Ivan Danilovich
Chernyakhovsky
1906-1945
Ivan Danilovich Chernyakhovsky was an Army General (26.06.1944), Soviet military Commander, twice Hero of the Soviet Union (17.10.1943, 29.07.1944). He was born on June 29, 1906 in the village of Oksanino, the Uman county (uyezd), the Kiev governorate, the Russian Empire in the family of a groom. In 1915-1919 he studied at railway school. After the death of his parents from typhus, he was forced to leave school. He was a railway worker. In 1922 he joined the Komsomol. In 1924 he was sent to the Kiev Artillery School. In 1928 he became a member of the VKP(b). After graduation, he served in an artillery regiment, commanded a platoon, a battery. In 1936 he graduated from the Military Academy of Mechanization and Motorization of the Red Army with honours and held the positions of chief of staff, commander of a tank battalion, regiment, division. He spoke French. During the Great Patriotic War, he commanded the 28th Tank Division (in December 1941, it was reorganized into the 241st Rifle Division) in defensive battles southwest of Siauliai, on the Western Dvina, near Soltsy and Novgorod. In the first months of the war, he was awarded the military rank of Colonel. In June – July 1942 he commanded the 18th Tank Corps on the Voronezh Front. From July 1942 to April 1944 he was the Commander of the 60th Army, which took part in the Voronezh-Kastornoe operation, in the Battle of Kursk, in the crossing of the Desna and Dnieper rivers, in the Kiev, Zhytomyr-Berdichev, Rovno-Lutsk, Proskurov-Chernovtsy operations. For the operation to liberate the city of Voronezh, he was presented to the Order of the Red Banner. At the same time, all the other commanders of the Voronezh Front were awarded the Orders of Kutuzov of the I degree. This is due to the fact that the Commander of the 2nd German army, General Hans von Salmut, managed to withdraw most of his units from the encirclement into which they fell in the area of Kastornoe. However, then it was Chernyakhovsky’s army that played a decisive role in the rapid liberation of Kursk, inflicting a deep flank strike unexpected for the enemy. By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated October 17, 1943, Lieutenant General Ivan Danilovich Chernyakhovsky was awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union for his high organizational skills during the crossing of the Dnieper and his personal heroism. He was the Commander of the Western Front (15.04.1944 – 24.04.1944). From April 1944, Chernyakhovsky commanded the troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front (24.04.1944 – 18.02.1945). He was the youngest in age (37 years) of all the commanders of the Soviet fronts. The front under his command successfully participated in the Belarusian, Vilnius, Kaunas, Memel, Gumbinnen-Goldap, East Prussian operations. The second Gold Star medal was awarded to Army General Ivan Danilovich Chernyakhovsky by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated July 29, 1944 for the successful actions of his troops during the liberation of Vitebsk, Minsk, Vilnius. He was killed on February 18, 1945 in a battle near the city of Alytus (Lithuania). He was buried in Vilnius.
Address: Moscow, Chernyakhovsky str., 4
