Photos WW2 Soviet Forces

[Иван Феоктистов]

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Servicemen of the 518th Rifle Regiment of the 129th Rifle Division swing in the arms of their comrades, congratulating them on the appropriation of the building of the Heroes of the Soviet Union. Left - the commander of a machine-gun platoon, Lieutenant Fyodor Tikhonovich Kravchenko (1910-1966), right - squad leader Sergeant Gataulla Salikhovich Salikhov (1924-2012). Both were awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of August 27, 1943.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Member of the Military Council of the Moscow Defense Zone Divisional Commissar Konstantin Fedorovich Telegin (1899-1981) congratulates the personnel of the 73rd separate armored train of the NKVD troops for the protection of railways with awards and medals.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

The commander of a tank platoon of the 63rd Guards Tank Brigade of the Guards Lieutenant Nikolai Nikolaevich Shilov (born in 1918) conducts orientation on the ground. Nikolai Nikolaevich Shilov - on the fronts of the Second World War since May 1942. He fought as part of a brigade on the Bryansk and 1st Ukrainian fronts. Awarded: Orders of the Patriotic War, 2nd degree, Red Banner, Alexander Nevsky and medals "For the capture of Berlin", "For the liberation of Prague", and "For victory over Germany."

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Soldiers of the 1262nd Rifle Regiment of the 380th Rifle Division are planting a red banner on the turret of building No. 11 on Stalin Street (now house No. 5 on Mira Square) in the liberated Oryol. On the left - a submachine gunner of a company of machine gunners, a Red Army soldier Vasily Ivanovich Obraztsov (born in 1913), on the right - a reconnaissance platoon intelligence officer, a Red Army soldier Ivan Dmitrievich Sanko (born in 1911).

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

A rally of soldiers of the 166th Infantry Division of the Western Front before the battle on the distant approaches to Moscow.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Монументально...
Прямо скульптурная композиция

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

The commander of the machine-gun crew of the 2nd machine-gun company of the 30th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 8th Guards Rifle Division of the Guards Petty Officer Ivan Dmitrievich Rasshchupkin (born 1913) conducts an introduction on the Maxim device with the soldiers of his machine-gun crew. Left - Kashat Muzhikov, right - Kirghiz Satar Omashev (born in 1922).

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Red Army soldiers examining trophies on the territory of the Artillery Museum in Leningrad. In the foreground is a French-made 105-mm cannon (Canon de 105 mle 1913; 10.5-cm K 331 (f)) and a 150-mm sFH 18 howitzer (15-cm sFH 18). In the background one can see French-made 220-mm mortars (22-cm Mrs 531 (f)) and on the right - the 88-mm PaK 43 anti-tank gun (8,8-cm PaK 43).

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

 

[SamWell]

 

[NebrHogger]

Excuse me, is this Mannlicher? Or what? I know almost nothing about foreign rifles

View attachment 305904

Yes. M.95 Steyr or Budapest.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Yes. M.95 Steyr or Budapest.

Yes, what kind of dinosaurs can be found in the photo. Because of the incompetent General Kirpichnikov, who threw a lot of equipment in the battle with the Finns at Porlampi, besieged Leningrad had to get old trophy rifles from warehouses. Soviet industry quickly established a large production of Mosin rifles, but in the fall and winter of 1941, the militia and auxiliary services were often armed with foreign rifles. Some are out of despair, others because of tasks. However, it never happened that soldiers were thrown into battle unarmed.

And the coward Kirpichnikov, who began to cooperate with the Finns and became a traitor, was shot after the war. Well, right

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Born in 1903. After graduating from school, from 1915 he worked in a printing house in Simbirsk, from May 1916 as an apprentice telegraph operator on the Moscow-Kazan railway. Since February 1917 - a seller in a cooperative in Simbirsk. From 1920 he studied at the workers' faculty, from September 1921 he worked at the Simbirsk cartridge plant. From September 1922 he served in the Red Army, enrolling in the Ulyanovsk Red Banner Infantry School, which he graduated in 1925. From 1925 he served in the 11th Infantry Division of the Leningrad Military District: commander of a rifle platoon, commander of a regimental school platoon, commander of a machine-gun company, commander of an air defense company, commander of the 2nd training company. From December 1931 he served in the 4th Turkestan Rifle Division of the Leningrad Military District (Kingisepp), where he commanded the rifle and training battalions of the 12th Turkestan Rifle Regiment. Since May 1937, he served as chief of staff of the regiment.

From June 1937 to June 1938 he was on a special mission in Spain, participated in the Spanish Civil War. Upon his return in July 1938, he was appointed assistant commander of the 36th Infantry Division. From August 23, 1939 - commander of the 43rd Infantry Division. In this position, Colonel V.V. Kirpichnikov participated in the Soviet-Finnish War as part of the 7th Army. At the final stage of the war, the division under the command of V.V. Kirpichnikov crossed the Vyborg Bay and captured the islands of Swanionsaari and Ravansaari. In May 1941 he graduated from the courses of the highest command personnel at the Frunze Military Academy.

During the Great Patriotic War, he continued to command the 43rd Infantry Division, which was part of the 23rd Army of the Northern Front (from August 23 - the Leningrad Front). The division took part in a defensive operation in Karelia (Vyborg-Keksholm front-line defensive operation). On August 23, the Finnish South-Eastern Army launched an offensive in the Vyborg direction, and on August 26, the 43rd Infantry Division and a number of other units were surrounded in a cauldron near Porlampi.

