Yegor Solyankin
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Yegor Nikolaevich Solyankin (; 21 April 190126 June 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. Solyankin led the 2nd Tank Division during the
Battle of Raseiniai The Battle of Raseiniai (23–27 June 1941) was a large tank battle that took place in the early stages of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. The battle was fought between the elements of the German 4th Panzer Group an ...
, a Soviet counterattack after the
German invasion of the Soviet Union 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 a ...
. He was killed in action during the defeat of his division.


Early life and Russian Civil War

Solyankin was born on 21 April 1901 in
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
. He was orphaned at age four and was sent to be raised in a peasant family in a village in Gzhatsky Uyezd. Solyankin was a shepherd in the village. From the age of twelve he worked as a blacksmith in Moscow. On 17 June 1920, he was conscripted into 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 ...
at
Gzhatsk Gagarin (), known until 1968 as Gzhatsk (), is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative centre of Gagarinsky District, Smolensk Oblast, Gagarinsky District of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Gzhat River, n ...
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 ...
. Sent to the 16th Reserve Rifle Regiment of 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 ...
at
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, Solyankin became a cadet at the 5th Petergof Infantry Course in September. His training was interrupted by being sent to fight on the Southern Front with the 1st Petrograd Cadet Brigade against the
Army of Wrangel The Russian Army (), commonly known as the Army of Wrangel (), was a White Army active in South Russia during the Russian Civil War from March to November 1920. It was officially formed on 28 April 1920 from the merger of several White armies, i ...
and the
Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine The Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine (; RIAU), also known as ''Makhnovtsi'' (), named after their founder Nestor Makhno, was an anarchist army formed largely of Ukrainian peasants and workers during the Russian Civil War. They protect ...
in
Taurida Governorate Taurida Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire. It included the territory of the Crimean Peninsula and the mainland between the lower Dnieper River with the coasts of the Black Sea and Sea o ...
between October 1920 and February 1921.


Interwar period

After the end of the Russian Civil War, Solyankin graduated from the 65th Yevpatoriya Commanders Course in 1921 and continued training at the supplemental department of the 63rd Simferopol Infantry Course. After completing training at the latter in September 1922 he was appointed to the 40th Rifle Regiment of the 14th Rifle Division of the Moscow Military District at Moscow. Solyankin spent the next seven years with the regiment, successively serving as a squad leader, assistant platoon commander, platoon commander, acting company commander, and company '' politruk''. During this period he received further training at the Commanders Refresher Course in Moscow between October 1924 and August 1925 and entered the Moscow Military-Political Course in October 1928. Solyankin graduated from the latter in August 1929 and in November of that year transferred to the Ryazan Infantry School to serve as a course commander. He was sent to the
Vystrel course The Vystrel course () was the popular name for an officer training course of the Soviet Armed Forces, later part of the Russian Armed Forces, located in Solnechnogorsk. The training course had a one-year curriculum to train battalion and regiment le ...
in February 1931 and upon completion of the course returned to the 14th Rifle Division as an assistant battalion commander in its 42nd Rifle Regiment. He simultaneously served as military commandant of Shuya from October of that year. Solyankin was seconded to the Leningrad Armored Commanders Improvement Course in December for training as an officer in the emerging Red Army tank forces, and upon graduation in May 1932 returned to the 14th Rifle Division to serve as chief of staff of the training battalion at
Vladimir Vladimir (, , pre-1918 orthography: ) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin, widespread throughout all Slavic nations in different forms and spellings. The earliest record of a person with the name is Vladimir of Bulgaria (). Etymology ...
. A month later, he was transferred to the Separate Training Tank Regiment at Moscow, serving as assistant commander of a training tank battalion, acting assistant commander for training units of the regiment, and as a battalion commander. Solyankin commanded the tank battalion of the 1st Kazan Rifle Division from January 1934 and in June 1937 became commander of the 2nd Reserve Tank Brigade 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 ...
. After commanding the 9th Mechanized Brigade of the 7th Mechanized Corps from August 1938, then-''
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 ...
'' Solyankin was appointed commander of the 18th Light Tank Brigade in December 1939, when it was stationed in Estonia at Uuemõisa as a result of the
Soviet–Estonian Mutual Assistance Treaty The Soviet–Estonian Mutual Assistance Treaty (, ), also known as the Bases Treaty () was a bilateral treaty between the Soviet Union and Estonia, signed in Moscow on 28 September 1939. The treaty obliged both parties to respect each other's so ...
, and participated in the Soviet annexation of Estonia in June 1940. During the annexation, the brigade advanced into
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. On 4 June 1940, he was promoted to Major General. He then served as deputy commander of the 1st Mechanized Corps from August 1940. Solyankin became commander of the 2nd Tank Division, part of the 3rd Mechanized Corps, on 9 December. The division was stationed in the area of
Ukmergė Ukmergė (; previously ''Vilkmergė''; ) is a city in Vilnius County, Lithuania, located northwest of Vilnius. It is the administrative center of the Ukmergė District Municipality. Ukmergė (Vilkmergė) was mentioned for the first time as a ...
, northeast of
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. In the early summer of 1941 he arranged for the evacuation of the families of officers, although this was not officially permitted.


