Viktor Obukhov

Viktor Timofeyevich Obukhov
Obukhov in the early 1960s
Born	3 April [O.S. 22 March] 1898 Nikolskaya, Orenburgsky Uyezd, Orenburg Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	26 November 1975(1975-11-26) (aged 77) Moscow, Soviet Union
Buried	Novodevichy Cemetery
Allegiance	Russian SFSR Soviet Union
Service/branch	Red Army (1918–1946) Soviet Army (1946–1965)
Years of service	1918–1965
Rank	Colonel general
Commands held	26th Tank Division 3rd Guards Mechanized Corps (became 3rd Guards Mechanized Division) 4th Guards Tank Division (became 4th Guards Mechanized Army) 3rd Guards Mechanized Army (became 18th Guards Army)
Battles/wars	Russian Civil War Basmachi revolt Battle of Khalkin Gol World War II
Awards	Hero of the Soviet Union Order of Lenin (3) Order of the Red Banner (3) Order of Suvorov, 1st class Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class Order of the Red Star

Viktor Timofeyevich Obukhov (Russian: Виктор Тимофеевич Обухов; 3 April [O.S. 22 March] 1898 – 26 November 1975) was a Soviet Army colonel general and a Hero of the Soviet Union.

The son of an Orenburg Cossack, Obukhov fought on the Eastern Front of the Russian Civil War and commanded cavalry against the Basmachi Revolt until the late 1920s. He held staff positions during the late 1930s after a stint as an advisor in China and commanded a tank division in Belarus at the outbreak of Operation Barbarossa. His division suffered heavy losses, but Obukhov broke out of encirclement with the remnants and reached Soviet lines. He spent more than a year as a cavalry inspector and from May 1943 commanded the 3rd Guards Mechanized Corps, which he led for the rest of the war. Made a Hero of the Soviet Union for his leadership of the corps during Operation Bagration, Obukhov continued in command of the corps after the end of the war. Postwar, he held army command and ended his career as deputy chief of the Soviet tank troops, retiring in the mid-1960s.