Butkov, Vasily Vasilievich

Vasily Butkov was born on January 11, 1901 ( December 29, 1900 ) in the village of Bolshaya Imennaya (now in the suburban area of ​​the city of Nizhnyaya Tura , Sverdlovsk Region ) in a working class family.

In 1915, after the death of his father, he went to work at the Verkhneturinsky plant .

Civil War

June 15, 1918 Butkov joined the Red Guard , then was part of the Red Guard and partisan detachments of Zhebenev. He took part in the battles with the White Guard troops and white-shells in the Urals . In July 1918, he was wounded in battle and was treated in Kostroma .

Since October 1918 he served as a Red Army soldier, squad leader and assistant platoon commander of the 266th Infantry Regiment. He participated in battles on the Eastern and Southern fronts against the troops of Kolchak and P.N. Wrangel . In November 1920, Butkov was wounded in the head and spent a month in the hospital. From January to May 1921, he participated in battles as part of the 266th Infantry Regiment with Makhno armed groups. Since May 1921 he was treated in a hospital in Kharkov , after recovering in July, Butkov was sent to the Kazan reserve regiment. Member of the CPSU .

The interwar period

From 1921 to 1922, Vasily Butkov studied at 16 Nizhny Novgorod command artillery courses, in 1923 he was transferred to the Kremlin United Military School named after The All-Russian Central Executive Committee , after which since 1926 he worked in various positions in the Volga and Belorussian military districts . In 1928 he graduated from the Military-Political Courses (Leningrad). He served as battery political instructor, assistant commander of the training division. In 1937, Vasily Butkov graduated from the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze and was appointed chief of staff of the mechanized brigade, in June 1940 - to the post of chief of staff of the mechanized division, and then the mechanized corps.

World War II

At the beginning of World War II he served as chief of staff of the 5th Mechanized Corps on the Western Front . From August 1941 to April 1942 he worked as deputy chief, then chief of staff of the main armored directorate of the Red Army .

In April 1942 he was appointed chief of staff of the 8th Panzer Corps , which took part in the battles near Rzhev , and from September 1942 to June 1945 he commanded the 1st Panzer Corps , which took part in the Battle of Stalingrad , the Middle Don and Rzhevsko -Vyazemsky , Chernihiv-Pripyat , Baltic , and Bryansk operations , operation "Bagration" battles on the Kursk Bulge . During the Insterburg-Königsberg operation, the corps raided the enemy’s rear, during which they cut a number of important communications, seized several bridges, destroyed 79 tanks and assault guns, more than 500 vehicles, captured about 1,500 Nazis, and by January 27, 1945 went to the northern outskirts of Konigsberg .

By decree No. 7190 of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of April 19, 1945, for the skillful leadership of the formations and the personal courage and heroism shown during this, tank lieutenant general Vasily Vasilievich Butkov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Golden Star medal .

Post-war life

Since July 1945, Butkov commanded the armored and mechanized forces of the Special Military District ( Königsberg ), and in March 1946 , in connection with the abolition of the district, Vasily Butkov was appointed commander of the armored and mechanized forces of the 11th Guards Army . Then he commanded the armored and mechanized troops of the North Caucasus (from June to September 1946) and the Moscow military districts (from 1946 to 1950 ). From 1950 to 1953 he commanded the 3rd Guards Mechanized Army.

In 1954 he graduated from the Higher Academic Courses at the Military Academy of the General Staff , then from 1954 to 1955 he worked as inspector general of the Inspection of Tank Forces of the Main Inspectorate of the Ministry of Defense , and from 1955 to 1958 he was 1st Deputy Commander of the Troops of the Moscow Military District.

In 1958, Vasily Butkov was awarded the title "Colonel General of the Tank Forces." From 1958 to 1961 he served as chief military adviser in Czechoslovakia .

In May 1961, resigned. He lived in Moscow , where he died on June 24, 1981 . He was buried at Kuntsevsky cemetery .

In Kaliningrad in honor of Vasily Butkov named street and MAOU Lyceum 35 named. Butkova V.V., a bust of Butkov is installed on the territory of the lyceum.

The name of Butkov is immortalized at the memorial in the city of Nizhnyaya Tura ( Sverdlovsk region ).

• Hero of the Soviet Union (04/19/1945)
• Three Orders of Lenin
• Four Orders of the Red Banner
• Two orders of Suvorov II degree
• Two Orders of the Red Star
• Medal "In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin"
• Medal "For the Defense of Moscow"
• Medal "For the Defense of Stalingrad"
• Medal "For the capture of Koenigsberg"
• Medal "For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945."
• Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945."
• Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945."
• Medal "Veteran of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
• Medal "XX years of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army"
• Medal "30 years of the Soviet Army and Navy"
• Medal "40 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
• Medal "50 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
• Medal "60 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
• Medal “In memory of the 800th anniversary of Moscow”

• Butkov, Vasily Vasilievich (Russian) . Site " Heroes of the country ".

• Battle of Stalingrad. July 1942 - February 1943: Encyclopedia / Ed. M.M. Zagorulko . - 5th ed., Rev. and add. - Volgograd: Publisher, 2012. - S. 89–90. - 800 p.