⭐️ #OTD in 1895, outstanding Marshal, twice Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Vasilevsky was born. During the most difficult years of the Great Patriotic War, he headed the General Staff of the Red Army, formulating and coordinating the most important Soviet strategic operations.

A theological seminary graduate, Alexander Vasilevsky had dreamed of becoming an agronomist in his younger years, but World War I disrupted his plans.

The young officer deployed to the front where he quickly became a Staff Captain, a rank similar to Captain in the Soviet and Russian Armed Forces. Vasilevsky then realised that he would pursue a military career for the rest of his life.

Major General Vasilevsky was serving with the General Staff when the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 started. He came to head the General Staff some time later. As a member of the General Headquarters and its representative, he deployed to fronts where the challenges were greatest.

Vasilevsky’s military talents were manifested vividly during the Battle of Stalingrad (1942-1943). He co-authored the plan for a counteroffensive and directly supervised operations to repel a counterstrike by the Wehrmacht’s Hoth Army Group that tried to relieve the 6th German Army, commanded by Friedrich von Paulus, in and around Stalingrad.

Later, Vasilevsky coordinated operations of the Voronezh and Steppe fronts during the Battle of Kursk, planned and conducted operations to liberate Donbass, the Ukrainian west bank of the Dnieper River, and Crimea.

In February-April 1945, Vasilevsky commanded the 3rd Belarusian Front whose units stormed and seized Konigsberg. In June-August 1945, he commanded Soviet forces in the Far East and contributed to the defeat of Japan’s powerful Kwantung Army in just 24 days.

After the war, Vasilevsky headed the Ministry of the Soviet Armed Forces and actively promoted the national veterans’ movement. An urn with his ashes is currently interred in the necropolis that is part of the Kremlin Wall.

#FacesOfVictory