Malinovsky Rodion Yakovlevich - biography. Minister of Defense of the USSR Marshal of the Soviet Union

Malinovsky R.Ya. - Marshal of the Soviet Union

Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky (November 23, 1898, Odessa - March 31, 1967, Moscow) - Soviet military leader and statesman. Commander of the Great Patriotic War, Marshal of the Soviet Union (1944), from 1957 to 1967 - Minister of Defense of the USSR.

The Iasi-Chisinau operation and the liberation of Romania are associated with the name of Rodion Malinovsky. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, People's Hero of Yugoslavia.

Biography

Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky was born on November 23, 1898 in Odessa, a Ukrainian (some sources suggested that he belonged to the Karaites). Mother - Varvara Nikolaevna Malinovskaya, father unknown. He was raised by his mother. In 1911 he graduated from parochial school. Then, leaving the family, he worked for several years in agricultural work and in a haberdashery store in Odessa.

World War I and Civil War

In 1914, he persuaded soldiers going to the front of the First World War to take him on a military train, after which he was enlisted as a carrier of cartridges in the machine gun team of the 256th Elisavetgrad Infantry Regiment of the 64th Infantry Division. In September 1915, he was seriously wounded near Smorgon (two shrapnel hit the back, one in the leg) and received his first military award - the St. George Cross, 4th degree. In October 1915 - February 1916. was being treated in a hospital in Kazan. In 1916, as part of the Russian Expeditionary Force, he was sent to France, fought on the Western Front, on April 3, 1917, he was slightly wounded in the arm and received French awards - 2 military crosses. In September 1917, he took part in the uprising of Russian soldiers in the La Courtine camp, during which he was wounded. After treatment, he worked in quarries for 2 months (October-December 1917), and then signed a contract to serve in the Foreign Legion, where he fought until August 1919 as part of the 1st Moroccan Division.

Returning to Russia only in October 1919, Rodion Malinovsky was at first almost shot - the Red Army soldiers found books in French on him. He joined the Red Army and took part in the Civil War on the Eastern Front against the troops of Admiral Kolchak as part of the 27th Rifle Division. In 1920 he suffered from typhus.

Military career

After the Civil War, Malinovsky graduated from the junior command school, was appointed commander of a machine gun platoon, then head of a machine gun team, assistant commander and commander of a rifle battalion. After graduating from the M.V. Frunze Military Academy in 1930, Rodion Malinovsky became the chief of staff of a cavalry regiment, an officer of the headquarters of the North Caucasus and Belarusian military districts and the chief of staff of a cavalry corps.

In 1937-1938, Colonel Malinovsky was in Spain as a military adviser during the Spanish Civil War (pseudonym “General Malino”), where he was awarded two orders.

On July 15, 1938, he was awarded the military rank of brigade commander. Since 1939 - teacher at the Military Academy named after M. V. Frunze.

Since March 1941 - commander of the 48th Rifle Corps in the Odessa Military District.

The Great Patriotic War

He met the war as commander of the 48th Rifle Corps of the Odessa Military District, located in the Moldavian city of Balti. At the beginning of the war, despite the retreat, Rodion Malinovsky managed to preserve the main forces of his corps and showed good command skills.

From August 1941 he commanded the 6th Army, and in December 1941 he was appointed commander of the Southern Front.

In January 1942, the Southern and Southwestern Fronts pushed back the German front in the Kharkov area by 100 kilometers during the Barvenkovo-Lozovsky operation. However, in May 1942, in the same area, both of these fronts suffered a crushing defeat during the Kharkov operation. The enemy then pushed back troops under the command of Rodion Malinovsky from Kharkov to the Don, during which Soviet troops suffered heavy losses.

In July 1942, Malinovsky was removed from the post of front commander and demoted to the command of the 66th Army north of Stalingrad. Since October 1942 - Deputy Commander of the Voronezh Front. Since November 1942 - commander of the 2nd Guards Army. In this post, he again showed his best side: army troops were moving towards the Rostov direction, when the strike group of German General Manstein struck from the south in the direction of Stalingrad, with the task of breaking through the Soviet encirclement ring around the 6th Army of Friedrich Paulus. While Soviet General Alexander Vasilevsky was proving to I.V. Stalin the need to involve Malinovsky’s army in repelling the German attack, Malinovsky, on his own initiative, stopped the movement of the army and deployed it into battle formations. Malinovsky's proactive actions and the heroism of the personnel of the army he led played a big role in the victory in the Kotelnikovsky operation and, as a result, in the victory in the Battle of Stalingrad.

As a result, Stalin again returned Malinovsky to the post of commander of the Southern Front in February 1943. At this post he managed to liberate Rostov-on-Don. From March 1943, he commanded the troops of the Southwestern Front, which was renamed the 3rd Ukrainian Front from October 1943. At this post, independently and in cooperation with other fronts, from August 1943 to April 1944, he conducted the Donbass, Lower Dnieper, Zaporozhye, Nikopol-Krivoy Rog, Bereznegovato-Snigirevsk, and Odessa offensive operations. As a result, Donbass and all of Southern Ukraine were liberated. In April 1944, he had the opportunity to liberate his hometown of Odessa. Awarded the rank of Army General (April 28, 1943).

In May 1944, Malinovsky was transferred as commander to the 2nd Ukrainian Front, which, together with the 3rd Ukrainian Front (under the command of Fyodor Tolbukhin), continued the offensive in the southern direction, defeating the troops of the German Army Group "Southern Ukraine" during the Iasi-Kishinev strategic operations. After this, Romania left the alliance with Germany and declared war on the latter.

On September 10, 1944, at the suggestion of Semyon Timoshenko to Stalin, Malinovsky was awarded the military rank of “Marshal of the Soviet Union.” In October 1944, Malinovsky inflicted a second brutal defeat on the enemy in eastern Hungary during the Debrecen operation and reached the immediate approaches to Budapest. However, the extremely fierce battle for Budapest dragged on for almost five months. In its course, it was possible to first encircle and then destroy an almost 200,000-strong enemy group.

In the spring of 1945, in cooperation with the troops of Fyodor Tolbukhin, the front of Rodion Malinovsky successfully carried out the Vienna operation, essentially eliminating the German front in Austria and joining forces with the Allied forces. For the complete defeat of the enemy troops in this operation, Malinovsky was awarded the highest Soviet Order of Victory.

After finishing the Great Patriotic War in Austria and Czechoslovakia, Rodion Malinovsky was transferred to the Far East, where during the Soviet-Japanese War he took command of the Trans-Baikal Front; The front, completely unexpectedly for the Japanese command, broke through the Gobi Desert into the central part of Manchuria, completing the encirclement and complete defeat of the Japanese troops. Malinovsky was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for this operation.

Post-war period

USSR stamp 1973

After the war, Malinovsky continued to remain in the Far East for 11 years. Since September 1945, he commanded the troops of the Transbaikal-Amur Military District.

Since 1947, he was Commander-in-Chief of the Far East. Since 1953 - Commander of the Far Eastern Military District.

In March 1956, he became Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR Georgy Zhukov - Commander-in-Chief of the USSR Ground Forces. After Zhukov's scandalous resignation in October 1957, Malinovsky replaced him as Minister of Defense of the USSR, remaining in this position until his death. He made a great contribution to strengthening the combat power of the USSR and to the strategic rearmament of the army.

Rodion Malinovsky died on March 31, 1967 after a serious illness; after his death he was cremated, the ashes were placed in an urn in the Kremlin wall on Red Square in Moscow.

According to some sources, Marshal Malinovsky gave permission to General Issa Pliev to use troops to suppress the protests of the workers of Novocherkassk in 1962.

Political life

Rodion Malinovsky was a member of the CPSU (b) since 1926. Since 1952 - candidate member of the CPSU Central Committee, since 1956 - member of the CPSU Central Committee.

Permanent deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from 1946 until the end of his life.

Family

Malinovsky had four children, three sons (Robert, Eduard and German) and a daughter, Natalya Malinovskaya, a Spanish philologist and keeper of her father’s archive.

Interesting Facts

He was Minister of Defense longer than anyone else in the USSR and Russia after the war; became the second head of the Soviet military department (after Frunze) to die in this position. A bronze bust of the marshal was installed in Odessa (at the intersection of Preobrazhenskaya, Sofievskaya and Nekrasov Lane) and in Khabarovsk on the embankment of the Amur River.

Ranks

Awards

Awards of the Russian Empire

He received the St. George Cross, IV degree, No. 1273537 (September 1915) at the beginning of the First World War for courage shown in the battles near Suwalki (now the territory of Poland).

In September 1918, he took part in breaking through the fortifications of the Hindenburg Line. It was in these battles that Corporal Malinovsky distinguished himself, for which he received the French award - the Military Cross with a silver star. This is evidenced by the order of the head of the Moroccan division, General Dogan, dated September 15, 1918, No. 181, reproduced in French and Russian in the order for the Russian base in Laval No. 163, dated October 12, 1918. It said about Corporal Rodion Malinovsky, machine gunner of the 4th machine gun company of the 2nd regiment: “An excellent machine gunner. He especially distinguished himself during the attack on September 14, firing a machine gun at a group of enemy soldiers who offered stubborn resistance. Not paying attention to the danger of destructive enemy artillery fire.”* [source not specified 245 days] However, few people still know that for the same feat Rodion Malinovsky was awarded a general in the White Army. Infantry General D. G. Shcherbachev, appointed on June 16, 1919 by Admiral Kolchak as his military representative to the allied governments and the allied high command and received the right to reward Russian military personnel stationed outside Russia, ten days after his appointment convenes the St. George Duma “to consider feats of officers who fought in Russian units on the French front" and in order No. 7 of September 4, 1919, announces the awarding of 17 soldiers and officers of the Russian Legion with St. George's Awards "for the feats they performed on the French front." Seventh on the list is Corporal Rodion Malinovsky, awarded the St. George Cross, III degree. This is how this feat is described in the order of D. G. Shcherbachev: “In the battle on September 14, 1918, when breaking through the Hindenburg Line, by personal example of courage, commanding a platoon of machine guns, he carried people along with him, broke through between the enemy’s fortified nests , established himself there with machine guns, which contributed to the decisive success in capturing the heavily fortified trench of the 3rd line, the “Hindenburg Line”**. [source not specified 245 days] R. Ya. Malinovsky never found out about this award: at the moment After the order was issued, he had already fought, like many of his fellow soldiers in the Russian Legion, after returning to his homeland in the Far East as part of the Red Army.

USSR awards

5 Orders of Lenin (July 17, 1937, November 6, 1941, February 21, 1945, September 8, 1945, November 22, 1958)

Medal "For the Defense of Stalingrad"

Medal "For the Defense of the Caucasus"

Medal "For the Defense of Odessa"

Medal "For victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945"

Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"

Medal "For the Capture of Budapest"

Medal "For the Capture of Vienna"

Medal "For Victory over Japan"

Medal "XX Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army"

Medal "30 years of the Soviet Army and Navy"

Medal "40 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"

Foreign awards

Yugoslavia:

People's Hero of Yugoslavia (May 27, 1964) - for highly professional command of troops and heroism shown in the fight against a common enemy, for services in the development and strengthening of friendly relations between the armed forces of the USSR and the armed forces of the SFRY.

Order of the Partisan Star, 1st class (1956)

Mongolia:

Order of Sukhbaatar (1961)

Order of the Red Banner of Battle (1945)

Medal "25 years of the Mongolian People's Revolution" (1946)

Medal "For Victory over Japan" (1946)

Czechoslovakia:

Order of the White Lion, 1st class (1945)

Order of the White Lion "For Victory" 1st class (1945)

Czechoslovak War Cross 1939-1945 (1945)

Dukela Commemorative Medal (1959)

Medal "25 years of the Slovak National Uprising" (1965)

USA:

Order of the Legion of Honor, Commander-in-Chief degree (1946)

France:

Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor (1945)

Military Cross 1914-1918 (1916)

Military Cross 1939-1945 (1945)

Romania:

Order "Defense of the Motherland" 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree (all in 1950)

Medal "For Liberation from Fascism" (1950)

Hungary:

Order of the Hungarian Republic, 1st class (1947)

2 Orders of Merit for Hungary, 1st class (1950 and 1965)

Order of Hungarian Freedom (1946)

Indonesia:

Order of the Star of Indonesia, 2nd class (1963)

Order of the Star of Valor (1962)

Bulgaria:

Medal "20 years of the Bulgarian People's Army" (1964)

China:

Order of the Shining Banner, 1st class (China, 1946)

Medal "Sino-Soviet Friendship" (China, 1956)

Morocco:

Order of Military Merit 1st class (1965)

DPRK:

Order of the State Banner, 1st class (1948)

Medal "For the Liberation of Korea" (1946 [source not specified 657 days])

Medal "40 Years of the Liberation of Korea" (1985, posthumously)

GDR:

Medal "Brotherhood in Arms" 1st class (1966)

Mexico:

Independence Cross (1964)

Essays

“Soldiers of Russia” - M.: Voenizdat, 1969

“The angry whirlwinds of Spain.” [source not specified 245 days]

Memory

In memory of Marshal Malinovsky, streets in the following cities were named: Moscow (Marshal Malinovsky Street), Khabarovsk, Kiev, Odessa, Kharkov, Zaporozhye, Rostov-on-Don, Inkerman, Nikolaev, Dnepropetrovsk, Voronezh, Tambov, Tyumen, Omsk, Krasnoyarsk.

