Semyon Andreevich Pugachov (Russian: Семён Андреевич Пугачёв; 26 February 1889 – 23 March 1943) was a Russian soldier who served in the Russian Imperial and

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, ...

armed forces. He served in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and obtained the rank of Komkor in the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

Biography

Semyon was born in

Ryazan Ryazan ( rus, Рязань, p=rʲɪˈzanʲ, a=ru-Ryazan.ogg) is the largest city and administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. The city is located on the banks of the Oka River in Central Russia, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Cens ...

to a family of a teacher. He joined the Russian Army on 10 July 1906, and graduated from the Alexseevskoe Military School in 1908, and the Nikolaevskoie Military Academy in 1914. During World War I, Semyon was a

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 ...

and fought alongside the 6th Siberian Corps, and then became part of the operational staff management of the Northern Front.

Service in the Red Army

After the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...

in April 1918, Pugachov volunteered to join the Red Army, and served in several Soviet military districts across the country. He served in the staff of the Ural Military District, performing special tasks assigned by his commanding officers, and soon after, became Chief of Staff of the district. At the start of 1919, Pugachov became Chief of Operations for the 2nd Army in the far east, and in September, became Chief of Staff for the Special Group of the Southern Front. In October, he was assigned as Chief of Operations for the Southeastern Front, and the Caucasian Front in 1920, through to May 1921. His main task was to guide the development plan to expel and defeat the forces of the

White Army The White Army (russian: Белая армия, Belaya armiya) or White Guard (russian: Бѣлая гвардія/Белая гвардия, Belaya gvardiya, label=none), also referred to as the Whites or White Guardsmen (russian: Бѣлогв� ...

from the North Caucasus. In June, he was appointed as Chief of the Separate Caucasus Army. From August 1923 to April 1924, Pugachov served as commander 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 ...

and helped combat 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 ...

. In May 1924, he commanded the

Red Banner Caucasian Army The Red Banner Caucasus Army (russian: Краснознамённая Кавказская армия) was a Soviet army existing from 1921 to 1935. The army was named the Independent Caucasus Army on its creation, and carried this name until August ...

, and from 1925 to 1928, he served as replacement for the Chief of the RKKA and aided in certain reforms done by Mikhail Frunze from 1924-1925. He also took part in suppressing the August Uprising in Georgia. From 1927 to 1928, he was a military advisor to the Geneva conference on arms reduction, and from 1928 to 1930, he was Chief of the Ukrainian and Central Asian military districts. In September 1932, he was appointed as Chief of the Military-Transport Academy of the RKKA.Former unit of military communications and the military transport department of the Leningrad Institute of Railway Engineers, Russian Archives
/ref> He joined the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union " Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspape ...

in 1934, after being recommended by Grigoriy Ordzhonikidze.

Awards

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 th ...

, *Order of the Red Banner of the Khorezm People's Soviet Republic, *Order of the Red Star of the

Bukharan People's Soviet Republic The Bukharan People's Soviet Republic ( uz, Бухоро Халқ Совет Республикаси, Buxoro Xalq Sovet Respublikasi; tg, Ҷумҳурии Халқии Шӯравии Бухоро; rus, Бухарская Народная Со ...

, 1st Class.

Arrests and death

Pugachov was arrested twice; the first time was on 28 February/1 March 1931. He admitted his guilt on 11 March; however, after a confrontation with

Sergei Georgevich Bejanov Sergius is a male given name of Ancient Roman origin after the name of the Latin ''gens'' Sergia or Sergii of regal and republican ages. It is a common Christian name, in honor of Saint Sergius, or in Russia, of Saint Sergius of Radonezh, and h ...

the next day, he refused from readings presented earlier. He was released on the same day. He was arrested a second time on 10 October 1938 and was sentenced to 15 years of jail on 25 October. He died in prison on 23 March 1943 when he was 54 years old and was posthumously rehabilitated in 1956.

References

Sources