Mikhail Petrovich Kirponos (, , ; 12 January 1892 – 20 September 1941) was a Soviet general of 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 World War II. Being accorded the highest military decoration, the

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 ...

title, for the skill and courage in commanding a division in the 1939-1940 Finnish campaign, Kirponos is remembered for his leading role in the failed defense of

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

during the Battle of Brody, the Battle of Uman, and

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

in the 1941 German invasion of the Soviet Union. He was killed during mortar shelling while trying to break out of the Kiev encirclement on 20 September 1941.

Early life

Kirponos was born in a poor peasant family and worked as a forester. He was conscripted in 1915 and took part 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 ...

. In 1917 he joined the Red Army, fought 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 ...

, and joined the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

party in 1918. Kirponos was one of the organizers of Bolshevik sabotage units in the Chernihiv region and took part in battles with the army of the Ukrainian People's Republic.A monument to Soviet military leader Mikhail Kirponos was dismantled in Kyiv
(26 October 2023) Kirponos declared himself "an opponent of Ukrainian separatism." In 1927 he graduated from the M. V. Frunze Military Academy. After graduation he was chief of staff of the 44th Rifle Division, then chief of the Supreme Soviet of the Tatar Autonomous Republic Kazan Military School from 1934 to 1939. On 21 March 1940, he was awarded the title of the

for his actions during the Soviet-Finnish War. He became commander of the Leningrad Military District the same year.

World War II

In February 1941 he was assigned commander of the Kiev Military District, which became the Southwestern Front at the beginning of the German-Soviet War. On the night of 21 June 1941, the day before the launch of Operation Barbarossa by the Wehrmacht, Mikhail Kirponos disregarded the strict instruction from Stavka to ignore rumors of the pending invasion the next day and spent the night preparing mission orders for his command. That same night, the unfortunate Dmitry Pavlov of the Western Front accepted Stavka's assertion that rumors of war were deception at face value and watched a comedy in Kiev. While his front-line units were under the Stavka's general order to treat any German attack as a likely provocation and not to return fire, just as all other front line units of the Soviet armies of the frontier had been instructed, the armies of the Southwestern Front were alert and had not been completely stood down. It is possibly because of this wary attitude of Kirponos and his staff that the Southwestern Front was not caught completely flat footed when the Germans attacked. Disposition of forces for the Southwestern Front and considerable terrain advantages also favored Kirponos in comparison to his counterparts in Byelorussia. In general, his command had more forces to deploy in depth and Rundstedt's Army Group South only attacked with one Panzer army, as opposed to two in Army Group Center. Stavka believed that Kirponos had enough forces under his command to comply with the Stavka General Chief of Staff

Georgy Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov ( 189618 June 1974) was a Soviet military leader who served as a top commander during World War II and achieved the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union. During World War II, Zhukov served as deputy commander-in-ch ...

's "Directive No. 3", which called for a counter-attack by the Southwestern Front with the objective of seizing Lublin in German-occupied Poland. Kirponos and his staff were ambivalent about this ambitious proposal. Shortly thereafter, Zhukov himself showed up at Southwestern Front headquarters at

Ternopil Ternopil, known until 1944 mostly as Tarnopol, is a city in western Ukraine, located on the banks of the Seret River. Ternopil is one of the major cities of Western Ukraine and the historical regions of Galicia and Podolia. The populatio ...

with

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Chai ...

, to direct the operation. The result was the ill-fated attack against the flanks of the 1st Panzer Group that was advancing toward Kiev between the 5th and 6th armies, known as the Battle of Brody. Severe communications, supply and coordination problems plagued the operation; the uncoordinated Mechanized Corps were late and disorganised at their jump-off points, short of equipment, entering the battle piecemeal. That Zhukov and Kirponos were at odds about the offensive made things worse with Kirponos issuing a general order to cease the offensive on 27 June, because he wanted to make his front line shorter, "so as to prevent the enemy tank groupings from penetrating into the rear of the 6th and 26th Armies", according to H. Baghramyan. This order was quickly countermanded by Zhukov who ordered the attack resumed, an order that was promptly refused on the "personal responsibility" of the commander of the 9th Mechanized Corps, Konstantin Rokossovsky, leaving the commander of the 8th Mechanized Corps unaware that he was engaging alone. Despite these difficulties, and the eventual loss of the great majority of the tanks involved in the fight, the German command was taken off guard, Even though the Southwestern Front did comparatively better than the other front commands in the frontier battles and generally remained organised and kept some operational initiative, Nikita Khrushchev noted that Zhukov said "I am afraid your commander (Kirponos) here is pretty weak". Zhukov was soon forced to return to Moscow due to the dangerous situation developing along the Bialystok–Minsk–Smolensk axis, and the Southwestern Front and the new Southern Front created from the

Odessa Military District The Odessa Military District (; , abbreviated ) was a military administrative division of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This district consisted of Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic, Moldavia and five Oblasts of Ukraine, Ukrainian oblasts of Odesa ...

, were put under the umbrella of the "Southwestern Direction" commanded by

Marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used fo ...

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 ...

, a long time Stalin associate, in mid July, with disastrous results in the Battle of Uman. The Southwestern Front fought the Battle of Kiev. Kirponos was

killed in action Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...

during mortar shelling in a ravine near Dryukivshchyna, southwest of Lokhvytsia while trying to break out of the Kiev encirclement, a Soviet disaster due to the advantageous position of the Germans, exacerbated by the lateness of the order to withdraw.Dehtiarenko

Legacy

After his death, he was buried in the ravine which had been dug to cover the breakout. After the

collapse of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

, Kirponos remains highly regarded in

and

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 ...

for his exemplary military leadership and courage. He became the highest ranked Soviet officer to die in combat. After the recapture of Kiev in 1943, he was reburied in Kiev, as his initial burial location was passed on by a group of infantry soldiers who broke out while carrying his awards and documents. In December 2022 the (Mikhail) Kirponos street in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

was renamed Vsevolod Petriv street. A statue dedicated to Kirponos in this street was dismantled in October 2023. In the news report about the dismantling of the statues Ukrainian news outlet '' Ukrayinska Pravda'' did not mention Kirponos's role in the Battle of Kiev but did mention he fought against the army of the Ukrainian People's Republic and in the Soviet-Finnish War.

Notes

References

Mikhail Kirponos
a
Warheroes.ru

Voenno-istoricheskiĭ zhurnal, 1964. № 9, ISSN 0042-9058 * Serhiy Dehtiarenko, "To the sixtieth anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, debts of our memories", '' Zerkalo Nedeli (The Mirror Weekly)'', June 16–22, 2001
in Russianin Ukrainian
* Afrikan Stenin, "The feat of arms and the tragedy of the front commander", '' Zerkalo Nedeli (The Mirror Weekly)'', June 16–22, 2001
in Russianin Ukrainian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirponos, Mikhail 1892 births 1941 deaths Candidates of the Central Committee of the 18th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) People from Chernihiv Oblast People from Nezhinsky Uyezd Bolsheviks Soviet colonel generals Frunze Military Academy alumni Ukrainian people of World War I Russian military personnel of World War I Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War Soviet people of the Ukrainian–Soviet War Soviet military personnel of the Winter War Soviet military personnel of World War II from Ukraine Heroes of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Order of Lenin Soviet military personnel killed in World War II Deaths by explosive device