In Odessa, one of the city districts is also named in honor of the marshal.

In Odessa, at the beginning of Preobrazhenskaya Street, a bust was erected.

In 1967, by order of the USSR Minister of Defense, the name of Marshal Malinovsky was given to the Military Academy of Armored Forces in Moscow (in 1998 it became part of the Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation).

In Brno (Czech Republic) on the Malinovsky Square (Malinovského náměstí) his bust is installed.

In Moldova, in the Ryshkansky district, there is the village of Malinovskoye, in Soviet times this village was called Old Balan, in this village there is a museum during the Second World War from where Malinovsky commanded. [source not specified 245 days]

Interesting Facts

He was fond of playing chess, composed chess problems that were published in magazines, and participated in solver competitions.

There is a well-known anecdote about Malinovsky (possibly a true story): a certain colonel wrote to the Ministry of Defense a complaint that in winter colonels have the right to wear a hat, but in the summer uniform they are no different from other senior officers. The minister imposed an ironic resolution: Allow the petitioner to wear a hat in the summer.

He spoke French and Spanish.

Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky,outstanding commander,born in Odessa on November 23, 1898. The future Marshal and Minister of Defense of the Soviet Union had to face everyday hardships early on. His mother, Varvara Nikolaevna, in search of work, moved with her young son from Odessa to the village of Sutiski and got a job as a cook in the zemstvo hospital. Here the boy was sent to school. But it didn't take long to study. Need forced me to immediately after parochial school hire myself as a farm laborer for the landowner Yaroshinsky.

And then the First World War broke out. It was she who decided the fate of the young man. But he is not even sixteen. Then he secretly climbs into a military train car, goes to the front and seeks enlistment in the active army. There Malinovsky became a machine gunner in the Elizavetgrad regiment of the Sixty-fourth Division.

Having had his fill of front-line hardship, young Rodion masters the ABCs of war and matures like a soldier. He is brave, skillfully knows how to fire a machine gun, sees the battlefield well and does not get lost in critical moments.

For the battle at Kavalvari, Rodion Yakovlevich received his first military award - the St. George Cross, 4th degree - and was promoted to corporal.

In the battles near Smorgon, Rodion was seriously wounded in the back and leg. After treatment in Kazan, he returned to the regiment again, but now as a reserve.

In April 1916, the Second Special Infantry Regiment landed on French soil. The chief of the first machine gun of the first platoon of the fourth machine gun team is Rodion Malinovsky.

Far from their homeland, Russian soldiers learned about the February revolution. Unrest began in the regiments, and R. Ya. Malinovsky was elected chairman of the company committee.

In 1919, Russian soldiers were gathered in a camp near the town of Suzana. White agitators persuaded them to join Denikin's army. Rodion Malinovsky and most other soldiers flatly refused this offer. They demanded a speedy return to Russia. And so in August of the same year, a steamship with soldiers of the former expeditionary force set off from the port of Marseilles to Vladivostok, on which Rodion Malinovsky was returning to his homeland.

After long ordeals and wanderings, he reached the Irtysh and in the Omsk region he met with a reconnaissance patrol of the 240th Tver Regiment. The French military cross and a soldier's book in French almost cost him his life, since at first the Red Army soldiers mistook him for a white officer in disguise. The headquarters quickly sorted it out. A few days later he was enlisted in the regiment as a machine gun instructor. From then on, Rodion Yakovlevich forever linked his fate with the Red Army.

In 1923, Malinovsky became battalion commander. Three years later, fellow communists accept Rodion Yakovlevich into their ranks.

Rodion Yakovlevich felt that experience and two months of training at the school for junior commanders were not enough for a qualified Red commander. Solid and deep military knowledge was needed. His certification for 1926 notes: “He has a strong and clearly expressed commanding will and energy, is disciplined and decisive in all his actions... He has no military education, being a self-taught talent in this area... He deserves a secondment to the military academy ...".

In 1927, the Military Academy named after M.V. opened its doors to him. Frunze, from which he graduates with honors three years later.

In 1937, Colonel R. Ya. Malinovsky, as a military leader with rich combat experience and a thoroughly trained specialist in the field of military art theory, was sent to Spain. Under the pseudonym Malino, Rodion Yakovlevich provided active and real assistance to the republican command in organizing and conducting combat operations. His work as a military adviser was highly appreciated. He was awarded the Orders of Lenin and the Red Banner.

A new job awaited him in Moscow: he became a senior teacher at the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze. He summarizes what he saw, experienced and changed his mind under the skies of distant Spain in his dissertation, in which the Aragonese operation occupied the main place.

In March 1941, he was appointed to the Odessa Military District as commander of the newly formed Forty-Eighth Rifle Corps.
Here on June 22, 1941, the Great Patriotic War found the corps commander.

Lieutenant General Malinovsky met 1942 as commander of the troops of the Southern Front. Some time later, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command instructed Malinovsky to lead the Second Guards Army.

Soviet military historians note that by mid-1944, the military leadership of Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky had reached its peak.

On September 13, 1944, Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky was summoned to Moscow to sign an armistice agreement with Romania on the part of the allied states - the USSR, Great Britain and the USA. On the same day he was invited to the Kremlin. Here he was presented with the insignia of a military leader of the highest rank - a marshal's star. Then Rodion Yakovlevich was only forty-six years old. But for thirty of them he was a warrior.

And there were still Debrecen, Budapest, Bratislava-Brnov and Vienna operations ahead. As a result of their implementation, Romania, Hungary, Austria left the war, and Slovakia was liberated.

A hotbed of aggression was still smoldering in the Far East, and to eliminate it, a number of new fronts were being created, the main role among which was to be played by Transbaikal. Rodion Yakovlevich was appointed to the post of its commander.

Here again the military leadership talent of Rodion Yakovlevich clearly manifested itself. The battles with Japanese troops, in their scope and final results, in the originality of strategic thought, flexibility and dynamism, took a prominent place among the campaigns of the Second World War. The signing of the act of surrender of militaristic Japan on September 2, 1945 marked the end of World War II.

For his courage and great services in the defeat of the Kwantung Army, Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky was awarded
title of Hero of the Soviet Union and awarded the highest Soviet military order "Victory". Forty-eight times the Supreme Commander-in-Chief declared gratitude in his orders
troops commanded by R. Ya. Malinovsky.

When the long-awaited peace came to Soviet soil, Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky was sent to the Far East to lead the troops. The significant strengthening of the Far Eastern borders of the Soviet Union already in the first post-war months and years is Malinovsky’s great merit.

Rodion Yakovlevich rightly regarded the training and education of the command and political personnel of the troops as the main condition for increasing the combat effectiveness and combat readiness of units and subunits serving on the farthest outskirts of the country.

In 1956, Marshal of the Soviet Union Malinovsky was appointed Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR and Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces, and in October 1957, our fellow countryman became the Minister of Defense of the USSR. In this post, he did a lot to strengthen the Armed Forces and improve the country's security. He was constantly concerned about the development of military art, the construction of the army and navy, the training of personnel for them, and the prospects for the development of equipment and weapons.

In 1958, on his sixtieth birthday, Malinovsky was awarded a second Gold Star medal for outstanding services to the Fatherland. During his service in the Armed Forces, he was awarded five Orders of Lenin, the Order of Victory, three Orders of the Red Banner, two Orders of Suvorov, 1st class, Order of Kutuzov, 1st class, and nine medals. He was also awarded many awards from socialist and other countries.

The name of the Soviet commander was given to the Military Academy of Armored Forces and the Guards Tank Division.

In Moscow, Kyiv, Odessa and a number of other cities there are Marshal Malinovsky streets.

Marshal Malinovsky is the author of the books “Soldiers of Russia”, “The Angry Whirlwinds of Spain”; under his leadership, “Iasi-Chisinau Cannes”, “Budapest - Vienna - Prague”, “Final” and other works were written.

Photo: Howard Sochurek/LIFE

Malinovsky Rodion Yakovlevich
(11.11.1898, Odessa - 31.3.1967, Moscow).
Ukrainian. Soviet statesman and military leader, commander. Marshal of the Soviet Union (1944). Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (8.9.1945 and 22.11.1958). Candidate member of the CPSU Central Committee (1952), with
year - member of the CPSU Central Committee (1956), deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR 2-7 convocations.

In the Russian army since 1914, private. He took part in the First World War on the Western Front and was awarded the St. George Cross, 4th degree, for distinguished service in battles. Since February 1916, he was in France as part of the Russian Expeditionary Force, commander of the machine gun crew of the 2nd Infantry Regiment of the 1st Russian Brigade. From December 1917 to August 1919 he served in
1st Foreign Regiment of the 1st Moroccan Division of the French Army.
In 1919 he returned through the Far East to Russia.

In the Red Army from November 1919

During the Civil War, he took part in battles with the White Guards as part of the 27th Infantry Division of the Eastern Front.

In the interwar period, from December 1920, after studying at the junior command school, he became the commander of a machine gun platoon, then was the head of the machine gun team, assistant commander and battalion commander. Graduated from the Military Academy. M.V. Frunze (1930). Since 1930 R.Ya. Malinovsky was the chief of staff of the cavalry regiment of the 10th Cavalry Division, then served in the headquarters of the North Caucasus and Belarusian military districts, and was the chief of staff of the 3rd Cavalry Corps. In 1937–1938 Volunteered in the Spanish Civil War. For military distinctions he was awarded the Orders of Lenin and the Red Banner. Since 1939, he has been teaching at the Military Academy named after. M.V. Frunze, since March 1941 commander of the 48th Rifle Corps.

At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the corps under the command of R.Ya. Malinovsky participated in a difficult border battle with superior enemy forces along the river. Rod. In August 1941 R.Ya. Malinovsky was appointed commander of the 6th Army. From December 1941 to July 1942, he commanded the Southern Front, and from August to October 1942, he commanded the 66th Army, which fought north of Stalingrad. In October - November 1942 he commanded the 2nd Guards Army, which in December, in cooperation with

The 5th Shock and 51st Armies stopped and then defeated the troops of the Don Army Group, which was trying to relieve a large group of German troops encircled near Stalingrad. An important role in the success of this operation was played by a correct assessment of the situation, careful preparation of troops for combat operations, the rapid advance of the 2nd Guards Army and its entry into battle on the move.

Since February 1943 R.Ya. Malinovsky commanded the Southern, and from March the Southwestern (from October 20, 1943 - the 3rd Ukrainian) fronts, whose troops fought for the Donbass and Right Bank Ukraine. Under his leadership, the Zaporozhye operation was prepared and successfully carried out, during which Soviet troops suddenly captured an important enemy defense center - Zaporozhye - in a night assault, which had a great influence on the defeat of the Melitopol group of Nazi troops and contributed to the isolation of the Nazis in the Crimea. Subsequently, the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, together with the neighboring 2nd Ukrainian Front, expanded the bridgehead in the area of ​​​​the Dnieper bend. Then, in cooperation with the troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front, they successfully carried out the Nikopol-Krivoy Rog operation.

In the spring of 1944, troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front under the leadership of Malinovsky carried out the Bereznegovato-Snigirevskaya and Odessa operations: they crossed the river. Southern Bug, liberated the cities of Nikolaev and Odessa. Since May 1944 R.Ya. Malinovsky - commander of the 2nd Ukrainian Front. In August 1944, front troops, together with the 3rd Ukrainian Front, secretly prepared and successfully carried out the Iasi-Kishinev operation - one of the outstanding operations of the Great Patriotic War. Soviet troops achieved great political and military results in it: they defeated the main forces of Hitler’s army group “Southern Ukraine”, liberated Moldova and reached the Romanian-Hungarian and Bulgarian-Yugoslav borders, thereby radically changing the military-political situation on the southern wing of the Soviet -German front. The Iasi-Chisinau operation was distinguished by decisive goals, large scope, clearly organized interaction between the fronts, as well as various types of armed forces, stable and well-organized command and control.

In October 1944, troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front under the command of Malinovsky successfully carried out the Debrecen operation, during which Army Group South was seriously defeated; Hitler's troops were expelled from Transylvania. The troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front took an advantageous position for the attack on Budapest and provided great assistance to the 4th Ukrainian Front in overcoming the Carpathians and liberating Transcarpathian Ukraine. Following the Debrecen operation, they, in cooperation with the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, carried out the Budapest operation, as a result of which a large enemy group was surrounded and then eliminated and the capital of Hungary, Budapest, was liberated.

