Mikhail Timofeyevich Beregovoy (; 13 January 1918 – 30 May 2021) 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 officer who held a number of posts in the

Soviet Air Defence Forces The Soviet Air Defence Forces (; ) was the air defence branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Formed in 1941, it continued being a service branch of the Russian Armed Forces after 1991 until it was merged into the Air Force in 1998. Unlike Western ...

, reaching the rank of

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 ...

. Born in the upheaval of the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

and 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 ...

, Beregovoy became interested in technical innovations. His brothers became pilots, his younger brother Georgy winning fame in the Second World War, and later as a pioneering

cosmonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

, and twice

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 ...

. Mikhail instead attended the and served as an officer with the

. Following the war Beregovoy furthered his specialization with studies at the Artillery Radio Engineering Academy, and then joined the , in time becoming head of the radio engineering troops of the Moscow Air Defence District, with responsibility for monitoring and providing data for the flights of the early Soviet space program. In 1969 he became head of the Soviet Radio-Technical Forces, a post he held until his retirement in 1983. Beregovoy reached the age of 100 in 2018, an event marked with congratulatory telegrams, including one from

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

. Over his career he had received numerous awards and honours, including two Orders of the Red Banner. He died in 2021 at the age of 103.

Early life and career

Beregovoy was born on 13 January 1918 in Chystiakove, which was then part of the brief

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) was a short-lived state in Eastern Europe. Prior to its proclamation, the Central Council of Ukraine was elected in March 1917 Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, as a result of the February Revolution, ...

during the period following the

and during the

. His father worked as a telegraph operator on the railways. The family moved to Yenakiyevo when Mikhail was seven. He had two brothers; the elder, Viktor, and the younger, Georgy, both became pilots. Viktor was caught in 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 ...

of the late 1930s, and was arrested and executed in 1938. He was subsequently rehabilitated. Georgy went on to become a distinguished pilot and pioneering

, and twice

. Mikhail preferred to be a designer of aircraft or other equipment. Beregovoy studied at the , graduating ahead of schedule in 1939 after the outbreak of 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 ...

that year. He was then employed by the school as a cadet unit commander and teacher. Following the

Axis invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis powers, Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet ...

in 1941, Beregovoy took part in fighting at the front. In 1943 he became a staff officer at a regimental headquarters, and by the end of the war, was serving as a staff officer at the headquarters of the Air Defence's South-Western Front.

Postwar service

Following the war, Beregovoy enrolled in the Artillery Radio Engineering Academy, graduating in 1951 and entering service with the . He rose from the command of a radio engineering regiment to deputy head and then head of the radio engineering troops of the Moscow Air Defence District. He also had responsibility for monitoring and providing data for the flights of the early Soviet space programme. This became particularly important during the

Voskhod 2 Voskhod 2 () was a Soviet crewed space mission in March 1965. The Vostok-based Voskhod 3KD spacecraft with two crew members on board, Pavel Belyayev and Alexei Leonov, was equipped with an inflatable airlock. It established another milestone ...

mission, when the capsule containing cosmonauts

Pavel Belyayev Pavel Ivanovich Belyayev (; 26 June 1925 – 10 January 1970) was a Soviet cosmonaut who commanded the historic 1965 Voskhod 2 space mission which saw the first space walk. He had been a fighter pilot with extensive experience in piloting diff ...

and

Alexei Leonov Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov. (30 May 1934 – 11 October 2019) was a Soviet and Russian cosmonaut and aviator, Soviet Air Forces, Air Force major general, writer, and artist. On 18 March 1965, he became the first person to conduct a Extravehic ...

overshot their landing zone. Using the radio

telemetry Telemetry is the in situ collection of measurements or other data at remote points and their automatic transmission to receiving equipment (telecommunication) for monitoring. The word is derived from the Greek roots ''tele'', 'far off', an ...

they had recorded, Beregovoy and his men were able to guide rescue teams to the location of the landing site. P-19 radar system

Between 1969 and 1983 he was head of the Soviet Radio-Technical Forces. Beregovoy retired in 1983, having spent 47 years in the

Soviet Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, also known as the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, the Red Army (1918–1946) and the Soviet Army (1946–1991), were the armed forces of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republi ...

, 32 of them in various positions in the Radio-Technical Forces. He had been promoted to major general on 22 February 1963, and to

on 19 February 1968. He settled in

Balashikha Balashikha ( rus, Балашиха, p=bəlɐˈʂɨxə) is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Pekhorka River east of the Moscow Ring Road. Population: Etymology In Finno-Ugric languages, ''Bala-shika'' means ''land of celebration ...

, his home since the 1970s.

Retirement and centenary

Beregovoy celebrated his 100th birthday on 13 January 2018, an event attended by veterans and generals. He received a congratulatory telegram from President

, reading "Please accept my congratulations on the 100th anniversary, wishes of health and good spirits. You have devoted all your life to defending the Motherland, fought on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, and in the post-war period made a significant contribution to strengthening the country's defence capability and the development of the Armed Forces. Your path as an officer, a military leader is a vivid example of courage and loyalty to duty". He also received a congratulatory telegram and a television set from the head of Balashikha, , as well as a certificate of honour signed by

Defence Minister A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

Sergey Shoygu Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu; , . (born 21 May 1955) is a Russian politician and military officer who has served as Secretary of the Security Council of Russia, secretary of the Security Council of Russia, Security Council since 2024. He served ...

. Beregovoy died on 30 May 2021 at the age of 103. Over his career he had received numerous honours and awards, including two Orders of the Red Banner, the

Order of the Patriotic War The Order of the Patriotic War () is a Soviet Union, Soviet military Order (decoration), decoration that was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to Partisan (military), partisans for heroic deeds in the Easte ...

First Class, the

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour () was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the Soviet state and society in the fields of production, science, culture, literature, the arts, education, sports ...

, two Orders of the Red Star, the

Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" The Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" (), also known as the Order "For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR", was a Soviet Union, Soviet Order (honour), military order awarded in three classes ...

Third Class and the

Medal "For Battle Merit" The Medal "For Battle Merit" () was a Soviet military medal awarded for "combat action resulting in a military success", "courageous defense of the state borders", or "successful military and political training and preparation". It was created on ...

, among others.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beregovoy, Mikhail 1918 births 2021 deaths People from Torez Military personnel from Donetsk Oblast Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Soviet Air Defence Force officers Soviet lieutenant generals Soviet military personnel of World War II from Ukraine Recipients of the Medal of Zhukov Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Recipients of the Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR", 3rd class Russian men centenarians Burials in Troyekurovskoye Cemetery