Hero of Khalkhin Gol who commanded the army that broke the siege of Leningrad
Zhukov recalled: "When Stalin summoned me to the apparatus and asked whether I had a good army commander in mind for Leningrad, I named General Fedyuninsky without hesitation … He is undoubtedly a talented military leader, an excellent organiser, a master of troop leadership."
Born to a peasant family in the Urals, he volunteered for the Red Army in 1919 and fought in the Civil War. At Khalkhin Gol in 1939 he commanded the 24th Motorized Regiment, breaking through Japanese rear positions, an action that earned him the Hero of the Soviet Union and brought him to Zhukov's attention. As deputy commander of the Leningrad Front in the desperate autumn of 1941 and later commander of the 2nd Shock Army, he executed the deception operation from the Oranienbaum bridgehead that decisively broke the siege of Leningrad in January 1944. After the war he commanded the Transcaucasian and Turkestan Military Districts, was promoted to Army General in 1955, and served as an inspector-adviser to the Ministry of Defence until his death.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1919Volunteered for the Red Army; fought on the Western Front in the Civil War
- 1929Company commander, 36th Rifle Division; fought in the Sino-Soviet conflict on the CER
- 1939Commander, 24th Motorized Regiment, Battle of Khalkhin Gol → Hero of the Soviet Union
- 1941Commander, 15th Rifle Corps; Deputy Commander of the Leningrad Front & 42nd Army; Commander, 54th Army
- 1943–1944Commander, 2nd Shock Army; broke the Leningrad blockade from the Oranienbaum bridgehead
- 1946–1951Commander, 7th Guards Army
- 1954–1957Commander, Transcaucasian Military District
- 1957–1965Commander, Turkestan Military District; promoted Army General 1955
Related historical events
- 1918–1922The Civil War and Foreign InterventionCivil War participant
- 1938–1941The Soviet-Japanese Border Wars and the Neutrality PactRegimental commander at Khalkhin GolIn 1939 he commanded the 24th Motorized Regiment at Khalkhin Gol and broke through Japanese rear positions.
- 1941–1945The Great Patriotic Warcommander of the 15th Rifle Corps
- 1941–1944Siege of LeningradCommander in the blockade breakthroughAs commander of the 2nd Shock Army, he led the operation from the Oranienbaum bridgehead that helped break the blockade in January 1944.
Winter on the Volkhov Front: From the Tikhvin Counteroffensive to the Lyuban Failure, 1941–1942
The 54th Army was ordered to blunt the German thrust toward Tikhvin east of Leningrad and then pass to the counteroffensive. In the process Fedyuninsky asked for the 4th Army's Volkhov Operational Group to be assigned to him, which was approved on 12 November; while he redeployed his forces, a German thrust toward his rear on Lake Ladoga developed. A counterattack by the 285th Rifle Division and 122nd Tank Brigade stopped it, setting the stage for the 54th Army to join the general Soviet counteroffensive.
In the spring of 1942 the army was committed to the Lyuban offensive. Intended to break the blockade and take Novgorod, the Volkhov and Leningrad Fronts ran it from 7 January to 30 April 1942, but it fell short of its goals, and the 2nd Shock Army had to be extricated from encirclement. Having passed from the Tikhvin offensive into Lyuban without any regrouping, the 54th Army failed to encircle the enemy; the operation did not succeed and cost heavy losses. That record shows the later breakthroughs were never a foregone conclusion.
In April 1942 Fedyuninsky moved to command of the 5th Army on the Western Front, taking part in the fighting around Moscow. In October 1942 he became deputy commander of Meretskov's Volkhov Front, and the Supreme Command Headquarters made him personally responsible for breaking the blockade on the front's right wing. When Operation Iskra of 12–30 January 1943 pierced the Shlisselburg-Sinyavino salient, his troops contributed to that partial success in January, and he was awarded the Order of Kutuzov, 1st degree. He was seriously wounded during the operation.