At the final stage of the defeat of Hitler’s troops on the territory of Hungary and the eastern regions of Austria, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front carried out the Vienna Operation, during which Soviet troops expelled the Nazi occupiers from western Hungary, liberated a significant part of Czechoslovakia, the eastern regions of Austria and its capital, Vienna. After the surrender of Germany, from July 1945, R.Ya. Malinovsky commanded the troops of the Trans-Baikal Front, which dealt the main blow in the Manchurian strategic operation to defeat the Japanese Kwantung Army. The combat operations of the front troops were distinguished by the skillful choice of the direction of the main attack, the bold use of tank armies in the first echelon of the front, the clear organization of interaction when conducting an offensive in disparate directions, and the extremely high pace of the offensive for that time. For military leadership, courage and bravery R.Ya. Malinovsky was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

After the war R.Ya. Malinovsky commander of the Transbaikal-Amur Military District (1945–1947), commander-in-chief of the Far East troops (1947–1953), commander of the Far Eastern Military District (1953–1956). Since March 1956, First Deputy Minister of Defense and Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces. In October 1957 R.Ya. Malinovsky was appointed Minister of Defense. For services to the Motherland in the construction and strengthening of the Armed Forces of the USSR R.Ya. Malinovsky was awarded a second Gold Star medal.

He was also awarded 5 Orders of Lenin, 3 Orders of the Red Banner, 2 Orders of Suvorov 1st degree, Order of Kutuzov 1st degree, medals, foreign orders. Awarded the highest military order "Victory".

Essay on the life and work of Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky
Farm laborer, soldier of the Russian army, Red Army soldier, red commander, military adviser in Republican Spain, commander of the Great Patriotic War, commander of the military district, commander-in-chief of the Ground Forces, Minister of Defense of the USSR, deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and member of the CPSU Central Committee, Marshal of the Soviet Union, twice Hero of the Soviet Union and People's Hero of Yugoslavia. Such a path in life requires determination, talent, ambition, will, and luck. R.Ya had all this. Malinovsky.

The illegitimate son of Varvara Nikolaevna Malinovskaya, Rodion, was born in Odessa on November 11, 1898. But then need forced his mother to move to the village of Sutiski, where she found a position as a cook in the zemstvo hospital. Here the boy was sent to a parochial school. It didn't take long to study. From the age of 12, he already earned his bread by working as a laborer for the landowner Yaroshinsky.

Then Rodion again finds himself in Odessa. His uncle, a railroad worker, gets him a job in a haberdashery store. In the evenings the teenager reads a lot. He was especially fascinated by the “General Russian Calendar,” published in honor of the centenary of the Patriotic War of 1812. The teenager’s romantic nature was drawn to the heroic, which ultimately led the 16-year-old boy into the ranks of the Russian army.

The First World War broke out, and Rodion Malinovsky became a soldier in the Elizavetgrad Regiment of the 64th Division. Already on September 14, 1914, he received a baptism of fire while crossing the Neman River. Then came the harsh everyday life that turned the young romantic into a real soldier. Soon, in terms of dexterity, resourcefulness and endurance, he was not much different from other fighters. And so he was appointed as a machine gunner and awarded the St. George Cross, 4th degree, for the battle at Kalvaria in March 1915.

In the battle near Smorgon, Rodion Yakovlevich was seriously wounded. After recovery in February 1916, together with the Russian expeditionary force, he was sent to France. Among the first to land on French soil in April was the 2nd Special Infantry Regiment. Rodion Malinovsky was the chief of the 1st machine gun of the 1st platoon of the 4th machine gun team.

At the end of June, the regiment was sent to the front and fought with dignity. In April 1917, Rodion Malinovsky was seriously wounded by an explosive bullet in his left arm and found himself confined to a hospital bed for a long time.

Some soldiers of the expeditionary force returned to Russia in 1919 through a grueling route from Marseille to Japanese-occupied Vladivostok. Making his way west to areas controlled by the Red Army, after much ordeal and wandering, Rodion Yakovlevich finally met a reconnaissance patrol of the 240th Tver Regiment of the 27th Infantry Division in the Omsk region. The French military cross and the soldier's book in French almost cost him his life. Having figured out that he was a soldier and not an officer in disguise, the command enlisted Malinovsky in the regiment as a machine gun instructor. Thus, a new page opened in the biography of the future commander.

As part of the 240th Regiment, Malinovsky traveled through Siberia, participated in the liberation of Omsk and Novonikolaevsk from the Whites, and in the battles at Taiga and Mariinsk stations. Typhus interrupted this campaign.

After the hospital in 1920, he was sent to a training school for junior command personnel. In December 1920, Rodion Yakovlevich took over a machine gun platoon in Nizhneudinsk. Soon the young commander was appointed head of the machine gun team, and in 1923 he was already a battalion commander. Objectively assessing the commander's qualities and knowledge in the military field, the regiment commander proposes to send Malinovsky to study. And in 1927, Rodion Yakovlevich became a student at the Military Academy. M.V. Frunze, which he graduates with first class in three years.

After graduating from the academy, Malinovsky served for some time as chief of staff of the 67th cavalry regiment of the 10th cavalry division. Then for several years he served at the headquarters of the North Caucasus and Belarusian military districts. Here he meets many of those with whom he had to achieve victory in the Great Patriotic War. A thoughtful and competent commander is appointed chief of staff of the 3rd Cavalry Corps, whose commander was S.K. Tymoshenko. Of course, this played a role in the fate of the future marshal.

From January 1937 to May 1938, Malinovsky was in Spain. He, like other Soviet military advisers, had to solve complex and responsible tasks. For their exemplary performance in July 1937, Malinovsky was awarded the Order of Lenin, and three months later - the Order of the Red Banner.

After returning to his homeland, Rodion Yakovlevich became a senior lecturer at the Department of Staff Services at the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze. In March 1941, he was sent to the Odessa Military District to serve as commander of the 48th Rifle Corps. In this position, Major General Malinovsky showed great will and ability, which made it possible to put together the divisions that were part of the corps in the shortest possible time. This was necessary because war was approaching.

In total, Malinovsky lived 25,266 days, but the most important days in his life were 1,534 days of the Great Patriotic War. It began for him on June 22, 1941 and ended on September 2, 1945.

A week before the start of the war, the 48th Rifle Corps was concentrated in the area of ​​​​the city of Balti and from the very first days took part in heavy battles, covering the border along the Prut River. The forces were too unequal, so parts of the corps were forced to retreat to Kotovsk, Nikolaev, and Kherson. In the Nikolaev area, the corps found itself surrounded. However, thanks to the heroism of the fighters and the firm control of his formations, he managed to break through the encirclement and connect with the main forces of the front.

In August, Malinovsky was appointed chief of staff of the 6th Army, and then became its commander. For successes in battles with the enemy, he was awarded the military rank of lieutenant general and awarded the Order of Lenin.

In December 1941, Malinovsky was appointed commander of the troops of the Southern Front. Under his leadership, the 57th and 9th Armies in January 1942, together with the troops of the Southwestern Front, went on the offensive and captured a large operational bridgehead in the Barvenkovo-Lozovaya area on the right bank of the Seversky Donets River. Having inflicted significant losses on the enemy, the troops of the Southern Front simultaneously pinned down significant forces of the Nazis, depriving them of the opportunity to maneuver to the main – Western – strategic direction.

In the spring of 1942, when the fronts were preparing for private offensive operations, Malinovsky turned to the commander-in-chief of the South-Western strategic direction S.K. Timoshenko with a proposal to strike with the forces of the Southwestern and Southern Fronts strictly to the south, in order to reach the Sea of ​​Azov and cut off the enemy troops that had advanced forward. Unfortunately, this proposal was not even seriously considered.

Predicting the enemy's attack in the south, Malinovsky took a number of measures to strengthen the front's defense. In particular, the armies were equipped with three to four defensive lines, the second echelon (24th Army) was given the task of being ready to provide a junction with the Southwestern Front. Already during the Voroshilovgrad-Shakhty defensive operation (July 7–24, 1942), which was an integral part of the strategic Voronezh-Voroshilovgrad operation, Malinovsky proposed to the Supreme High Command Headquarters his plan for stabilizing the defense at the Millerovo, Petropavlovskoye, Cherkasskoye line. In a situation where the command of the Southwestern Front lost contact with its armies, Headquarters transferred the armies of the Southwestern Front to the Southern Front.

Unfortunately, the planned plan could not be implemented, since the headquarters of the Southern Front turned out to be powerless to establish control of the transferred armies. Moreover, he did not even know the exact position of these armies. On July 12, six planes with officers were sent to search for the transferred associations. The troops of the Southern Front had to retreat. The withdrawal across the Don River was carried out in a relatively organized manner and sequentially from one line to another, and on the southern bank of the Don Malinovsky and the front headquarters managed to organize a defense.

After the withdrawal is completed, the Southern Front merges with the North Caucasian Front, and Lieutenant General Malinovsky is appointed deputy commander of the troops of this front. He then forms the 2nd Guards Army. During the critical days of the Battle of Stalingrad, this army, in cooperation with the 5th Shock and 51st Armies in difficult winter conditions during the Kotelnikovsky operation, defeated the troops of the army group "Goth", which tried to release the 6th Army of F. Paulus, encircled in the Stalingrad area. The successful conduct of the operation was ensured primarily by forestalling the enemy in reaching an advantageous line along the Myshkova River and successfully repelling enemy tank attacks. For a brilliantly performed operation, Rodion Yakovlevich was awarded the Order of Suvorov, 1st degree.

In February 1943, Malinovsky became commander of the troops of the Southern Front and was awarded the rank of colonel general. The troops of this front took part in the liberation of the cities of Novocherkassk and Rostov-on-Don.

In March 1943, Malinovsky was appointed commander of the troops of the Southwestern Front. Active combat operations by the troops of this front, after a long pause, began in July with the Izyum-Barvenkovskaya offensive operation. Essentially it was a diversionary operation by the Soviet troops. The decisive offensive began on August 13. The troops of the Southwestern and Southern Fronts had the task of completing the liberation of Donbass. By September 22, the Southwestern Front had driven the enemy back to the Dnieper south of Dnepropetrovsk and continued the attack on Zaporozhye.

The most notable operation during the Battle of the Dnieper was the Zaporozhye operation, which took place from October 10 to October 14, 1943. Then the city of Zaporozhye was liberated by a night assault, and specially appointed troops managed to prevent the complete destruction of the Dnieper hydroelectric station.

The liquidation of the Nazi bridgehead on the left bank of the Dnieper significantly improved the situation on the southern wing of the Soviet-German front. The troops of the Southwestern Front were able to expand the captured bridgeheads on the Dnieper and advance in the Krivoy Rog direction. Favorable conditions also developed for the advance of the troops of the Southern Front to the rear of the Melitopol enemy group, access to the lower reaches of the Dnieper and isolation (from land) of the 17th German Army in the Crimea. Front troops inflicted significant losses on five infantry and one motorized divisions of the enemy's 1st Tank Army.

Over the five days of the offensive, the troops of the front's main attack group advanced to a depth of 23 kilometers at an average rate of 4–6 kilometers per day. In those conditions, these were quite high rates, since they had to break through deep and well-equipped defenses in engineering terms. The bridgehead was defended by large forces of enemy troops. For every 10–12 kilometers there was one division, up to 100 guns and mortars, 20 tanks and assault guns.

The success of the operation was ensured, firstly, by concentric attacks by three combined arms armies under the base and in the center of the bridgehead. Secondly, the night assault on Zaporozhye, which was unexpected for the enemy, in which for the first time during the Great Patriotic War large forces took part: three armies and two separate corps with 270 tanks and 48 self-propelled guns. Thirdly, careful preliminary preparation of troops for night operations. The units located in the first echelon were successively replaced, withdrawn to the nearest rear and intensively trained. All types of troops took part in the night exercises, their interaction was practiced on the ground, reconnaissance of enemy defenses was carried out around the clock, light signals and target designation with missiles and tracer bullets were studied. Tankers learned to drive cars at night using light signals.

Based on the results of this operation, Rodion Yakovlevich was awarded the military rank of army general and he was awarded the Order of Kutuzov, 1st degree.

The troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front achieved great success in Right Bank Ukraine. In February 1944, in cooperation with the 4th Ukrainian Front, they successfully carried out the Nikopol-Krivoy Rog offensive operation, as a result of which the German bridgehead on the left bank of the Dnieper was eliminated and the cities of Nikopol and Krivoy Rog were liberated.

In the period from March 6 to 18, the armies of the 3rd Ukrainian Front carried out the Bereznegovato-Snegirevsky operation, inflicting a major defeat on the 6th German Army. During this operation, the use of a cavalry-mechanized group under the command of General I.A. was completely unique. Plieva. Malinovsky brought it into battle to increase the efforts of the first echelon of the front's main strike group. At dusk, in the pouring rain, along soggy roads, formations of the cavalry-mechanized group approached the front line. Late in the evening they reached the front line and, together with rifle units, knocked down the enemy from their occupied line. Building on their success, tankers and cavalrymen penetrated deeper into enemy defenses, intercepting enemy communications and striking at their supply bases.

At dawn, the group suddenly attacked the Novy Bug station, destroying a German train with tanks and ammunition there. Having cleared the station in 15 minutes, the cavalry-mechanized group quickly attacked the enemy in the city of New Bug itself, completely capturing it by 8 o'clock on March 8.

In the next – Odessa – operation, which lasted from March 26 to April 14, Malinovsky’s troops, having inflicted significant losses on six German divisions, advanced 180 kilometers, liberating the cities of Nikolaev and Odessa...

So military fate brought Rodion Yakovlevich to his hometown. He walked along its streets with excitement, remembering his childhood. Found time to meet my uncle. A very old man, he hardly recognized his nephew.

