Varennikov, Ivan Semenovich

Pre-war period

Born on September 28 ( October 11 ), 1901 in the village of Katenino, Orenburg Province ^{[1] [2]} .

In 1918 he graduated from the 3rd grade of the Higher Primary School.

In 1919 he graduated from the 4th grade at the school of the Elizavetopol village.

From November 1919 to June 1920 he worked as chairman of the Council in the village of Katenino.

June 15, 1920 was drafted into the Red Army .

Member of the CPSU (b) since 1921. Party ticket No. 0268519, issued by the political department of the 6th Cavalry Division .

From June 1921 to November 1923 he studied at 25 Trinity, 2 Ufa, 20 Yekaterinburg, 3 Omsk military commander courses.

From November 1923 to October 1924 he underwent an internship, and then served as assistant platoon commander.

From August 1925 to September 1927 - student of the Kiev United School of Commanders. After leaving school he served as assistant chief of staff, chief of the 2nd division of the 12th cavalry division of the city of Krasnodar.

From May 1931 to May 1934 he attended the Frunze Military Academy .

From May 1934 to June 1938 he was the chief of the operational department of the headquarters of the 4th Don Cossack Order of Lenin, the Red Banner Order of the Red Star of the division named after Comrade Voroshilov , with the rank of major . From June 1938 to January 1940, the chief of staff of the division, with the rank of colonel . The brigade commander from March 26, 1933 to July 1937 was Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov .

From January to November 1940, the chief of staff of the 6th Cossack Cavalry Corps named after I.V. Stalin.

In the years 1940-1941. student of the Academy of the General Staff

World War II

Chief of Staff of the 26th Army

From November 1940 to September 1941, the chief of staff of the 26th Army , formed in July 1940 in the Kiev Special Military District.

Since the beginning of World War II, having in its composition the 8th infantry and 8th mechanized corps, the 8th fortified area, as well as artillery, engineering and other units, was included in the South-Western Front of the 1st formation, participated in cross-border battle, waged heavy defensive battles in the Vinnitsa direction, east of Proskurov. During the Kiev strategic defensive operation (July 7 - September 26, 1941), army forces launched several counterattacks on the German 1st tank group and delayed its advance south of Kiev. At the end of August 1941, the army was withdrawn to the left bank of the Dnieper, where they fought defensive battles in the area south of Kiev - Zolotonosha. Since mid-September, as part of the Kiev group of front forces, it has been conducting military operations in the encirclement. Eleven days of fighting went on, the army broke through the encirclement and went to the front line.

On September 25, 1941, the field control of the army was disbanded, and its troops which had left the encirclement were transferred to staff the formations and units of the Southwestern Front. For the successful operation, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner on November 5, 1941.

Chief of Staff of the 37th Army

From October 1941 to September 1942, the chief of staff of the 37th Army of the 2nd formation, formed on November 15, 1941 as part of the Southern Front of the 1st formation, on the basis of the order of the Commander of the Southern Front on November 5, 1941 to cover Rostov direction. It included 51, 96, 99, 216, 253rd and 295th rifle divisions, tank, artillery and other units.

During the Rostov strategic operation (November 17 - December 2), army troops defeated part of its forces on the flank of the German 1st Tank Army and assisted the 9th and 56th armies in the liberation of Rostov-on-Don (November 29) . Towards the end of the operation, army formations reached the Mius River in the Kuybyshevo, Berestov section.

In January 1942, the army participated in the Barvenkovo-Lozovo offensive operation (January 18-31), in February - early March, it conducted offensive battles in the Kramatorsky direction.

In the summer and autumn of 1942, the army was consistently part of the Southern Front, the Don Group of the North Caucasus Front (from July 29), the Northern Group of the Transcaucasian Front of the 2nd formation (from August 11). Her troops fought hard during the Donbass, Mozdok-Malgobek (September 1-28) defensive operations.

Since January 1942, Major General .

During the military operations of the army I.V. Varennikov was wounded ^[3] .

