Ivan Zatevakhin

Ivan Ivanovich Zatevakhin (Russian: Иван Иванович Затевахин; 17 July 1901 – 6 April 1957) was a Red Army Lieutenant general who commanded the Soviet Airborne Forces (VDV) from 1944 to 1946.[1][2]

Ivan Ivanovich Zatevakhin
Native name
Иван Иванович Затевахин
Born17 July 1901
Kobylinka village, Efremov County, Tula Governorate, Russian Empire
Died6 April 1957 (aged 55)
Moscow, Soviet Union
Buried
Novodevichy Cemetery
Allegiance Soviet Union
Service/branchRed Army
Years of service1919-1957
RankLieutenant general
Commands held212th Airborne Brigade

3rd Airborne Corps
Separate Airborne Army

Soviet airborne
Battles/warsWorld War II
AwardsTwo Order of Lenin
Signature

Early life

Ivan Zatevakhin was born on 17 July 1901 in Kobylinka village, Efremov County, Tula Governorate. His father was a blacksmith.[3] On 6 November 1919, he joined the Red Army.[4][5] Zatevakhin fought in the Russian Civil War, where he commanded a platoon, a company and a battalion.[1] Zatevakhin graduated from the 17th Tula Infantry Commanders school in 1922.[6] In October, he became a platoon commander in the 50th Rifle Regiment of the 17th Rifle Division. In 1924, he graduated from the Lenin Higher Military School in Leningrad. In 1933, Zatevakhin graduated from Frunze Military Academy.[1] In May, he became the chief of the operations staff for the 21st Rifle Division.[6]

In April 1936, Zatevakhin became head of operations staff of the 39th Rifle Corps. In June, he was promoted to Major and commanded the 3rd Airborne Regiment in the Far East and also became the Chief of the Airborne Section of the Air Army.[7] In September, Zatevakhin became the commander of the 2nd Airborne Brigade. In October 1938, he became the commander of the 212th Airborne Brigade.[2] Zatevakhin led the brigade during the Battles of Khalkhin Gol in August 1939, where he was wounded.[6] For his actions during the Battle of Khalkin Gol, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.[4] In June 1941, five airborne corps were formed and the 212th Airborne Brigade was transferred to the Odessa Military District.[8]

World War II

After Operation Barbarossa, Zatevakhin led the 212th Airborne Brigade during the Battle of Kiev.[9] During the Battle of Kiev, troops of the brigade allegedly repelled German attempts to cross the Desna River. In September, the brigade defended the Konotop sector, where it was temporarily surrounded but broke out after 5 days. Zatevakhin was awarded a second Order of the Red Banner for his actions there.[4] He replaced Vasili Glazunov as the commander of the 3rd Airborne Corps from October to November. On 27 December 1941, he was promoted to Major general.[10] In January 1942, he became the deputy head of the Airborne Forces Formation and Staff Directorate. In May, he was appointed the deputy commander of the Soviet Airborne Forces. He commanded the airborne corps during the Dnieper Airborne Operation.[11][12] In August 1944, Zatevakhin became the commander of the Separate Airborne Army [13] and the commander of the Soviet airborne, replacing Alexander Kapitokhin. On 5 November, he was promoted to Lieutenant general.[10]

Postwar

In April 1946, Zatevakhin was replaced as the commander of the Soviet airborne for "poor organization during the transition to peace", which had allegedly led to the death of Colonel Amintayev during a training exercise.[4][6] Zatevakhin became the deputy commander of the 23rd Army in July. In February 1947, he became a senior instructor at the Military Academy of the General Staff. He died on 6 April 1957 in Moscow and is buried in Novodevichy Cemetery.[14]

References
  1. "Затевахин Иван Иванович : Министерство обороны Российской Федерации". structure.mil.ru. Retrieved 2015-10-14.
  2. Zaleski, Konstantin (2015-04-22). Великая Отечественная война. Большая биографическая энциклопедия [The Great Patriotic War Biographical Dictionary] (in Russian). Litres. ISBN 545727697X.
  3. "Один из создателей войск "дяди Васи"". zarya-efremov.ru. Retrieved 2015-10-19.
  4. "Третий командующий". www.litrossia.ru. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
  5. Великая Отечественная: командармы : военный биографический словарь [Great Patriotic War Army Commanders] (in Russian). Kuchkovo Field. 2005-01-01.
  6. "Затевахин Иван Иванович | Страницы российской истории". russian-dossier.ru. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
  7. "Биографические очерки || статья". www.tounb.ru. Retrieved 2015-10-14.
  8. "Иван Иванович Затевахин Тульские бренды". btula.ru. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
  9. "Все о ВДВ, клубы десантников, фильмы о ВДВ, десантура, воздушно-десантные войска". sdrvdv.ru. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
  10. "Biography of Lieutenant-General Ivan Ivanovich Zatevakhin - (Иван Иванович Затевахин) (1901 – 1957), Soviet Union". generals.dk. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
  11. Erickson, John (1999-01-01). Stalin's War with Germany: The road to Berlin. Yale University Press. ISBN 0300078137.
  12. Pobochny, Vladimir; Antonovna, Lyudmila (2015-08-15). Осень 1943 года [October 1943] (in Russian). Litres. ISBN 9785457843400.
  13. Glantz, David M. (1994-01-01). The History of Soviet Airborne Forces. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9780714641201.
  14. "Затевахин Иван Иванович". novodevichiynecropol.narod.ru. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
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