The operation ended with the capture and retention of bridgeheads on the Dniester. The front troops occupied an advantageous position for subsequent actions with the aim of liberating Moldova and advancing into the interior of Romania and the Balkans. The entry of Soviet troops into the Odessa region put the enemy group in Crimea in a completely hopeless position.

In the spring of 1944, Malinovsky took command of the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front. With them, he prepared and carried out the famous Iasi-Kishinev operation, the components of which were four operations: Iasi-Focsani (August 20–29), Bucharest-Arad (August 30–October 3), Debrecen (October 6–28) and Budapest ( October 29, 1944 – February 13, 1945).

Of course, the first two operations are outstanding. As a result of their conduct, the main forces of Army Group “Southern Ukraine” were completely destroyed. Romania was withdrawn from the war on the German side and declared war on Hitler's Reich. It became possible to conduct an offensive in Hungary and provide direct military assistance to the people of Yugoslavia. In 45 days, the front troops advanced to a depth of 750 kilometers at an average rate of about 17 kilometers per day. At the same time, in the Iasi-Foksha operation, in 10 days the 2nd Ukrainian Front advanced to a depth of 320 kilometers. Grandiose results were achieved with relatively small losses. In the Iasi-Focsha operation, irrecoverable losses amounted to less than one percent, in the Bucharest-Arad operation - slightly more than one percent of the initial number of front troops.

The Iasi-Foksha and Bucharest-Arad operations demonstrate the high level of Malinovsky’s military leadership. According to the plan of the Supreme High Command Headquarters, the 2nd Ukrainian Front was supposed to break through the enemy’s defenses north-west of Iasi, capture the cities of Hushi, Vaslui, Felciu, seize crossings across the Prut, and, in cooperation with the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, defeat the Iasi-Kishinev enemy group. In the future, the front forces had to advance in the direction of Focsani, firmly covering the right flank of the strike force from the Carpathians.

The successful course of the offensive of the 2nd Ukrainian Front largely depended on the chosen direction of the main attack. It was extremely expedient, since it was located at the most vulnerable point of enemy defense - the junction of the 4th Romanian and 8th German armies. In addition, there were no long-term fire installations here. Finally, the chosen direction of the main attack led by the shortest route to the crossings on the Prut River to the rear of the 6th German Army. True, in order to have time to encircle the enemy group, the armies of the 2nd Ukrainian Front had to advance to a depth of 100 - 110 kilometers in five days. At the same time, the formations of the 52nd Army and the 18th Tank Corps had to go on the defensive at the crossings across the Prut River and prevent the enemy from retreating to the western bank of the river.

As in the Belarusian operation, simultaneously with the formation of an internal encirclement front, an active external front was created. Most of the forces of the 2nd Ukrainian Front were supposed to attack precisely on the external front of the encirclement. In this case, the enemy’s plans to create a strong defense in the Focsani Gate area were thwarted and a quick exit of troops to the central regions of Romania was ensured.

The operation was distinguished by a high degree of massing of forces and means. The front initially delivered one powerful blow. Up to half of the rifle divisions, most of the artillery, up to 85 percent of tanks and self-propelled guns, and almost all aviation were concentrated in a breakthrough area 16 kilometers wide (with a total front width of 330 km). As a result, the average operational density per 1 kilometer of the breakthrough area was 240 guns and mortars, 73 tanks and self-propelled guns. Here the armies of the strike group were 5–10 times larger than the opposing enemy.

A special concern of the command was the breakthrough of the enemy's tactical defense, since only if it was quickly broken through could one count on the timely entry of front troops to the Prut River. To increase the effectiveness of fire destruction, an hour and a half artillery preparation was planned. Moreover, half of the time it was carried out was spent on fire raids. During a fire raid, all guns and mortars had to fire at a specific group of targets, for example, at artillery firing positions. It was planned to support the infantry and tank attack with a double barrage of fire to a depth of two kilometers.

Originally, it was planned to use tanks and self-propelled guns in direct support of the infantry: they were assigned to only one regiment, which was supposed to strike the strongest enemy stronghold in the division’s offensive zone. Thus, even if the division had only 30 tanks and self-propelled guns, their relative density in the offensive sector of the rifle regiment, equal to 700 meters, reached 43 units per kilometer of the breakthrough sector. The remaining two regiments had no tanks or self-propelled guns at all. However, it was no easier for those Romanian soldiers who were in the trenches of a strong point attacked by tanks. The divisions' main attacks on the enemy's most fortified strongholds with strong groups of tanks in direct infantry support with powerful artillery support should have destroyed the enemy's defenses.

Careful organization of the breakthrough of enemy defenses made it possible to overcome it in the direction of the main attack of the front in less than five hours. Everything went as if along a well-established conveyor belt. As soon as the first position was broken through, the forward detachments of the divisions—reinforced rifle battalions—went forward. Together with them, pontoon units also advanced to the Bakhluy River, beyond which the second defensive line ran. Advance detachments and tanks in direct support of the infantry not only provided sappers with guidance for crossings, but also captured two serviceable bridges. Along the crossings and captured bridges, the main forces of the rifle divisions reached the southern bank of the river, which by 13:00 on August 20 completed the breakthrough of the tactical defense of the Wöhler army group.

Under these conditions, as planned, the 6th Tank Army was introduced into the breakthrough. Having overcome the army's defense line together with rifle formations, the army entered the operational space early in the morning of August 22. Having sent reinforced forward detachments, the 5th Guards and 5th Mechanized Corps launched a pursuit of the enemy. Attempts by the enemy command to delay the advance of the tank army at intermediate defensive lines were futile. With the support of aviation, which was promptly relocated due to the capture of enemy airfields by tankers, the tank army captured the city of Focsani on August 27, the city of Buzau a day later, and the oil production center of the city of Ploesti on August 30. The successes of the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts had a decisive influence on the change in the political situation in Romania. On August 23, the country's anti-fascist forces overthrew the Antonescu regime and formed a new government, which on August 24 announced its withdrawal from the war on the side of Germany and declared war on it.

The defeat of the main forces of Army Group “Southern Ukraine” caused other major political events in Europe. On August 29, a popular uprising broke out in Slovakia. A new bourgeois government was formed in Hungary, which began to look for ways out of the war. For the successful leadership of troops in the Iasi-Kishinev operation, Malinovsky was awarded the title of Marshal of the Soviet Union.

On August 29, the Supreme Command Headquarters set new tasks for the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts. In particular, the 2nd Ukrainian Front, advancing in the general direction of Turnu Severin, was supposed to clear Bucharest of the remnants of fascist German troops, and then complete their defeat throughout Romania. The troops of the right wing of the front had to capture the passes through the Eastern Carpathians.

Fulfilling the assigned task, on August 30 and 31, formations of the 6th Tank and 53rd Armies, as well as parts of the 1st Romanian Volunteer Infantry Division named after. Tudor Vladimirescu entered Bucharest. On September 6, front troops, with the assistance of Romanian patriotic detachments, occupied the city of Turnu Severini and reached the Romanian-Yugoslav border. On the same day, Romanian troops (1st and 4th armies, 4th army and 7th air corps) came under operational subordination to the commander of the 2nd Ukrainian Front.

Fierce fighting broke out on the right wing of the 2nd Ukrainian Front while crossing the Eastern Carpathians. Formations of two guards armies and a cavalry-mechanized group arrived here on August 29. The enemy forestalled them in capturing the passes. To gain time and avoid unnecessary losses, Malinovsky decided to use a tank corps to bypass the Eastern Carpathians through Ploesti, the southern regions of Transylvania and further to Brasov.

The detour was carried out on September 5–8 over a distance of over 400 kilometers along a mountain road. The entry of tankers into the Brasov area allowed the troops of the 7th Guards Army, advancing from the east, to capture the Oitoz Pass. By the end of September, the armies of the 2nd Ukrainian Front reached the Reghin, Turda, Arad line, liberating most of Romania. The width of the front's offensive zone by this time had increased to 800 kilometers.

Then the task was received to defeat the troops of Army Group South, which consisted of the 8th and 6th German, 3rd and 2nd Hungarian armies under the overall command of General G. Friesner, and, developing an offensive to the north in the direction of Chop , assist the 4th Ukrainian Front in the defeat of the East Carpathian group of enemy forces.

The offensive began on October 6. As a result of intense battles, during which a counterattack by three enemy army and one tank corps was repelled, the front forces inflicted a heavy defeat on Army Group South and by October 28, having advanced from 130 to 275 kilometers, captured a large operational bridgehead on the western bank of the Tisza, creating conditions for the defeat of the enemy in the Budapest area.

The successful conduct of the Debrecen operation contributed to the withdrawal of troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front to the areas of Uzhgorod and Mukachevo. Considering that the direction to Budapest is defended by relatively small forces (the 3rd Hungarian Army, reinforced by the 1st Tank and 1st Motorized Divisions of the Germans), Malinovsky decided to deliver the main blow with the forces of the 46th Army, the 2nd and 4th Guards mechanized corps southeast of Budapest and take possession of it. The 7th Guards Army was supposed to launch an auxiliary attack from the area northeast of Szolnok and seize a bridgehead on the western bank of the Tisza River. The remaining forces of the front received the task of advancing in the direction of Miskolc in order to pin down the opposing enemy troops and prevent their transfer to the Budapest area.

On October 29, the troops of the left wing of the 2nd Ukrainian Front broke through the enemy’s defenses and, after the 2nd and 4th mechanized corps entered the battle, began a rapid advance. Thus began the Budapest Strategic Operation, the longest of all offensive operations of the Great Patriotic War. The 2nd Ukrainian Front conducted five out of six front-line operations within its framework. One operation was carried out by the 3rd Ukrainian Front.

In the first operation, Soviet troops tried to take Budapest with a rapid offensive of relatively small forces. It should be noted that in a telephone conversation, the front commander reported to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, who demanded an immediate assault on Budapest, that without the 4th Army, which did not have time to approach, there were not enough forces at the front to capture the Hungarian capital, and a premature offensive would be fraught with protracted battles, especially that the enemy had transferred three tank and one motorized divisions from near Miskolc. And only three months later, after the enemy group defending in the area of ​​the Hungarian capital was surrounded, an assault on the city was launched, which ended successfully on February 13, 1945.

Then Malinovsky's troops took part in the Vienna operation, which took place from March 16 to April 15, 1945. Based on its results, on April 26, 1945, Rodion Yakovlevich was awarded the Order of Victory.

The final operation of Soviet troops in Europe was the Prague operation of May 6–11, 1945. Within its framework, the 2nd Ukrainian Front conducted the Jihlava-Benešov operation. In cooperation with the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front, they broke the resistance of the German group on the territory of Czechoslovakia and liberated Prague.

After the end of hostilities in Europe, R.Ya. Malinovsky headed the Transbaikal Front, which played the main role in the defeat of the Japanese Kwantung Army.

The operation carried out by Malinovsky's troops was part of the strategic Manchurian operation. The goal of the operation of the Transbaikal Front was to defeat Japanese troops in the western part of Manchuria, cut off their escape routes to Northern China and, in cooperation with the troops of the 1st and 2nd Far Eastern Fronts, encircle and destroy the main forces of the Kwantung Army. According to the plan of the Soviet command, the troops of the Trans-Baikal Front were supposed to deliver the main blow in the center from the eastern part of the territory of the Mongolian People's Republic in the direction of Changchun, overcome the Greater Khingan ridge and deeply envelop the main forces of the Kwantung Army from the south. Auxiliary attacks were planned: on the right wing - by a cavalry-mechanized group from the territory of Mongolia to Dolun (Dolonnor) and Zhangjiakou (Kalgan), on the left wing - by the 36th Army from Dauria to Hailar.

On August 9, front troops went on the offensive. As a result of the Khingan-Mukden operation (August 9 – September 2, 1945), they broke through Greater Khingan, captured Changchun, and reached the ports of Dalniy and Port Arthur. The Kwantung Army was defeated. Japan surrendered unconditionally. During the operation, the troops of the Trans-Baikal Front advanced to a depth of 400 - 800 kilometers, defeated formations of the 3rd Japanese Front and part of the forces of the 4th Separate Army, captured over 220 thousand prisoners, 480 tanks, 500 aircraft, 860 guns. Analysis of the effectiveness of this operation according to the main criteria (impact on the strategic situation, damage inflicted on the enemy, depth and pace of offensive, cost of victory) shows that it is as close as possible to the highest indicators compared to other operations. Thus, the irretrievable losses of Soviet troops amounted to only 0.35 percent of their original strength.

For outstanding success in the operation, Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

After the war, Rodion Yakovlevich commanded the troops of the Trans-Baikal Military District from 1945 to 1947. Then, from 1947 to 1953, he was Commander-in-Chief of the Far East troops, and from 1953 to 1956, commander of the Far Eastern Military District.

In March 1956, he became Deputy Minister of Defense and Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces.

In October 1957, R.Ya. Malinovsky is appointed Minister of Defense of the USSR. In 1958, on his 60th birthday, Rodion Yakovlevich was awarded the second Gold Star medal for outstanding services to the Motherland.

