Nikolay Aleksandrovich Nikitin (; 19 December 1900 – 9 November 1984) was a Soviet Army lieutenant general who held corps and division command during World War II. An ordinary soldier of the Russian Civil War, Nikitin became an officer and served in Central Asia and Ukraine during the interwar period. A corps chief of staff when Operation Barbarossa began, Nikitin escaped encirclement and rose to command the

153rd Rifle Division The 153rd Rifle Division was a Soviet infantry division of the Red Army during World War II. It was formed in the Ural Military District. On 22 June 1941 when the German Operation Barbarossa began, it was serving under command of Nikolai Gagen wi ...

during 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 ...

. After serving as a corps chief of staff through 1943 and early 1944, he commanded the 348th Rifle Division in Operation Bagration. After commanding the

120th Guards Rifle Division 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

in late 1944, Nikitin led the

35th Rifle Corps Military units *35th Fighter Wing, an air combat unit of the United States Air Force *35th Infantry Division (United States), a formation of the National Guard since World War I *35th Infantry Regiment (United States), a regiment created on 1 July 1 ...

in the Soviet advances of 1945. After the war ended in Europe he was sent to command the

17th Rifle Corps The 17th Rifle Corps was a corps of the Red Army and later the Soviet Army, formed three times. It was first formed in 1922 in the Soviet Far East before relocating to Ukraine two years later. It fought in the Soviet invasion of Poland and was des ...

in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria. Postwar, Nikitin commanded several corps and held high-level staff positions before his retirement in the late 1950s.

Early life and Russian Civil War

A Russian, Nikolay Aleksandrovich Nikitin was born on 19 December 1900 in the village of Mikhaylovka,

Bobrovsky Uyezd Bobrovsky Uyezd (''Бобровский уезд'') was one of the subdivisions of the Voronezh Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the northeastern part of the governorate. Its administrative centre was Bobrov. Demographics At ...

, Voronezh Governorate. During the Russian Civil War, he was conscripted into the Red Army on 12 May 1919 and sent as a Red Army man to the Voronezh Reserve Regiment. At the beginning of June he was enrolled as a cadet in the courses for Red Commanders at the reserve battalion of the Southern Front in Kozlov. With the unit, he fought against the

Mamontov raid Mamontov (russian: Мамонтов) is a Russian surname, derived from the Orthodox baptismal name , Mamant (Mammes, el, Μάμας, Μάμαντος). The feminine form is Mamontova. Notable people with the surname include: * Andrey Mamontov, ...

. In battle near Yelets at the beginning of October he was wounded and concussed, after which he was in the hospital in

Zadonsk Zadonsk (russian: Задо́нск) is a town and the administrative center of Zadonsky District in Lipetsk Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Don River, from which it takes its name, southwest of Lipetsk, the administrative center of ...

and with the convalescent detachment in Voronezh until February 1920. After recovering, Nikitin was sent to serve as a Red Army man in the 46th Howitzer Heavy Artillery Battalion of the 46th Yekaterinoslav Rifle Division. With the division, he fought against the Army of Wrangel on the Isthmus of Perekop and the Chonhar Peninsula, participating in the elimination of a White landing in the

Melitopol Melitopol ( uk, Меліто́поль, translit=Melitópol’, ; russian: Мелитополь; based on el, Μελιτόπολις - "honey city") is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Zaporizhz ...

area, battles on the lower Dnieper, the

Perekop-Chongar Offensive The siege of Perekop, also known as the Perekop-Çonğar Operation, was the final battle of the Southern Front in the Russian Civil War from 7 to 17 November 1920. The White movement's stronghold on the Crimean Peninsula was protected by the ...

and the suppression of anti-Soviet forces in Crimea. After the merger of the 46th Rifle Division with the 3rd Kazan Rifle Division, he served in the battalion headquarters as a copyist from December 1920.

Interwar period

Nikitin was sent to the 1st Voronezh Signals Command Courses in August 1921, and after their June 1922 disbandment transferred to the 4th Kursk Infantry School. During his training there he served as an assistant platoon commander from January 1924. Graduating in September of that year, he sent to the

Turkestan Front The Turkestan Front () was a front of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War, which was formed on the territory of Turkestan Military District by Order of the Republic of Turkestan on February 23, 1919. It was formed a second time by the directiv ...

