Vladimir Yefimovich Klimovskikh (russian: Владимир Ефимович Климовских; May 27, 1885July 27, 1941) 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, ...

general who served as the Chief of Staff of the Western Special Military District and the Western Front under General of the Army Dmitry Pavlov during the initial stage of the German invasion of the Soviet Union (

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 ...

) in June 1941. After the disaster of 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, ...

, Klimovskikh, along with General Pavlov and the entire Front Staff, with the sole exception of Operations Officer

Ivan Boldin Ivan Vasilievich Boldin (russian: Ива́н Васи́льевич Бо́лдин; in Vysokaya – March 28, 1965 in Kiev) was a senior Red Army general and war hero during the Second World War. Early military and political career A son of a la ...

, were recalled to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, charged with military incompetence and

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

later that July.

Early life and World War I

Klimovskikh was born on 27 May 1895 in

Kokand Kokand ( uz, Qo‘qon/Қўқон/قوقان, ; russian: Кока́нд; fa, خوقند, Xuqand; Chagatai: خوقند, ''Xuqand''; ky, Кокон, Kokon; tg, Хӯқанд, Xöqand) is a city in Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan, at the sou ...

, the son of an office clerk. After his 1912 graduation from a ''

Realschule ''Realschule'' () is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), ...

'' in

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

, Klimovskikh entered the Alexeyev Military School of the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

, from which he graduated in 1914. He was assigned to the 11th Siberian Rifle Regiment of the 3rd Siberian Rifle Division, with which he served until its disbandment in February 1918. Klimovskikh fought with the regiment 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 ...

on the Northern Front, serving in positions below battalion commander. Following the

February Revolution The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...

, he was elected a member of the regimental committee, and a battalion commander. Klimovskikh ended his service in the Imperial Army with the rank of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

; in early 1918 he and his regiment fought against the troops of the

Ukrainian Central Rada The Central Council of Ukraine ( uk, Українська Центральна Рада, ) (also called the Tsentralna Rada or the Central Rada) was the All-Ukrainian council (soviet) that united deputies of soldiers, workers, and peasants deputie ...

near

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

Russian Civil War

Klimovskikh joined the

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, after ...

in June 1918 and was enrolled in the junior course of the General Staff Academy. He was unable to study due to the evacuation of the academy to

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering a ...

and the defection of its command and part of the student body to the White movement. Klimovskikh fought in the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

, serving as assistant chief of staff of the 5th Army on the Eastern Front from August 1918. He subsequently served as the head of the operations department on the staff of the 3rd Army and was acting chief of staff of the

27th Rifle Division The 27th Rifle Division (russian: 27-я стрелковая дивизия) was a tactical unit in the Red Army of Soviet Russia and then the Soviet Union, active between 1918 and 1945. First formed during the Russian Civil War on November 3, 1 ...

between March and April 1919. Klimovskikh was transferred to the Western Front after the White defeat in the east and fought in the

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (Polish–Bolshevik War, Polish–Soviet War, Polish–Russian War 1919–1921) * russian: Советско-польская война (''Sovetsko-polskaya voyna'', Soviet-Polish War), Польский фронт (' ...

as head of the operations department on the staff of the 16th Army, chief of staff of the 57th Rifle Division during April and May 1920, and as chief of staff of the Mozyr Group of Forces.

Interwar period and World War II

After the Civil War, he was the Chief of Staff of the infantry corps, the head of the department, an assistant to the chief of the headquarters of the military districts. From December 1932 to June 1936, he was on the teaching staff at the Frunze Military Academy. In 1935, he was awarded the rank of brigade commander. From July 1936 he served as assistant army inspector and then, in February 1938, was senior lecturer at the Military Academy of the General Staff. In September 1939 he was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff and then from July 1940 served as Chief of Staff of the Western Special Military District. With the outbreak of

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

on the Eastern Front, he was made Chief of Staff of the Western Front under Army General Dmitry Pavlov. Commanded during the

from 22 June to 3 July 1941. Relieved of command on July 8, 1941, and accused of inaction and the collapse of the control of the troops. He was sentenced to death by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR on July 22, 1941. The verdict was carried out on July 27, 1941, at the

Kommunarka shooting ground The Kommunarka firing range (russian: Расстрельный полигон «Коммунарка»), former dacha of secret police chief Genrikh Yagoda, was used as a burial ground from 1937 to 1941. Executions may have been carried out th ...

. He was posthumously rehabilitated in 1957.

Awards and decorations

;Russian Empire ;Soviet Union

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Klimovskikh, Vladimir 1885 births 1941 deaths Executed military leaders Russian people executed by the Soviet Union Soviet military personnel of World War II Soviet rehabilitations People executed by the Soviet Union by firing squad Executed Russian people Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Soviet major generals Russian military personnel of World War I Imperial Russian Army personnel People from Kokand Frunze Military Academy alumni Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union alumni Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th class Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 4th class