Marshal R. Malinovsky at a reception in the Kremlin, July 1960. Photo : Carl Mydans/LIFE

Malinovsky remained as Minister of Defense until the end of his life, doing a lot of work to strengthen the defense power of the Soviet state. It was at this time that the radical rearmament of the Soviet Army was carried out. In particular, by the beginning of the 60s, nuclear missile weapons entered service with all branches of the Armed Forces.

The combat capabilities of conventional weapons have increased significantly. Medium tanks T-55, T-62, T-72 appeared with a weapon stabilizer, night vision sights and special equipment. In the 60s, infantry fighting vehicles (BMP-1, BDM-1) began to replace armored personnel carriers. The artillery received a 100-mm anti-tank gun, a 122-mm howitzer, 122-mm and 152-mm self-propelled howitzers, BM-21 rocket launchers and other artillery systems. The troops began to be equipped with various types of anti-tank missiles (ATGM). Small arms were updated. A new set of weapons was adopted, which included an AKM assault rifle, RPK, PK, PKS machine guns and an SVD sniper self-loading rifle. Air defense systems of the Ground Forces have undergone rapid development.

Aviation units received advanced MiG-19, MiG-21 and MiG-23 fighters, the Su-7b fighter-bomber and other supersonic combat aircraft that had powerful weapons, the basis of which were missiles. The speed and carrying capacity of helicopters have increased. The country's air defense forces received advanced anti-aircraft missile systems and all-weather supersonic fighter-interceptors.

Profound changes have taken place in the Navy. The basis of its combat power began to be nuclear submarines and naval missile-carrying aircraft.

The widespread introduction of nuclear missile weapons into the troops, a fundamental change in the nature of the future war and methods of conducting armed struggle, required a new solution to the problems of the development of the army and navy. In 1960, a new branch of the Armed Forces was created - the Strategic Missile Forces. The Ground Forces, the country's Air Defense Forces, the Air Force and the Navy have received great development.

Rodion Yakovlevich played a major role in the development of military art. He was a participant in many military-scientific conferences, had personal control over the development of manuals and regulations, and oversaw the testing of theoretical concepts during exercises and maneuvers.

Rodion Yakovlevich did not fetter the initiative of scientists, listened carefully to their opinions, and did not rush when matters required serious thought. Before the main features of the Soviet military doctrine were formulated and a clear definition of Soviet military science, its content, and boundaries was given, the most serious research was carried out. It was in the 60s that theoretical views on the types of strategic actions radically changed: they ceased to be divided into strategic offensive and strategic defense. However, this only applied to nuclear war. Many new things have emerged in views on the preparation and conduct of offensive and defensive operations. Thus, the theory of operational art and tactics was brought into line with new weapons and emerging opportunities.

Malinovsky did a lot to streamline the daily life of the troops. In particular, intensive work was underway in all districts to equip military camps, training grounds, tank tracks, and build barracks and housing. It was when Malinovsky was Minister of Defense that many officers stopped renting corners, rooms and apartments from private individuals. Camp gatherings are a thing of the past. Units went to training centers on schedule to practice planned firing or topics in tactical and special training. Under Malinovsky, reporting and other documentation was simplified. He was the author of a new form of clothing, characterized by greater functionality and simplicity.

Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky never let the training of army and navy commanders out of his sight. He deeply delved into the military-theoretical and practical training of officers in military academies, often himself made reports to the teaching staff of military educational institutions and to students, was present at troop exercises, supervised them and deeply analyzed them. He successfully solved the problem of staffing the troops with officers with higher and secondary military education. In particular, units of soldiers with secondary education were created in the troops. They were the first candidates to staff military schools. On his instructions, the job category required for admission to study at command military academies was reduced. In the 60s, one could enter the academy from the position of commander of a company or training platoon.

The merits of R.Ya. are undoubted. Malinovsky in the field of history of military art. He took an active part in summarizing the experience of the Great Patriotic War and in the socio-political life of the Soviet Union. Under his editorship and with his direct participation, the historical and memoir books “Iasi-Chisinau Cannes”, “Budapest - Vienna - Prague”, “Final” were published.

Materials provided by the Institute of Military History of the Russian Defense Ministry
http://kvrf.ru/encyclopedia/kavalers/malinovskiy.asp

"I was amazed by his hard work. I remember how he
being the Minister of Defense, he came home from work and sat down at the table
and began to write a book or read Flaubert in French,
so as not to forget the language. But he headed the Ministry of Defense
and during the Cuban Missile Crisis."

N. Malinovskaya
"Marshal Malinovsky R.Ya."

Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky was born on November 23, 1898 (November 11, old style) in the city of Odessa, into a poor family. Illegitimate son of a peasant woman, father unknown. Rodion was raised by his mother; after graduating from parochial school in 1911, he left home and wandered and wandered for several years. Before World War I, Rodion worked as an assistant in a haberdashery store, as a clerk's apprentice, as a laborer, and as a farm laborer.

After recovery, he was enlisted in the 4th machine gun team of the 2nd Special Infantry Regiment, sent as part of the Russian Expeditionary Force to France, where he arrived in April 1916 and fought on the Western Front. Rodion Malinovsky was appointed head of the machine gun. And again, as at the front in Russia - repeated repulsion of enemy attacks, difficult life in the trenches. After the February Revolution in Russia, he was elected chairman of the company committee. In April 1917, in the battle for Fort Brimon, he received a bullet wound in his left arm, breaking the bone. After the uprising in the La Courtine camp, and treatment in a hospital in Bordeaux, he ended up working in the quarries. In January 1918, he voluntarily entered the Foreign Legion of the 1st Moroccan Division of the French Army and until November 1918 fought the Germans on the French front. He was twice awarded the French military cross - "Croix de Guerre" - the equivalent of a full St. George's bow. In November 1919, Malinovsky R.Ya. returned to Russia and joined the Red Army, participated in the Civil War as a platoon commander of the 27th Infantry Division on the Eastern Front against the troops of Admiral Kolchak.

After the end of the Civil War in December 1920, Malinovsky graduated from the junior command school. In the 20s, Rodion Yakovlevich went from platoon commander to battalion commander. In 1926 he joined the CPSU (b). In the certification characteristics for battalion commander R.Ya. Malinovsky can read the following: “He has a strong and clearly expressed will and energy. He is disciplined and decisive. He skillfully combines a comradely approach with firmness and severity towards his subordinates. He is close to the masses, sometimes even to the detriment of his official position. He is well-developed politically, and is not burdened by service. "He is a natural military talent. Thanks to perseverance and perseverance, he acquired the necessary knowledge in military affairs through self-training." In 1927-1930 studied at the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze. After graduation, he served as chief of staff of a cavalry regiment and held responsible positions in the headquarters of the North Caucasus and Belarusian military districts.

In 1935-1936 Malinovsky - Chief of Staff of the 3rd Cavalry Corps, commanded by G.K. Zhukov, then from 1936 was an assistant inspector of the army cavalry inspection of the headquarters of the Belarusian Military District. In 1937, Colonel Malinovsky R.Ya. was sent as a military adviser to Spain, participated in military operations under the pseudonym Malino Rodion Yakovlevich, assisted the republican command in organizing and conducting military operations, coordinating the actions of Soviet “volunteers”. He was awarded the Orders of Lenin and the Red Banner. Malinovsky was not affected by repression in the Red Army, although in 1937-1938. Materials were collected on him as a participant in a military-fascist conspiracy in the Red Army, but the case was not taken forward. After returning from Spain in 1939, Malinovsky was appointed senior teacher at the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze, and in March 1941, Major General Malinovsky R.Ya. sent to the Odessa Military District - commander of the 48th Rifle Corps.

He faced the war together with his corps on the border of the USSR along the river. Rod. Units of the 48th Corps did not retreat from the state border for several days, fought heroically, but the forces were too unequal. Having retreated to Nikolaev, Malinovsky’s troops found themselves surrounded, but in a bloody struggle with superior enemy forces, they managed to escape from the trap. In August 1941, Lieutenant General Malinovsky was appointed commander of the 6th Army, and in December - commander of the Southern Front. In January 1942, the Southern and Southwestern fronts pushed back the German front in the Kharkov area by 100 kilometers, but already in May 1942, in the same area, both Soviet fronts suffered a crushing defeat near Kharkov. In August 1942, to strengthen the defense in the Stalingrad direction, the 66th Army was created, reinforced with tank and artillery units. R.Ya. Malinovsky was appointed its commander.

In September-October 1942, army units, in cooperation with the 24th and 1st Guards armies, went on the offensive north of Stalingrad. They managed to pin down a significant part of the forces of the 6th German Army and thereby weaken its strike force attacking directly on the city. In October 1942, Malinovsky R.Ya. was deputy commander of the Voronezh Front. From November 1942, he commanded the 2nd Guards Army, which in December, in cooperation with the 5th Shock and 51st Armies, stopped and then defeated the troops of Army Group Don of Field Marshal Manstein, who were trying to relieve the Paulus group encircled at Stalingrad.

In February 1943, Headquarters appointed R.Ya. Malinovsky. commander of the Southern, and from March the South-Western fronts. The troops of General Malinovsky liberated Rostov, Donbass and Right Bank Ukraine, fighting the German Army Group A. Under his leadership, the Zaporozhye operation was prepared and successfully carried out from October 10 to October 14, 1943, during which Soviet troops, with a sudden night assault with the participation of 200 tanks and self-propelled artillery units, captured an important fascist defense center - Zaporozhye, which had a great influence on the defeat of the Melitopol grouping of German troops and contributed to the isolation of the Nazis in Crimea, who were cut off from their main forces. Then battles began for the further liberation of Right Bank Ukraine, where the 3rd Ukrainian Front, under the command of General Malinovsky R.Ya., had to act in close cooperation with the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, expanding the bridgehead in the area of ​​the Dnieper bend. Then, in cooperation with the troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front, they successfully carried out the Nikopol-Krivoy Rog operation. In the spring of 1944, troops of the 3rd Ukrainian carried out the Bereznegovato-Snigirevskaya and Odessa operations, crossed the Southern Bug River, and liberated Nikolaev and Odessa, the homeland of the front commander.

In May 1944, Malinovsky was appointed commander of the 2nd Ukrainian Front. In the summer of the same year, his troops, together with the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, under the command of F.I. Tolbukhin, secretly from the German command prepared and successfully carried out the Iasi-Kishinev operation. Its goal was the defeat of the enemy troops of Army Group “Southern Ukraine”, the liberation of Moldova and the withdrawal of Romania, an ally of Nazi Germany, from the war. This operation is recognized as one of the most brilliant during the Great Patriotic War and in the military biography of Army General R.Ya. Malinovsky - for her he received the title of Marshal of the Soviet Union in September 1944. Marshal Timoshenko S.K. wrote in 1944 to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Marshal of the Soviet Union, Comrade Stalin: “Today is the day of the defeat of the German-Romanian troops in Bessarabia and on the territory of Romania, west of the Prut River... The main German Kishinev group is surrounded and destroyed. Observing the skillful leadership of the troops, ... I consider it my duty to ask for your petition to the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR to confer the military rank of “Marshal of the Soviet Union” on Army General Malinovsky.” The Iasi-Chisinau operation was distinguished by its large scope, clearly organized interaction between the fronts, as well as various types of armed forces, stable and well-organized command and control. In addition, the collapse of the enemy’s defenses on the southern wing of the Soviet-German front changed the entire military-political situation in the Balkans.

In October 1944, troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front under the command of Malinovsky successfully carried out the Debrecen operation, during which Army Group South was seriously defeated. Enemy troops were driven out of Transylvania. The troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front took an advantageous position for the attack on Budapest and assisted the 4th Ukrainian Front in overcoming the Carpathians and liberating Transcarpathian Ukraine. Following the Debrecen operation, the troops of the Malinovsky Front, in cooperation with the 3rd Ukrainian Front, carried out the Budapest operation (October 1944 - February 1945), as a result of which the enemy group was eliminated and Budapest was liberated. The troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front fought on the outskirts of Budapest, and Malinovsky’s troops directly behind the city itself. Then the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, under the command of Marshal Malinovsky, together with the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, successfully carried out the Vienna operation (March-April 1945), during which they expelled the enemy from Western Hungary, liberated a significant part of Czechoslovakia, the eastern regions Austria, and its capital - Vienna. The Vienna operation accelerated the capitulation of German troops in Northern Italy.

After the surrender of Nazi Germany in July 1945, Malinovsky R.Ya. - commander of the troops of the Trans-Baikal Front, which dealt the main blow in the Manchurian strategic operation, which ended in the complete defeat and surrender of the almost million-strong Japanese Kwantung Army. During the Soviet-Japanese War of 1945, Malinovsky R.Ya. again proved himself to be a talented commander. He precisely defined the tasks of all front armies and boldly and unexpectedly for the enemy decided to transfer the 6th Guards Tank Army across the Greater Khingan ridge. The Japanese command was confident that cars and tanks would not be able to overcome the mountains and gorges. And therefore they did not prepare defensive lines there. Japanese generals were shocked when they learned about the appearance of Soviet tanks from the Greater Khingan. The combat actions of the troops of the Trans-Baikal Front in this operation were distinguished by the skillful choice of the direction of the main attack, the bold use of tanks, the clear organization of interaction when conducting an offensive in separate isolated directions, and the extremely high pace of the offensive for that time. For the victory in the Soviet-Japanese War of 1945, Marshal Malinovsky was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and awarded the highest Soviet military order "Victory".

