Ivan Fedyuninsky

Ivan Ivanovich Fedyuninsky (Russian: Ива́н Ива́нович Федю́нинский; July 30, 1900 – October 17, 1977) was a Soviet military leader and Hero of the Soviet Union (1939).

Ivan Ivanovich Fedyuninsky
Ivan Fedyuninsky, ca. 1939, when he held the rank of Lt. Colonel
Born	(1900-07-30)July 30, 1900 Tugulym, Tobolsk Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	October 17, 1977(1977-10-17) (aged 77) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Allegiance	Soviet Union
Service/branch	Soviet Army
Years of service	1919–1965
Rank	General of the Army
Commands held	82nd Rifle Division 15th Rifle Corps 32nd Army 42nd Army 5th Army Leningrad Front 54th Army 11th Army 2nd Shock Army 7th Guards Army
Battles/wars	Russian Civil War Sino-Soviet conflict (1929) Soviet-Japanese Border Wars (Battle of Khalkhin Gol) World War II
Awards	Hero of the Soviet Union

Biography

Fedyuninsky was born into a peasant family near Tugulym in the Urals. He finished the village school in 1913 and was apprenticed to a painter and decorator. He joined the Red Army in 1919. He fought on the Western Front in the Russian Civil war and was wounded twice. He studied at the Vladivostok Infantry School between 1923–24 and was appointed to an infantry regiment. He served in the Russian Far East between 1919 and 1940 fighting in the Sino-Soviet conflict (1929) and as the commander of the 24th Motorized Regiment in the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, where he won the Hero of the Soviet Union for his valour. He was promoted to divisional commander in 1940, taking over the 82nd Rifle Division, later motorised rifle division.

He was commanding the 15th Rifle Corps in the 5th Army on 22 June 1941. After several other army commands, including 54th[1] and 42nd Army in the Leningrad area,[2] he took over 2nd Shock Army just before the Battle of Narva (1944). He was promoted to lieutenant general on 11 July 1945.[3] From 1946 to 1951 he commanded 7th Guards Army.[4]

After the war Fedyuninsky was deputy commander of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (1951–54), commander the Transcaucasian (1954–57) and Turkestan (1957–65) Military Districts. He was promoted to the rank of General of the Army in 1955 and was an inspector and advisor to the Soviet Ministry of Defence from 1965 until his death. He was also a deputy in the Supreme Soviet.

Ivan Fedyuninsky was awarded four Orders of Lenin, five Orders of the Red Banner, two Orders of Suvorov (1st and 2nd Class), two Orders of Kutuzov, Order of the Red Star, Order for Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR (3rd Class), numerous medals, and a few foreign orders and medals.

Honours and awards

Soviet

	Hero of the Soviet Union
	Four Orders of Lenin
	Five Orders of the Red Banner
	Order of Suvorov 1st class, twice
	Order of Kutuzov 1st class, twice
	Order of the Red Star
	Order for Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR, 3rd class
	Medal "For the Defence of Leningrad"
	Medal "For Distinction in Guarding the State Border of the USSR"
	Medal "For the Defence of Kiev"
	Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
	Medal "For the Capture of Königsberg"
	Medal "For the Capture of Berlin"
	Medal "For Development of the Virgin Lands"
	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"
	Medal "Veteran of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
	Jubilee Medal "XX Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army"
	Jubilee Medal "30 Years of the Soviet Army and Navy"
	Jubilee Medal "40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
	Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
	Medal "In Commemoration of the 250th Anniversary of Leningrad"

Foreign

Mongolia

	Hero of the Mongolian People's Republic
	Order of Sukhbaatar, twice
	Order of the Red Banner
	Order "For Service in Battle"

Poland

	Order of Polonia Restituta
	Gold Cross of the Virtuti Militari
	Cross of Grunwald, 2nd class
?	Cross Olshansky Province

German Democratic Republic

	Hero of the GDR
	Patriotic Order of Merit in gold

Tuvan People's Republic

?	Order "Red Banner"

Czechoslovakia

	Medal "For the strengthening of friendship in Arms", 1st class

Other awards

He is an honorary citizen of the cities of: the Volkhov University, Kingisepp, Tallinn, Bryansk, Karachev, Gomel, Choibalsan (Mongolia), Flomberha (Poland).

Sources and references

• John Erickson (historian), The Road to Stalingrad (1975), & The Road to Berlin (1982).
• page in Russian from warheroes.ru

References

1. David M. Glantz, The Battle for Leningrad 1941 - 1944, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2002, p xvii
2. Zhukov, Georgy (1974). Marshal of Victory, Volume I. Pen and Sword Books Ltd. p. 415,422. ISBN 9781781592915.
3. "Постановление СНК СССР от 11.07.1945 N 1683" [Decree of the SNK SSSR of 11 July 1945 No. 1683] (in Russian). 11 July 1945. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
4. Holm, Michael. "7th Guards Combined Arms Army". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 2015-12-24.