A division commander caught between encirclement and higher command
After his supply routes were cut and permission to withdraw was denied, he led part of the division across frozen Lake Kiantajärvi.
Andrei Zelentsov was a professional officer who entered the Red Army after serving in the imperial army and passed through the Civil War and interwar military reorganization. In the Winter War he led the 163rd Rifle Division in capturing Suomussalmi, but the division became the first Soviet formation in the campaign to be encircled after its supply routes were cut. He requested permission to withdraw and was denied, then led part of the division across a frozen lake to the border. He later commanded the 88th Rifle Division and was killed on the Karelian front in 1941.
Career Timeline
- 1915–1917Imperial Russian infantry officer and aviation observer
- 1918–1921Joins the Red Army; commissar and rear-area commander during the Civil War
- 1921–1933Commands rifle regiments and serves in military education and staff posts
- 1936–1939Chief of staff of the 5th Independent Heavy Tank Brigade; armored-service chief of the 3rd Rifle Corps
- 1939–1940Commands the 163rd Rifle Division; directs encirclement and withdrawal at Suomussalmi
- 1940–1941Promoted major general; commands the 88th Rifle Division and temporarily leads the Arkhangelsk Military District
- 1941Killed while commanding the 88th Division on the Karelian front