World War II

During the invasion of Russia, the 3rd Mechanized Corps mounted a counterattack against the advancing
XXXXI Panzer Corps XXXXI Panzer Corps (also written as: XLI Panzer Corps) was a Panzer (armoured) corps in the German German Army (Wehrmacht), Army during World War II. Operational history The corps was originally formed, as the XXXXI Corps, on 5 February 1940 in ...
in what became known as the
Battle of Raseiniai The Battle of Raseiniai (23–27 June 1941) was a large tank battle that took place in the early stages of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. The battle was fought between the elements of the German 4th Panzer Group an ...
. The 2nd Tank Division had marched a hundred kilometers from
Kėdainiai Kėdainiai () is one of the oldest List of cities in Lithuania, cities in Lithuania. It is located north of Lithuania's second largest city Kaunas on the banks of the Nevėžis River. Kėdainiai were first mentioned in the 1372 Livonian Chronicle ...
on 23 June to make its planned assault the following day. The division had six different types of tanks, including 32 KV-1s, 19 KV-2s, and 50
T-34 The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank from World War II. When introduced, its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was more powerful than many of its contemporaries, and its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against Anti-tank warfare, ...
s. Nearly half of the KVs broke down during the march. The KV tanks and T-34s of the division surprised the troops of the
6th Panzer Division The 6th Panzer Division () was an armoured division in the German Army, the ''Heer'', during World War II, established in October 1939. The division, initially formed as a light brigade, participated in the invasions of Poland, Belgium, France ...
, who were unaware of the existence of the Soviet tanks. The attack caused temporary panic, but the German forces counterattacked when the 2nd Tank Division ran out of fuel and ammunition after making six attacks. The 1st Panzer Division and the 36th Infantry Division flanked Solyankin's division and its rear area was captured after the
8th Panzer Division The 8th Panzer Division was a formation of the ''Wehrmacht'' German Army (Wehrmacht), ''Heer''. The division was formed by reorganising the 3rd Light Division (Wehrmacht), 3rd Light Division in October 1939. It was transferred to the west and fo ...
took Kėdainiai. On 25 June, Solyankin led a breakout attempt with the remaining heavy tanks leading. The division was destroyed and Solyankin was killed on 26 June. The location of his burial is unknown. He was survived by his wife, Varvara Vasilievna, a daughter, Raisa, and a son, Alexander.


Notes


References

* * * * 1901 births 1941 deaths Soviet major generals Soviet military personnel killed in World War II Military personnel from Moscow {{DEFAULTSORT:Solyankin, Yegor