From the award sheet:

Major General VARENNIKOV has been working as the Chief of Staff of the 37th Army since its inception - since November 1941. During the formation of the Army Directorate, he put a lot of effort and energy into training and building up the Army Headquarters as a command and control body, for a limited time, during the Rostov operation. During the preparation and conduct of the Rostov operation to defeat the Kleist group in November 1941, when the Army Headquarters were not staffed with the main operational personnel, and despite the insufficient number of communications equipment, comrade VARENNIKOV with his tireless work, energy and assertiveness managed to ensure clear and uninterrupted command and control of the army and ensure the success of the offensive operation of the 37th Army to free Rostov. In subsequent offensive operations of the army from January - March 1942 in the Yama-Kirovo region of the Stalin Region, Major General VARENNIKOV also ensured uninterrupted command and control of troops with his tireless work, which contributed to the successful conduct of offensive battles of army units.

In the period from April to June 1942, Major General VARENNIKOV worked very hard to raise the combat training of the troops and strengthen the defensive lines of the Army, on which in the first days of the offensive - July 8, 1942, Nazi troops lost more than 200 tanks and 10,000 men manpower, failing to break the defense of the Army. Throughout the entire period of fierce battles, in July-August, in 1942, when Army units retreated to new frontiers by order of the Military Council of the Front, thanks to the tireless work and exceptional energy shown by Comrade VARENNIKOV, the control of the battle of the Army units was not lost anywhere, which made it possible not only to systematically withdraw the manpower and equipment of the army units, but also to deliver strikes and destroy the manpower and equipment of the advancing enemy. Due to the withdrawal of the neighboring units and the opening of the flanks, the army units were surrounded 4 times and only due to maintaining the control of the units and the clarity of the work of the main divisions of the Headquarters under the leadership of Comrade. VARENNIKOVA, - the army everywhere went out of the encirclement, inflicting significant defeats on the enemy.

In the process of leaving the army from battle and the surroundings of Comrade VARENNIKOV, the Military Council of the Army was entrusted with a number of combat missions in the most critical sectors, and he, not sparing his life, carried out them with honor. Thanks to an understanding of modern combat and Bolshevik responsibility, Comrade personally VARENNIKOV, with the headquarters operational group, was always in the most critical sectors, managing the battle of the army units. Major General VARENNIKOV, skillfully managing the Headquarters, by the end of the retreat managed to keep the Army Headquarters fully, both the collective and the materiel and communications equipment.

Despite the long route traveled with stubborn battles, thanks to good management by Comrade VARENNIKOVA, all the main parts of the army survived and left the battle, and from August 13, 1942, in accordance with the order of the Commander of the Northern Group, they occupied the line of defense and are holding it tight to the present.

For the skillful leadership of the headquarters and the provision of command and control of the units, for the personal courage and courage shown on the battlefield, Major General VARENNIKOV WAS AWARDED WITH THE RED BANNER ORDER.

Major General Kozlov P. M., Commander of the 37th Army

Member of the military council regimental commissar Naydenov

Chief of Staff of the Stalingrad Front

By the Decision of the Supreme Command Headquarters on September 28, 1942 he was appointed chief of staff of the Stalingrad Front , created on July 12, 1942 on the basis of the directive of the Supreme Command of the Supreme High Command of July 12, 1942. Again the Stalingrad Front was created on September 30, 1942 on the basis of the directive of the Supreme Command of the Supreme High Command of September 28, 1942 by renaming the Southeast Front. It included the 28th, 51st, 57th, 62nd, 64th combined arms armies, and the 8th air army. Subsequently, it included the 2nd Guards Army, the 5th Shock Army. The main burden of the fighting in Stalingrad fell on the troops of the front. In collaboration with the Don and South-Western fronts, they managed to deplete the enemy's offensive capabilities. During the counterattack near Stalingrad, the front forces made a breakthrough south of the city and on November 23, 1942, together with the troops of the Southwestern Front, completed the encirclement of the enemy group near Stalingrad, formed an external encirclement ring, and in December 1942 they did not allow the encirclement to be released.

On January 1, 1943, according to the directive of the Supreme Command of the Supreme Command of December 30, 1942, the Stalingrad Front was renamed the Southern Front. It included the 2nd Guards, 5th Shock, 28th, 51st Combined Arms and 8th Air Army, and subsequently the 3rd Guards and 44th Armies. In the operational subordination of the front was the Azov military flotilla. In January - February 1943, front troops carried out the Rostov operation, as a result of which they advanced 300-500 km, liberated Rostov and reached the river. Mius.

I.S. Varennikov from January to April 1943 was the chief of staff of the Southern Front.

Colonel-General A.I. Eremenko was appointed commander of the front, N.S. Khrushchev was a member of the Military Council, and Major-General V.I. Chuikov was commander of the 62nd Army.