. There he served with the 11th Turkestan Rifle Regiment of the 4th Turkestan Rifle Division, as a platoon and company commander, acting battalion commander, and platoon commander and assistant chief of the regimental school in Alma-Ata. Transferred to the 8th Separate Local Rifle Battalion of the Central Asian Military District in Tashkent in November 1926, Nikitin served there as a company commander, chief of the school for junior command personnel, battalion adjutant, and again as a company commander. Nikitin was transferred to the 14th Red Banner Mountain Rifle Regiment in Termez in December 1930, serving as a company commander. With this unit he participated in the suppression of the

Basmachi movement The Basmachi movement (russian: Басмачество, ''Basmachestvo'', derived from Uzbek: "Basmachi" meaning "bandits") was an uprising against Russian Imperial and Soviet rule by the Muslim peoples of Central Asia. The movement's roots l ...

, for which he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour of the Tajik SSR in 1931. Nikitin rose to assistant chief of staff of the 6th Turkestan Rifle Regiment of the 2nd Pridnieper Rifle Division in

Andizhan Andijan (sometimes spelled Andijon or Andizhan in English) ( uz, Andijon / Андижон / ئەندىجان; fa, اندیجان, ''Andijân/Andīǰān''; russian: Андижан, ''Andižan'') is a city in Uzbekistan. It is the administrative, ...

in December 1931. The regiment was reorganized as the 186th Andizhan Rifle Regiment of the 62nd Rifle Division after its relocation to Pereyaslav in the Ukrainian Military District. Nikitin served as regimental chief of staff from 14 August 1932 and from September 1937 temporarily commanded the regiment. In May 1938 he reverted to regimental chief of staff of the 123rd Rifle Regiment (renumbered from the 186th) in

Fastov Fastiv ( uk, Фа́стів) is a city in the Kyiv Oblast (province) in central Ukraine. On older maps it is depicted as Chvastiv ( pl, Chwastów). Administratively, it is incorporated as a city of oblast significance. It also serves as the admin ...

. Now a major, he was appointed chief of the 1st section of the headquarters of the 62nd Rifle Division on 23 August 1939. Nikitin transferred to serve in the same position in the

130th Rifle Division Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 * ...

in Mogilyov-Podolsk in April 1940. He became chief of the operations department of the headquarters of the

27th Rifle Corps 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, s ...

in February 1941.

World War II

After Operation Barbarossa began, Nikitin served with the 27th Rifle Corps of the

5th Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash tha ...

and later 37th Armies in the border battles and in the Battle of Kiev on the Southwestern Front. His unit was encircled in the area of

Borispol Boryspil ( uk, Бориспіль, translit. ''Boryspil'') is a city and the administrative center of Boryspil Raion in Kyiv Oblast (region) in northern (central) Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Boryspil urban hromada, one of the hromada ...

in the Kiev pocket from 24 September to 25 October. Escaping with a group of commanders, armed, uniformed, and with his documents, now-Colonel Nikitin was appointed chief of the combat training department of the headquarters of the 40th Army of the Southwestern Front in November. He participated in the defensive battles on the line of the Tim river, northeast of Tim, Kursk Oblast. From late December to February 1942 the army conducted a series of local offensives towards

Kursk Kursk ( rus, Курск, p=ˈkursk) is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym rivers. The area around Kursk was the site of a turning point in the Soviet–German stru ...

and Belgorod. Nikitin was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for his performance at the headquarters on 27 March. Nikitin was sent to the Volga Military District to command the new

in February 1942. He oversaw the formation of the division at Chapayevsk and led it in defensive operations on the left bank of the Don as part of the 63rd Army of the Stalingrad Front on the fringes of the

. Sent to advanced training courses at the

Voroshilov Higher Military Academy The Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (russian: Военная академия Генерального штаба Вооруженных Сил Российской Федерации) is the ...

in November, he was appointed chief of staff of the

after graduating in June 1943. The corps headquarters was formed at Sverdlovsk in the Ural Military District and sent to the Bryansk Front, becoming part of the 63rd Army. Nikitin participated in the Battle of Kursk and the

Bryansk offensive The second Smolensk operation (7 August – 2 October 1943) was a Soviet strategic offensive operation conducted by the Red Army as part of the Summer-Autumn Campaign of 1943. Staged almost simultaneously with the Lower Dnieper Offensive (13 Aug ...

and on 17 August received the

Order of the Patriotic War The Order of the Patriotic War (russian: Орден Отечественной войны, Orden Otechestvennoy voiny) is a Soviet military decoration that was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to partisan ...

, 1st class, for his performance. In this position he was assessed as having, "despite the incomplete officering of the corps headquarters, managed to organize the headquarters for the execution of combat tasks in a short time." The corps fought in the Gomel–Rechitsa offensive and the Rogachev–Zhlobin offensive as part of the 3rd Army during the winter of 1943–1944. Promoted to major general on 3 June 1944, Nikitin took command of the corps' 348th Rifle Division on 18 June. He led the 348th in Operation Bagration, in which it fought in the Bobruysk offensive, the Minsk offensive, and the

Belostok offensive The Belostok offensive (russian: Белостокская наступательная операция) was part of the third and final phase of the Belorussian strategic offensive of the Red Army in summer 1944, commonly known as Operation Bag ...

