Filipp Nikitovich Rudkin (; 27 November 1893 12 October 1954) was a

Belarusian Belarusian may refer to: * Something of, or related to Belarus * Belarusians, people from Belarus, or of Belarusian descent * A citizen of Belarus, see Demographics of Belarus * Belarusian language * Belarusian culture * Belarusian cuisine * Byelor ...

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

major general and a

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union () was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society. The title was awarded both ...

. After fighting 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 ...

, he successively became a

Cheka The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə, links=yes), ...

OGPU The Joint State Political Directorate ( rus, Объединённое государственное политическое управление, p=ɐbjɪdʲɪˈnʲɵn(ː)əjə ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əjə pəlʲɪˈtʲitɕɪskəjə ʊprɐˈv ...

, and

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

officer, seeing action in 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 ...

. Rudkin was transferred to the reserve in 1938 but reinstated two years later. After the

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 ...

, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, began on 22 June 1941, he became an armor officer 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 ...

. Given command of a separate tank brigade, Rudkin led it in the Ostrogozhsk–Rossosh Offensive,

Operation Star Operation Star or Operation Zvezda () was a Red Army offensive on the Eastern Front of World War II begun on 2 February 1943. The attack was the responsibility of the Voronezh Front under the command of Filipp Golikov and a part of the larger ...

, and the

Third Battle of Kharkov The Third Battle of Kharkov was a series of battles on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front of World War II, undertaken by Nazi Germany's Army Group South against the Soviet Red Army, around the city of Kharkov between 19 February ...

in early 1943. For his leadership he received the title

in March, and became commander of the

15th Tank Corps The 15th Tank Corps (, ''15-y tankoviy korpus'') was a Tank corps (Soviet Union), tank corps of the Soviet Union's Red Army. It formed in 1938 from a Mechanised corps (Soviet Union), mechanized corps and fought in the Soviet invasion of Poland, ...

in June. After leading the unit in

Operation Kutuzov Operation Kutuzov was the first of the two counteroffensives launched by the Red Army as part of the Kursk Strategic Offensive Operation. It commenced on 12 July 1943, in the Central Russian Upland, against Army Group Center of the German ''Ger ...

, he was considered unsuited for corps command and relieved, being demoted to command a rear area tank training unit. Rudkin was sent back to the front in January 1944, and led the 11th Tank Corps until July, when his corps suffered heavy losses after advancing into a German counterattack, after which he became deputy commander of the

3rd Belorussian Front The 3rd Belorussian Front () was a Front of the Red Army during the Second World War. The 3rd Belorussian Front was created on 24 April 1944 from forces previously assigned to the Western Front. Over 381 days in combat, the 3rd Belorussian Fr ...

's armored and mechanized troops, a position he ended the war in. Postwar, he served in several armored and mechanized forces posts in the Soviet Army, retiring in 1952.

Early life and military career

A Belorussian, Rudkin was born on 27 November 1893 in the village of Chyornaya Sosna, Belitsky volost, Cherikovsky Uyezd,

Mogilev Governorate Mogilev Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Northwestern Krai of the Russian Empire. The governorate bordered the Vitebsk Governorate to the north, the Smolensk Governorate to the east, the Chernigov Gover ...

(now in Mstsislaw District, Mogilev Region) to a peasant family. He joined the

Russian Social Democratic Labor Party The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP), also known as the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party (RSDWP) or the Russian Social Democratic Party (RSDP), was a socialist political party founded in 1898 in Minsk, Russian Empire. The ...

in 1914. After the beginning of World War I, Rudkin was conscripted into the Russian Imperial Army in October 1915, serving in the 16th Siberian Reserve Battalion. In December of that year he was arrested and imprisoned. He was sent to the Western Front in February 1917, serving 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 the 138th Infantry Division's 551st Veliky Ustyug Regiment on the

Dvinsk Daugavpils (see also other names) is a state city in southeastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city derives its name. The parts of the city to the north of the river belong to the historical Latvian region ...

