Kuleshov, Pavel Nikolaevich (Marshal)

Born in the village of Kaylyk, the now defunct village, was located on the territory of the present Sukhonoy village council of the Uyar district of the Krasnoyarsk region of Russia , in a peasant family. He graduated from the railway school at the station Cranberry.

Start of military service

Since 1926 - in the Red Army . In 1929, P. N. Kuleshov graduated from the Tomsk Artillery School and was sent to serve in Nizhny Novgorod as commander of a firing platoon of a battery of the 50th rifle regiment. From 1930 he commanded a training platoon in a regimental school, was the chief of intelligence of a separate backup artillery battalion in Novosibirsk , and from November 1931 was the commander of a training battery of the Tomsk Artillery School.

In 1933 he was sent to study at the engineering and command department of the F. Dzerzhinsky Military Academy . After graduating from the Academy, he served in the Main Artillery Directorate of the USSR People's Commissariat of Defense as an inspector for military schools. In 1939 he entered the Military Academy of the General Staff , which he successfully graduated in September 1941.

Great Patriotic War

After graduating from the academy, P. N. Kuleshov spent one month as an assistant to the head of the department at the General Staff , where he was engaged in planning for the supply of the army with ammunition. In October 1941, P. N. Kuleshov received an order to urgently form the 3rd Guards Mortar Regiment - the Katyush regiment in the Alabino village of the Moscow Region . The 3rd regiment of the GMC (Guards mortar units) became the training base for the training of command personnel for the operational groups of the GMC on the fronts. In the same October, 1941, P. N. Kuleshov was appointed commander of the GMG operational group on the North-Western Front , and soon became the commander of the same group on the Volkhov front . This group, under his command, played a significant role in the successful outcome of the battles in the Tikhvin area, when Soviet troops stopped the enemy and did not allow him to reach Lake Ladoga in order to capture the only communication route between Bolshoy Zemlya and besieged Leningrad .

On the Volkhov front, P. N. Kuleshov was wounded in September 1942. After treatment in the front-line hospital, Pavel Nikolaevich continued to command the Volkhov operational group of the GMC and took an active part in breaking the blockade of Leningrad in January 1943 . In June 1943, he was recalled from the front and was appointed deputy commander of the guards mortar units of the Red Army . In this position he was often involved in the work of the operational groups of representatives of the Supreme Command Headquarters . He traveled to the North Caucasus , Voronezh , the 4th Ukrainian and the 2nd Ukrainian fronts to organize the reinforcement of strike forces by the guards mortar units, the organization of the correct use of rocket artillery and their timely provision of ammunition.

At the end of 1943, posts of deputy commanders of front artillery for mortar guards were introduced at the fronts. Major General Kuleshov of artillery at the same time was appointed to this position on the 1st Baltic front . He participated in a number of offensive operations, especially successfully proved himself in the Belarusian strategic offensive operation in the summer of 1944 .

In August 1944, P.N. Kuleshov was recalled from the front for the second time and was promoted to the position of deputy chief of artillery headquarters of the Red Army, where he dealt with the formation of new units of rocket artillery for fronts, providing GMC with ammunition and equipment, planning artillery and HMCH combat operations the development of strategic operations in the General Staff, the control of the production of artillery equipment. Lieutenant General of Artillery (November 1944).

Post-war time

After the war, in December 1945, P. N. Kuleshov was appointed head of the new engineering and missile department, which became the basis of the F. Dzerzhinsky Academy, then became deputy head of the Academy for research and training.

In 1952, P. N. Kuleshov was involved in the development of new missile and artillery weapons, worked at the test site in the Astrakhan region , at the end of the year he was appointed head of the test site. Practically, he carried out the secret mission of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the command — he created a new testing ground in the south of the country to test anti-aircraft missile systems and practical training of new air defense regiments equipped with the latest anti-aircraft missiles. The testing ground under the leadership of General Kuleshov allowed the creation of a reliable air defense of the country. Since 1953 - Head of the 4th Main Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR , where he continued to engage in the development and field testing of new weapons. From April 1957, P. N. Kuleshov was the Deputy Commander- in -Chief of the Air Defense Forces of the country for military science research, and later for armament. In these posts, he led the urgent work to create more powerful combat weapons and anti-aircraft missile systems.

In 1963 - 1965, Colonel General P. N. Kuleshov, in responsible work at the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces , was engaged in supplying rocket technology to the friendly countries of the Middle East and Cuba , and assisted them in mastering this combat technology. In a long trip to Vietnam participated in the creation of a unified air defense system of the country.

Since 1965, P. N. Kuleshov - Head of the Main Missile-Artillery Directorate of the USSR Ministry of Defense . For 18 years he headed this most important command, which was entrusted with many functions: the production of military equipment and ammunition, the provision of troops, the formation of weapons reserves, training, the creation of new types of missiles, artillery barrels, small arms and all kinds of ammunition. Under his leadership, on the instructions of the government, anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons were created for the Ground Forces. He is rightly recognized as an outstanding military leader and the largest specialist in the field of creating anti-aircraft missile systems and special ammunition. His military activities were strictly classified and no details were reported in the press about P. N. Kuleshov.

Since 1983, the Marshal of Artillery (rank awarded in 1967 ) P. N. Kuleshov was a member of the Inspectors General of the USSR Ministry of Defense . After its dissolution in 1992, he was dismissed. Until the last days of his life he worked as a specialist in the University .

For outstanding services to the Fatherland, Pavel Nikolaevich Kuleshov, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on February 21, 1978, was awarded the title Hero of Socialist Labor with the award of the Sickle and Hammer Gold Medal , he was also awarded five Orders of Lenin , four Orders of the Red Banner , and the Order of Suvorov II degree Order of Kutuzov of II degree , two orders of the Patriotic war I degree , Order of Red Star , the Order "For service to Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR» II and III degree, many medals of the USSR, with orders and medals inost OF DATA states. Winner of the Lenin Prize .

He lived in Moscow . Wife, Irina Efimovna, - teacher. Sons: Yuri Pavlovich - chief designer; Sergey Pavlovich - theoretical physicist, doctor of physical and mathematical sciences, professor.

The memoirs of military and civilians working together with Marshal Kuleshov, published today, are almost completely unanimous in appreciating his business and personal qualities. The basis of the success of his scientific, inventive, organizational activity and teamwork is in high education, serious engineering training, ability to creatively solve official tasks and intelligence. He knew how to appreciate talented and business subordinates, did not allow rudeness and fussiness in the team.

• Military Encyclopedic Dictionary of Strategic Missile Forces / Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation; Ch. Ed.: I. D. Sergeev , V.N. Yakovlev , N.E. Solovtsov . - M .: Great Russian Encyclopedia , 1999. - 632 p. - 8500 copies - ISBN 5-85270-315-X . . - S.262.
• Biryulin Roman. Pride of Krasnoyarsk. For 18 years, Marshal of Artillery Pavel Kuleshov was chief of the Main Rocket and Artillery Directorate. / "A red star". - 2018. - December 24th.

• Kuleshov, Pavel Nikolaevich (Marshal) (Rus.) . The site " Heroes of the country ."