Aleksandr Andreyevich Korobkov (; 20 June 1897 – 22 July 1941) was a

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 ...

major general who commanded the 4th Army in the early stages of the

Axis invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis powers, Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet ...

(Operation Barbarossa).

Early life, World War I, and Russian Civil War

A Russian, Aleksandr Andreyevich Korobkov was born to a peasant family on 20 June 1897 in the city of Petrovsk, Petrovsky Uyezd,

Saratov Governorate Saratov Governorate () was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR. History On December 25, 1769, the Saratov province was established as part of the Astrakhan Governorate. On January 11, 17 ...

. He served in the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

from August 1915 during

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 ...

, graduating from the

Orenburg Orenburg (, ), formerly known as Chkalov (1938–1957), is the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast, Russia. It lies in Eastern Europe, along the banks of the Ural River, being approximately southeast of Moscow. Orenburg is close to the ...

School of ''

Praporshchik (, , ) is a rank used by the Russian Armed Forces and a number of former communist states. The rank is a non-commissioned officer's and is equivalent to in the corresponding navies. It is usually equivalent to warrant officer class 1 or serge ...

''s during the next year. Sent to the Southwestern Front, Korobkov served as a platoon commander and in December 1917 after 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 ...

was elected company commander, leaving the Imperial Army when it dissolved in February 1918 with the rank of ''

podporuchik ''Podporuchik'' ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, потпоручник, potporučnik, , , , , ) is the most junior officer in some Slavic armed forces, and is placed below the rank of lieutenant, typically corresponding to rank of second lieutenant in English ...

''. Later that year, Korobkov began his service in the

and joined the Communist Party, becoming a platoon and then company commander from September. Wounded in battle, he was sent to study at the General Staff Academy.

Interwar period

Korobkov served as assistant inspector of infantry of 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 differen ...

and Western Front between January and September 1921. Graduating from the Military Academy of the Red Army (the renamed General Staff Academy) in 1922, he commanded a company in the

North Caucasus Military District The North Caucasus Military District was a military district of the Russian Armed Forces from 1992-2010. Before 1992 it had been part of the Soviet Armed Forces since 1918. In 2010 it became the Southern Military District and lately also included t ...

to gain command experience in 1922 and 1923. Korobkov served as chief of the operations and personnel section of the staff of the 2nd Caucasian Rifle Division from August 1923, and in November of that year became assistant chief of the mobilization department of the district staff. Rising to chief of the department in August 1924, Korobkov took command of the 25th Rifle Regiment of the 9th Don Rifle Division in December of that year. He became political commissar of the regiment as well in June 1926 and in December of that year became military instructor of the

Kharkov Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

Communist University, and transferred to serve as military instructor of the

Saratov Saratov ( , ; , ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River. Saratov had a population of 901,361, making it the List of cities and tow ...

Communist University in September 1928. After serving as chief of staff of the

95th Rifle Division The 95th Rifle Division (Russian: 95-я стрелковая дивизия 95-y strelkovaya diviziya) was a Red Army Division (military), Rifle Division during World War II, formed three times. The division was first formed in November 1923 with ...

of the

Ukrainian 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 ...

from January 1931, Korobkov became assistant inspector of rifle and tactical training of the army in November. He completed the Higher Officers' Improvement Course (

KUVNAS The Courses of Improvement for Higher Officers of the Red Army (), also translated as the Course for Perfecting Red Army Command Cadre and commonly known by their Russian acronym KUVNAS, were a training course for senior officers of the Red Army du ...

) at the

Frunze Military Academy The M. V. Frunze Military Academy (), or in full the Military Order of Lenin and the October Revolution, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Academy in the name of M. V. Frunze (), was a military academy of the Soviet and later the Russian Armed Forces ...

in 1932, and later served as assistant inspector of infantry of the army. When personal military ranks were created, Korobkov became a ''

kombrig () is an abbreviation of Commanding officer of the brigade (), and was a military rank in the Soviet Armed Forces of the USSR from 1935 to 1940. It was also the designation to military personnel appointed to command a brigade sized formation (X ...

'' on 17 January 1936. From November 1936 he was commander and commissar of the

100th Rifle Division The 100th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II, formed twice. In November 1923 in the Belaya Tserkov area of the Ukrainian Military District, the 45th Territorial Rifle Division was establish ...

of the

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 ...

. From May 1939 he commanded the

16th Rifle Corps The 16th Rifle Corps was a corps of the Soviet Red Army, formed twice. It took part in the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939 and destroyed in the Baltic Operation during Operation Barbarossa. Reformed in 1942, the corps fought through the rest ...

of the Belorussian Special Military District (renamed the Western Special Military District), being promoted to ''

komdiv () is the syllabic abbreviation to commanding officer of the division (; ), and was a military rank in the Soviet Armed Forces of the USSR in the period from 1935 to 1940. It was also the designation to military personnel appointed to command ...

'' on 25 September. His rank converted to major general on 4 June 1940 when the Red Army introduced general officer ranks, Korobkov became commander of the 4th Army of the district in January 1941. He was awarded the

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner () was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. It was the highest award of S ...

in 1940.

World War II

After

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...

began on 22 June, Korobkov's army was destroyed in 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 Barbaros ...

. On 30 June, "for loss of control of the army troops by the headquarters in critical situations and indecision and inaction," Korobkov was relieved of command. Arrested on 9 July, he was sentenced to death on 22 July for "inaction, negligence and the collapse of command and control," and executed in Moscow the same day, exactly a month after the war began. Korobkov was posthumously rehabilitated in 1957.

Awards and honors

Korobkov was a recipient of the following decorations: *

(1940) *

Jubilee Medal "XX Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army" The Jubilee Medal "XX Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army" () was a state military commemorative medal of the Soviet Union established on January 24, 1938 by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR to denote the twentie ...

(1938) * Honorary weapon

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Korobkov, Aleksandr 1897 births 1941 deaths People from Petrovsk People from Petrovsky Uyezd Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Soviet major generals Frunze Military Academy alumni Russian military personnel of World War I Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War Soviet military personnel of World War II Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Executed military leaders Russian people executed by the Soviet Union Soviet rehabilitations