Leonid Grigorevich Petrovskii

Born May 30 (June 12), 1902, in Shcherbinovka, now under the jurisdiction of the Dzerzhinsk city soviet, Donetsk Oblast; died Aug. 17, 1941, near the village of Skepnia, Zhlobin Raion, Gomel’ Oblast. Soviet military commander, lieutenant general (1941). Member of the Communist Party from 1916. Son of G. I. Petrovskii.

Petrovskii participated in the storming of the Winter Palace in 1917 as a Red Guard. He fought in the Civil War of 1918-20 and held command positions in the Red Army from 1918. After graduating from the Military Academy of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army in 1922, he commanded a regiment, a brigade, a division, and a corps. In 1937-38, Petrovskii was commander of the troops of the Middle Asian Military District and deputy commander of the troops of the Moscow Military District.

In late 1940, Petrovskii was appointed commander of the 63rd Rifle Corps, with whom he participated in combat from June 1941. He led the corps in a successful counteroffensive on the Bobruisk axis in July 1941. He was fatally wounded in August during a breakthrough from encirclement. He was buried in the village of Staraia Rudnia, Zhlobin Raion. Petrovskii was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, the Order of the Red Star, various medals, and the Order of the Patriotic War First Class (posthumously).