Kuzma Petrovich Trubnikov (; 27 October 1888 – 16 January 1974) 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, reaching the rank of

colonel-general Colonel general is a military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, and was a rank above full , but be ...

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 ...

Early life, World War I, and Russian Civil War

Trubnikov was born in a small village in

Oryol Governorate Oryol Governorate () was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR, which existed from 1796 to 1928. Its seat was in the city of Oryol. Administrative division Oryol Governorate consisted of t ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(now

Volovsky District, Lipetsk Oblast Volovsky District () is an administrativeLaw #382-OZ and municipalLaw #114-OZ district (raion), one of the eighteen in Lipetsk Oblast, Russia. It is located in the southwest of the oblast. The area of the district is . Its administrative center ...

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 ...

). Conscripted for military service, he joined the

Semyonovsky Regiment The Semyonovsky Lifeguard Regiment (, ) was one of the two oldest guard regiments of the Imperial Russian Army. The other one was the Preobrazhensky Regiment. In 2013, it was recreated for the Russian Armed Forces as a rifle regiment, its name ...

in November 1909 and soon rose up the non-commissioned ranks 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 ...

. In December 1914 he was promoted to

master sergeant A master sergeant is the military rank for a senior non-commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries. Israel Defense Forces The (abbreviated "", master sergeant) is a non-commissioned officer () rank in the Israel Defense Force ...

for distinction in battle. In 1915 he graduated as a

warrant officer Warrant officer (WO) is a Military rank, rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ...

after completing studies in

Omsk Omsk (; , ) is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia and has a population of over one million. Omsk is the third List of cities and tow ...

. He served on the Southwestern Front and participated in the Brusilov Offensive. In January 1918 he was seconded to the headquarters of the prestigious 1st Guards Corps. He received all four classes of the

Cross of St. George In heraldry, Saint George's Cross (or the Cross of Saint George) is a red cross on a white background, which from the Late Middle Ages became associated with Saint George, the military saint, often depicted as a crusader. Associated with th ...

(earning the title "Full Cavalier of Saint George") as well as the

Order of Saint Anna The Imperial Order of Saint Anna (; also "Order of Saint Anne" or "Order of Saint Ann") was a Holstein ducal and then Russian imperial order of chivalry. It was established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, on 14 February 1735, in hono ...

, 4th class. In early 1918 Trubnikov was demobilized having reached the rank of

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

.
on Russian MoD Military Biographical Dictionary Volunteering for the

at the outset of 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 ...

, Trubnikov was first appointed as a military officer for his hometown. In May 1919 he was sent to the front, commanding a platoon, a company, and then a battalion in the 28th Rifle Regiment of the 7th Rifle Division. He fought on the Eastern Front against the

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 ...

troops 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

Votkinsk Votkinsk (; ), also known as Votka (; ), is an industrial town in the Udmurt Republic, Russia. The population in 2021 is 97,471. History It was established in 1759, initially as a center for metallurgical enterprises, and the economic focus on me ...

and

Izhevsk Izhevsk or Ijevsk (, ; , or ) is the capital city of Udmurtia, Russia. It is situated along the Izh River, west of the Ural Mountains in Eastern Europe. It is the 21st-largest city in Russia, and the most populous in Udmurtia, with over 600,000 ...

districts, but in the summer the regiment was urgently transferred to the Southern Front, where

Anton Denikin Anton Ivanovich Denikin (, ; – 7 August 1947) was a Russian military leader who served as the Supreme Ruler of Russia, acting supreme ruler of the Russian State and the commander-in-chief of the White movement–aligned armed forces of Sout ...

was advancing on Moscow. In August he became deputy commander and then commander of the 55th Rifle Regiment, also of the 7th Division, and fought in battles around

Oboyan Oboyan () is a town and the administrative center of Oboyansky District in Kursk Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Psyol at its confluence with the Oboyanka, south of Kursk, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: ...

and

Sudzha Sudzha (, ) is a town and the administrative center of Sudzhansky District in Kursk Oblast, Russia, located on the Sudzha and Oleshnya rivers southwest of Kursk, the administrative center of the oblast. It has a population of 5,127 people. ...

. From October to November he was involved in the

Orel–Kursk operation The Orel–Kursk operation (known in Soviet historiography as the Orel–Kromy operation) was an offensive conducted by the Southern Front (RSFSR), Southern Front of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic's Red Army against the White m ...

, a decisive Soviet victory in which the Red Army regained the initiative. During 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 ...

he commanded a regiment and then the 20th and 19th brigades of the 7th Division. In the autumn of 1920 he fought against

Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz (10 February 1883 – 10 May 1940) was a Polish-Belarusian general and veteran of World War I, the Russian Civil War, Estonian War of Independence, Polish-Soviet War, and the Invasion of Poland at the start of Wor ...

near

Ovruch Ovruch (, ) is a city in Korosten Raion, Zhytomyr Oblast, northern Ukraine, first mentioned as Vruchiy in 977. It was the capital city of the Drevlians in the 900s, later conquered by the Mongols in the 13th century, then later part of the Grand D ...

and then against the anarchist army of

Nestor Makhno Nestor Ivanovych Makhno (, ; 7 November 1888 – 25 July 1934), also known as Bat'ko Makhno ( , ), was a Ukrainians, Ukrainian anarchist revolutionary and the commander of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine during the Ukrainian War o ...

near

Zolotonosha Zolotonosha (, ) is a city located in Cherkasy Oblast (region) in central Ukraine. Located at around , the city serves as the administrative center of Zolotonosha Raion (district). It hosts the administration of Zolotonosha urban hromada, one ...

