Kornei Andrusenko
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Kornei Andrusenko | |
|---|---|
 Andrusenko, c. 1945 | |
| Native name | Корней Михайлович Андрусенко |
| Born | 27 September 1899 |
| Died | 8 October 1976 (aged 77) |
| Allegiance | Soviet Union |
| Branch | |
| Service years | 1918–1946 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Commands | |
| Conflicts | Russian Civil War World War II |
| Awards | |
Kornei Mikhailovich Andrusenko (Russian: Корней Михайлович Андрусенко; 27 September 1899 – 8 October 1976) was a Ukrainian Red Army colonel and a Hero of the Soviet Union.
Andrusenko joined the Red Army in 1918, fighting in the Russian Civil War in Ukraine and the Polish–Soviet War. During the interwar period, he became an infantry officer and studied at the Frunze Military Academy just before the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. Andrusenko commanded two different rifle regiments in the Battle of Moscow before taking command of the 329th Rifle Division in December. In March 1942, his division was encircled and destroyed. Andrusenko escaped and was sentenced to death for "inaction", but the sentenced was changed to ten years and delayed until the end of the war. He was demoted to command a cadet rifle brigade, which he led during the Battle of Stalingrad. For an unauthorized retreat, he was again demoted to command of a regiment. For his subsequent leadership of the regiment, Andrusenko was restored in rank and for his actions in the Battle of the Dnieper was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. In January 1944, he was given command of the 55th Rifle Division, leading it in Operation Bagration and the Baltic Offensive. In the spring of 1945 Andrusenko took command of the 184th Rifle Division in the Soviet Far East and led it in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August of that year. He retired from the army after the end of the war.
Andrusenko was born on 27 September 1899 to a peasant family with seven children in Parafiyevka, Chernigov Governorate (now in Pryluky Raion). From the age of eight he worked as a farmhand for his landlord. Andrusenko graduated from the local three-grade rural school. From 1909, he worked as a laborer at the Parafiyevka sugar factory. Andrusenko worked as a fitter and turner at the Linovizky sugar beet factory and the Slavyansk soda plant between 1913 and 1916. From 1916, he worked at the Sumy Machine Building Factory.[1] In the summer of 1917, Andrusenko was fired from his job for distributing Bolshevik pamphlets.[2]
From June 1918, Andrusenko fought with the 1st Soviet Partisan Group in the Russian Civil War. In August, he volunteered for the Red Army, serving as a soldier in the 4th Nizhyn Regiment. He transferred to the 1st Kiev Communist Regiment in March 1919. From the beginning of 1920 Andrusenko served with the guard battalion at the Borzensky Uyezd Recruiting Office. During the Civil War, Andrusenko was involved in fighting against German and Austrian troops, the Ukrainian People's Army, the White Army, and the Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army, among others. From August, he served with the 73rd and then 6th Rifle Regiments of the Southwestern Front, fighting in the Polish–Soviet War.[1]
Interwar Period
From June 1921, Andrusenko studied at the Chernigov Infantry Courses. During his time at the courses, he was involved, along with other students, in the suppression of partisan activity. In 1922, the courses were reorganized and Andrusenko continued his studies at the Kiev Military Infantry School, from which he graduated in 1924. Around this time, he married Vera Ignatyevna. In September he became a platoon commander in the regimental school of the 45th Rifle Division's 134th Rifle Regiment and simultaneously a platoon commander in the regiment itself. In January 1925, Andrusenko transferred to command a platoon in the 6th Communications Regiment. He became a rifle platoon commander of the 137th Rifle Regiment in November, while doubling as a regimental school platoon commander. In 1925, he joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Andrusenko's son Volodya was born in 1926.[2] In October 1929, Andrusenko became an instructor of the Training Corps of the Territorial Administration of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. He transferred to instructor duties at the Simferopol Raion Military commissariat in January 1931. In November of the same year, Andrusenko became military commissar of Borodianka Raion. From December 1932, he served as chief of the military office of the Odessa Red Army House. Andrusenko became assistant chief of staff of the 134th Rifle Regiment in April 1937. In September 1938, he became assistant chief of the 5th Department of the staff of the Central Asian Military District. Andrusenko became commander of the 8th Separate Battalion of Local Troops in April 1940. In April 1941, he became deputy commander of the 837th Rifle Regiment. In the same year, he graduated from the Frunze Military Academy in absentia.[1]