. Reaching the

Narew The Narew (; be, Нараў, translit=Naraŭ; or ; Sudovian: ''Naura''; Old German: ''Nare''; uk, Нарва, translit=Narva) is a 499-kilometre (310 mi) river primarily in north-eastern Poland, which is also a tributary of the river Vis ...

its units fought to expand a bridgehead on the western bank of the river. For the liberation of Bobruysk the division was awarded the name of the city as an honorific and Nikitin received a second Order of the Red Banner on 30 September, the Order of Kutuzov, 2nd class, on 27 July, and second

, 1st class on 9 September on recognition of his leadership. As commander of the 348th, he was assessed as a "versatile and strong-willed commander, knowing his duties. Energetic and takes initiative in work. Tactically versatile. Able to make decisions and execute them..." Nikitin was transferred to command the

of the 41st Rifle Corps on 21 September, leading it in the liberation of Ostrołęka that month. Nikitin rose to command the 35th Rifle Corps of the 3rd Army on 27 December. He led it in the East Prussian offensive and the Mława–Elbing offensive in early 1945. For his performance in these operations, Nikitin received praise for "perfectly analyzing the situation...didn't fail in any difficult situation...devoted his strength to how to best execute tasks. Organized the details of the battle in all aspects, as a result there was not one incident during the East Prussian offensive in which it was necessary to ask questions of him." Together with the army, the corps transferred to the

3rd Belorussian Front The 3rd Belorussian Front () was a Front of the Red Army during the Second World War. The 3rd Belorussian Front was created on 24 April 1944 from forces previously assigned to the Western Front. Over 381 days in combat, the 3rd Belorussian Fron ...

on 10 February and participated in the destruction of German troops in East Prussia. The 35th and its army transferred to the

1st Belorussian Front The 1st Belorussian Front (Russian: Пéрвый Белорусский фронт, ''Perviy Belorusskiy front'', also romanized " Byelorussian") was a major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army ...

on 16 April for the Berlin offensive, in which it crossed the

Oder The Oder ( , ; Czech, Lower Sorbian and ; ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river in total length and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows thr ...

in May, reaching the Elbe northeast of Magdeburg at the end of the war. After the end of the war in Europe, Nikitin was sent to the Far East, where on 5 July he took command of the

of the 25th Army. Promoted to lieutenant general on 11 July, he led the 17th Rifle Corps in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, in which it participated in the Harbin–Kirin offensive.

Postwar

After the end of the war, Nikitin continued to command the corps in the Primorsky Military District. From July 1946 he commanded the 45th Rifle Corps in the same district. In March 1947 he was sent to the Higher Academic Course at the Voroshilov Academy, graduating with honors in April 1948. Nikitin commanded the 79th Rifle Corps of the

3rd Shock Army The 3rd Shock Army (russian: Третья ударная армия) was a field army of the Red Army formed during the Second World War. The "Shock" armies were created with the specific structure to engage and destroy significant enemy forces ...

in the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany from June of that year. In March 1951 he was appointed assistant commander of the

8th Guards Army The 8th Guards Order of Lenin Combined Arms Army (abbreviated 8th CAA) is an army of the Russian Ground Forces, headquartered in Novocherkassk, Rostov Oblast, within Russia′s Southern Military District, that was reinstated in 2017 as a success ...

in East Germany. Nikitin then held a series of staff posts, in August 1952 becoming deputy chief of the Main Combat and Physical Training Directorate of the Ground Forces (the Combat and Physical Training Directorate from May 1953). Nikitin was appointed chief of the Directorate of Combat Training of combined arms units of the Main Combat Training Directorate of the Ground Forces in June 1956. He left Moscow to serve as senior military advisor to the commander of a military district of the Romanian Army from 27 April 1957. Nikitin was retired nearing age 60, on 23 July 1959. He died in Moscow on 9 November 1984.

Awards and honors

Nikitin received the following decorations: * Order of Lenin (2) * Order of the Red Banner (4) * Order of Kutuzov, 1st class (2) * Order of Suvorov, 2nd class * Order of Kutuzov, 2nd class *

, 1st class (2) * Order of the Red Banner of Labour of the Tajik SSR * Medals * Foreign orders and medals

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * 1900 births 1984 deaths Soviet lieutenant generals Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War Soviet military personnel of World War II Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of Kutuzov, 1st class Recipients of the Order of Suvorov, 2nd class Recipients of the Order of Kutuzov, 2nd class Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union alumni People from Bobrovsky District People from Bobrovsky Uyezd {{DEFAULTSORT:Nikitin, Nikolay Aleksandrovich