Andrey Grigoryevich Nikitin (; 28 September 1891 – 4 February 1957) 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 ...
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 ...
just before
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 ...
, Nikitin fought in the war as a
non-commissioned officer
A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...
with a Cossack cavalry regiment. Joining 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 ...
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 served as an assistant regimental commander with a division of the
1st Cavalry Army
__NOTOC__
The 1st Cavalry Army (), or ''Konarmia'' (Кона́рмия, "Horsearmy"), was a prominent Red Army military formation that served in the Russian Civil War and Polish–Soviet War, Polish-Soviet War.
History
Formation
On 17 Novem ...
. Nikitin commanded a cavalry regiment during the 1920s and rose to cavalry division command in the 1930s. At the outbreak of
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 ...
, he commanded the 20th Mechanized Corps in Belarus. After his unit suffered heavy losses 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 ...
, Nikitin was wounded and evacuated during the Siege of Mogilev. He never held another combat command during the rest of the war and served as an army deputy commander, cavalry inspector, reserve brigade commander, and division deputy commander, being dogged by repeated unsatisfactory performance evaluations. As a result, Nikitin retired soon after the end of World War II.
Early life, World War I, and Russian Civil War
Nikitin was born to a peasant family on 28 September 1891 in the
khutor
A khutor ( ; rus, хутор, p=ˈxutər) or khutir (, ) is a type of rural locality in some countries of Eastern Europe; in the past the term mostly referred to a single- homestead settlement.Kachalinskaya
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 ...
of the
Don Host Oblast
Don Host Oblast was a province (''oblast'') of the Russian Empire which consisted of the territory of the Don Cossacks, coinciding approximately with present-day Rostov Oblast in Russia. Its administrative center was Cherkassk, and later Nov ...
, and completed primary school. He was drafted 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 January 1913 and graduated from the training detachment of the 4th Don Cossack Regiment later that year. 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 ...
, he fought on the Western Front with the regiment as a ''
ryadovoy
() in the Army, Airborne troops, and Air Force of the Russian Federation is the designation of a member of the rank group of enlisted personnel. The rank is equivalent to ''matros'' () in the Russian Navy. In the armed forces of the Soviet Uni ...
'', '' uryadnik'', and platoon commander. After returning from the front in February 1918, he became chairman of the revolutionary committee of the 2nd Don Okrug in Kachalinskaya.
Nikitin joined 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 ...
in May 1918 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 ...
and became commander of a ''sotnya'' of the 5th Soviet Cossack Regiment on the Tsaritsyn Front, then became a squadron commander in the 4th Peasant Cavalry Regiment of the Brigade under the command of Bulatnikov from October of that year. He became assistant commander of the 22nd Voronezh Cavalry Regiment of the Separate Cavalry Division (the 4th Cavalry Division from March) of the 10th Army in January 1919. The division became part of
Semyon Budyonny
Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny ( rus, Семён Миха́йлович Будённый, Semyon Mikháylovich Budyonnyy, p=sʲɪˈmʲɵn mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ bʊˈdʲɵnːɨj, a=ru-Simeon Budyonniy.ogg; – 26 October 1973) was a Russian and ...
's Cavalry Corps in June 1919, which was expanded into the
1st Cavalry Army
__NOTOC__
The 1st Cavalry Army (), or ''Konarmia'' (Кона́рмия, "Horsearmy"), was a prominent Red Army military formation that served in the Russian Civil War and Polish–Soviet War, Polish-Soviet War.
History
Formation
On 17 Novem ...
in November of that year. With the division, Nikitin fought on the Southern Front in the
Battle of Tsaritsyn
The Battle of Tsaritsyn was a military confrontation between the Red Army and the White Army during the Russian Civil War for control of Tsaritsyn (now Volgograd), a significant city and port on the Volga River in southwestern Russia.
The ci ...
Rostov–Novocherkassk Operation
The Rostov-Novocherkassk Operation (January 6–10, 1920) was an offensive operation on the Don River of the Southern and the South-Eastern Frontof the Red Army against the White Guard troops during the Russian Civil War.
The operation
In De ...
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 ...
Zhitomir
Zhytomyr ( ; see #Names, below for other names) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the Capital city, administrative center of Zhytomyr Oblast (Oblast, province), as well as the administrative center of the surrounding ...
,
Novograd-Volynsky
Zviahel (, ; ) is a city in Zhytomyr Oblast, northern Ukraine. The city serves as the administrative center of Zviahel Raion (district). According to a 2025 estimate, its population was approximately 54,3 thousand inhabitants.
The city is loca ...
, and
Lvov
Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...
and in the area of
Zamość
Zamość (; ; ) is a historical city in southeastern Poland. It is situated in the southern part of Lublin Voivodeship, about from Lublin, from Warsaw. In 2021, the population of Zamość was 62,021.
Zamość was founded in 1580 by Jan Zamoyski ...
. After the cease-fire in the Polish-Soviet War the 1st Cavalry Army was transferred to the Southern Front to fight against the
Army of Wrangel
The Russian Army (), commonly known as the Army of Wrangel (), was a White Army active in South Russia during the Russian Civil War from March to November 1920. It was officially formed on 28 April 1920 from the merger of several White armies, i ...
. Nikitin participated in fighting in Northern
Taurida
The recorded history of the Crimean Peninsula, historically known as ''Tauris'', ''Taurica'' (), and the ''Tauric Chersonese'' (, "Tauric Peninsula"), begins around the 5th century BCE when several Greek colonies were established along its coast ...