Interwar period

After the civil war he continued to serve in the 7th Rifle Division as commander of the 19th Rifle Regiment, stationed in the

Kiev Military District The Kiev Military District (; , abbreviated ) was a military district of the Imperial Russian Army and subsequently of the Red Army and Soviet Armed Forces. It was first formed in 1862, and was headquartered in Kiev (Kyiv) for most of its exist ...

. In 1925 he completed the

Vystrel course The Vystrel course () was the popular name for an officer training course of the Soviet Armed Forces, later part of the Russian Armed Forces, located in Solnechnogorsk. The training course had a one-year curriculum to train battalion and regiment le ...

as part of his officer training and in 1927 he graduated from 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 November 1928 he was appointed assistant commander of the 15th Rifle Division. In August 1932 he became the inspector of the 5th Aviation Brigade and in September 1933 he became the head of the sector for the

Soviet Air Forces The Soviet Air Forces (, VVS SSSR; literally "Military Air Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics"; initialism VVS, sometimes referred to as the "Red Air Force") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Sovie ...

. In February 1934 he became the assistant commander of the 25th Chapayev Rifle Division, named after its first commander,

Vasily Chapayev Vasily Ivanovich Chapayev (; 5 September 1919) was a Russian soldier and Red Army commander during the Russian Civil War. Biography Chapayev was born into a poor peasant family in a village called , now part of Cheboksary. During World War I ...

. In 1935 he became the division commander. During this time Trubnikov was under investigation by the

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 ...

, the Soviet secret police. This investigation was during a widespread purge of the Red Army, part of the

Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...

, where officers of the former Imperial army especially came under suspicion. He was arrested in June 1938 but released in February 1940. After his release he served as an instructor at the

World War II

A month after

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 Trubnikov was given command of the 258th Rifle Division, hastily formed in the

Orel Military District The Orel Military District () was a military district of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and the Soviet Union. Established in 1918 during the Russian Civil War, the district was disbanded after the end of the war in 1922. It was re ...

. In August 1941 the division was assigned to the 50th Army, part of the newly-forming

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 ...

. The unit saw action in the Roslavl–Novozybkov Offensive and the

Battle of Bryansk The Battle of Bryansk (2–21 October 1941) was a twenty-day battle during World War II conducted in the Bryansk Oblast as a part of the overall Moscow campaign. Returning from the Kiev operation, Heinz Guderian attacked in an unexpected dire ...

from September to October. 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 ...

the army was encircled by the attacking

17th Panzer Division The 17th Panzer Division () was a formation of the Wehrmacht in World War II. It was formed in November 1940 from the 27th Infantry Division. It took part in Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, and in the winter o ...

and 167th Infantry Division, but the 258th Division was able to escape and prevent the complete destruction of the army. The division then helped stop

Guderian Heinz Wilhelm Guderian (; 17 June 1888 – 14 May 1954) was a German general during World War II who later became a successful memoirist. A pioneer and advocate of the "blitzkrieg" approach, he played a central role in the development of ...

Second Panzer Army The 2nd Panzer Army () was a German armoured formation during World War II, formed from the 2nd Panzer Group on October 5, 1941. Organisation Panzer Group Guderian () was formed on 5 June 1940 and named after its commander, general Heinz Guder ...

at Tula, on the southern flank of the German assault on Moscow. After the successful defensive operation the original strength of the 258th Infantry Division was less than 10 percent. In November Trubnikov was assigned command of the 217th Rifle Division, also part of 50th Army. In January 1942 Trubnikov led the division in the Soviet counteroffensive in the Moscow area, helping to liberate

Kaluga Kaluga (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kaluga Oblast, Russia. It stands on the Oka River southwest of Moscow. Its population was 337,058 at the 2021 census. Kaluga's most famous residen ...

and participating in the bloody

Battles of Rzhev The Battles of Rzhev () were a series of Red Army offensives against the Wehrmacht between 8 January 1942 and 31 March 1943, on the Eastern Front of World War II. The battles took place in the northeast of Smolensk Oblast and the south of Tve ...

, known as the "Rzhev Meat Grinder" ("Ржевская мясорубка"). In June 1942 he became deputy commander of the 16th Army under

Konstantin Rokossovsky Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky ( 1896 – 3 August 1968) was a Soviet and Polish general who served as a top commander in the Red Army during World War II and achieved the ranks of Marshal of the Soviet Union and Marshal of Poland. He a ...

