General of the Army Ivan Aleksandrovych Gerasymov (

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

: Іва́н Олекса́ндрович Гера́симов,

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

: Иван Александрович Герасимов; August 8, 1921 – June 4, 2008) was a Soviet

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and deputy in the Ukrainian parliament (

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...

). He was a member of the

Communist Party of Ukraine The Communist Party of Ukraine, Abbreviation: KPU, from Ukrainian and Russian "" is a banned political party in Ukraine. It was founded in 1993 as the successor to the Soviet-era Communist Party of Ukraine which was banned in 1991 (accord ...

. Herasymov was the oldest sitting member of the Verkhovna Rada at the time of his death on June 4, 2008 at the age of 87.

Biography

An ethnic

, Ivan Aleksandrovich Gerasimov was born on 8 August 1921. In 1940, he joined the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

. From 1940 to 1941 he was a commander of a platoon in the

Odessa Military District The Odesa Military District (russian: Одесский военный округ, ОВО; , abbreviated ) was a military administrative division of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In 1998 most of its territory was transformed into the Southern Operat ...

. From 1941 to 1942 he was the commander of a tank company on the South and South-Western Front. Throughout the rest of the war, he was the commander of a tank battalion on the North Caucasian Front, commander of a Tank Regiment of

Voronezh Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the ...

1st Ukrainian Front The 1st Ukrainian Front (Russian: Пéрвый Украи́нский фронт), previously the Voronezh Front (Russian: Воронежский Фронт) was a major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a ...

and Chief of Staff of a Tank Brigade of the

2nd Far East Front __NOTOC__ The 2nd Far Eastern Front (russian: 2-й Дальневосточный фронт) was a Front—a formation equivalent to a Western Army Group—of the Soviet Army. It was formed just prior to the Soviet invasion of Manchuria and was ...

Postwar

After the war, he attended the Military Academy of Armored and Mechanized Forces in Moscow. He graduated from it in 1955. From 1955 to 1964 he held numerous posts within the framework of divisions. In 1964–1966 he attended the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR. From 1966 to 1971 he was the commander of the

1st Tank Army The 1st Guards Tank Army () is a tank army of the Russian Ground Forces. The army traces its heritage back to the 1st Tank Army, formed twice in July 1942 and in January 1943 and converted into the 1st Guards Tank Army in January 1944. The arm ...

. From 1971 to 1972 he was the First Deputy Commander of the

Carpathian Military District The Red Banner Carpathian Military District (, ) was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces during the Cold War and subsequently of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the early Post-Soviet period. It was established on 3 May 1946 on the ...

. From 1972 to 1975 he was the Commander of the Northern Army Group, and then from 1975 to 1984 he was the Commander of the

Kyiv Military District The Kiev Military District (; , abbreviated ) was a military district of the Imperial Russian Army and subsequently of the Red Army and Soviet Armed Forces. It was first formed in 1862, and was headquartered in Kiev (Kyiv) for most of its exi ...

. He was made from 1984 to 1990 the Commander in chief of the troops of the South-Western Direction, and in 1986 arrived at the site of the

Chernobyl disaster The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian SSR in the Soviet Union. It is one of only two nuc ...

to head

Soviet Ministry of Defence The Ministry of Defense (Minoboron; russian: Министерство обороны СССР) was a government ministry in the Soviet Union. The first Minister of Defense was Nikolai Bulganin, starting 1953. The Krasnaya Zvezda (Red Star) was the ...

efforts there, in succession to General

Vladimir Pikalov Vladimir Karpovich Pikalov (russian: Владимир Карпович Пикалов; 15 September 1924 – 29 March 2003) was a Soviet general. He commanded the from 1968 to 1988. During World War II, he was wounded several times and took ...

Fall of the USSR

From 1990 until his retirement from the army in 1992 he was the Chief Inspector of the Main Inspectorate of the

Ministry of Defense {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

. From 2002 to 2008, he was a

people's Deputy of Ukraine People's, branded as ''People's Viennaline'' until May 2018, and legally ''Altenrhein Luftfahrt Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, GmbH'', is an Austrian airline headquartered in Vienna. It operates scheduled and charter passenger flights ma ...

. On 3 July 2004, he led the Ukrainian delegation of veterans at the

Minsk Independence Day Parade The Minsk Independence Day Parade ( be, Парад у Мінску ў гонар Незалежнасці Беларусі) also known as the July 3 Parade is the main event of the Independence Day of Belarus. This parade is held annually in Mins ...

in honor of the Minsk Offensive's

diamond jubilee A diamond jubilee celebrates the 60th anniversary of a significant event related to a person (e.g. accession to the throne or wedding, among others) or the 60th anniversary of an institution's founding. The term is also used for 75th annivers ...

. On 27 October, he inspected the

military parade A military parade is a formation of soldiers whose movement is restricted by close-order manoeuvering known as drilling or marching. The military parade is now almost entirely ceremonial, though soldiers from time immemorial up until the lat ...

Maidan Nezalezhnosti Maidan Nezalezhnosti ( uk, Майдан Незалежності , literally "Independence Square") is the central square of Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine. One of the city's main squares, it is located on Khreshchatyk Street in the Shevchen ...

in honor of the

60th anniversary of the Liberation of Ukraine , native_name_lang = , english_name = , time = , duration = 1 day , date = , venue = Maidan Nezalezhnosti and Park of Eternal Glory , location ...

along with

Oleksandr Kuzmuk Oleksandr Ivanovych Kuzmuk ( uk, Олекса́ндр Іва́нович Кузьму́к; born 17 April 1954) is a Ukrainian politician and military commander, who is member of the Party of Regions and was Minister of Defence of Ukraine on tw ...

. He was a member of the

. He died on 4 June 2008 in Kyiv and is buried in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. On 9 May 2010, in honor of the 65th anniversary of the end of the

World War II 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 ...

, a memorial plaque was installed in his honor at the building of the Ministry of Defense in Kyiv.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gerasymov, Ivan 1921 births 2008 deaths People from Bashkortostan Army generals (Soviet Union) Russian emigrants to Ukraine Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union) members Fourth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Fifth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Sixth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Communist Party of Ukraine politicians Recipients of the title of Hero of Ukraine Chernobyl liquidators Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union alumni Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia Recipients of the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, 1st class Recipients of the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, 2nd class Recipients of the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, 3rd class Recipients of the Order of Gold Star (Ukraine) Soviet military personnel of World War II