Aleksandr Mikhailovich Stepanov (; 30 August 1893 – 11 August 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. Stepanov rose from private to officer 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 ...

and held brigade command 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 ...

. Between the wars, he held command and staff positions and was decorated for his actions in 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 ...

. He commanded the

27th Rifle Division The 27th Rifle Division () 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, 1918, as part of 5th Red Army. Commanded by Vitov ...

in Belarus during 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 ...

and was killed in action while escaping from encirclement.

Early life, World War I, and Russian Civil War

Stepanov was born on 30 August 1893 to a Russian peasant family in the village of Pepel, Soligalichsky Uyezd,

Kostroma Governorate Kostroma Governorate () was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR, which existed from 1796 to 1929. Its administrative center was in the city of Kostroma. Administrative division Kostroma ...

. He graduated from primary school and a city school before working at the

Petrograd Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

Post Office as a postal clerk. During

, Stepanov was mobilized into 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 ...

in September 1914 and sent to the Krasnoye Selo Reserve Rifle Battalion of the Petrograd Military District as a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

. In April 1915 he became a ''junker'' at the Oranienbaum School of ''Praporshchik''s, graduating as a ''praporshchik'' (ensign) in July of that year. Stepanov was sent to the Western Front, where he served as a junior officer and company commander with the 272nd Infantry Regiment of the 68th Infantry Division. He was awarded three orders for his actions and rose to the rank of staff captain. Due to illness, he was hospitalized for a year beginning in August 1917. After leaving the hospital, Stepanov joined the

during the

on 2 September 1918 and was appointed a '' vsevobuch'' military training instructor of the Soligalichsky Uyezd

military commissariat A military commissariat (from , shortened as ), is an institution that is part of military service or law enforcement mechanisms in some European countries. As part of the British Army in the 19th century, military commissariats were used for ...

. From February 1919 he commanded the Communist Regiment of the 2nd Brigade of the 29th Rifle Division of the 3rd Army, leading it on fighting on the Eastern Front against the White forces of

Alexander Kolchak Admiral Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak (; – 7 February 1920) was a Russian navy officer and polar explorer who led the White movement in the Russian Civil War. As he assumed the title of Supreme Ruler of Russia in 1918, Kolchak headed a mili ...

in the areas of

Tyumen Tyumen ( ; rus, Тюмень, p=tʲʉˈmʲenʲ, a=Ru-Tyumen.ogg) is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Tyumen Oblast, Russia. It is situated just east of the Ural Mountains, along the Tura ( ...

Ishim Ishim may refer to: *Ishim (river), a river in Kazakhstan and Russia *Ishim, Tyumen Oblast, a town in Tyumen Oblast, Russia *Ishim (angel), a rank of angels in the Jewish angelic hierarchy See also

*Ishimsky (disambiguation) *Ishimbay {{Disam ...

, Perm, and

Glazov Glazov ( rus, Глазов, p=ˈɡlazəf; ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in the Udmurt Republic, Russia, located along the Trans-Siberian Railway, on the Cheptsa River. Population: History It was first mentioned in the 17t ...

. After taking command of the brigade in August, he and the division where relocated to the Western Front for the

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution. After the collapse ...

. In the latter, they fought as part of the southern group of the 15th Army in the area of Lepel,

Vileyka Vileyka or Vilyeyka is a town in Minsk Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vileyka District. It is located on the Viliya River, northwest of Minsk. The first historical record dates from 16 November 1460. As of 2025, the ...

, Borisov,

Molodechno Maladzyechna, or Molodechno, is a town in Minsk Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative centre of Maladzyechna District (and formerly of Molodechno Region from 1944 to 1960). Maladzyechna is located northwest of Minsk. In 2006, it had an ...

, and

Lida Lida is a city in Grodno Region, western Belarus, located west of Minsk. It serves as the administrative center of Lida District. As of 2025, it has a population of 103,262. Etymology The name ''Lida'' arises from its Lithuanian name ''Ly ...

. After the end of the Polish–Soviet War, Stepanov commanded the Separate Reserve Rifle Regiment of the 3rd Army at

Vitebsk Vitebsk or Vitsyebsk (, ; , ; ) is a city in northern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vitebsk Region and Vitebsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has 358,927 inhabitants, m ...

, then became assistant commander of the 5th Saratov Rifle Division. From January 1921 he served as chief of the junior advanced courses of the Western Front under the division, and in November became commander of its 37th Rifle Regiment. With the unit, Stepanov participated in the elimination of anti-Soviet forces in the border area.

