Grigory Kireyev
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Lyudinovo, Zhizdrinsky Uyezd, Kaluga Governorate, Russian Empire
Kommunarka shooting ground, Moscow Oblast, Soviet Union
Soviet Union
Grigory Kireyev | |
|---|---|
| Native name | Григорий Петрович Киреев |
| Born | 2 February 1890 Lyudinovo, Zhizdrinsky Uyezd, Kaluga Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Died | 29 July 1938 (aged 48) Kommunarka shooting ground, Moscow Oblast, Soviet Union |
| Allegiance | Russian Empire Soviet Union |
| Service | Imperial Russian Navy Soviet Navy |
| Years of service | 1911–17 1918–38 |
| Rank | Fleet Flag Officer 1st rank |
| Commands | Caspian Flotilla Pacific Fleet |
| Battles / wars | World War I Russian Civil War |
| Awards | |
Grigory Petrovich Kireyev (Russian: Григо́рий Петро́вич Кире́ев; 2 February [O.S. 21 January] 1890 – 29 July 1938) was a high-ranking commander in the Soviet Navy. He rose to command the Soviet Pacific Fleet in 1937. Kireyev was executed in 1938 during the Great Purge.
Kireyev was drafted into the Imperial Russian Navy in 1911 and served in the Baltic Fleet during World War I as a ship's mechanic. He became a Bolshevik and after the February Revolution led a detachment that helped organize the Ice Cruise of the Baltic Fleet. After falling ill in 1918, Kireyev spent the Russian Civil War on land in various party roles and in the 1920s successively served on the revolutionary military councils of the Black Sea Fleet and the Baltic Fleet. After graduating from the Naval Academy of the Red Army he became commander of the Caspian Flotilla and then assistant Pacific Fleet commander. Kireyev moved up to command the fleet itself after the beginning of the Great Purge in July 1937. He was arrested in January 1938 and executed in late July. Kireyev was posthumously rehabilitated (acquitted) in 1956.
Kireyev was born on 2 February 1890 in Lyudinovo in the Zhizdrinsky Uyezd of Kaluga Governorate to a working-class family. After graduating from the Bezhitsa Vocational School, he worked at the Lyudinovo Locomotive Factory. In 1911, Kireyev was drafted into the Imperial Russian Navy. He was initially assigned to the 1st Baltic Naval Crew.[1][2]
World War I and Russian Civil War
During World War I he served as a ship's mechanic in the Baltic Fleet, becoming a non-commissioned officer. After the February Revolution Kireyev was elected chairman of the Helsingfors Sailors' Club and a member of the Helsingfors Soviet of Deputies, in which he led the Sailors' section. Simultaneously, Kireyev was commissar of a detachment of sailors guarding Baltic Fleet property in Finland.[1] From February to August, he led the Special Detachment of the Baltic Fleet Council of Commissars, among whose tasks was to organize the Ice Cruise of the Baltic Fleet, its evacuation from Helsingfors to Kronstadt ahead of German invasion forces.[2]
During the summer of 1918, Kireyev fell ill and returned to Lyudinovo. Upon his recovery, Kireyev was elected chairman of the Bryansk City Council. He subsequently edited the provincial newspaper and worked in party and government organizations. In Bryansk, he married Anna Ivanovna Ivanyuta. In January 1921, he was elected chairman of the Sevsky Uyezd Executive Committee. In August he became the second secretary of the Bryansk Governorate Party Committee.[1] As a member of Forces of Special Purpose (CHON), responsible for assisting the local Soviet government in maintaining Soviet power, Kireyev participated in the suppression of anti-Soviet uprisings in Bryansk, Sevsk, and Dmitrovsk Uyezds. At the end of 1921, Kireyev was transferred to Siberia to become a member of the Krasnoyarsk Governorate Party Committee.[2]