Pyotr Nikolayevich Akhlyustin (; 12 June 1896 – 28 July 1941) was a

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 ...

major general. Akhlyustin fought 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 ...

as a cavalryman and joined the Red Army during 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 ...

, becoming a junior commander. He held command positions in cavalry units between the wars and commanded a cavalry division in the

Soviet invasion of Poland The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military conflict by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Second Polish Republic, Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Polan ...

and 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 ...

. At the outbreak of

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 ...

, he commanded the 13th Mechanized Corps, destroyed during the

Battle of Białystok–Minsk The Battle of Białystok–Minsk was a German strategic operation conducted by the Wehrmacht's Army Group Centre under Field Marshal Fedor von Bock during the penetration of the Soviet border region in the opening stage of Operation Barbaros ...

in late June and early July 1941. Akhlyustin escaped, but was killed while trying to reach Soviet lines in late July.

Early life, World War I, and Russian Civil War

Akhlyustin was born on 12 June 1896 in Kaslinsky Zavod, the son of a worker, and graduated from primary school. During

, he was drafted into 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 August 1915 and sent to the Western Front, where he fought with the 2nd Pavlograd Life Hussar Regiment as a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

, junior '' unter-ofitser'' and assistant platoon commander. Akhlyustin received two Crosses of St. George for his actions. Demobilized in December 1917 after the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, he returned to his hometown to work as a fireman at the Kasli metallurgical plant. Akhlyustin joined the Red Army on 24 June 1918 during the

, serving with the cavalry '' sotnya'' of the 267th Mountain Rifle Regiment as a platoon commander and assistant ''sotnya'' commander. On 11 June 1920 he was appointed chief of the machine gun detachment of the 3rd Special Purpose Battalion of the Southern Front, and in May 1921 returned to the 267th Rifle Regiment to serve as a rifle company and ''sotnya'' commander. During the war he saw action on the Eastern and Southern Fronts.

Interwar period

Akhlyustin served with the 30th Rifle Division from December 1922 as commander of a training platoon of the divisional school, and from August 1923 served successively as a platoon commander, and assistant commander and acting commander of a squadron. He transferred to the separate cavalry squadron of the 51st Rifle Division, part of the

Ukrainian 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 November 1924, serving successively as assistant commander and commander of the squadron. After graduating from the Simferopol Command Course in 1926, Akhlyustin was sent to study at the

Novocherkassk Novocherkassk () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located near the confluence of the Tuzlov and Aksay Rivers, the latter a distributary of the Don (river), Don River. Novocherkassk is best known as the ...

Cavalry Officers Improvement Course in October 1927, from which he completed in August 1928. He became head of the economic section at the Budyonny Ukrainian Cavalry School in November 1929, and from January 1931 served as assistant commander and then commander of the 2nd Reserve Cavalry Regiment of the district. Transferred to the 26th Cavalry Division to command its 104th Cavalry Regiment in April 1935, Akhlyustin later became commander of the 10th Cavalry Regiment of the 23rd Cavalry Division, being promoted to colonel on 24 January 1936. He took command of the division, part of the 7th Cavalry Corps of 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 September 1937, and was promoted to ''

kombrig () is an abbreviation of Commanding officer of the brigade (), and was a military rank in the Soviet Armed Forces of the USSR from 1935 to 1940. It was also the designation to military personnel appointed to command a brigade sized formation (X ...

'' on 17 February 1938. Another transfer to command the 24th Cavalry Division of the 13th Cavalry Corps of the Belorussian Special Military District in June of that year followed as the Red Army expanded its cavalry force. Akhlyustin commanded the division in the

and the

, and became a major general on 4 June 1940 when the Red Army reintroduced general officer ranks. An order of 15 February 1941 appointed Akhlyustin commander of the 39th Rifle Corps of the

1st Red Banner Army The 1st Red Banner Army () was a Red Army field army of World War II that served in the Soviet Far East. Before 1941 The 1st Army was created in July 1938 under the name of the 1st Coastal Army (or, depending on translation, 1st Maritime Army) i ...

of the

Far Eastern Front The Far Eastern Front (Russian: Дальневосточный фронт) was a front — a level of military formation that is equivalent to army group — of the Red Army during the Second World War. Early war service Тhe Far Eastern Front wa ...

, but on 27 February it was rescinded and instead he became commander of the 13th Mechanized Corps of the 10th Army of the Western Special Military District (the former Belorussian Special Military District).

World War II

After

, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, began, Akhlyustin's corps fought in the

and was almost completely wiped out, encircled in the Bialystok pocket. Akhlyustin escaped to positions held by the 13th Army on the

Dnieper The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...

and continued east when these too collapsed. On 28 July, while organizing the breakout from the encirclement of the corps, which had run out of ammunition, fuel, and lubricants, Akhlyustin was killed while attempting to cross the

Sozh River The Sozh (, ; ; ) is a river flowing in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. It is a left bank tributary of the Dnieper. The Sozh passes through Gomel, the second largest city in Belarus. The river is crossed by the Sozh Floating Bridge at Karma, Kar ...

near Propoysk. He was survived by his wife, Mariya Nikolayevna, who lived in

Magnitogorsk Magnitogorsk ( rus, Магнитого́рск, p=məɡnʲɪtɐˈɡorsk, ) is an industrial city in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, on the eastern side of the extreme southern extent of the Ural Mountains by the Ural River. Its population is curre ...

Awards and honors

Akhlyustin received the following awards and decorations: *

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner () was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. It was the highest award of S ...

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 ...

, 1st class (posthumous) *

Order of the Red Star The Order of the Red Star () was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 1930 but its statute was only defined in decree of the Presidium of the ...

(2) *

Jubilee Medal "XX Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army" The Jubilee Medal "XX Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army" () was a state military commemorative medal of the Soviet Union established on January 24, 1938 by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR to denote the twentie ...

(1938) * Cross of St. George 3rd and 4th class (not worn after 1917)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Akhlyustin, Pyotr 1896 births 1941 deaths People from Kaslinsky District People from Yekaterinburgsky Uyezd Soviet major generals Russian military personnel of World War I Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War Soviet military personnel killed in World War II Recipients of the Cross of St. George Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner