Filipp Nikiforovich Starikov (; – 2 October 1980) was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

military commander.

Biography

Starikov was born in the village of Novo-Torzhatskaya in Urzhumsky District in

Vyatka Governorate Vyatka Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR from 1796 to 1929, with its capital in Vyatka (now Kirov, Kirov Oblast, Kirov). The ...

(now in

Kirov Oblast Kirov Oblast ( rus, Кировская область, p=ˈkʲirəfskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast) located in Eastern Europe. Its administrative center is the city of Kirov. As of the 2010 census, the population ...

). He entered 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 1915 as a private. 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 served as senior clerk of an infantry regiment on the

Romanian Front The Romanian Front (, FR) was a moderate fascist party created in Romania in 1935. Led by former Prime Minister of Romania, Prime Minister Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, it originated as a right-wing splinter group from the mainstream National Peasants' ...

. He 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 1918 and served 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 ...

as a platoon commander, fighting the

White movement The White movement,. The old spelling was retained by the Whites to differentiate from the Reds. also known as the Whites, was one of the main factions of the Russian Civil War of 1917–1922. It was led mainly by the Right-wing politics, right- ...

on the Eastern Front and Southern Front as well as the

Basmachi movement The Basmachi movement (, derived from ) was an uprising against Imperial Russian and Soviet rule in Central Asia by rebel groups inspired by Islamic beliefs. It has been called "probably the most important movement of opposition to Soviet rul ...

Russian Turkestan Russian Turkestan () was a colony of the Russian Empire, located in the western portion of the Central Asian region of Turkestan. Administered as a Krai or Governor-Generalship, it comprised the oasis region to the south of the Kazakh Steppe, b ...

. In 1928 he completed the Vystrel course intended to train battalion and regimental officers for the Soviet infantry.
on encyclopedia.mil.ru In 1938 Starikov received command of the 9th Rifle Corps, part of the 7th Army (Soviet Union), 7th Army. 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 ...

Starikov's unit was to capture the Finnish town of Terijoki (now Zelenogorsk,

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

). Rather than an expected easy victory, the Red Army performed poorly, and while the Soviet Union was able to impose several territorial concessions on Finland, the reputation of the Soviet armed forces suffered. In June 1940 Starikov was promoted to major general and later named Chief Inspector of the Red Army's Infantry Inspectorate. With the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Starikov received command of the

19th Rifle Corps The 19th Rifle Corps was a corps of the Soviet Red Army. The 1st Pacific Rifle Division was shifted into the 19th Rifle Corps of the Siberian Military District in June 1929 after the 5th Army (RSFSR), 5th Red Banner Army of the RSFSR was disband ...

, part of the 23rd Army on the Northern Front. His unit unsuccessfully defended the Karelian region after Finland invaded to reconquer the territory, lost after the Winter War. After a decisive loss at the Battle of Porlampi in early September Starikov and the rest of the 23rd Army spent the rest of the month defending the northwestern approaches to Leningrad. In December Starikov was named deputy commander of the 8th Army, part of the

Volkhov Front The Volkhov Front () was a major formation of the Red Army during the first period of the Second World War. It was formed as an expediency of an early attempt to halt the advance of the Wehrmacht Army Group North in its offensive thrust towards L ...

, becoming commander in April 1942. In August 1942 the Red Army launched the

Sinyavino Offensive The Sinyavino offensives were a series of Soviet offensives in 1941–1943 during World War II around the Sinyavino Heights, east of Leningrad, to lift the Siege of Leningrad. The area was only fully liberated during the Leningrad–Novgorod offe ...

to break the German blockade of Leningrad. The German 11th Army, however, had just arrived from the

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

under

Erich von Manstein Fritz Erich Georg Eduard von Manstein (born Fritz Erich Georg Eduard von Lewinski; 24 November 1887 – 9 June 1973) was a Germans, German Officer (armed forces), military officer of Poles (people), Polish descent who served as a ''Generalfeld ...

