Iakov Fedorenko

Born Oct. 10 (22), 1896, in the sloboda (suburban industrial settlement) of Tsare-borisovo, now the village of Krasnyi Oskol, Izium, Kharkov Oblast; died Mar. 26, 1947, in Moscow. Soviet military figure. Marshal of armored troops (1944). Member of the CPSU from 1917.

The son of a worker, Fedorenko was himself a worker. In 1915 he was drafted into the Black Sea Fleet. While in Odessa, he took part in the October Revolution. He joined the Red Guard in November 1917 and the Red Army in 1918. During the Civil War of 1918–20, he served as commissar of army headquarters, as well as commander and commissar of an armored train. In 1924, Fedorenko graduated from the Advanced Artillery School of Command Personnel. In 1927 he completed advanced courses, and in 1934 he graduated from the M. V. Frunze Military Academy.

In 1937, Fedorenko was placed in charge of motorized and armored troops of the Kiev Military District. In June 1940 he was made head of the Directorate of Motorized and Armored Troops of the Red Army, which later became the Main Directorate. In December 1942 he assumed command of armored and mechanized troops and was appointed deputy people’s commissar of defense.

During the Great Patriotic War of 1941–45, Fedorenko was a representative of the General Headquarters of the Supreme Command at the battles of Moscow, Stalingrad, and Kursk and in many other large operations. From April 1946 to March 1947, he commanded the armored and mechanized troops of the ground forces.

Fedorenko was a deputy to the first and second convocations of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. He was awarded four Orders of Lenin, two Orders of the Red Banner, the orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov First Class, and various medals.