After the war, Malinovsky R.Ya. in 1945-1947 - Commander of the Transbaikal-Amur Military District. Since 1947, Commander-in-Chief of the troops in the Far East. Marshal Malinovsky, when he was appointed after the war as Commander-in-Chief of the Far East troops I.V. Stalin described him as a “cold-blooded, balanced, calculating person who makes mistakes less often than others.” Since 1946, Malinovsky has been a permanent deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Since 1952, candidate member, since 1956, member of the CPSU Central Committee. In 1953-1956. Commander of the Far Eastern Military District. Since March 1956, First Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR and Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces. October 26, 1957 Marshal Malinovsky R.Ya. became the Minister of Defense of the USSR, replacing G.K. Zhukova in this post. At the October plenum of the CPSU Central Committee in 1957, where the issue of removing G.K. Zhukov from the leadership of the country's armed forces, Malinovsky made a sharply accusatory and largely unfair speech against him. As Minister of Defense of the USSR, Malinovsky did a lot to strengthen the Armed Forces and improve the country's security. In 1964, he actively supported the participants in the “palace coup” who advocated the removal of N.S. Khrushchev. from the post of First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee and replacing him with L.I. Brezhnev. After that, until his death, he remained at the head of the Soviet armed forces and enjoyed significant influence in the country's leadership.

Malinovsky spoke two languages: Spanish and French. Rodion Yakovlevich is the author of the following books: “Soldiers of Russia”, “The Angry Whirlwinds of Spain”; under his leadership, “Iasi-Chisinau Cannes”, “Budapest – Vienna – Prague”, “Final” and other works were written. He constantly took care of the education of military personnel: “We need the military intelligentsia like air now. Not just highly educated officers, but people who have mastered a high culture of mind and heart, a humanistic worldview. Modern weapons of enormous destructive power cannot be entrusted to a person who has only skilled, "steady hands. You need a sober head, capable of foreseeing consequences and a heart capable of feeling - that is, a powerful moral instinct. These are the necessary and, I would like to think, sufficient conditions," the marshal wrote in the 60s. Colleagues retained warm memories of Rodion Yakovlevich: “Our commander was a demanding, but very fair person. And in simple human communication he was very charming. Many remember his smile. It did not appear often, was never on duty and greatly changed his face - in him "Something childish, boyish, and simple-minded appeared. Rodion Yakovlevich had a wonderful sense of humor - you could feel a real Odessa resident in him. He well understood that in a difficult situation a release was necessary and knew how to relieve tension with a joke, without affecting anyone's pride." Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky died on March 31, 1967. He was buried in Moscow in the Kremlin wall.

M Alinovsky Rodion Yakovlevich - commander of the Trans-Baikal Front; Minister of Defense of the USSR, Marshal of the Soviet Union.

Born on November 10 (22), 1898 in the city of Odessa (now Ukraine). Mother is a seamstress and father is unknown. Ukrainian. In 1911 he graduated from the parochial school in the village of Klishchevo (now Vinnitsa region of Ukraine). In 1911 until August 1913 he worked as a farm laborer for the landowner Yaroshinsky, in 1913-1914 he was a weigher at the Odessa-Tovarnaya station, then an apprentice clerk in an Odessa haberdashery store. In 1914, he persuaded soldiers going to the front to take him on a military train, after which he volunteered for the machine gun team of the 256th Elisavetgrad Infantry Regiment.

Participant of the First World War as part of this regiment on the Western Front. Private. For the battle at Kavalvari he received his first military award - the St. George Cross of the 4th degree and the rank of corporal. In the battles near Smorogon he was seriously wounded in the leg and back in October 1915. He was treated for a long time in a hospital in Kazan. Then he was a squad commander of the 6th company in the 1st reserve machine gun regiment (Oranienbaum). From the end of December 1915, he served in the special purpose marching machine gun team of the 2nd regiment of the 1st brigade (Samara). In January 1916, he enlisted in the Russian expeditionary force in France, where he arrived through China, the Pacific and Indian oceans, and the Suez Canal in April 1916. He was the commander of the machine gun crew of the 2nd Infantry Regiment of the 1st Russian Brigade. After the February Revolution in Russia, he was elected chairman of the company committee. In April 1917, he was again seriously wounded in the arm with bone fragmentation. He lay in the hospital for a long time and did not take part in the famous uprising of Russian brigades in the La Curtin camp in September 1917, but was arrested as a suspect in the preparation of this uprising. After the disarmament of the Russian brigades - forced labor.

From January 1918 - in the foreign legion of the 1st Moroccan Division of the French Army: gunner, chief of the machine gun. He fought until the surrender of Germany, took part in repelling the German offensive in Picardy, and the general offensive of the Allied armies in the fall of 1918. In 1918 he was awarded the French Military Cross with silver star. He had a military rank - corporal in the French army.

Since January 1919, he was in a camp of Russian soldiers near the city of Suzana (France), and barely avoided being sent to the White Army by General A.I. Denikin. In August 1919 he was sent to Russia, and in October of the same year he arrived in Vladivostok with a party of Russian soldiers. Avoiding mobilization into the army A.V. Kolchak, with great difficulty reached Omsk, crossed the front line in November and was almost shot by the first Red Army unit they encountered - Red Army soldiers of the 240th Tver Infantry Regiment of the 27th Infantry Division of the 5th Army (during the search, French orders and medals were discovered) . However, after reviewing the situation by the regiment commander, he was released.

With a group of previously detained soldiers, who were making their way out of France with him, in the coming days, in November 1919, he joined the Red Army. Enlisted as a machine gun instructor in the same 240th Tver Rifle Regiment of the 27th Infantry Division. Participant in the Civil War on the Eastern Front against the troops of A.V. Kolchak. Participated in the Omsk, Novonikolayevsk and Krasnoyarsk offensive operations. In January 1920, he became seriously ill with typhus (he was treated in hospitals in Mariinsk and Tomsk). Upon recovery, from May 1920 he was a cadet at the school for training junior command staff of the 35th Separate Rifle Brigade (Minusinsk).

From August 1920 - chief of the machine gun of the 137th separate railway defense battalion, from December 3, 1920 to December 1921 - chief of the machine gun, from February 1921 - chief of the machine gun team of the 2nd company of the 246th rifle (then 3rd Siberian rifle) regiment in Transbaikalia. In 1921 he fought against the gangs of General Ungern in Transbaikalia.

After the end of the Civil War, from December 1921 - assistant chief of the machine gun team, and from December 17, 1921 to August 1, 1923 - chief of the machine gun team of the 309th Infantry (from August 1922 - 104th Infantry) Regiment of the 35th Infantry Division in Irkutsk. From August 1, 1923 - assistant battalion commander of the same regiment. Since November 1923 - battalion commander of the 243rd Infantry Regiment of the 81st Infantry Division (Kaluga). Since 1926 - member of the CPSU(b)/CPSU.

In 1927-1930, he was a student at the main faculty of the M.V. Frunze Military Academy. He spoke French and Spanish. From May 1930 to January 1931 - chief of staff of the 67th Caucasian Cavalry Regiment of the 10th Cavalry Division. From January to February 1931 - assistant to the chief of the 1st department of the headquarters of the North Caucasus Military District. From February 15, 1931 to March 14, 1933 - assistant to the chief of the 3rd sector of the 1st department of the headquarters of the Belarusian Military District. From March 14, 1933 to January 10, 1935 - head of the 2nd sector of the same department. From January 10, 1935 to June 19, 1936 - chief of staff of the 3rd Cavalry Corps. From June 19, 1936 to September 1939 - on staff work in the Belarusian Military District: assistant cavalry inspector of the district in the operational department.

From January 1937 to May 1938 - on a special mission. He participated in the Spanish Civil War on the side of the Republican government under the pseudonym Colonel Malino as a military adviser. Participant in the battles of Majadahonda, the Jarama, the defense of Madrid, and the battle of Gualadajara. For military distinctions he was awarded the Orders of Lenin and the Red Banner.

From September 1939 to March 1941 – senior lecturer at the Department of Staff Services at the M.V. Frunze Military Academy. He prepared a Ph.D. thesis on the topic: “The Aragonese operation, March-April 1938,” but did not have time to defend it.

From March to August 1941 - commander of the 48th Rifle Corps of the Odessa Military District on the USSR border along the Prut River. Participant of the Great Patriotic War since June 1941. The 48th Rifle Corps under the command of R.Ya. Malinovsky took part in a difficult border battle along the Prut River.

From August 25 to December 1941 - commander of the 6th Army. The army defended the line along the left bank of the Dnieper, north-west of Dnepropetrovsk as part of the Southern Front. From September 29 to November 4, 1941, as part of the Southwestern Front, she fought during the Donbass defensive operation.

From December 24, 1941 to July 28, 1942 - commander of the Southern Front. He took part in the independent Barvenkovo-Lozov offensive operation (January 18-31, 1942), the Kharkov battle (May 12-29, 1942), and the Voroshilovograd-Shakhty defensive operation (July 7-24, 1942).

From July to August 1942 - first deputy commander of the North Caucasus Front. From August 27 to October 1942 - commander of the 66th Army, first as part of the reserve of the Supreme High Command Headquarters, and from September 30 - as part of the Don Front. Participant in the defensive battle on the near approaches to Stalingrad and directly in the city (September 30 - October 1942). From October 14 to November 1942 - deputy commander of the Voronezh Front. From November 29, 1942 to February 1943 - commander of the 2nd Guards Army of the Supreme High Command Headquarters, from December 15 as part of the Stalingrad, and from January 1, 1943 - the Southern Front. During the Stalingrad strategic offensive operation (from November 19, 1942 to February 2, 1943), he defeated a group of troops of Field Marshal Manstein, who were trying to relieve the troops of Field Marshal Paulus encircled in Stalingrad. Army troops operated at the turn of the Myshkova River. Here they played a decisive role in the Kotelnikov offensive operation (December 12-30, 1942), repelling an enemy attack, and from December 24, going on the offensive, forced the enemy to retreat to the south. Then in the independent Rostov offensive operation (February 5-18, 1943). Participant in the liberation of Rostov.

From February to March 1943 - commander of the Southern Front. From March 22 to October 1943 - commander of the Southwestern Front. Front troops from July 17 to 27, 1943 successfully carried out the Izyum-Barvenkovo ​​independent offensive operation, and from August 13 to September 22 participated in the Donbass offensive operation (Barvenkovo-Pavlograd operation). Under his leadership, the Zaporozhye operation (October 10-14, 1943) was prepared and successfully carried out as part of the Lower Dnieper offensive operation. The troops captured an important enemy defense center - the city of Zaporozhye, which had a great influence on the defeat of the Melitopol group of German troops and the isolation of the Germans in the Crimea.

From October 20, 1943 to May 1944 - commander of the 3rd Ukrainian Front. Front troops, together with the 2nd Ukrainian Front, significantly expanded the bridgehead in the area of ​​the Dnieper bend. From January 30 to February 29, the Nikopol-Krivoy Rog operation was carried out, and from March 6 to 18, the Bereznegovato-Snigirevskaya operation; from March 26 to April 14, 1944, the Odessa operation was carried out as part of the Dnieper-Carpathian offensive operation. Participated in the crossing of the Southern Bug River and the liberation of the cities of Nikolaev and Odessa.

From May 15, 1944 to June 1945 - commander of the 2nd Ukrainian Front. From August 20 to 29, 1944, front troops, together with the 3rd Ukrainian Front, secretly prepared and successfully carried out the Iasi-Kishenev offensive operation. Soviet troops defeated the main forces of the German group “Southern Ukraine”, liberated Moldova and reached the Romanian-Hungarian and Bulgarian-Yugoslav borders. From August 30 to October 3, 1944, he carried out the Bucharest-Arad independent front-line operation, which played an important role in the liberation of Romania. From October 6 to October 28, 1944, he carried out the Debrecen independent front-line operation, during which Army Group South was seriously defeated and German troops were expelled from Transylvania. From October 29, 1944 to February 13, 1945, troops under the command of R.Ya. Malinovsky participated in the Budapest offensive operation, carrying out the Kecskemet and Szolnok-Budapest (October 29-December 10, 1944), Nyiregyhaza-Miskolczka (November 1-December 31, 1944 year), Esztergom-Komarno (December 20, 1944 to January 15, 1945) operation, carried out the assault on Budapest (December 27, 1944 to February 13, 1945). From January 12 to February 18, together with the 4th Ukrainian Front, the 27th, 40th, 53rd combined arms armies and the 8th Air Army of the 2nd Ukrainian Front took part in the West Carpathian offensive operation. From March 13 to April 4, 1945, front troops carried out the Győr operation, liberating a significant part of Czechoslovakia, the eastern regions of Austria, and from April 4-13, the assault on Vienna, carried out as part of the Vienna Strategic Offensive Operation. From May 6 to May 11, 1945, he carried out the Jihlava-Benešov offensive operation on the territory of Czechoslovakia.

Participant in the war with Japan. From July to October 1945 - commander of the Trans-Baikal Front.

