Dudko, Stepan Ivanovich

Stepan Ivanovich Dudko was born on November 15, 1898 in the village of Girino, now in the Yampolsky District, Sumy Region.

Civil War

In November 1917, he volunteered to join the Red Guard detachment of the Krasnopolyvsky mine and then was sent to Kharkov as part of an emerging separate artillery battery, after which he took part in military operations against the German troops. In April 1918, in a battle near the village of Barvenkovo, he was shell-shocked and after recovering in May of that year, he was sent as a private to the Red Guard detachment No. 1 of Serbian volunteers ^[1] , stationed in Tambov . In June, the detachment was transformed into the 1st Order Cavalry Regiment as part of the 16th Infantry Division named after V.I. Kikvidze , after which Dudko took part in the hostilities on the Southern Front against the troops under the command of General P.N. Krasnov in the areas of Kamyshin , the villages of Yelan , Povorino , and then participated in the offensive to the south and the defeat of the White Cossacks in the Don ^[1] .

In March 1919, in the region of Tsimlyansk, Dudko was captured, but three days later he managed to escape. In August, during a cavalry attack, he was wounded and after recovery returned to the regiment, which was soon transformed into the 36th cavalry regiment as part of the 6th cavalry division ( 1st Cavalry Army ).

In the summer and autumn of 1920, the military commissar and squadron commander Stepan Ivanovich Dudko took part in hostilities on the Western Front during the Soviet-Polish war , and then on the Southern Front participated in battles against troops under the command of General P.N. Wrangel in the operation to liberate the Crimea , and from the end of the same year - in military operations against armed groups under the command of N. I. Makhno in the south of Ukraine ^[1] .

For military merits in the battles against the Wrangel troops, Dudko was awarded the Order of the Red Banner in 1920.

Interwar

In March 1921 he was sent to study at the 13th Chuguev cavalry courses, in June 1922 - at the 1st Crimean cavalry courses deployed in Simferopol , and in September 1923 - at the Tver cavalry school . After leaving school in June 1926, he was appointed to the post of squadron commander in the 45th cavalry regiment ( 11th cavalry division , Volga Military District ), stationed in Orsk . In October 1931 he was sent to study at the cavalry Improvement Courses for the command staff located in Novocherkassk , after which in May 1932 he returned to the 45th cavalry regiment, where he was appointed to the post of head of the regimental school, in March 1935 - to the post of head of the economic allowances of the 69th cavalry regiment ( 12th cavalry division ), and in September 1936 - to the post of assistant commander of the regiment.

In December 1937 he was again sent to study at the Novocherkassk Cavalry Improvement Courses for command personnel, after which in May 1938 he was appointed commander of the 88th Cavalry Regiment (12th Cavalry Division). In the same year, for his active participation in the civil war and to mark the 20th anniversary of the Red Army, Dudko was awarded the Order of Lenin ^[1] .

In March 1941, he was appointed commander of the 28th Motorcycle Regiment ( 26th Mechanized Corps , and since June - as part of the 19th Army of the North Caucasus Military District ) ^[1] .

World War II

With the outbreak of war he was in his former position. In early July 1941, the 26th Mechanized Corps was relocated to the Western Front , where it soon took part in hostilities during the Smolensk battle .

In August, Dudko was appointed commander of the 120th Cavalry Regiment ( Oryol Military District ), and in December - the commander of the 4th Cavalry Division ( 9th Cavalry Corps ), who soon took part in the fighting during the battle of Moscow ^[1] .

In March 1942, Colonel Dudko was appointed commander of the 17th Cavalry Division , which soon took part in the Demian offensive operation .

In September, he was appointed deputy commander of the 8th cavalry corps and from October 17 to 26 served as commander of the same corps, which, together with the 16th tank corps and the 340th rifle divisions, took part in defensive military operations west of Voronezh , and from November - in offensive military operations in the Donbass direction during the Battle of Stalingrad ^[1] .

Since February 6, 1943, the 8th Cavalry Corps participated in a deep raid on enemy rear in the direction of the village of Debaltseve , but as a result of the losses incurred in the raid and not taking Debaltseve, the corps entrenched in the Chernukhino area, where it expected when the 3rd Guards Army break through the enemy's defenses, but this did not happen and the body began to conduct combat operations in the direction of the line of the Southwestern front , during which on February 23, in the area north of the village Ivanovka ( Luhansk region ) in breaking the corps headquarters was cut off and destroyed n. Corps commander Major General M. D. Borisov was captured, and Major General S. I. Dudko and commander of the 112th Cavalry Division Major General M. M. Shaimuratov died on the battlefield ^[2] and was left on the field battlefield ^[1] .

After the war, he was buried in a mass grave in Central Square. Shaimuratova village Petrovskoye, Krasnolugansk City Council, Lugansk Region (now the city of Petrovskoye Ukraine) ^{[1] [3]} .

• Order of Lenin (1938);
• Order of the Red Banner (1920);
• Order of the Patriotic War of 1 degree;
• Medal "XX years of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army" (1938).

• Team of authors . World War II: Comcor. Military Biographical Dictionary / Edited by M. G. Vozhakin . - M .; Zhukovsky: Kuchkovo Field, 2006. - T. 2. - S. 57-58. - ISBN 5-901679-08-3 .

• Dudko Stepan Ivanovich (neopr.) . Website "Mechanized Corps of the Red Army". Date of treatment February 23, 2013. Archived March 22, 2013.