. In July Rokossovsky was promoted to command the Bryansk Front, as it was expected the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

would once more attack Moscow. When it became clear that the German focus was on the Southern Front, Soviet leader

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

transferred Rokossovsky to the

Don Front The Don Front was a front of the Soviet Red Army during the Second World War, which existed between September 1942 and February 1943, and was commanded during its entire existence by Konstantin Rokossovsky. The name refers to Don River, Russia. F ...

in preparation for a planned Soviet counterattack at

Stalingrad Volgograd,. geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area o ...

. In October, at Rokossovsky's request, Trubnikov became deputy commander of the Don Front. He participated in the organization and management of troops 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, ...

and the destruction of the encircled German 6th Army. Trubnikov led the armies on the Don Front's right wing, including the 57th, 67th and 64th armies. In February 1943 Trubnikov again served as deputy commander to Rokossovsky on the

Central Front The Central Front was a major formation of the Red Army during the Second World War formed on July 24, 1941. The Central Front describes either of two distinct organizations during the war. The first entity existed for just a month during the ...

in preparation for a summer offensive aimed at a German salient around the city of

Kursk Kursk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur (Kursk Oblast), Kur, Tuskar, and Seym (river), Seym rivers. It has a population of Kursk ...

. In April Trubnikov received command of the 10th Guards Army of the Western Front. He led the army during

Operation Suvorov The second Smolensk operation (code naming " Suvorov";Istomin (1975), pp. 20–21 7 August – 2 October 1943) was a Soviet strategic offensive operation conducted by the Red Army as part of the Summer-Autumn Campaign of 1943. Staged almost simu ...

, an attempt to liberate

Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

that summer. In early August Trubnikov's army tried several times to break through the German XII Army Corps, but reinforcements from the 9th Army prevented any advance. During the first phrase of the operation the 10th Guards suffered 30 percent casualties and its most elite unit, the

65th Guards Rifle Division The 65th Guards Rifle Division was formed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in May, 1943, based on the 2nd formations of the 75th and 78th Rifle Brigades, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. Along wit ...

, was almost annihilated, having lost 75 percent of its personnel in just seven days. On September 10 Trubnikov was relieved of command and replaced with Alexander Sukhomlin. He would hold no more major commands for the rest of the war.Forczyk, p. 13 In December 1943 he was appointed assistant commander of the

1st Belorussian Front The 1st Belorussian Front (, ''Pervyy Belorusskiy front'', also romanized " Byelorussian"), known without a numeral as the Belorussian Front between October 1943 and February 1944, was a major formation of the Red Army during World War II, bein ...

under his old comrade

Rokossovsky Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky ( 1896 – 3 August 1968) was a Soviet and Polish general who served as a top commander in the Red Army during World War II and achieved the ranks of Marshal of the Soviet Union and Marshal of Poland. He a ...

, following him to 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 ...

in 1944 during the Soviet advance through

Belorussia Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

(

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

) and into Poland. In this position he participated in the East Prussian Offensive, the East Pomeranian Offensive, and the

Battle of Berlin The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. After the Vistula–Od ...

Later life

At the

Moscow Victory Parade of 1945 The 1945 Moscow Victory Parade (), also known as the Parade of Victors (), was a victory parade held by the Soviet Armed Forces (with the Color Guard Company representing the First Polish Army) after the defeat of Nazi Germany. This, the longest ...

Trubnikov led the consolidated regiment of the 2nd Belorussian Front. After the war, he continued as deputy commander of the troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front until August 1945, when he became deputy commander-in-chief of the

Northern Group of Forces The Northern Group of Armed Forces (; ) was the military formation of the Soviet Army (Russian Ground Forces starting 1992) stationed in Poland from the end of Second World War in 1945 until 1993 when they were withdrawn in the aftermath of the fa ...

stationed in Poland. In January 1951 he was retired due to illness. He died on January 16, 1974, and is 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 ...

in Moscow.

Awards and decorations

;Russian Empire ;Soviet Union ;Foreign

Other honors

* Honorary weapons from the

Revolutionary Military Council The Revolutionary Military Council (), sometimes called the Revolutionary War Council Brian PearceIntroductionto Fyodor Raskolnikov s "Tales of Sub-lieutenant Ilyin." or ''Revvoyensoviet'' (), was the supreme military authority of Soviet Rus ...

(1921 and 1922), Poltava Provincial Military Conference (1922) and Konstantinogradsky Uyezd Executive Committee (1922). *Honorary diploma of the

All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee () was a representative body of the All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets. It was the supreme legislative, administrative, executive controlling state power of Soviet Ukraine (Ukrainian SSR) between the sessi ...

(1926) *Gold watch from the

People's Commissariat of Defense of the Soviet Union The People's Commissariat of Defence of the Soviet Union () was the highest military department of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. History In the 1920–1930s, the highest military authority of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic ...

(1936) *On 9 May 2010, a monument honoring Trubnikov was unveiled in the village of Volovo in

Lipetsk Oblast Lipetsk Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Lipetsk. As of the Russian Census (2021), 2021 Census, its population was&n ...

Citations

References

* * * * *

External links