In August 1945, troops of the Transbaikal Front under the command of R.Ya. Malinovsky dealt a crushing blow to the Japanese Kwantung Army (Manchurian Strategic Operation) and participated in the liberation of northeastern China and the Liaodong Peninsula. The combat operations of the front troops were distinguished by the skillful choice of the direction of the main attack, the bold use of tank armies in the first echelon of the front, the clear organization of interaction when conducting an offensive in disparate directions, and the extremely high pace of the offensive for that time.

U Order of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated September 8, 1945 to the Marshal of the Soviet Union Malinovsky Rodion Yakovlevich awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.

After the war, from October 1945 to May 1947, he was commander of the Trans-Baikal-Amur Military District. From May 1947 to April 1953 - Commander-in-Chief of the troops in the Far East. From April 1953 to March 1956 - commander of the Far Eastern Military District. From March 1956 to October 1957 - Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces - First Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR. From October 26, 1957 to March 31, 1967 - Minister of Defense of the USSR.

"IN in connection with the sixtieth anniversary of the birth of the Minister of Defense of the USSR, Marshal of the Soviet Union, Hero of the Soviet Union Malinovsky R.Ya. and noting his services to the Soviet state and the Armed Forces of the USSR", by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated November 22, 1958, Marshal of the Soviet Union Malinovsky Rodion Yakovlevich awarded the second Gold Star medal.

Member of the CPSU Central Committee from February 1956 to March 1967, candidate member of the CPSU Central Committee from October 1952 to February 1956. Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 2nd-7th convocations (in 1946-1967) and deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR of the 5th convocation.

Author of a number of works on the construction of the Armed Forces and the art of war, including articles “The border guards of Transbaikalia fulfilled their duty to the Motherland,” “The Battle for Hungary,” “In the battles for the liberation of Soviet Ukraine,” “The Road of Victory,” “A Significant Day,” “The onslaught of the 2nd Guards”, “The most important condition for the combat effectiveness of troops”, “The Great Russian commander” (About Suvorov A.V.), “From the memories of the Iasi-Kishinev operation (August-September 1944)”, “2nd Ukrainian Front in the struggle for the liberation of Czechoslovakia”, “Twentieth anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War”, “Keep the glory of the fathers”, “Vital issues of education of personnel of the Armed Forces of the USSR”, “Revolution in military affairs and the tasks of the military press”, “Moral and psychological preparation warriors in modern conditions" and others.

Lived in Moscow. Died March 31, 1967. He was buried on Red Square in Moscow. An urn with ashes is installed in the Kremlin wall.

Colonel (1936);
brigade commander (07/15/1938);
Major General (06/04/1940);
Lieutenant General (11/9/1941);
Colonel General (02/12/1943);
General of the Army (04/28/1943);
Marshal of the Soviet Union (09/10/1944).

Awarded the highest military order "Victory" (04/26/1945 - No. 8), 5 Orders of Lenin (07/17/1937, 11/6/1941, 02/21/1945, 09/8/1945, 11/22/1958), 3 Orders of the Red Banner (10/22/1937, 3.11.1944, 15.11.1950), 2 Orders of Suvorov, 1st degree (28.01.1943, 19.03.1944), Order of Kutuzov, 1st degree (17.09.1943), 9 medals of the USSR (including “For the Defense of Stalingrad” , “For the defense of the Caucasus”, “For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945”, “For the capture of Budapest”, “For the capture of Vienna”, “For the victory over Japan”), 33 foreign awards (Mongolia - orders : Sukhbaatar (1961), Red Banner of Battle (1945), 2 medals; Czechoslovakia - orders: star and sign of the White Lion 1st class (1945), White Lion “For Victory” 1st class (1945), Military cross 1939 (1945), 2 medals; USA - Order of the Legion of Merit, Commander-in-Chief degree (1946); France - Order and badge of the Legion of Honor 2nd class (Grand Officer) (1945), Military Cross (1945), three Military Crosses 1914 year (all in 1918); Romania - orders: “Defense of the Motherland” 1st degree (1950), 2nd degree (1950), 3rd degree (1950), medal; Hungary - orders: star and badge of the Hungarian Republic, 1st class (1947), "For services to the Hungarian People's Republic" 1st class (1950, 1965), Hungarian Freedom 1st class (1946); Indonesia - orders: “Star of Indonesia” 2nd class (1963), “Star of Valor” (1962); Bulgaria – medal; China - star and badge of the Order of the Shining Banner, 1st class (1946), medal; Morocco - star and badge of the Order of Military Merit, 1st class (1965); DPRK - Order of the State Banner, 1st degree (1948), 2 medals; GDR - medal "Brotherhood in Arms" 1st degree (1966); Yugoslavia - People's Hero of Yugoslavia (05/27/1964), Order of the Partisan Star, 1st degree (1956); Mexico - Cross of Independence (1964).

A bronze bust of R.Ya. Malinovsky was installed in his homeland - in the hero city of Odessa. In Moscow, memorial plaques were installed on the buildings of the Russian Ministry of Defense and the Combined Arms Academy of the Russian Armed Forces. The Guards Tank Division and streets in Kyiv, Chisinau, Moscow, Sevastopol, Kharkov, and Odessa are named after him. The Military Academy of Armored Forces bore the name of R.Ya. Malinovsky in 1967-1998.

Essays:
Stand vigilantly to protect the world. – M.: Voenizdat, 1962;
The greatness of victory. – M., 1965;
Soldiers of Russia - M., 1969.

Z The intention of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command to defeat the fascist army group "Southern Ukraine" was purposeful and decisive. It stemmed from the situation that had developed by that time and required equally thoughtful, proactive execution from Soviet commanders. The operation had a major strategic purpose: to completely liberate Moldova, withdraw Romania from the war and turn it against Germany, against its former ally.

The commander of the "Southern Ukraine" group, Nazi Colonel General Friesner, had 51 units at his disposal: 25 German and 26 Romanian. The armies of this group had strong defensive lines between the Prut and Seret rivers, fortified areas such as Tyrgu-Frumossky, and fortifications that locked the Foksha Gate, an extensive network of pillboxes on hard-to-reach natural lines. They had more than 6,200 guns, 545 tanks, 786 aircraft. The average operational density of enemy troops reached ten kilometers per division, and in the most important directions, such as Yasskoe, Chisinau, Tiraspol - up to seven kilometers.

In the foothills of the Carpathians, in the area between the Seret and Prut, Prut and Dniester rivers, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front were located, commanded by Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky. They were opposed by the main force of “Southern Ukraine” - 30 divisions and brigades, and in the second line the enemy held 13 divisions, of which three were tank and two were infantry. Against the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, commanded by Army General F.I. Tolbukhin, the forces of Dumitrescu’s army group were located.

R.Ya. Malinovsky arrived to the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front at a time when the fighting on the Tirgu-Frumos-Iasi line had not yet subsided. The enemy's blows were very sensitive at times. There was a threat that the enemy could recapture the heights in the Iasi area and put Soviet troops in a very unfavorable operational and especially tactical position. It was possible, of course, to give a decisive rebuff to the enemy, as they say, to “calm down” him, and there were forces for this. But Rodion Yakovlevich did not want to do that. Using the heights in front of Iasi as the starting point for a new offensive operation would be a formulaic solution that the enemy could assume. But you can’t give up the heights either; This means that it was necessary to deceive the enemy, to convince him that it was from here that the Soviet troops would launch their offensive.

For this purpose, the 5th Guards Combined Arms Army, the 2nd and 5th Tank Armies and several divisions were sent to the Headquarters reserve. The enemy had the impression that the front was weakening, and so much so that we did not even have the strength to respond with a blow to the counterattacks, that the Soviet command was straining its last efforts to hold on to the heights near Iasi. And the Germans began to boldly transfer reserves from Army Group “Southern Ukraine” to the Belarusian direction.

Rodion Yakovlevich devoted himself entirely to preparing a deep frontal strike, which was supposed to ensure the penetration of Soviet troops into Central Romania. The interaction of units and types of troops was especially carefully worked out, and ways for the most effective use of military equipment were outlined. Rodion Yakovlevich directed his subordinates to search for new solutions that were unexpected for the enemy. He demanded clarity, audacity, initiative, and a reasonable, not formulaic, approach to organizing the operation. So, for example, it was decided to abandon air preparation for an attack, and to begin air combat operations with the infantry going on the offensive, that is, with air support. What caused this? The main line of defense of the fascist troops was reliably suppressed by our artillery. For every kilometer of the front breakthrough, 288 artillery and mortar barrels were concentrated. But the third line of defense, cut into the rocky Mare ridge, needed thorough, time-consuming aerial treatment: there were more than a hundred bunkers here alone.

An experienced military leader, Malinovsky knew, of course, that the surprise of a strike decides half the success, doubles forces, introduces uncertainty into the enemy’s ranks, and weakens his will to resist. But how can a huge mass of troops be regrouped in a short time and, most importantly, hidden from the enemy? How to hide the direction of the main attack? How to mislead the fascists?

The area in the zone where the main attack was carried out was open and completely visible to the enemy. Frontline engineers supplied 250 thousand square meters of horizontal masks over a distance of 20 kilometers. This made it possible to hide the regrouping of our troops from enemy air observers. At the same time, in the auxiliary direction, in the Pashkani area, 40 false areas of false concentration of artillery and mortars were built. Thousands of lightly camouflaged mock guns created the impression that the attack was being prepared right here. For the same purpose, in the area of ​​the fortified Tirgu-Frumosa strip, three days before the start of the assault, artillery systematically destroyed enemy pillboxes.

During these same days, 30 kilometers from the front line, in the rear of our troops, units preparing for the assault were training day and night. On specially equipped terrain, similar to the one on which they were to advance, soldiers and officers learned the art of assault. Rodion Yakovlevich appeared at the training sites more than once, checked the implementation of his orders, talked with soldiers and officers and insistently demanded to study for real. In difficult exercises, maneuvers on the battlefield, the speed of action of assault groups, tank attacks and defense against them, crossing water lines, blocking pillboxes, and combat tactics in the mountains and on rough terrain were practiced.

For ten days and nights, forces exceeding those of the enemy were concentrated on the direction of the main attack.

From documents subsequently captured, it became known that the German high command until the last moment believed that only a local offensive was possible in the sector of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts. This is also confirmed by many documents and army groups "Southern Ukraine". Thus, on August 9, the army group’s combat log wrote: “...directly at the front, no signs of an impending Russian offensive can be found.”

Only a day before the assault, the Nazis decided to transfer additional troops to the western bank of the Prut River. But, as events showed, it was already too late and this did not change anything in the balance of power. In the morning, artillery shelling began, everything was shrouded in smoke and dust. People rushed to the attack along with the assaulting self-propelled guns and tanks. A short hand-to-hand fight in the trenches, the first prisoners scared to death and success. By noon, the troops had passed the first line of defense and, having crossed Bakhlui on the move, began fighting on the southern bank of the river, on the second line of defense.

On August 20, at two o'clock in the afternoon, the 6th Tank Army under the leadership of General A.G. Kravchenko, following air strikes, rushes into a breakthrough and by the end of the day, breaking the stubborn resistance of the fascist infantry and tanks, approaches the Mare ridge - the third defensive line.

The Nazis fought with ferocity, and in some places the depot reached hand-to-hand combat. The enemy still hoped to stop the Soviet soldiers. But everything was in vain: on the first day of the operation, the front was broken through 30 kilometers. Throughout the second day, August 21, there were stubborn battles with the enemy. By noon Iasi was liberated. The reserves sent by the enemy to help the Iasi garrison were destroyed by Soviet soldiers on the approach to the city. The breakthrough expanded along the front to 65 kilometers, and in depth to 26. Our troops entered the operational space without losing the offensive impulse: favorable conditions were created for completing the encirclement of the Iasi-Kishinev group and a rapid advance towards the Focsha Gate.

So the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts closed the encirclement ring of 18 German divisions in the Chisinau region. Our troops are moving deeper and deeper into enemy lines. The guardsmen of the 7th Army capture the Tyrgu-Frumos fortified area, the Don Cossacks of General Gorshkov's corps with a dashing blow clear the city of Roman from the fascists, and the tankers of General Kravchenko clear the city of Byrlad. The breakthrough reaches 250 kilometers along the front and 80 kilometers in depth.

By the end of August 23, the Yassy-Kishinev group had a narrow passage from the encirclement in the Khushchi area, where tankers of the 18th Corps were already fighting. This is where the Nazis rushed on the night of August 24th. They were met by fire from attack aircraft and tanks. The first to close the encirclement were the tank company of senior lieutenant Sinitsyn from the 2nd Ukrainian Front and the tank crews of officers Shakirov and Zherebtsov from the 3rd Ukrainian Front. By the morning of August 25, rifle units arrived and began fighting to destroy and capture the encircled fascist troops. Large groups of the enemy broke through into the rear of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, but parts of the second echelons of troops and even the rear units of the front boldly and decisively entered the battle; many fascist groups managed to penetrate deep into the west. The last group of up to seven thousand people was destroyed in the foothills of the Carpathians. The enemy never escaped from the cauldron: he was either captured or destroyed.