, with 12 divisions. The German high command had planned to finish off the Leningrad siege with Operation Nordlicht but due to the Soviet offensive had to instead use the 11th Army to hold their forward positions. By September 25th the German forces had encircled much of the 8th Army and on the 29th Volkhov Front commander

Kirill Meretskov Kirill Afanasievich Meretskov (; – 30 December 1968) was a Soviet Union, Soviet military commander. Having joined the Communist Party in 1917, he served in the Red Army from 1920. During the Winter War of 1939–1940 against Finland, he had t ...

ordered the Soviet withdrawal. In November Starikov was promoted to

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

. Another Soviet attempt to relieve Leningrad came in January 1943 as the Battle of Stalingrad sapped Germany of manpower, supplies, and morale. During

Operation Iskra Operation Iskra (), a Soviet military operation in January 1943 during World War II, aimed to break the Wehrmacht's siege of Leningrad. Planning for the operation began shortly after the failure of the Sinyavino Offensive (1942), Sinyavino Offe ...

the 8th Army under Starikov supported the

2nd Shock Army The 2nd Shock Army (), sometimes translated to English as 2nd Assault Army, was a field army of the Soviet Union during the Second World War. This type of formation was created in accordance with prewar doctrine that called for Shock Armies to ''o ...

on its southern flank, but made little progress. Nevertheless, the operation was a partial success, establishing a land corridor to Leningrad that enabled far more essential supplies to reach its inhabitants. On July 22, the Red Army launched the Mga Offensive, named for the town of

Mga Mga () is an types of inhabited localities in Russia, urban locality (an urban-type settlement) in Kirovsky District, Leningrad Oblast, Kirovsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia. Population: The name is almost certainly derived from the iden ...

, where the 8th Army was supposed to link up with 67th Army. Starikov's 8th Army attacked from the east, but was unsuccessful, and the offensive ended with large Soviet losses on August 22. In January 1944 Starikov's 8th Army participated in the Leningrad–Novgorod Offensive, providing vital defense during the

Battle for Narva Bridgehead The Battle of Narva Bridgehead (, , ; 2 February – 26 July 1944) was the campaign that stalled the Soviet Estonian operation in the surroundings of the town of Narva for six months. It was the first phase of the Battle of Narva campaign f ...

when the German 170th, 11th, and 227th Infantry Divisions under Hyacinth Graf Strachwitz penetrated deep into Soviet lines. After a period of rest and reinforcement, Starikov and 8th Army next saw action during the Narva Offensive, successfully capturing

Narva Narva is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in the Ida-Viru County, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia border, E ...

but failing to dislodge Axis forces from the Tannenberg Line.Buttar, pp. 209-210 Along with the 2nd Shock Army and the

Baltic Fleet The Baltic Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Baltic Sea. Established 18 May 1703, under Tsar Peter the Great as part of the Imperial Russian Navy, the Baltic Fleet is the oldest Russian fleet. In 1918, the fleet w ...

, the 8th Army took mainland

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

in the

Tallinn Offensive The Tallinn offensive () was a strategic offensive by the Red Army's 2nd Shock and 8th armies and the Baltic Fleet against the German Army Detachment ''Narwa'' and Estonian units in mainland Estonia on the Eastern Front of World War II on 17� ...

in September. As a subset of the overall Baltic Offensive, 8th Army was part of the Moonsund Operation in November that cleared Axis forces from the

West Estonian archipelago The West Estonian archipelago (, also Moonsund archipelago) is a group of Estonian islands located in the Baltic Sea around Väinameri. The total area is about . The archipelago is composed of the islands Saaremaa, Hiiumaa, Muhu, Vormsi and ab ...

. The 8th Army defended the Estonian coast from December to May 1945 and in October 1945 it was disbanded. From 1945 to 1949 Starikov served as deputy commander of 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 ...

and as Assistant Inspector General of Infantry for the inspector general of the Soviet Ministry of Defense. From 1949 to 1951 and again from 1953 to 1954 he served as deputy chair of the central committee of

DOSAAF DOSAAF (), full name ''Volunteer Society for the Assistance to the Army, Aviation, and Navy'' (), was a paramilitary sport organization in the Soviet Union that was concerned mainly with weapons, automobiles and aviation. The society was establ ...

, the Soviet Union's paramilitary sports organization. Between those tenures he worked for the

Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union The Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Совет министров СССР, r=Sovet Ministrov SSSR, p=sɐˈvʲet mʲɪˈnʲistrəf ˌɛsˌɛsˌɛsˈɛr), sometimes abbreviated as Sovmin or referred to as the ...

. Until his retirement in 1955 he held a position at the

Moscow State Institute of International Relations Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) (, also known as MGIMO University) is an higher education, institute of higher education located in Moscow, Russia. The institute is run by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia), Russian ...

Awards and decorations

Citations

References

* * * * * *

External links

Starikov Filipp Nikanorovich
(in Russian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Starikov, Filipp 1980 deaths Soviet military personnel of the Winter War Russian people of World War II 1896 births Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil 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 Suvorov, 1st class Recipients of the Order of Kutuzov, 2nd class Recipients of the Order of the Red Star People from Urzhumsky District People from Vyatka Governorate Soviet lieutenant generals