Stepan Ivanovich Polyansky (; ; 1913 – 1943) was a Soviet officer, participant in the

Soviet-Finnish 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 ...

. Regiment and division commander in the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II ...

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 ...

(04/07/1940). Lieutenant colonel (1943).

Biography

Polyansky was born on April 5 (18), 1913 in the village of Maistrov,

Novograd-Volynsky Uyezd Novograd-Volynsky Uyezd (; ) was one of the subdivisions of the Volhynian Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the southeastern part of the governorate. Its administrative centre was Novohrad-Volynskyi (now Zviahel). Demographics A ...

Volhynian Governorate Volhynia Governorate, also known as Volyn Governorate, was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Southwestern Krai of the Russian Empire. It consisted of an area of and a population of 2,989,482 inhabitants. The governorate ...

of the

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 Zvyagelsky district, Zhytomyr region, Ukraine) into a peasant family. Pole or Ukrainian by nationality. In 1925 he graduated from the 4th grade of elementary school, in 1932 - courses for foremen. He worked as a foreman of the field-growing brigade of the collective farm "For a New Life" in his native village (Maistrovsky village council. In November 1935 he joined 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 ...

. In 1938 he graduated from the Kharkov School of Chervonny Elders named after the Central Executive Committee of the Ukrainian SSR. He served in the 233rd Rifle Regiment of the 97th Rifle Division of the

Kiev Special Military District 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, ...

: platoon commander, company commander, assistant chief of staff of the regiment. In September 1939, as a company commander, he took part in the Liberation Campaign of the Red Army in

Western Ukraine Western Ukraine or West Ukraine (, ) refers to the western territories of Ukraine. There is no universally accepted definition of the territory's boundaries, but the contemporary Ukrainian administrative regions ( oblasts) of Chernivtsi, I ...

(the division operated as part of the 17th Rifle Corps of the 6th Army of the Ukrainian Front).Polyansky on site warheroes.ru warheroes.ru
/ref> Participant of the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940 from February 1940, when the division arrived at the front on the

Karelian Isthmus The Karelian Isthmus (; ; ) is the approximately stretch of land situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia, to the north of the River Neva. Its northwestern boundary is a line from the Bay of Vyborg to the we ...

. Then Lieutenant S.I. Polyansky commanded the 1st Infantry Battalion of the 233rd Infantry Regiment. On February 11, 1940, when the company's advance was stopped by withering machine-gun fire from a Finnish reinforced concrete pillbox, under the cover of a blizzard that had begun, he led the bypass movement of the assault group. The fighters broke into the trench, in hand-to-hand combat they destroyed several Finnish soldiers, then they approached the pillbox along the trench and installed explosive charges on it. The pillbox was destroyed by the explosion, the offensive continued. Polyansky was wounded three times in this battle, but did not leave the battlefield. Only after the battle was he sent to the hospital. By decree of the Presidium of the

Supreme Soviet of the USSR The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (SSUSSR) was the highest body of state authority of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1936 to 1991. Based on the principle of unified power, it was the only branch of government in the S ...

of April 7, 1940, "for the exemplary performance of the combat missions of the Command on the front of the fight against the Finnish White Guard and the courage and heroism shown at the same time," Lieutenant Stepan Ivanovich Polyansky was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. After recovering in July 1940, he was appointed chief of staff of the 233rd Infantry Regiment. Member of the CPSU (b) since 1940. Before the war, in June 1941, he was enrolled in the academy. In 1942 he graduated from the accelerated course of the

Military Academy of the Red Army 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 ...

named after

M. V. Frunze Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze (; ; 2 February 1885 – 31 October 1925) was a Soviet revolutionary, politician, army officer and military theorist. Born to a Bessarabian father and a Russian mother in Russian Turkestan, Frunze attended the Saint ...

. In May 1942, he was appointed commander of the 468th Infantry Regiment of the 111th Infantry Division, which was completing its formation in the

Moscow Military District The Order of Lenin Moscow Military District () is a Military districts of Russia, military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Originally it was a district of the Imperial Russian Army until the Russian Empire's collapse in 191 ...

(town

Bezhetsk Bezhetsk () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of Bezhetsky District in Tver Oblast, Russia, located on the Mologa River at its confluence with the Ostrechina. Population: 20,618 (2024). It was pr ...

