Kirill Meretskov

Kirill Meretskov
Meretskov in 1945
Born	7 June [O.S. 26 May] 1897 Nazaryevo, Ryazan Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	30 December 1968(1968-12-30) (aged 71) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Buried	Kremlin Wall Necropolis
Allegiance	Soviet Russia (1917–1922)  Soviet Union (1922–1964)
Years of service	1917–1964
Rank	Marshal of the Soviet Union (1944–1964)
Commands held	Volga Military District Leningrad Military District 7th Army Chief of the General Staff Volkhov Front Karelian Front Soviet Far East Front Moscow Military District
Battles/wars	Russian Civil War Spanish Civil War World War II Winter War Great Patriotic War Siege of Leningrad Svir–Petrozavodsk Offensive Petsamo–Kirkenes Offensive Soviet–Japanese War Harbin–Kirin Operation
Awards	Hero of the Soviet Union Order of Victory
Other work	Chief of the General Staff Deputy Commissar of Defense Assistant Minister of Defense Inspector-General of the Army

Kirill Afanasievich Meretskov (Russian: Кири́лл Афана́сьевич Мерецко́в; 7 June [O.S. 26 May] 1897 – 30 December 1968) was a Soviet military commander. Having joined the Communist Party in 1917, he served in the Red Army from 1920. During the Winter War of 1939–1940 against Finland, he had the task of penetrating the Mannerheim Line as commander of the 7th Army. He was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union shortly afterwards.

The NKVD arrested Meretskov at the start of invasion of the Soviet Union. Released two months later, he returned to command the 7th Army and later the Volkhov Front during the 1941–1944 siege of Leningrad. He commanded the Karelian Front from February 1944, notably the Petsamo–Kirkenes Offensive of October 1944. From April 1945 he was assigned to the Far East, where he commanded a front during the Soviet invasion of Japanese Manchuria. During the war he reached the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union.^[1]