Russian military official
Vasiliy Ivanovich Petrov
(
Russian
:
Васи?лий Ива?нович Петро?в
; 15 January [
O.S.
2 January] 1917 ? 1 February 2014) was a Soviet and Russian military official and
Marshal of the Soviet Union
. He served as Commander of the
Soviet Ground Forces
from 1980 to 1985.
Background
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Vasily Ivanovich Petrov was born on 15 January 1917 in the village of
Chernolesskoye
,
Stavropol Governorate
, the son of a white-collar employee. He graduated from secondary school in 1935 and studied for two years at the Ordzhonikidze Pedagogical Institute until 1937.
Petrov joined the
Red Army
in 1939 and completed the lieutenant's course in 1941.
During World War II, he fought in the
defence of Odessa
,
defence of Sevastopol
and the
Campaign in the Caucasus
. He later took part in the liberation of
Ukraine
(was part of the USSR) and the
invasion of Romania
, in addition to the
Budapest Offensive
in
Hungary
.
After the war, Petrov completed the Accelerated Course of the
Frunze Military Academy
in
Moscow
, and in 1948 graduated from the academy's Special Course.
He served in staff roles at the army level in the early postwar years. He served with the
39th Rifle Division
as a regimental commander from June 1953 and rose to division chief of staff in December 1955. Petrov was promoted to division commander in January 1957, continuing in command after the 39th was reorganized as the 129th Motor Rifle Division later that year.
[2]
[3]
He was promoted to army chief of staff in July 1961, army commander in June 1964, chief of staff of the
Far Eastern Military District
in January 1966, and district commander in April 1972.
He subsequently rose through the Soviet military ranks, being promoted to Colonel in 1952, Major General in 1961, Lieutenant General in 1965, Colonel General in 1970 and General in 1972. In 1983, Petrov was eventually appointed
Marshal of the Soviet Union
.
In the late 1970s, Petrov served as a military advisor to the
Ethiopian Army
. He was assigned to assist and rebuild the force during the
Ogaden War
.
[4]
[5]
In 1982, Petrov was awarded the
Hero of the Soviet Union
.
He commanded the
Far East Military District
in 1972?1976 and served as Commander-in-Chief of Ground Forces in 1980?1985. He then succeeded
Sergey Sokolov
as First Deputy Minister of Defence until his retirement in 1986 due to ill health.
[6]
From 1992, Petrov served as a military advisor to the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation.
Petrov died on 1 February 2014 at the age of 97,
[7]
and was laid to rest at the
Federal Military Memorial Cemetery
in
Moscow Oblast
.
Honours and awards
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- Soviet Union and Russia
- Hero of the Soviet Union
(16 February 1982)
- Order of Alexander Nevskiy
(3 May 2012)
[8]
- Four
Orders of Lenin
(December 1967, February 1978, 16 February 1982, January 1987)
- Order of the October Revolution
(February 1974)
- Order of the Red Banner
(October 1944)
- Order of the Patriotic War
, 1st class, twice (July 1944, April 1985), 2nd class (October 1943)
- Order of the Red Star
, twice (November 1942, October 1955)
- Order for Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR
, 3rd class (February 1976)
- Medal for Combat Service
- Medal "For Distinction in Guarding the State Border of the USSR"
- Medal "For the Defence of the Caucasus"
- Medal "For the Defence of Odessa"
- Medal "For the Defence of Sevastopol"
- Medal "For Strengthening Military Cooperation"
- Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941?1945"
- Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941?1945"
- Jubilee Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941?1945"
- Jubilee Medal "Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941?1945"
- Medal "For the Capture of Budapest"
- Jubilee Medal "50 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941?1945"
- Jubilee Medal "60 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941?1945"
- Jubilee Medal "65 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941?1945"
- Foreign awards
- Order "Ernesto Che Guevara", 1st class (Cuba, 1985)
- Order of the Red Banner (Czechoslovakia)
(1982)
- Order of Victorious February
(Czechoslovakia) (1985)
- Order of Sukhbaatar
(Mongolia, 1981)
- Order of the Red Banner (Mongolia, 1982)
- Order "For Military Merit" (Mongolia, 1971)
- Scharnhorst Order
(East Germany, 1983)
- Order of the Flag of the Hungarian People's Republic
with diamonds (Hungary, 1985)
- Order of Tudor Vladimirescu
, 1st class (Romania, 1974)
- Order "For Military Merit", 1st class (Romania, 1985)
- Order of the National Flag (Ethiopia, 1982)
- Order of National Flag of Korea
(North Korea, 1985)
- Order "The People's Republic of Bulgaria", 1st class (1985)
- Order "For military Valour", 1st class (1983)
- Faith-based
Notes
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References
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