, Kalinin Region). Participated in the battles of the Great Patriotic War from July 1942, when his regiment as part of a division arrived at the front. He fought in the 30th, 39th and 61st armies on the

Northwestern Front The Northwestern Front (Russian: ''Северо-Западный фронт'') was a military formation of the Red Army during the Winter War and World War II. It was operational with the 7th and 13th Armies during the Winter War. It was re-c ...

. Skillfully commanded the regiment during the First Rzhev-Sychev operation, in difficult conditions in August-September 1942, the regiment liberated 6 settlements and cleared the banks of the

Volga The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

from German troops. In this operation, the regiment destroyed up to 2000 German soldiers and captured 27 prisoners. Then the division and the regiment were transferred to the

Voronezh Front The 1st Ukrainian Front (), previously the Voronezh Front (), was a major formation of the Red Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army group. They took part in the capture of Berlin, the capital of Nazi Germany. Wartime ...

, transferred to the 3rd Tank Army and participated in the Ostrogozhsk-Rossosh and Kharkov offensive operations, and then in the Kharkov defensive operation (the division was withdrawn from the battle and sent to the reserve for replenishment on March 14, 1943) . From March 30 to June 28, 1943, Lieutenant Colonel S.I. Polyansky temporarily served as division commander (at that time the division was engaged in combat training in the reserve near the city of

Novy Oskol Novy Oskol () is a town and the administrative center of Novooskolsky District in Belgorod Oblast, Russia, northeast of Belgorod, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: It is called ''Novy Oskol'' () to distinguish it from Stary ...

). In early July, the division was transferred to the

7th Guards Army The 7th Guards Army was a field army of the Red Army during World War II and of the Soviet Army during the Cold War. History The 7th Guards Army was formed from the 64th Army on April 16, 1943. 64th Army had originally been formed from 1s ...

on the

Steppe Front The Steppe Front () was a front of the Red Army during the Second World War which existed from July to October 1943. History On 9 July 1943, Stavka designated a new Reserve Front in the Voronezh region, that had been effective since 30 April.G ...

. At the head of the regiment, he skillfully acted in the

Battle of Kursk The Battle of Kursk, also called the Battle of the Kursk Salient, was a major World War II Eastern Front battle between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in southwestern Russia during the summer of 1943, resulting in ...

and in the

Belgorod–Kharkov offensive operation The Belgorod–Kharkov strategic offensive operation, or simply Belgorod–Kharkov offensive operation, was a Soviet strategic summer offensive that aimed to liberate Belgorod and Kharkov, and destroy Nazi German forces of the 4th Panzer Army a ...

. At the beginning of the Soviet offensive in early August, his regiment broke through the German defenses near

Belgorod Belgorod (, ) is a city that serves as the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River, approximately north of the border with Ukraine. It has a population of It was founded in 1596 as a defensiv ...

, and on August 23, 1943, the regiment was one of the first to break into Kharkov. In June-July 1943, the regiment of Lieutenant Colonel Polyansky destroyed and captured 43 artillery pieces, 96 machine guns, 8 mortar batteries, 2 tanks, 2 self-propelled guns, 24 vehicles and many other military equipment and weapons. On September 3, 1943, Polyansky was seriously wounded in the battle near Kharkov. On September 10, 1943, he died from his wounds. He was buried in a mass grave of Soviet soldiers on the Alley of Heroes of the city cemetery No. 2 in Kharkov (Pushkin Street, 54).

Аwards

(04/07/1940) *

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

(7.04.1940) * Two orders of the Red Banner (01/11/1943 and 10/10/1943 - posthumously).

Memory

* Honorary citizen of the city of Novograd-Volynsky.Новоград-Волинський. Почесні громадяни
. . * In the city of Merefa, Kharkiv region, a memorial plaque was erected. * Streets in the cities of Novograd-Volynsky and Kharkov are named after Polyansky.

Footnotes

References

Books

* * *

External links

Polyansky on site warheroes.ru

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polyansky, Stepan 1913 births 1943 deaths Heroes of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Order of Lenin Frunze Military Academy alumni Soviet military personnel killed in World War II