Nikolai Ivanovich Trufanov (russian: Никола́й Ива́нович Труфа́нов; 15 May 190012 February 1982) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

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 ...

who fought in World War II.

Biography

He was born on May 15, 1900, in the Yaroslavl Governorate in a poor family. At the age of 19 he joined the Red Army, participed in the Russian Civil War, and served in the cavalry division of

Grigory Kotovsky Grigory Ivanovich Kotovsky (russian: Григо́рий Ива́нович Кото́вский, ro, Grigore Kotovski; – August 6, 1925) was a Soviet military and political activist, and participant in the Russian Civil War. He made a career ...

. In 1925 he graduated from the VTsIK military school and in 1939 he graduated from 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 ...

. He participated in the

Soviet-Finnish war The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

as chief of staff of the 4th Infantry Division. In August 1941, he participated in the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran as Chief of Staff of the 28th Mechanized Corps. In July 1942 he was appointed commander of the 51st Army, was soon removed from office, but reappointed in October and commanded the army until February 1943. Since June 1943, he was deputy commander of the 69th Army. Since March 1945, the commander of the

25th Rifle Corps The 25th Army Corps was an army corps of the Soviet Ground Forces active from 1957–1960 and 1980–89. In its first period of existence it was in the Odessa Military District, and in its second period of existence it garrisoned the remote Kamchatk ...

on the 2nd Ukrainian and 1st Belorussian Fronts. During the war he took part in the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later re ...

, the

Battle of the Caucasus The Battle of the Caucasus is a name given to a series of Axis and Soviet operations in the Caucasus area on the Eastern Front of World War II. On 25 July 1942, German troops captured Rostov-on-Don, Russia, opening the Caucasus region of t ...

, the

Battle of Rostov (1943) Three battles of the Eastern Front of World War II around the city of Rostov-on-Don on the Sea of Azov are known as the Battle of Rostov: *In the Battle of Rostov (1941), the German 1st Panzer Army captured the city but was driven out by the Sovie ...

and a number of other battles and operations. He fought also in the

Battle of Berlin The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. After the Vistula– ...

. At the end of the war until October 19, 1945, he was a military commandant of the city of

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

, then Chief of Commandant's Service Section, Soviet Military Administration, Saxony, and from December 1946, Commanding Officer Soviet Military Administration in Mecklenburg. He was promoted to lieutenant general on 11 July 1945. Since June 1950, he was Head of the Directorate of Combat and Physical Training of the

Far Eastern Military District The Far Eastern Military District (russian: Дальневосточный военный округ; Dalʹnevostochnyĭ voennyĭ okrug) was a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2010 it was merged with the Pacific ...

. Since January 1954, Commander of the 15th Combined Arms Army on

Sakhalin Island Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh: ...

. Since January 1956, first deputy Commander of the Far Eastern Military District. Since June 1957, chief military adviser, then senior military specialist of the Minister of Defense of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. He retired in 1960.

References

External links

Generals.dk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trufanov, Nikolai Ivanovich 1900 births 1982 deaths People from Yaroslavl Oblast People from Yaroslavsky Uyezd Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, 1955–1959 Soviet colonel generals Frunze Military Academy alumni Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War Soviet military personnel of the Winter War Soviet military personnel of World War II Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner