Kirill Moskalenko

Kirill Semyonovich Moskalenko (Кирилл Семёнович Москаленко, Кирило Семенович Москаленко, romanized: Kyrylo Semenovych Moskalenko; 11 May 1902 – 17 June 1985) was a Marshal of the Soviet Union.

A member of the Soviet Army who fought in both the Russian Civil War and World War II, he later served as Commander in Chief of Strategic Missile Forces.

Moskalenko was born in the village of Grishino, Bakhmutsky Uyezd, Yekaterinoslav Governorate, Russian Empire (present-day Pokrovsk Raion, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine), in a family of Ukrainian peasants.

He graduated from a four-year primary rural school and two classes of the school of the ministerial school.

From 1917 to 1919 he studied at an agricultural school in Bakhmut, where poet Volodymyr Sosiura studied at the same time according to his recollections.

He was forced to interrupt his studies due to the outbreak of the Russian Civil War.

He returned to his native village, where he worked in the rural revolutionary committee.

When the province of his village was seized by the troops of the Volunteer Army of General Anton Denikin, he hid because of the threat of execution.

After the occupation of the village by the troops of the Red Army in August 1920, he joined their ranks.

Moskalenko fought in the civil war while serving as the member of the First Cavalry Army.

He fought against the troops of General Pyotr Wrangel and Ataman Nestor Makhno.

He studied at the Luhansk Artillery School and at the 2nd Kharkov Artillery School.

In May 1921, he was transferred to the artillery department of the Kharkov School of Red Officers, from which he graduated in 1922.

Later, he graduated from the advanced training courses for the command personnel at the Red Army Artillery Academy in Leningrad and the faculty of advanced training for the higher command personnel of the Felix Dzerzhinsky Military Academy in Moscow Oblast.

During his studies in Kharkov, as part of the school, he participated in battles against gangs in the Don and Donbas regions.

From 1922 to 1932 he served in the 6th Cavalry Division and First Cavalry Army, and platoon commander of the Cavalry Artillery Division.

During his service in Armavir, he participated in battles against political banditry in the North Caucasus.

In September 1923, together with a military unit, he was transferred to Bryansk.

From 1924, he served as a battery commander.

He later served as commander of a training battery, artillery battalion, and chief of staff of an artillery regiment from 1928.

From 1932, he served as chief of staff and commander of a special cavalry division of the Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army near Chita.

From 1934, he served commander of a cavalry regiment.

Moskalenko commanded the 23rd Tank Brigade in Primorsky Krai from 1935.

He successively chief of artillery of the 35th Rifle Corps and the 2nd Mechanized Corps in Chisinau and Tiraspol respectively.

From 1936 he served in the 45th Mechanized Corps within the Kiev Military District.

When Operation Barbarossa began in June 1941, Moskalenko was the commander of an anti-tank brigade which was stationed in Lutsk.

Between June 1941, and March 1942, Moskalenko first held command of the 1st Anti-Tank Brigade, 15th Rifle Corps, 6th Army, and later of the 6th Cavalry Corps.

During this time, he took part in the defensive battles in Lutsk, Volodymyr-Volynskyi, Rovno, Torchyn, Novohrad-Volynskyi and Malyn.

Moskalenko participated in the Kiev Strategic Defensive Operation and fought in battles near Teterev, Pripyat, Dnieper and Desna.

During a month of continuous fighting, being in the direction of the main attack of the enemy Army Group South, the brigade destroyed more than 300 enemy tanks.

For military successes, courage and bravery, he was awarded the Order of Lenin on 23 July 1941.

In December 1941, he was appointed deputy commander of the 6th Army of the Southwestern Front and acting commander of the army.

The 6th Army under the command Moskalenko took part in the Barvenkovo-Lozovaya offensive and the liberation of the cities of Izium and Lozova.

On 12 February 1942, he was appointed as commander of the 6th Cavalry Corps and from March to July 1942, he served as commander of the 38th Army.

He was the commander of the newly reformed 38th Army from March to July 1942.

During the Battle of Stalingrad, he commanded the 1st Tank Army during which he participated in battles on the distant approaches to Stalingrad from July to August 1942.

In August 1942, he was appointed commander of the 1st Guards Army until October 1942.

At the very beginning of the defensive period of the Battle of Stalingrad, the 1st Tank Army attacked the enemy almost continuously for twelve days in a row and held back their advance.

According to Moskalenko, at Kalach-on-Don, his army stopped the advance of German General Friedrich Paulus's 6th Army to Stalingrad and almost won a month to organize defense in depth and pull up reserves.

During the Soviet-Finnish War, he was the commander of artillery for the 51st Rifle Division and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.