Nestor Kozin

Nestor Dmitryevich Kozin (Russian: Нестор Дмитриевич Козин; 28 October 1902 – 11 September 1992) was a Soviet Army major general.

Kozin was born on 28 October 1902 in the village of Burkovo-Pokrovskoye (now Novopokrovka) in Tomsk Governorate.

His father died when Kozin was still a child and Kozin became a farmworker.

He then worked as a laborer at the Tatarsky railway station.

Kozin received his only education during the Bolshevik Likbez literacy campaign.

After being drafted into the Red Army in 1924, Kozin became an officer and from 1939 was a battalion commander in the 107th Rifle Division.

Conscripted into the Red Army in May 1924, Kozin was sent to the 35th Rifle Regiment of the 12th Rifle Division.

He graduated from the regimental school in January 1925 and remained assigned to it as a squad leader before being sent to the Omsk Infantry School for further training in October 1926.

Upon his graduation from the school in January 1929, Kozin was appointed a platoon commander in the 11th Rifle Regiment of the 4th Rifle Division, stationed at Slutsk in Belarus.

Serving as officer for errands under the division commander from July 1932, Kozin was transferred to the 94th Rifle Division in the Siberian Military District in November 1933.

With the 94th, he commanded a company of the 280th Rifle Regiment at Krasnoyarsk before transferring to the 281st Regiment of the division at Achinsk in April 1936.

After serving as the assistant regimental chief of staff and battalion chief of staff in the 281st, Kozin became a battalion commander in the 503rd Rifle Regiment of the 91st Rifle Division, formed from the 281st, in September 1939, then held the same position in the 82nd Reserve Rifle Regiment.

He became an assistant battalion commander in the district Commanders' Improvement Course (KUKS) at Biysk in July 1940, and in December was appointed commander of the 586th Rifle Regiment of the 107th Rifle Division at Barnaul.

Kozin fought in the Yelnya Offensive after the 107th was moved west and became a regimental commander in the 100th Rifle Division in August 1941.

He then fought in the Battle of Moscow and in April 1942 was appointed commander of the 8th Motor Rifle Division NKVD.

In April 1942, Kozin became the commander of the 8th Motor Rifle Division NKVD in the Voronezh area.

The division continued to fight at Stalingrad and Kozin was wounded in January 1943.

After recovery, he was sent to study at the Military Academy of the General Staff, where he remained until given command of the 13th Guards Airborne Division in April 1944.

Kozin received the Order of Suvorov 2nd class and the division became the 52nd Guards Rifle Division for its actions in the offensive.

In September, he returned to command of the 52nd Guards Rifle Division and led it during the Baltic Offensive, Vistula–Oder Offensive, East Pomeranian Offensive and Berlin Offensive.

For his leadership of the division, Kozin was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 29 May.

After the war, he continued to serve in the army and retired in 1954.

The division became the 63rd Rifle Division in June and fought in Operation Uranus.

In June, the division was converted into the 63rd Rifle Division.

The division fought in the Battle of Voronezh during the summer.

In late November, the division fought in Operation Uranus.

The 63rd was part of the 21st Army's main attack and broke through the Romanian-German defenses, advancing southwards.

In the area of Raspopinskaya village, the division helped fully encircle two corps of the Romanian Third Army between 21 and 22 November.

He lived in Barnaul and died in 1992.

After the end of the Yelnya Offensive in early September, Kozin was awarded the Order of Lenin for his leadership and the 100th Rifle Division became the 1st Guards Rifle Division.

After Operation Barbarossa, the 107th Rifle Division was transferred to the front and engaged in combat on 16 July near Yelnya.

During the Battle of Smolensk, Kozin was reported to have shown leadership skills.

In one action, he reportedly sent only one company in frontal attack against superior German troops and outflanked the German positions using his two other companies.

This attack reportedly caused the defeat of the German troops and led to a breakthrough.

In August, Kozin became commander of the 100th Rifle Division's 85th Rifle Regiment.

He fought in the Yelnya Offensive at the beginning of September.

The division became the 1st Guards Rifle Division, the regiment became the 2nd Guards Rifle Regiment, and Kozin was awarded the Order of Lenin for his leadership during the offensive.

He led the regiment in defensive battles east of Belgorod and in December fought in the counteroffensive at Moscow.

During the Yelnya and Livny Offensives, the regiment advanced 150 kilometers.

During August and September, Kozin led the 189th Rifle Division during the Tartu Offensive.