From the award sheet:

Comrade VARENNIKOV I.S. from October 14, −42, directly carried out the development of a breakthrough and encirclement of enemy units in the vicinity of the city of Stalingrad.

He developed and led the rout of the Kotelnikovskaya and Tormosinskaya enemy groups.

In addition to the daily operational work at the headquarters, he went to the troops to carry out these operations and specifically led the troops conducting the operation to develop it on the spot.

CONCLUSION: Comrade I. Varennikov deserves to be awarded the Government Prize with the Order of Kutuzov of the first degree .

Commander of the troops Colonel General A. I. Eremenko

Member of the Military Council N. S. Khrushchev

Adjutant General G.K. Zhukova

Since April 1943 he was transferred to the headquarters of G.K. Zhukov and was appointed adjutant general for particularly important operational matters with the assignment of the rank of lieutenant general.

Together with Zhukov, Lieutenant General I. Varennikov participated in the Oryol and Kursk battles, in the Kiev, Lvov, Warsaw, Poznan, and Berlin operations. Present at the signing of the surrender of Germany. He served as adjutant general of the Commander in Chief of the Soviet occupation forces in Germany G.K. Zhukov.

Having transferred the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet occupation forces in Germany to Sokolovsky, Marshal Zhukov and with him and I. S. Varennikov arrived in Moscow to serve in the General Staff of the Ground Forces.

After the war

After the war, he worked as deputy head of the main faculty for academic work at the Frunze Military Academy (May 1946 - December 1947).

In those years, “persecution” of G. K. Zhukov began. JV Stalin and Minister of Defense N. A. Bulganin accused him of separatism and Bonapartism.

In 1947, G.K. Zhukov was removed from the post of Commander in Chief of the Ground Forces and sent to command the Odessa Military District, and Varennikov with a group of generals and officers who had ever worked with Zhukov was arrested (March 12, 1948). All of them were physically forced to confess to preparing a “military conspiracy” organized by supposedly Marshal Zhukov against the Stalinist leadership. This case was led by Abakumov and Beria .

After rehabilitation (July 9, 1953) he worked in the central office of DOSAAF .

He served as the chief of staff of the Civil Defense of the USSR (1961-1971), under the leadership of his old friend on the Stalingrad Front and the Group of Forces in Germany, Marshal of the Soviet Union V.I. Chuikov (Chief of the USSR Civil Defense in 1961-1972).

He died on June 1, 1971. He was buried at the Vvedensky cemetery in Moscow.

Family

• Wife of Varennikov (Belova) Alexandra Sergeevna 1909-1990
• Daughter Varennikova Lidia Ivanovna 1930-1978, Zlobin since 1952
• Daughter Varennikova Maya Ivanovna born in 1933
• Daughter Varennikova Elena Ivanovna 1947-1984

Soviet awards (order book No. 137350)

• Two Orders of Lenin No. 33076 and No. 48997
• Two Orders of the Red Banner No. 21288 and No. 6900
• Order of Kutuzov I degree number 18 (02/08/1943)
• Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky I degree № 29
• Order of Suvorov II degree № 710
• Order of the Patriotic War I degree № 84076
• Medals, including:
  • Medal "For the Defense of Stalingrad" No. 12346
  • Medal "For the Defense of the Caucasus" No. 011884
  • Medal "For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945." No. 00001187
  • Medal "For the capture of Berlin" No. 289048
  • Medal "For the Liberation of Warsaw"

Foreign awards

• Order of the “Grunwald Cross” II class No. 87171
• Cross Virtuti Militari V class number 87172
• Medal "For Warsaw 1939-1945" No. 87173
• Medal “For Odra, Nissa, Baltic” No. 87174

• “THE GREAT VICTORY ON THE VOLGA” M., Military Publishing House, 1965, Editors of the Gnedovei, P. P., Vorobyov F.
• Stalingrad border. - M., Military Publishing House, 1979, Marshal of the Soviet Union N.I. Krylov, (Major General, Chief of Staff of the 62nd Army)
• “STALINGRAD, notes of the front commander” M., Military Publishing House, 1961, Marshal of the Soviet Union A. I. Eremenko (Colonel General, Commander of the Stalingrad and Southern Fronts)
• Materials of the Archive of the FSB of Russia

• Memoirs of the daughter, Varennikova Maya Ivanovna