Having lost command of the troops, Kirpichnikov was wounded and when he tried to leave the encirclement with a small group of fighters in an unconscious state (as he claimed during interrogations after returning to the USSR), he was captured on September 1, 1941, near the village of Porlampi. The Finns diligently interrogated Kirpichnikov, established data on the concentration and transfer of the Red Army forces. Repeatedly attempts were made to persuade V.V. Kirpichnikov to cooperate and propagandize, under the influence of Finnish propaganda V. V. Kirpichnikov wrote several notes about the possibility of a coup d'etat in the Soviet Union, the popularity of the White movement among the population of the USSR, the war of the USSR with Germany and its allies, the work of the NKVD, family and everyday life in the Soviet Union and on a number of other topics.

Since V. Kirpichnikov turned out to be the only Soviet general captured by the Finns, the Finnish command most actively used this fact in propaganda. The fact of the capture of the Soviet general was widely covered in the press, dozens of his photographs were published in captivity, a special documentary was even prepared about the being in captivity of General Kirpichnikov, which was shown both in cinemas and to Soviet prisoners of war.

At the end of 1941, after Kirpichnikov's categorical refusal to lead the anti-Soviet movement in Finland, the Finns lost interest in him and sent him to a prisoner of war camp for officers, where he was kept in strict isolation. When an armistice was signed between Finland and the USSR in September 1944 (one of the conditions of which was the mutual return of prisoners of war of both armies), the Finns repeatedly suggested that Kirpichnikov refuse to return to the USSR and either stay in Finland or leave for Sweden or the United States. Kirpichnikov refused these proposals.

On September 20, 1944, he was transferred to the Soviet command. He was checked in the Podolsk inspection and filtration camp, where he was checked by officers of the 2nd department of the Main Directorate of Counterintelligence (GUKR) "Smersh". By mid-May 1945, the inspection of Kirpichnikov was completed. The investigation accused him of "giving the Finns information about the concentration of Red Army units in the Vyborg direction and other secret information about Soviet troops during interrogations", "provided the Finnish command with a report in which he described in detail the military actions of the 43rd rifle division, slandered the Soviet system and the organization of the Red Army and praised the Finnish army ”; At the same time, the USSR Ministry of State Security noted that "on the offer of the Finnish authorities to lead the anti-Soviet movement among the Red Army prisoners of war who are in Finnish captivity, Kirpichnikov allegedly refused, as a result of which the Finns were imprisoned in a camp where he was held until Finland left the war." As a result of the check, the head of the Smersh GUKR, V.S.Abakumov, approved on May 16, 1945, and the Deputy Chief Military Prosecutor of the Red Army authorized the arrest of V. Kirpichnikov on May 18, 1945. From the testing and filtration camp V.V. Kirpichnikov was taken to the Lefortovo prison, where he remained until 1948. On July 5, 1945, he was charged under Article 58-1 "b" of the RSFSR Criminal Code (treason committed by a serviceman). Contained in the Lefortovo prison, where he was until 1948, from where he was transferred to the Sukhanovskaya prison of the USSR Ministry of State Security.

The case on charges of crimes under Article 58-1 "b" of the RSFSR Criminal Code, the former commander of the 43rd Infantry Division, Major General V. V. Kirpichnikov, was considered on August 28, 1950 at a closed court session of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR. At this meeting, V.V. Kirpichnikov was found guilty, convicted on the charges brought by the investigation and sentenced to capital punishment - execution by firing squad with confiscation of property. By the verdict of the court, he was also deprived of state awards and military rank.

The general's widow tried to achieve his rehabilitation in 1963 by sending a corresponding statement to the Central Committee of the CPSU. The main military prosecutor's office reviewed the case of V.V. Kirpichnikov, during which it came to the conclusion that “the information he provided to the Finns in captivity about the actions of the 43rd Infantry Division in defense were far from fully communicated to the Finns, besides, retroactively and by the time of Kirpichnikov's interrogation they had lost their relevance and, consequently, their practical significance, ”and therefore could not be used in planning military operations against Soviet troops. That is, the fact of betrayal of the Motherland in the form of going over to the side of the enemy was absent in his actions. But an examination carried out by employees of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR confirmed that V.V. Kirpichnikov's written report to the Finnish command on September 3, 1941 contained information that constituted military and state secrets. On this basis, in January 1964, rehabilitation was denied, and the prosecution of General Kirpichnikov under Article 58-1 "b" of the RSFSR Criminal Code was recognized as justified.

On June 5, 1990, the criminal case against V.V. Kirpichnikov was re-examined by the Main Military Prosecutor's Office; no grounds for lodging a protest against the verdict of the Military Collegium of the USSR Supreme Court of August 28, 1950 were found. On April 26, 2002, the Chief Military Prosecutor's Office refused to rehabilitate General V.V. Kirpichnikov in an archival case, since his guilt in treason to the Motherland in the form of giving the enemy military secrets is established.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Couldn't a battle general take a wand or a pointer? Why is he squatting in front of the enemy !?

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

"Work" of General Kirpichnikov

Regimental artillery captured by the Finns. In the foreground is a 76 mm cannon mod. 1927, these were produced at the Kirov plant. Behind there are already representatives of the light divisional artillery regiment - the F-22 76 mm cannon.

Transport column

Again, a regimental cannon, and in the background howitzers from a divisional artillery regiment. The body of an artilleryman is right there. Howitzers are open, one may have been removed. It is not clear whether they were firing or the crew was trying to "remove the locks" in order to disable the guns.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

The prisoners, seized by grief in disorganized and demoralized columns, sleep right on the ground. A "paradise" of Finnish concentration camps awaits them - in 1941 and 1942, the death rate there significantly exceeded the Nazi camps.

The prisoners are being led to the rear. The second photo shows that the same column is different. In the photo, everything, as always, depends on the angle.

Strong look. He, unlike General Kirpichnikov, retained his own dignity in captivity.