Interwar period

After the end of the war, Stepanov continued to serve with the 5th Rifle Division, becoming assistant commander of its 13th RIfle Regiment in June 1922 and chief of staff of its 15th Rifle Regiment in August 1923. Appointed chief of the intelligence department of the staff of the

4th Rifle Corps The 4th Rifle Corps was a corps of the Red Army, active from the 1920s. First Formation It was formed during the Russian Civil War as part of the Western Front of the Red Army in May and June 1922. The corps headquarters was stationed in Vitebsk ...

in October 1925, Stepanov was sent to study at the Intelligence Courses of Improvement for Command Personnel under the

Intelligence Directorate Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as the ...

. After completing the courses in September 1927, he was sent to the Separate Red Banner Caucasus Army, being appointed commander of the 1st Caucasian Rifle Regiment of the 1st Caucasian Rifle Division in

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ), historically Batum or Batoum, is the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), second-largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast ...

. His service there proved brief as he was transferred to the

Moscow Military District The Order of Lenin Moscow Military District () is a Military districts of Russia, military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Originally it was a district of the Imperial Russian Army until the Russian Empire's collapse in 191 ...

in January 1928 to command the 54th Rifle Regiment of the 18th Rifle Division at

Rostov Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...

. Having completed the Vystrel course in 1930, Stepanov served as assistant chief of staff of the 3rd Rifle Corps in

Ivanovo Ivanovo (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Russia and the administrative center and largest city of Ivanovo Oblast, located northeast of Moscow and approximately from Yaroslavl, Vladimir, Russia, Vladimir and Kostroma. ...

from December 1931. He became chief of staff of the 14th Rifle Division at

Vologda Vologda (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the river Vologda (river), Vologda within the watershed of the Northern Dvina. Population: The city serves as ...

in July 1937 and commanded the division from May 1939, being awarded the

Order of the Red Star The Order of the Red Star () was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 1930 but its statute was only defined in decree of the Presidium of the ...

in 1938 and promoted to ''

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 19 April 1939. During the

he fought with the 8th Army as assistant commander of the

1st Rifle Corps First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

. For his performance, Stepanov 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 ...

on 22 May 1940. Appointed commander of the

in May, he became a major general on 4 June when the Red Army introduced general officer ranks, and was awarded a second Order of the Red Star in February 1941.

World War II

The division was assigned to the 4th Rifle Corps of the 3rd Army and stationed in the area of

Augustów Augustów is a town in north-eastern Poland. It lies on the Netta River and the Augustów Canal. It is the seat of Augustów County and of Gmina Augustów in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Augustów has an area of , and as of June 2022 it has a popul ...

. The day before

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, Stepanov reluctantly agreed to the proposal of the commander of his 345th Rifle Regiment, Colonel V. K. Solodovnikov, that the latter be allowed to move his regiment forward to prepared defensive positions. After Operation Barbarossa began, Stepanov led the division in the

. On 22 and 23 June the division defended in the area of Augustów against the attacks of the German 162nd Infantry Division. It was unable to hold its positions and on 23 June retreated to the south, where it attempted to hold positions. With the corps, the 27th was encircled near the Shchara and suffered heavy losses to German air and tank attacks. By 29 June both the division and corps were effectively destroyed. Stepanov led the remnants of the division out of the encirclement, escaping with General Ivan Boldin's group. As Boldin's group broke out of the encirclement near Yartsevo on 11 August, Stepanov was killed by a shell fragment. He was posthumously awarded the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

on 15 August; Boldin's recommendation for the award read simply "for courage in the battles between 22 and 27 June eis deserving of the Order of Lenin". Stepanov was buried in the center of the Neyelovsky ''

sovkhoz A sovkhoz ( rus, совхо́з, p=sɐfˈxos, a=ru-sovkhoz.ogg, syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated from , ''sovetskoye khozyaystvo''; ) was a form of state-owned farm or agricultural enterprise in the Soviet Union. It is usually contrasted w ...

'', Safonovsky District,

Smolensk Oblast Smolensk Oblast (), informally also called Smolenshchina (), is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative centre is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Smolensk. As of the 2021 Russ ...

Awards and honors

Stepanov was a recipient of the following decorations, in addition to an honorary weapon: *

(2) *

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 ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * 1893 births 1941 deaths People from Soligalichsky District People from Soligalichsky Uyezd Soviet major generals Russian military personnel of World War I Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War People of the Polish–Soviet War Soviet military personnel of the Winter War Soviet military personnel killed in World War II Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Deaths by firearm in the Soviet Union Deaths by firearm in Russia Deaths by explosive device {{DEFAULTSORT:Stepanov, Aleksandr Mikhailovich