Mikhail Pavlovich Dukhanov, (russian: Михаил Павлович Духанов),

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Ky ...

, 14 July 1896 –

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, 2 September 1969) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) 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 ...

(1943).

Biography

Dukhanov participated in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

and the

Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...

.
Later, he was Senior Instructor at several Military Schools. In August 1938, he became deputy commander of the

Leningrad Military District The Leningrad Military District was a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2010 it was merged with the Moscow Military District, the Northern Fleet and the Baltic Fleet to form the new Western Military District. H ...

. At the outbreak of the Soviet-Finnish

Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

(1939-1940), without much experience, he was appointed the commander of the 9th Army, which operated at the beginning of the war in the

Kandalaksha Kandalaksha (russian: Кандала́кша; fi, Kantalahti, also ''Kandalax'' or ''Candalax'' in the old maps; krl, Kannanlakši; sms, Käddluhtt) is a town in Kandalakshsky District of Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located at the head of Kanda ...

and Rebolsk directions. On December 22, 1939, after a series of defeats and by decision of the Headquarters, he was removed from the post of commander of the 9th Army and sent into the reserve. After the outbreak of the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front of World War II was a Theater (warfare), theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Polish Armed Forces in the East, Poland and other Allies of World War II, Allies, which encom ...

, Dukhanov was first in August 1941 Assistant Commander in Chief of the Northern Front and then on 19 September became commander of the 10th Rifle Division. As part of the 8th Army of the

Leningrad Front The Leningrad Front (russian: Ленинградский фронт) was formed during the 1941 German approach on Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) by dividing the Northern Front into the Leningrad Front and Karelian Front on August 27, 1941. ...

, the division took up defensive positions in the area of

Strelna Strelna ( rus, Стре́льна, p=ˈstrʲelʲnə) is a municipal settlement in Petrodvortsovy District of the federal city of Saint Petersburg, Russia, about halfway between Saint Petersburg proper and Petergof, and overlooking the shore ...

during the Leningrad Defensive Operation. In early October, under the threat of encirclement, the division withdrew to the line west of the city of

Petergof Petergof (russian: Петерго́ф), known as Petrodvorets () from 1944 to 1997, is a municipal town in Petrodvortsovy District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, located on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland. The town hos ...

. From October 4 to October 24, 1941, M.P. Dukhanov temporarily commanded the

19th Rifle Corps The 19th Rifle Corps was a corps of the Soviet Red Army. It was part of the 23rd Army. It took part in the Great Patriotic War. Organization * 142nd Rifle Division * 115th Rifle Division Commanders * Kombrig Vsevolod Yakovlev (14.07.1937 - ...

of the 23rd Army. On 6 October 1942, he became commander of the

Neva Operational Group The Neva (russian: Нева́, ) is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast (historical region of Ingria) to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length of , it is ...

, which was converted into the 67th Army four days later. He led this army for more than a year, until the end of December 1943, when the Army administration was merged with that of the 55th Army. In March 1944, he was appointed deputy commander of the

8th Guards Army The 8th Guards Order of Lenin Combined Arms Army (abbreviated 8th CAA) is an army of the Russian Ground Forces, headquartered in Novocherkassk, Rostov Oblast, within Russia′s Southern Military District, that was reinstated in 2017 as a succes ...

of the

3rd Ukrainian Front The 3rd Ukrainian Front ( Russian: Третий Украинский фронт) was a Front of the Red Army during World War II. It was founded on 20 October 1943, on the basis of a Stavka order of October 16, 1943, by renaming the Southweste ...

, a post he would hold until the end of the War.
After the War, he was Assistant Commander in Chief for Military Schools in the Leningrad Military District and retired in April 1953.

Sources

Generals.dk
* the article in the Russian Wikipedia, Духанов, Михаил Павлович.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Dukhanov, Michael 1896 births 1969 deaths Military personnel from Kyiv Soviet lieutenant generals Russian military personnel of World War I Soviet military personnel of World War II Russian people of World War II