Mikhail Prokofievich Kovalev (; – 31 August 1967) was a Soviet military officer and politician who served as the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Minsk City Council of People's Deputies. Mikhail Kovalev was born to family of a peasants in

stanitsa A stanitsa or stanitza ( ; ), also spelled stanycia ( ) or stanica ( ), was a historical administrative unit of a Cossack host, a type of Cossack polity that existed in the Russian Empire. Etymology The Russian word is the diminutive of the word ...

Bryukhovetskaya, Kuban Oblast. In 1915 he enlisted in the Russian Army. After graduating from a School for Praporshchiks Kovalev fought in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

commanding a platoon (polurota), company and then a battalion. At the time of the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

he was a Stabs-Captain. During the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

he commanded a regiment and then a brigade in the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

participating in the fights against White Armies of Denikin, Wrangel and the peasant Tambov Rebellion of Alexander Antonov. From 1937 Kovalev was the commander of

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 exist ...

, then from 1938, he was the commander of Belorussian Military District. He was the commander of the Belarusian Front during the

Soviet invasion of Poland The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military conflict by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Second Polish Republic, Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Polan ...

in September 1939. Kovalev was also the commander of the 15th Army (Soviet Union) and led the Soviets to victory. As well as leading during the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

(1939–1940). He was the commander of Kharkov Military District, then Inspector of Infantry for the Red Army Commander of the Transbaikal Front during 1941. In July 1945 he became a vice-commander of the Transbaikal Front and participated in military actions against Japan. From 1949 he was a vice-commander of Leningrad Military District. Kovalev retired in 1955 and died in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

in 1967 of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

. His awards include two Orders of Lenin, four Orders of the Red Banner, an

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour () was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the Soviet state and society in the fields of production, science, culture, literature, the arts, education, sports ...

and an

Order of Suvorov The Order of Suvorov () is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named in honor of Russian Generalissimo Prince Alexander Suvorov (1729–1800). History The Order of Suvorov was originally a Soviet Union, Soviet award established on ...

, 1st class.

References

Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovalev, Mikhail 1897 births 1967 deaths People from Bryukhovetsky District People from Kuban oblast Candidates of the Central Committee of the 18th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) First convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Soviet colonel generals Imperial Russian Army officers Russian military personnel of World War I Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War People of the Soviet invasion of Poland Soviet military personnel of the Winter War Soviet military personnel of World War II Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Order of Suvorov, 1st class Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Burials at Bogoslovskoe Cemetery Soviet komandarms of the second rank Mayors of Minsk