Twice Hero of the Soviet Union who took Mount Sapun and stormed Königsberg
"The enemy is strong and cunning," Pyotr Koshevoy taught his men. "So you must be more cunning, smarter — find the weak spots and deliver unexpected, powerful blows."
A Soviet military commander born to a Ukrainian peasant family who volunteered for the Red Army at fifteen. During the Great Patriotic War he led forces at Tikhvin, Stalingrad, the Crimea, and East Prussia, earning the title Hero of the Soviet Union twice, for the recapture of Mount Sapun and the storming of Königsberg. After the war he commanded the Siberian and Kiev Military Districts before becoming commander-in-chief of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany in 1965, and was promoted to Marshal of the Soviet Union in 1968. His tenure included committing GSFG units to the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, and he worked to sharpen the Group's combat readiness until his dismissal in 1969. He served as a candidate member of the CPSU Central Committee from 1961 to 1971.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1920Volunteered for the Red Army, served in 8th Red Cossack Cavalry Division
- 1927Graduated Ukrainian Cavalry School, appointed platoon commander
- 1939Graduated Frunze Military Academy, chief of staff of 15th Cavalry Division
- 1940Commander of 65th Rifle Division (Transbaikal Military District)
- 1941–1942Led 65th Rifle Division in Tikhvin and Lyuban operations
- 1942–1943Commander of 24th Guards Rifle Division at Stalingrad and North Caucasus
- 1943–1944Commander of 63rd Rifle Corps — Donbass, Melitopol, Crimean offensives, took Mount Sapun
- 1944First Hero of the Soviet Union awarded (16 May)
- 1944–1945Commander of 71st Rifle Corps, then 36th Guards Rifle Corps — East Prussian Offensive, took Königsberg
- 1945Second Hero of the Soviet Union awarded (19 April), commanded 3rd Belorussian Front regiment at Victory Parade
- 1946–1948Commander of 6th Guards Army, then completed Voroshilov Higher Military Academy courses
- 1948–1954Commander of 5th Army (Far East)
- 1954–1955Commander of 11th Guards Army (Baltic Military District)
- 1955–1957First Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Group of Soviet Forces in Germany
- 1957–1960Commander of Siberian Military District
- 1960–1965Commander of Kiev Military District
- 1961–1971Candidate member, CPSU Central Committee
- 1965–1969Commander-in-Chief, Group of Soviet Forces in Germany
- 1968Promoted Marshal of the Soviet Union (15 April)
- 1969–1976Inspector General, Group of Inspectors General, Ministry of Defence
Related historical events
- 1918–1922The Civil War and Foreign InterventionCivil War participant
- 1941–1945The Great Patriotic War24th Guards Rifle Division Commander
- 1942–1943Battle of StalingradDivision commander at StalingradHe commanded the 24th Guards Rifle Division at Stalingrad in 1942–1943.
- 1968The Prague SpringCommander in the Czechoslovakia entry operationOn 20 August 1968, he helped organize the GSFG's entry into Czechoslovakia under Operation Danube.
The 1968 Invasion of Czechoslovakia and the GSFG
In 1968, while Koshevoy was commander-in-chief of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, the Warsaw Pact powers used force to end Czechoslovakia's reform movement, the Prague Spring. Russian-language sources record that on 20 August 1968 he took part in organizing the entry of the Group's 20th Guards Army into Czechoslovakia under Operation Danube and in securing control of key sites in Prague, and they list him among the commanders on the Pact side. The entry began on 21 August, occupied the whole of Czechoslovakia, and concluded with the Moscow Protocol. The Soviet leadership feared losing control of Czechoslovakia and a split in the socialist bloc, and the Pact side justified the action as an internationalist duty under the Warsaw Treaty; the West called this doctrine of limited sovereignty the Brezhnev Doctrine. The invasion met protest from part of the Czechoslovak population and resistance to Soviet equipment, and left casualties and refugees. Koshevoy had been promoted to Marshal of the Soviet Union on 15 April 1968, shortly before the invasion; in October 1969 he was relieved as commander-in-chief, replaced by V. G. Kulikov, and transferred to the Group of Inspectors General of the Ministry of Defence. He then lived in Moscow, where he died on 30 August 1976 and was buried in the Novodevichy Cemetery. The invasion was the gravest of the military decisions he was involved in: a counter-revolutionary intervention that crushed a progressive working-class reform by force, and responsibility for it is not lifted from the commander who led the operation.