Beloborodov was born on in the Siberian village of Akinino to a family of Russian peasant farmers. Having completed only three grades of school, he joined the a partisan detachment at the age of sixteen and participated in the Irkutsk uprising. In 1920 the unit became incorporated into the 8th Irkutsk Rifle Regiment of the 1st Chita Rifle Division. He left the army that year, but re-enlisted in 1923. In 1926 he graduated from Nizhny Novgorod Infantry School and was appointed commander of a rifle platoon of the 6th Khabarovsk Rifle Regiment of the 2nd Priamur Rifle Division. He completed his military and political training in 1929, upon which he was made political commissar of the rifle company of the 107th Rifle Regiment of the 36th Rifle Division. In November 1929 he was deployed to the border of China due to the Sino-Soviet conflict. The commander of his company was killed during the first battle, so Beloborodov took command. He successfully led the company in several battles and for doing so was awarded his first Order of the Red Banner. After the end of the conflict he remained in command of the company for one year. In 1933 he entered the

Frunze Military Academy The M. V. Frunze Military Academy (russian: Военная академия имени М. В. Фрунзе), or in full the Military Order of Lenin and the October Revolution, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Academy in the name of M. V. Frunze (rus ...

, which he graduated from in 1936, following which he was appointed assistant chief of the operational department of the staff of the 66th Rifle Division in the Far East. He became Operations Chief of Staff of the 31st Rifle Corps in March 1939. In June of that same year he was made Chief of Staff of the 43rd Rifle Corps. For the first six months of 1941 he was the head of department of military training of the

Far Eastern Front The Far Eastern Front ( Russian: Дальневосточный фронт) was a front — a level of military formation that is equivalent to army group — of the Red Army during the Second World War. Early war service Тhe Far Eastern Front ...

World War II

On 12 July 1941, Beloborodov was made commander of the

78th Rifle Division The 78th Rifle Division () was an infantry division of the Red Army, formed in 1932, in Novosibirsk, in the Siberian Military District. After being used to provide cadres for new divisions, in September 1939 the division was reformed for the secon ...

. In October he and his division arrived at the Western Front as part of the 16th Army. The division's actions in the

Battle of Moscow The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between September 1941 and January ...

were recognized in November 1941, and the division was honored with the

Guards designation Guards units (russian: Гвардия, translit=Gvardiya) were elite units and formations in the Soviet Armed Forces that continue to exist in the Russian Armed Forces and other post-Soviet states. These units were awarded Guards status after di ...

and renamed the

9th Guards Rifle Division The 9th Guards Rifle Division was reformed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in November, 1941, based on the 1st formation of the 78th Rifle Division and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. It was first a ...

. Beloborodov was subsequently promoted to the rank of

Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

. The following spring and summer the 9th Guards Rifle Division, under the commanded of Beloborodov, carried out successful combat operations in the Southwestern Front at the

Seversky Donets The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets, is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv, Done ...

. Later that year, Beloborodov was put in charge of the 5th Guards Rifle Corps. They successfully destroyed the enemy’s defense in

Velikiye Luki Velikiye Luki ( rus, Вели́кие Лу́ки, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪjə ˈlukʲɪ; lit. ''great meanders''. Г. П. Смолицкая. "Топонимический словарь Центральной России". "Армада-П ...

during the operation of the

Kalinin Front The Kalinin Front was a major formation of the Red Army active in the Eastern Front of World War II, named for the city of Kalinin. It was formally established by Stavka directive on 17 October 1941 and allocated three armies: 22nd, 29th Army a ...

. In August 1943, Beloborodov was made commander of the 2nd Guards Rifle Corps. Under his leadership the troops enjoyed success in combat near

Smolensk Smolensk ( rus, Смоленск, p=smɐˈlʲensk, a=smolensk_ru.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest c ...

. On 22 May 1944 he was placed in command of the 43rd Army, which soon engaged in the

Operation Bagration Operation Bagration (; russian: Операция Багратио́н, Operatsiya Bagration) was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (russian: Белорусская наступательная оп� ...

and the Vitebsk–Orsha Offensive. On 26 June they expelled German forced from Vitebsk and then went with the

Šiauliai Offensive The Šiauliai offensive (russian: Шяуляйская наступательная) was an operation of the Soviet forces of the 1st Baltic Front, commanded by General Hovhannes Bagramyan, conducted from July 5 to August 29, 1944, during the Se ...

. He then pursued the Baltic Offensive while forcing Germans into the

Courland Pocket The Courland Pocket (Blockade of the Courland army group), (german: Kurland-Kessel)/german: Kurland-Brückenkopf (Courland Bridgehead), lv, Kurzemes katls (Courland Cauldron) or ''Kurzemes cietoksnis'' (Courland Fortress)., group=lower-alpha ...

, after which his men participated in the

Battle of Königsberg The Battle of Königsberg, also known as the Königsberg offensive, was one of the last operations of the East Prussian offensive during World War II. In four days of urban warfare, Soviet forces of the 1st Baltic Front and the 3rd Belorussia ...

before taking out the remainder of the 2nd Germany Army near the Vistula. Promoted to

colonel general Colonel general is a three- or four-star military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, and was a ra ...

on 5 May 1945, in June 1945 he was transferred to the Far East and appointed commander of the 1st Red Banner Army. After the start of the

Soviet–Japanese War The Soviet–Japanese War (russian: Советско-японская война; ja, ソ連対日参戦, soren tai nichi sansen, Soviet Union entry into war against Japan), known in Mongolia as the Liberation War of 1945 (), was a military ...

in August, his army was assigned to participate in the Harbin-Kirin operation. His troops broke through three lines of defense and advanced hundreds of kilometers through mountainous terrain to take control of Mudanjiang and Harbin, doing so with relatively few casualties.

Postwar

Beloborodov remained in command of the 1st Red Banner Army until 1946, after which he stayed in the military and held numerous senior posts, including commander of the 39th Army. In 1963 he was promoted to the rank of

army general Army general is the highest ranked general officer in many countries that use the General officer#French (Revolutionary) system, French Revolutionary System.　 In countries that adopt the general officer four rank system, it is rank of genera ...

and became the commander of the

. In 1966 he was badly injured in a car accident, and his long-term injuries resulted him requesting to be dismissed from command of the district. He died on 1 September 1990 and was buried in the Lenino-Snegiri Military Cemetery.

Awards and honors

Soviet

Foreign

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beloborodov, Afanasy Pavlantyevich 1903 births 1990 deaths People from Irkutsk Oblast People from Irkutsk Governorate Heroes of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of Suvorov, 1st class Recipients of the Order of Suvorov, 2nd class Recipients of the Order of Kutuzov, 2nd class Recipients of the Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR", 3rd class Army generals (Soviet Union) Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold Recipients of the Military Order of the White Lion Tashkent Higher Tank Command School alumni Frunze Military Academy alumni