line. Rudkin actively participated in the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, and in November 1917 he was elected commander and commissar of his division as the Imperial Army dissolved. He joined the Red Army in May 1918 and fought in the

as a

officer, initially as a commissar of a Cheka detachment. In December, Rudkin transferred to the Northern Front to become commissar of a Cheka brigade there. From June 1919, he was assistant to the Extraordinary Military Commissar of the Western Front, fighting in battles against

Nikolai Yudenich Nikolai Nikolayevich Yudenich ( Russian: Николай Николаевич Юденич; – 5 October 1933) was a commander of the Russian Imperial Army during World War I. He was a leader of the anti-communist White movement in northweste ...

White Army The White Army, also known as the White Guard, the White Guardsmen, or simply the Whites, was a common collective name for the armed formations of the White movement and Anti-Sovietism, anti-Bolshevik governments during the Russian Civil War. T ...

. He became inspector of the Cheka troops in Moscow in November 1919, and was twice wounded in the war.

Interwar period

After its establishment in 1919, Rudkin graduated from the worker's school at the

Moscow Mining Academy Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. For many years after the end of the Civil War, he successively served as inspector of the Cheka,

, and

troops in Moscow. From November 1926, he served as chief of the NKVD special department in Moscow, military inspector of the OGPU troops in

Leningrad Oblast Leningrad Oblast (, ; ; ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). The oblast has an area of and a population of 2,000,997 (2021 Russian census, 2021 Census); up from 1,716,868 recorded in the 2010 Russian census ...

, and a senior inspector of the transport department of the OGPU. In 1937, he graduated from the Red Army Military Academy of Mechanization and Motorization. Rudkin transferred to become a department head of the NKVD troops in Ukraine and Crimea in November, but was transferred to the reserve in October 1938. He was reinstated in January 1940 and became head of the auto-tractor transport department of the NKVD.

World War II

In September 1941, Rudkin was appointed a department head in the automobile and tank directorate of the

Karelian Front The Karelian Front ) was a front (a formation of Army Group size) of the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II, and operated in Karelia. Wartime The Karelian Front was created in August 1941 when Northern Front was split into Karelian ...

, fighting in World War II. In June 1942, he transferred to become deputy head of the Stalingrad Light Armored Training Center, and fought in the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad ; see . rus, links=on, Сталинградская битва, r=Stalingradskaya bitva, p=stəlʲɪnˈɡratskəjə ˈbʲitvə. (17 July 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, ...

. Rudkin took command of the 215th Tank Brigade in 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 August, but became commander of the 179th Tank Brigade in November, fighting on the Southern Front and the Southwestern Front. Between 14 January and 14 March 1943, the brigade fought in the Ostrogozhsk–Rossosh Offensive,

, and the

as part of the 3rd Tank Army. During the fighting, the brigade captured dozens of settlements and large amounts of military equipment. During the fighting for

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

, the 179th reportedly destroyed around 50 tanks and other military equipment, and killed large numbers of German soldiers. After it was encircled during the Third Battle of Kharkov, Rudkin led his brigade out of the pocket near Staryi Saltiv. On 31 March, he received the title Hero of the Soviet Union and 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 ...

for his leadership, and was promoted to major general on 7 June.Указ Президиума Верховного Совета СССР «О присвоении звания Героя Советского Союза начальствующему и рядовому составу Красной Армии» от 31 марта 1943 года
// Ведомости Верховного Совета Союза Советских Социалистических Республик : газета. — 1943. — 9 апреля (№ 14 (220)). — С. 1 Rudkin took command of the

on 11 June, leading it during the

in July and August. On 26 July, the corps was converted into the 7th Guards Tank Corps for its actions. Rudkin was relieved of command on 6 August because he was considered unfit for corps command, and became the commander of the Tambov Tank Camp. On 12 January 1944 he was sent back to the front as commander of the 11th Tank Corps. During his time in command, the corps participated in the Proskurov-Chernivtsi Offensive and

