Pyotr Nikolayevich Akhlyustin (; 12 June 1896 – 28 July 1941) was a

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, afte ...

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 ...

. Akhlyustin fought in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

as a cavalryman and joined the Red Army during the

Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...

, becoming a junior commander. He held command positions in cavalry units between the wars and commanded a cavalry division in the

Soviet invasion of Poland The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military operation by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Poland from the west. Subs ...

and the

Winter 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 ...

. At the outbreak of

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

, he commanded the 13th Mechanized Corps, destroyed during the

Battle of Białystok–Minsk The Battle of Białystok–Minsk was a German strategic operation conducted by the Wehrmacht's Army Group Centre under Field Marshal Fedor von Bock during the penetration of the Soviet border region in the opening stage of Operation Barbarossa, ...

in late June and early July 1941. Akhlyustin escaped, but was killed while trying to reach Soviet lines in late July.

Early life, World War I, and Russian Civil War

Akhlyustin was born on 12 June 1896 in Kaslinsky Zavod, the son of a worker, and graduated from primary school. During

, he was drafted into the Imperial Russian Army in August 1915 and sent to the Western Front, where he fought with the 2nd Pavlograd Life Hussar Regiment as a private, junior '' unter-ofitser'' and assistant platoon commander. Akhlyustin received two Crosses of St. George for his actions. Demobilized in December 1917 after the Russian Revolution, he returned to his hometown to work as a

fireman A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

at the Kasli metallurgical plant. Akhlyustin joined the Red Army on 24 June 1918 during the

, serving with the cavalry '' sotnya'' of the 267th Mountain Rifle Regiment as a platoon commander and assistant ''sotnya'' commander. On 11 June 1920 he was appointed chief of the machine gun detachment of the 3rd Special Purpose Battalion of the Southern Front, and in May 1921 returned to the 267th Rifle Regiment to serve as a rifle company and ''sotnya'' commander. During the war he saw action on the

Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

and Southern Fronts.

Interwar period

Akhlyustin served with the

30th Rifle Division The 30th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union, formed three times. The final full name of its first formation was the 30th Rifle Irkutsk Order of Lenin, three Orders of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Banner of Labour Di ...

from December 1922 as commander of a training platoon of the divisional school, and from August 1923 served successively as a platoon commander, and assistant commander and acting commander of a squadron. He transferred to the separate cavalry squadron of the 51st Rifle Division, part of the

Ukrainian 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 exist ...

, in November 1924, serving successively as assistant commander and commander of the squadron. After graduating from the Simferopol Command Course in 1926, Akhlyustin was sent to study at the

Novocherkassk Novocherkassk (russian: Новочерка́сск, lit. ''New Cherkassk'') is a city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located near the confluence of the Tuzlov and Aksay Rivers, the latter a distributary of the Don River. Novocherkassk is best known ...

Cavalry Officers Improvement Course in October 1927, from which he completed in August 1928. He became head of the economic section at the Budyonny Ukrainian Cavalry School in November 1929, and from January 1931 served as assistant commander and then commander of the 2nd Reserve Cavalry Regiment of the district. Transferred to the 26th Cavalry Division to command its 104th Cavalry Regiment in April 1935, Akhlyustin later became commander of the 10th Cavalry Regiment of the 23rd Cavalry Division, being promoted to colonel on 24 January 1936. He took command of the division, part of the 7th Cavalry Corps of the

Kiev 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 exis ...

, in September 1937, and was promoted to ''

kombrig (russian: комбриг) is an abbreviation of Commanding officer of the brigade (russian: командир бригады, komandir brigady; ), and was a military rank in the Soviet Armed Forces of the USSR from 1935 to 1940. It was also the ...

'' on 17 February 1938. Another transfer to command the 24th Cavalry Division of the 13th Cavalry Corps of the

Belorussian Special Military District The Byelorussian Military District (russian: Белорусский военный округ, translit=Belorusskiy Voyenyi Okrug; alternatively Belarusian; ) was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces. Originally formed just before World ...

in June of that year followed as the Red Army expanded its cavalry force. Akhlyustin commanded the division in the

and the

, and became a major general on 4 June 1940 when the Red Army reintroduced general officer ranks. An order of 15 February 1941 appointed Akhlyustin commander of the 39th Rifle Corps of the

1st Red Banner Army The 1st Red Banner Army () was a Red Army field army of World War II that served in the Soviet Far East. Before 1941 The 1st Army was created in July 1938 under the name of the 1st Coastal Army (or, depending on translation, 1st Maritime Army) i ...

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 ...

, but on 27 February it was rescinded and instead he became commander of the 13th Mechanized Corps of the 10th Army of the Western Special Military District (the former Belorussian Special Military District).

World War II

After

, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, began, Akhlyustin's corps fought in the

and was almost completely wiped out, encircled in the Bialystok pocket. Akhlyustin escaped to positions held by the 13th Army on the

Dnieper } The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and ...

and continued east when these too collapsed. On 28 July, while organizing the breakout from the encirclement of the corps, which had run out of ammunition, fuel, and lubricants, Akhlyustin was killed while attempting to cross the

Sozh River The Sozh, or Sož ( be, Сож, ; russian: Сож, uk, Сож) is an international river flowing in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. It is a left bank tributary of the Dnieper. The Sozh passes through Gomel, the second largest city in Belarus. T ...

near

Propoysk Slawharad or Slavgorod ( be, Слаўгарад; russian: Славгород, pl, Sławograd) is a town in the Mogilev Region, Eastern Belarus. It is located in the east of the Region, on the banks of the Sozh River at the confluence with the P ...

. He was survived by his wife, Mariya Nikolayevna, who lived in

Magnitogorsk Magnitogorsk ( rus, Магнитого́рск, p=məɡnʲɪtɐˈɡorsk, ) is an industrial city in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located on the eastern side of the extreme southern extent of the Ural Mountains by the Ural River. Its population ...

Awards and honors

Akhlyustin received the following awards and decorations: *

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner (russian: Орден Красного Знамени, Orden Krasnogo Znameni) was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of t ...

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 partisa ...

, 1st class (posthumous) * Order of the Red Star (2) *

Jubilee Medal "XX Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army" The Jubilee Medal "XX Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army" (russian: Юбилейная медаль «XX лет Рабоче-Крестьянской Красной Армии») was a state military commemorative medal of the Soviet Un ...

(1938) *

Cross of St. George The Cross of Saint George (russian: Георгиевский крест, Georgiyevskiy krest) is a state decoration of the Russian Federation. It was initially established by Imperial Russia where it was officially known as the Decoration of ...

3rd and 4th class (not worn after 1917)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Akhlyustin, Pyotr 1896 births 1941 deaths People from Kaslinsky District People from Yekaterinburgsky Uyezd Soviet major generals Russian military personnel of World War I Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War Soviet military personnel killed in World War II Recipients of the Cross of St. George Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner