Vasily Dmitrievich Kryuchenkin (, ; January 13, 1894 – June 10, 1976,
Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe.
Kyi ...
) was a
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
Lieutenant general
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
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 opposing ...
who commanded several armies.
Before World War II
He was born in the village of Karpovka in the
Orenburg Oblast, in a peasants' family, and had seven siblings.
In 1915 he joined the Russian Army and fought on
Western Front as a Non-commissioned officer.
After the outbreak of the October Revolution, he joined the Red Guard in 1917 and the Red Army in 1918. He participated in several battles and was commander of a cavalry platoon, a squadron, assistant commander of the regiment, and Commander of a cavalry regiment.
After the end of the war, Kryuchenkin continued to serve with the 11th Cavalry Division. In October 1921, he was appointed acting commander of the 63rd Cavalry Regiment, leading it in the suppression of the
Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine
The Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine ( uk, Революційна Повстанська Армія України), also known as the Black Army or as Makhnovtsi ( uk, Махновці), named after their leader Nestor Makhno, was ...
, the forces of Talak and Savinkov and other opponents of the Soviets in Belorussia. In late November he was sent to study at the Kiev Combined Military School. After graduating in September 1923, Kryuchenkin returned to the 11th Cavalry Division and served as an assistant squadron commander and acting assistant commander of the 64th Cavalry Regiment for personnel. From June 1924 he served as acting regimental commander, then as chief of the regimental school of the 62nd Cavalry Regiment. During this period he fought in battles against the
Basmachi movement in the region of
Samarkand,
Dushanbe
Dushanbe ( tg, Душанбе, ; ; russian: Душанбе) is the capital and largest city of Tajikistan. , Dushanbe had a population of 863,400 and that population was largely Tajik. Until 1929, the city was known in Russian as Dyushambe (ru ...
, and the Afghan border. From September 1925 to September 1926, Kryuchenkin completed the Cavalry Officers Improvement Course at Novocherkassk, and on his return to the division was appointed to the 44th Cavalry Regiment as chief and ''politruk'' of the regimental school. He served as secretary of the regimental party bureau between September 1927 and August 1928. In December 1928, Kryuchenkin was sent to the
Volga Military District
The Volga Military District (PriVO) was a military district of the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation that existed from 1918 to 1989 and 1992 to 2001.
The district headquarters was located at Kazan, Saratov and Kuibyshev (Samara) at different ...
, where he served with the 46th Cavalry Regiment of the 8th Cavalry Division as chief and ''politruk'' of the regimental school and regimental chief of staff.
Returning to the 11th Cavalry Division in January 1931, he served with it as commander and commissar of the 48th Cavalry Regiment, and assistant commander for the political section of the 45th Cavalry Regiment. From May 1933, he served as assistant commander for supply of the 13th Cavalry Regiment of the 2nd Cavalry Division of the Ukrainian Military District. From November 1934 to May 1935, Kryuchenkin returned to studies, completing the Cavalry Senior Commanders Improvement Course at Novocherkassk. After completing the course, he was appointed assistant commander for supply of the 16th Cavalry Regiment of the 3rd Bessarabia Cavalry Division of the Kiev Military District. In April 1936 he transferred to serve as chief of military supply of the 5th M. F. Blinov Stavropol Cavalry Division. From September 1937 he commanded the 111th Cavalry Regiment of the 28th Cavalry Division, then in June 1938 was appointed commander of the
14th Cavalry Division in the
Kiev Special Military District
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe.
Kyi ...
.
World War II
After Germany's attack on the Soviet Union, the division fought in the area of
Kremenets
Kremenets ( uk, Крем'янець, Кременець, translit. ''Kremianets'', ''Kremenets''; pl, Krzemieniec; yi, קרעמעניץ, Kremenits) is a city in Ternopil Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It is the administrative center o ...
and
Berdychiv, where it was surrounded. After 6 days of fighting, the division was able to break through and escape.
In November 1941 he became commander of the
5th Cavalry Corps, which he commanded during the
Yelets Offensive,
Barvenkovo–Lozovaya Offensive, the
Second Battle of Kharkov and
Battle of Voronezh (1942)
The Battle of Voronezh, or First Battle of Voronezh, was a battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, fought in and around the strategically important city of Voronezh on the Don river, south of Moscow, from 28 June-24 July 1942, as opening ...
.
In July 1942, he became commander of the
28th Army, and a few weeks later of the
4th Tank Army, which he commanded until December 1942. Then he followed a course at the
. After its completion in March 1943, he was appointed commander of the
69th Army, which he led during the
Battle of Kursk
The Battle of Kursk was a major World War II Eastern Front engagement between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in the southwestern USSR during late summer 1943; it ultimately became the largest tank battle in history ...
. In April 1944 he became commander of the
10th Army and then of the
33rd Army, with which he participated in the
Battle of the Dnieper
The Battle of the Dnieper was a military campaign that took place in 1943 in Ukraine on the Eastern Front of World War II. One of the largest operations of the war, it involved almost 4,000,000 troops at a time stretched on a front.
Over four m ...
.
In the period from July to October 1944 he was hospitalized for illness, and after he was cured in December 1944, he became a member of the Military Council of 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 ...
. In January 1945, he became deputy commander of the 61st Army and then deputy commander of the 1st Belarusian front.
At the end of the war he was deputy commander of the Don Military District.
In 1946, he was transferred to the reserve. He lived in Kyiv until his death.
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
*''This is a translation of an article in the
Polish Wikipedia
The Polish Wikipedia ( pl, Polskojęzyczna Wikipedia) is the Polish-language edition of Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia. Founded on September 26, 2001, it now has more than articles, making it the -largest Wikipedia edition overall. ,
Wasilij Kriuczenkin.''
Generals.dk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kryuchenkin, Vasily
1894 births
1976 deaths
Soviet lieutenant generals
Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner
Recipients of the Order of Suvorov, 1st class
Recipients of the Order of Kutuzov, 1st class
Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Grunwald, 1st class
Soviet military personnel of World War II
Military personnel from Kyiv
Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union alumni