Terentiy Mikhaylovich Parafilo (russian: Тере́нтий Михай́лович Парафи́ло; 28 October 1901 – 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, ...

military commander. Parafilo is primarily remembered for his service during

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 ...

, in which he first participated as commander of a

Naval Infantry Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

brigade attached to the Baltic Sea Fleet during

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

's incursion into the

Baltics The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...

, then as a major general commanding the shore-based 7th Airborne Guards Division of the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

Biography

Trentiy Parafilo was born on 28 October 1901 in Brovarky, in

Kremenchugsky Uyezd Kremenchugsky Uyezd (''Кременчугский уезд'') was one of the subdivisions of the Poltava Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the southern part of the governorate. Its administrative centre was Kremenchug (Kremenchu ...

Poltava Governorate The Poltava Governorate (russian: Полтавская губерния, Poltavskaya guberniya; ua, Полтавська Губернія, translit=Poltavska huberniia) or Poltavshchyna was a Governorate (Russia), gubernia (also called a provin ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

(present-day

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

). He enjoyed a long military career, having served in the Soviet Army as a simple soldier long before

. Tributs, V. F. ''Балтийцы сражаются'' (''The Baltic Sailors Fight''). Moscow: Voyennoye Izdatelstvo, 1985. P. 64. In 1940, Colonel Parafilo was assigned to command the newly formed 1st Naval Infantry Brigade, headquartered in

Daugavpils Daugavpils (; russian: Двинск; ltg, Daugpiļs ; german: Dünaburg, ; pl, Dyneburg; see other names) is a state city in south-eastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city gets its name. The parts of the c ...

. Following the

German Army Group North Army Group North (german: Heeresgruppe Nord) was a German strategic formation, commanding a grouping of field armies during World War II. The German Army Group was subordinated to the ''Oberkommando des Heeres'' (OKH), the German army high comman ...

's rapid advances against the surprised Soviet forces during the first stages 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 ...

, Parafilo's brigade, effectively constituting the core of the Soviet defense of the western sector of

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

, found itself encircled, but managed to escape successfully. Salisbury, Harrison. ''The 900 Days: The Siege of Leningrad''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Da Capo Press, 2003. , . P. 318. Tributs, V. F. ''Балтийцы сражаются''. (''The Baltic Sailors Fight''). Moscow: Voyennoye Izdatelstvo, 1985. P. 65. Parafilo was appointed commander of the

7th Guards Airborne Division , image = Great emblem of the 7th Guards Mountain Air Assault Division.svg , image_size = 200 , caption = 7th Guards Mountain Air Assault Division great emblem , dates ...

on 8 December 1942, participating in countering the German army on the

Volkhov Front The Volkhov Front (russian: Волховский фронт) was a major formation of the Red Army during the first period of the Second World War. It was formed as an expediency of an early attempt to halt the advance of the Wehrmacht Army Group ...

, formed in order to halt the German advance towards

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. Heavily wounded in the fighting, the major general died on 24 June 1943."Т.М. Парафило" ("T. M. Parafilo"). ''Voyenno-Istoricheskiy Zhurnal''. Moscow: Voyennoye Izdatelstvo, 1993. P. 103.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parafilo, Terentiy Mikhaylovich 1901 births 1943 deaths People from Poltava Oblast People from Kremenchugsky Uyezd Soviet major generals Soviet Navy officers Personnel of the Soviet Airborne Forces Soviet military personnel of the Winter War Soviet military personnel killed in World War II Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Soviet military personnel of World War II from Ukraine