Operation Bagration Operation Bagration () was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (), a military campaign fought between 22 June and 19 August 1944 in Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Byelorussia in the Eastern ...

as part of the

13th Army Thirteenth Army or 13th Army may refer to: * Thirteenth Army (Japan) * Japanese Thirteenth Area Army * 13th Army (Russian Empire), unit in World War I *13th Army (RSFSR), a unit in the Russian Civil War *13th Army (Soviet Union) The 13th Army (, ...

and the

47th Army The 47th Army () was a field army of the Red Army during World War II, active from 1941 to 1946. History The 47th Army was formed in late July 1941 in the Transcaucasian Military District as part of the Soviet Union's border defenses with Iran. O ...

. During Operation Bagration, on 7 July, the 47th Army and the tank corps attacked in the

Kovel Kovel (, ; ; ) is a city in Volyn Oblast, northwestern Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Kovel Raion within the oblast. Population: Kovel gives its name to one of the oldest runic inscriptions which were lost during World War I ...

area, with the corps ordered to exploit the breakthrough by taking to

Liuboml Liuboml ( Russian and , ; Polish and ; ) is a city in Kovel Raion, Volyn Oblast, western Ukraine. It is located close to the border with Poland. It serves as the administrative center of Liuboml urban hromada. Population: Overview Liuboml is ...

and Opalin, crossing the

Western Bug The Bug or Western Bug is a major river in Central Europe that flows through Belarus (border), Poland, and Ukraine, with a total length of .Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

. Although the 47th Army's attack made little progress, the corps was still sent into combat, due to the Soviet assumption that the German troops were still retreating, along with a lack of reconnaissance. The 11th Tank Corps suffered heavy losses in a German counterattack, and Rudkin was relieved of command on 14 July. In a

Stavka The ''Stavka'' ( Russian and Ukrainian: Ставка, ) is a name of the high command of the armed forces used formerly in the Russian Empire and Soviet Union and currently in Ukraine. In Imperial Russia ''Stavka'' referred to the administrat ...

order dated 16 July, he was blamed for the corps' loss of 75 tanks, and its attack without infantry or artillery support. In August, he became deputy commander of the armored and mechanized forces of the

, fighting in the

Gumbinnen Operation The Gumbinnen Operation,Glantz, ''Failures of Historiography'' also known as the Goldap Operation (or Goldap-Gumbinnen Operation, ), was a Soviet offensive on the Eastern Front late in 1944, in which forces of the 3rd Belorussian Front attempt ...

and the East Prussian Offensive.

Postwar

In June 1945, Rudkin became deputy commander of the armored and mechanized forces of the Baranovichi Military District. From December, he was at the disposal of the chief of the Ground Forces. Rudkin served as a senior inspector of the armored and mechanized forces of the Inspectorate of the Ground Forces between June 1946 and March 1947. In August, he became commander of the armored and mechanized forces of the

3rd Shock Army The 3rd Shock Army () was a field army of the Red Army formed during the Second World War. The "Shock" armies were created with the specific structure to engage and destroy significant enemy forces, and were reinforced with more armoured and ar ...

. In June 1950, Rudkin transferred to the South Ural Military District to command its armored and mechanized forces. After retiring in November 1952, he lived and worked in Moscow. Rudkin died on 12 October 1954 and was buried in the

Vvedenskoye Cemetery Vvedenskoye Cemetery ( rus, Введенское кладбище, p=vʲːɪˈdʲenskəjə) is a historic cemetery in Lefortovo District of Moscow in Russia. Until 1918 it was mainly a burial ground for the Catholic and Protestant communities ...

Awards and honors

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rudkin, Filipp 1893 births 1954 deaths People from Mstsislaw district People from Cherikovsky Uyezd Russian Social Democratic Labour Party members Old Bolsheviks Imperial Russian Army personnel Soviet major generals NKVD officers Russian military personnel of World War I Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War Soviet military personnel of World War II Heroes of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of Kutuzov, 2nd class Burials at Vvedenskoye Cemetery