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 1920.
Interwar period
After the end of the war, Nikitin continued to serve with the 4th Cavalry Division as commander of the 21st Don-Stavropol Cavalry Regiment. He studied at the Cavalry Officers Improvement Course of the Higher Military School in Moscow between November 1924 and August 1925 and the Cavalry Officers Improvement Course at Novocherkassk between November 1929 and April 1930. Nikitin entered 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 February 1932 and after graduation from its special faculty in November 1934 became assistant commander of the 11th Orenburg Cavalry Division. When the Red Army introduced personal military ranks in 1935, he received the rank of ''
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 26 November of that year. He transferred to hold the same position with the 6th Cavalry Division in June 1937 and in December of that year he became acting commander of the 11th Cavalry Division. Nikitin commanded the 4th Cavalry Division as part of the 6th Cavalry Corps of the Belorussian Special Military District from April 1939 and was 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 4 November of that year. He became a major general when the Red Army introduced general officer ranks on 4 June 1940 and took command of the 20th Mechanized Corps of the Western Special Military District (the former Belorussian Special Military District), formed from the 4th Cavalry Division, in February 1941.
World War II
After the beginning of the German invasion of the Soviet Union,
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 ...
, on 22 June 1941, Nikitin led the corps 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 ...
Berezina River
The Berezina or Byarezina (, ; ) is a river in Belarus and a right tributary of the Dnieper. The river starts in the Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve. The length of the Berezina is . The width of the river is 15–20 m, the maximum is 60 m. The ba ...
, and north of
Bobruisk
Babruysk (, ) or Bobruysk (, ; , ) is a city in Mogilev Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Babruysk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. It is situated on the Berezina River. Babruysk o ...
. After the corps lost all its tanks in an unsuccessful counterattack, it retreated to Mogilev, whose garrison Nikitin commanded during the Siege of Mogilev until being wounded and evacuated on 16 July. After the destruction of the corps, he was appointed deputy commander of the
49th Army
The 49th Combined Arms Army () is a combined arms ( field) army (CAA) of the Russian Ground Forces, formed in 2010 and headquartered in Stavropol. Military Unit в/ч 35181.
Part of the Southern Military District, the army traces its heritage b ...
. In this position, Nikitin participated in the Mozhaysk–Maloyaroslavets Defensive Operation, the Tula and Kaluga Offensives during the
Battle of Moscow
The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II, between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated H ...
Bryansk Front
The Bryansk Front () was a Front (military formation), major formation of the Red Army during the World War II, Second World War.
First Formation (August - November 1941)
General Andrei Yeremenko was designated commander of the Front when it fi ...
from March 1942. Red Army cavalry inspector General
Oka Gorodovikov
Oka Ivanovich Gorodovikov (; – 26 February 1960) was a Red Army cavalry general and Hero of the Soviet Union of Kalmyk descent.
Early life
Gorodovikov was born on 1 October .S. 19 September1879 to a Kalmyk peasant family of the Mokraia El ...
evaluated Nikitin's performance in this position as that of a "disciplined and demanding commander able to instill iron military discipline", before Nikitin went to Moscow on 1 August.
Despite Gorodovikov's evaluation, Nikitin was not given a combat command but instead was sent to the
Ural Military District
The Red Banner Ural Military DistrictHistory of the Ural Military District / Edited by Alexander Egorovsky, Ivan Tutarinov – 1 – Moscow: Military Publishing House of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union, 1970 – 352 Pages – 11,500 ...
in October to form the 3rd Training Rifle Brigade in Tyumen, which he was appointed commander of. Placed at the disposal of the Cadre Department of the Red Army in May 1943, Nikitin became commander of the 5th Reserve Cavalry Brigade of 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 ...
in October of that year. He was evaluated as "failing to establish the right relationship with the rigadeofficers," which was "reflected in the combat training of the brigade," and as a result was relieved in June 1944, being placed at the disposal of the Commander-in-Chief of the Red Army Cavalry. Nikitin was sent back to the front in August as deputy commander of the 32nd Cavalry Division of the 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps of the
2nd Belorussian Front
The 2nd Belorussian Front (, ''Vtoroi Belorusskiy front'', also romanized "Byelorussian SSR, Byelorussian"), was a Front (military formation), major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army group.
I ...
, participating in the East Prussian Offensive. Another negative evaluation, that he "showed his low training by allowing regimental commanders to withdraw units from captured positions" during the offensive, resulted in his relief in February 1945. Nikitin became acting inspector of cavalry of the
2nd Ukrainian Front
The 2nd Ukrainian Front () was a front of the Red Army during the Second World War.
History
On October 20, 1943, the Steppe Front was renamed the 2nd Ukrainian Front.
In mid-May 1944 Malinovsky took over the 2nd Ukrainian Front.
During t ...
in April, ending the war in that position.
Postwar
Nikitin was placed at the disposal of the Commander-in-Chief of the Red Army Cavalry again after the end of the war, and retired in April 1946. He died on 4 February 1957 in
Simferopol
Simferopol ( ), also known as Aqmescit, is the second-largest city on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, but controlled by Russia. It is considered the cap ...
.
Awards and honors
Nikitin was a recipient of the following decorations:
*
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 ...
*
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 ...