Vasily Stepanovich Popov (; 8 January 1894 – 2 July 1967) was a Soviet general and

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 ...

. He fought for the Imperial Russian Army in World War I, attaining the rank of

Praporshchik (, , ) is a rank used by the Russian Armed Forces and a number of former communist states. The rank is a non-commissioned officer's and is equivalent to in the corresponding navies. It is usually equivalent to warrant officer class 1 or serge ...

. He fought for the Bolsheviks in the subsequent civil war and in the war against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. He was made a

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 ...

(brigade commander) on 26 November 1935. As commander of the

28th Rifle Corps The 28th Rifle Corps was a corps of the Soviet 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 estab ...

, he took part in the Soviet-Finnish War in 1940 and was awarded the Red Banner Order. He was made a major general in June 1940 and a

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 ...

in June 1942.

World War II

When the German attack on the Soviet Union began on 22 June 1941, his 28th Rifle Corps was deployed to the 4th Army on the Western Front and was forced to withdraw from the Brest region towards Kobryn and Bobruisk. At the beginning of July, his corps was withdrawn to the reserve and from July 15, in the Propoisk area, participated in defensive military operations on the left bank of the Sosch. During these hostilities, Popov was seriously injured and, after his recovery in September 1941, was appointed deputy commander of the logistics department of the 50th Army. In January 1942, he was appointed commander of the 10th Army on the western front. His troops carried out counterattacks in the area southeast of Moscow near Tula and liberated the cities of Mikhailov and Jepifan. In the summer of 1943, his army took part in the Smolensk Operation, in which the German defense at Kirov was broken and the advance towards Roslawl, Snigirjowka and Tschaussy took place. The 10th Army defended the front on the Pronja River until spring 1944. In April 1944 Popow was appointed deputy commander of the 1st Belarusian Front and in May 1944 of the same year he was appointed commander of the 70th Army. The 70th Army together with the 61st and 28th Army carried out the encirclement of German units in the Brest area during the Lublin–Brest Offensive from the south-west. On 26 July 1944 he was raised to the rank of Colonel General. During the East Prussian Offensive, the army advancing from the Serok bridgehead broke through the enemy's defense and then liberated the city of Modlin. From February to March 1945 his army took part in the East Pomeranian Offensive and took part in the liberation of the city of Gdansk. During the Stettin-Rostock operation, the 70th Army operated as part of the 2nd Belarusian front towards Neubrandenburg. After crossing the Oder, the German Stettin Group was defeated and then it reached the city of Rostock and the coast of the Baltic Sea near Wismar by 3 May. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of 10 April 1945, he was honored with the title Hero of the Soviet Union together with the award of the Order of Lenin.

Post war period

After the war ended, Popow was appointed commander of the 43rd Army in July 1945, which was part of the Northern Army Group. In August 1946 he became the commander of the 10th Guard Army of the

Leningrad Military District The Order of Lenin Leningrad Military District () is a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The district was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1968. In 2010, it was merged with the Moscow Military District, the Northern ...

. In November 1947 he was appointed head of advanced training courses for the commanders of the Rifle Divisions and then appointed head of the faculty of 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 June 1955 he was appointed head of the Military History Faculty for the training of army officers and in January 1958 on the general staff for research work. Popov retired from the army at the age of 65 in 1959 and died in Moscow in July. He was buried in the Novodevichy Cemetery. He was a recipient of the

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 ...

, the

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 ...

, the

Order of Suvorov The Order of Suvorov () is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named in honor of Russian Generalissimo Prince Alexander Suvorov (1729–1800). History The Order of Suvorov was originally a Soviet Union, Soviet award established on ...

, the

Order of Kutuzov The Order of Kutuzov ( ''orden Kutuzova'') is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named after famous Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov, Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov (1745–1813). The Order was established during World War II t ...

and the

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 ...

Bibliography

* * 1894 births 1967 deaths Soviet colonel generals Heroes of the Soviet Union Russian military personnel of World War I People of the Russian Civil War People of the Polish–Soviet War Soviet military personnel of World War II Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of Suvorov, 1st class Recipients of the Order of Kutuzov, 1st class Frunze Military Academy alumni {{Russia-mil-bio-stub