In those days, the Soviet Information Bureau reported that on September 2 and 3, our troops in the Bacau region liquidated the last group of Nazi troops encircled during the Iasi-Kishinev operation. As a result of offensive operations carried out in the south from August 20 to September 3, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front under the command of Army General Malinovsky and the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front under the command of Army General Tolbukhin completely surrounded and eliminated the 6th and 8th German armies that were part of the group of German troops "Southern Ukraine", commanded by Colonel General Friessner.

E that battle and other operations carried out by Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky prepared him to participate in an operation of large strategic scale in the Far East. As a result of its implementation, the million-strong Kwantung Army was defeated in a short time and militaristic Japan unconditionally surrendered.

The headquarters of the Supreme High Command demanded: quickly break through the enemy's defenses on both of its strategic flanks, develop an offensive in depth, encircling and destroying the main forces of the Japanese in the fields of Manchuria.

Several dissecting strikes were also envisaged: from Khabarovsk along the Songhua River to Harbin, from the region of Blagoveshchensk and Transbaikalia to Qiqihar, and also from the south-eastern part of the MPR to Kalgan. The Pacific Navy was supposed to operate on the enemy's sea communications in landing operations against enemy bases. Marshal of the Soviet Union A.M. was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Far East troops. Vasilevsky, the troops of the Transbaikal Front were commanded by Marshal R.Ya. Malinovsky, troops of the 1st Far Eastern - Marshal K.A. Meretskov, 2nd Far Eastern Army General M.A. Purkaev.

A major role in the defeat of the Kwantung Army, this striking force of fascist Japan, was assigned to the troops of the Transbaikal Front, which were separated from the enemy by hundreds of kilometers of waterless desert, fenced off by the untrodden passes of the Greater Khingan. In addition to these difficulties, off-road conditions were added.

There are no roads... Japanese gigs can't even get through... Where can Russian tanks get over the ridge! “They’ll get stuck,” the samurai asserted self-confidently. The Japanese were calm about this direction. It seemed to them that it was reliably covered by deserts and rocks, abysses and swampy valleys of the Greater Khingan.

Since the enemy is not waiting for us in this place, it means that we will deliver a quick strike here, in the shortest direction from the Tomak-Bulak ledge to the Central Manchurian Valley, with access to Changchun and Mukden...

Everyone lived by this decision of the commander. With great enthusiasm, Rodion Yakovlevich began preparing an interesting and bold operation, so different from the operations he carried out on the battlefields of Europe. How to increase the permeability of moving joints? What awaits the equipment in the mountains of Greater Khingan? Are the trail and road maps and terrain maps accurate? Will the cavalry of Pliev and the Mongolian People's Republic give up before sandstorms and the deadly heat of the deserts? Will the horses withstand the accelerated pace? Will the aviation cope with the delivery of fuel to the voracious tanks of General Kravchenko? They would have time before the onset of heavy rains, when everything gets wet, crawls, turns into a thick viscous swamp...

Commander Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky solves a lot of large and small issues. He organizes the creative work of all subordinates. Communists and Komsomol members, political workers under his leadership are preparing soldiers for a rush through the dead desert and unfamiliar mountain passes, unprecedented in the history of wars. Soviet soldiers need to make a rapid march and immediately attack the enemy. It is necessary to conduct military equipment through deserts and mountains, gorges and abysses.

The details of the operation are carefully worked out. Rodion Yakovlevich is used to doing everything ahead of schedule. He likes to have a certain reserve of time for checking, clarification, and finishing touches. There are no milkweeds in battle - everything is important, and, as they say, even a poorly wrapped footcloth can prevent a warrior from carrying out a combat order. Preparations are nearing completion. No wonder the commander was in a hurry. Suddenly an order comes: to perform a week earlier than the scheduled date! Everything is compressed to the limit, everything is subordinated to one thing - to start the operation, to start quickly on August 9.

And so, on a wide strip of desert on this August day, throwing mobile formations forward, the great army rushed into the historical march. Two days later, the mobile troops of the generals (Kravchenko and Plieva appeared on the western slopes of the Greater Khingan. They quickly reached the rear of the Kwantung Army, descended on a wide front into the plain, muddy from the rains that had begun, and forestalled the Japanese troops. In three days, the armies of the Transbaikal Front advanced deeply from the west to Manchuria and created all the conditions for completing the maneuver to encircle the Kwantung Army.

The enemy did not expect such a devastating maneuver. The command of the Japanese army tried to organize resistance in order to weaken the military onslaught, delay the advance of Soviet troops, and regroup their forces. But it was all in vain!

Here are the troops of Marshal R.Ya. Malinovsky is already reaching the capital of Manchuria, Changchun, and breaking into the industrial center of Mukden. They defeated the Khingan, Thessaloniki, and Hailar enemy groups, occupied the city of Zhekhe, and stormed Kalgan. They capture the ports of Dalniy and Port Arthur and reach Liaodong Bay. At this time, soldiers of the 2nd Far Eastern Front, interacting with the sailors of the Amur Military Flotilla, act on the approaches to the city of Harbin, and the main forces of the 1st Far Eastern Front are approaching Girin from two directions.

The Kwantung Army was deprived of the opportunity to receive reserves and ammunition through Port Arthur and Dalny; it was also cut off from the main reserves located in Northern China. By August 30, 1945, the Kwantung Army was largely defeated. Soviet soldiers and commanders wrote another wonderful victorious page in the history of the Soviet Armed Forces.

Marshal Malinovsky Rodion Yakovlevich

Malinovsky Marshal war career

Malinovsky Rodion Yakovlevich was born on November 22, 1898 in the city of Odessa into a poor family. Illegitimate son of a peasant woman, father unknown. Rodion was raised by his mother; after graduating from parochial school in 1911, he left home and wandered and wandered for several years. Before World War I, Rodion worked as an assistant in a haberdashery store, as a clerk's apprentice, as a laborer, and as a farm laborer. In 1914, military trains departed from the Odessa-Tovarnaya station for the war. He climbed into the carriage, hid, and the soldiers discovered the future marshal only on the way to the front. So Rodion Malinovsky became a private in the machine gun team of the 256th Elizavetrad Infantry Regiment of the 64th Infantry Division - a carrier of cartridges in a machine gun company. He fought in East Prussia and Poland. Many times he repelled attacks by German infantry and cavalry. In March 1915, for his distinction in battles, Rodion Malinovsky received his first military award - the 4th degree St. George Cross and was promoted to corporal. And in October 1915, near Smorgon (Poland), Rodion was seriously wounded: during a grenade explosion, two fragments got stuck in his back near the spine, the third in his leg, then he was evacuated to the rear.

After recovery, he was enlisted in the 4th machine gun team of the 2nd Special Infantry Regiment, sent as part of the Russian Expeditionary Force to France, where he arrived in April 1916 and fought on the Western Front. Rodion Malinovsky was appointed head of the machine gun. And again, as at the front in Russia - repeated repulsion of enemy attacks, difficult life in the trenches. After the February Revolution in Russia, he was elected chairman of the company committee. In April 1917, in the battle for Fort Brimon, he received a bullet wound in his left arm, breaking the bone. After the uprising in the La Courtine camp, and treatment in a hospital in Bordeaux, he ended up working in the quarries. In January 1918, he voluntarily entered the Foreign Legion of the 1st Moroccan Division of the French Army and until November 1918 fought the Germans on the French front. He was twice awarded the French military cross - "Croix de Guerre" - the equivalent of a full St. George's bow. In November 1919, Malinovsky R.Ya. returned to Russia and joined the Red Army, participated in the Civil War as a platoon commander of the 27th Infantry Division on the Eastern Front against the troops of Admiral Kolchak.

After the end of the Civil War in December 1920, Malinovsky graduated from the junior command school. In the 20s, Rodion Yakovlevich went from platoon commander to battalion commander. In 1926 he joined the CPSU (b). In the certification characteristics for battalion commander R.Ya. Malinovsky can read the following: “He has a strong and clearly expressed will and energy. He is disciplined and decisive. He skillfully combines a comradely approach with firmness and severity towards his subordinates. He is close to the masses, sometimes even to the detriment of his official position. He is well-developed politically, and is not burdened by service. "He is a natural military talent. Thanks to perseverance and perseverance, he acquired the necessary knowledge in military affairs through self-training." In 1927-1930 studied at the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze. After graduation, he served as chief of staff of a cavalry regiment and held responsible positions in the headquarters of the North Caucasus and Belarusian military districts.

In 1935-1936 Malinovsky - Chief of Staff of the 3rd Cavalry Corps, commanded by G.K. Zhukov, then from 1936 was an assistant inspector of the army cavalry inspection of the headquarters of the Belarusian Military District. In 1937, Colonel Malinovsky R.Ya. was sent as a military adviser to Spain, participated in military operations under the pseudonym Malino Rodion Yakovlevich, assisted the republican command in organizing and conducting military operations, coordinating the actions of Soviet “volunteers”. He was awarded the Orders of Lenin and the Red Banner. Malinovsky was not affected by repression in the Red Army, although in 1937-1938. Materials were collected on him as a participant in a military-fascist conspiracy in the Red Army, but the case was not taken forward. After returning from Spain in 1939, Malinovsky was appointed senior teacher at the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze, and in March 1941, Major General Malinovsky R.Ya. sent to the Odessa Military District - commander of the 48th Rifle Corps.

He faced the war together with his corps on the border of the USSR along the river. Rod. Units of the 48th Corps did not retreat from the state border for several days, fought heroically, but the forces were too unequal. Having retreated to Nikolaev, Malinovsky’s troops found themselves surrounded, but in a bloody struggle with superior enemy forces, they managed to escape from the trap. In August 1941, Lieutenant General Malinovsky was appointed commander of the 6th Army, and in December - commander of the Southern Front. In January 1942, the Southern and Southwestern fronts pushed back the German front in the Kharkov area by 100 kilometers, but already in May 1942, in the same area, both Soviet fronts suffered a crushing defeat near Kharkov. In August 1942, to strengthen the defense in the Stalingrad direction, the 66th Army was created, reinforced with tank and artillery units. R.Ya. Malinovsky was appointed its commander.

In September-October 1942, army units, in cooperation with the 24th and 1st Guards armies, went on the offensive north of Stalingrad. They managed to pin down a significant part of the forces of the 6th German Army and thereby weaken its strike force attacking directly on the city. In October 1942, Malinovsky R.Ya. was deputy commander of the Voronezh Front. From November 1942, he commanded the 2nd Guards Army, which in December, in cooperation with the 5th Shock and 51st Armies, stopped and then defeated the troops of Army Group Don of Field Marshal Manstein, who were trying to relieve the Paulus group encircled at Stalingrad.

In February 1943, Headquarters appointed R.Ya. Malinovsky. commander of the Southern, and from March the South-Western fronts. The troops of General Malinovsky liberated Rostov, Donbass and Right Bank Ukraine, fighting the German Army Group A. Under his leadership, the Zaporozhye operation was prepared and successfully carried out from October 10 to 14, 1943, during which Soviet troops, with a sudden night assault with the participation of 200 tanks and self-propelled artillery units, captured an important fascist defense center - Zaporozhye, which had a great influence on the defeat of Melitopol grouping of German troops and contributed to the isolation of the Nazis in Crimea, who were cut off from their main forces. Then battles began for the further liberation of Right Bank Ukraine, where the 3rd Ukrainian Front, under the command of General Malinovsky R.Ya., had to act in close cooperation with the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, expanding the bridgehead in the area of ​​the Dnieper bend. Then, in cooperation with the troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front, they successfully carried out the Nikopol-Krivoy Rog operation. In the spring of 1944, troops of the 3rd Ukrainian carried out the Bereznegovato-Snigirevskaya and Odessa operations, crossed the Southern Bug River, and liberated Nikolaev and Odessa, the homeland of the front commander.

In May 1944, Malinovsky was appointed commander of the 2nd Ukrainian Front. In the summer of the same year, his troops, together with the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, under the command of F.I. Tolbukhin, secretly from the German command prepared and successfully carried out the Iasi-Kishinev operation. Its goal was the defeat of the enemy troops of Army Group “Southern Ukraine”, the liberation of Moldova and the withdrawal of Romania, an ally of Nazi Germany, from the war. This operation is recognized as one of the most brilliant during the Great Patriotic War and in the military biography of Army General R.Ya. Malinovsky - for her he received the title of Marshal of the Soviet Union in September 1944. Marshal Timoshenko S.K. wrote in 1944 to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Marshal of the Soviet Union, Comrade Stalin: “Today is the day of the defeat of the German-Romanian troops in Bessarabia and on the territory of Romania, west of the Prut River... The main German Kishinev group is surrounded and destroyed. Observing the skillful leadership of the troops, ... I consider it my duty to ask for your petition to the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR to confer the military rank of “Marshal of the Soviet Union” on Army General Malinovsky.” The Iasi-Chisinau operation was distinguished by its large scope, clearly organized interaction between the fronts, as well as various types of armed forces, stable and well-organized command and control. In addition, the collapse of the enemy’s defenses on the southern wing of the Soviet-German front changed the entire military-political situation in the Balkans.

In October 1944, troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front under the command of Malinovsky successfully carried out the Debrecen operation, during which Army Group South was seriously defeated. Enemy troops were driven out of Transylvania. The troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front took an advantageous position for the attack on Budapest and assisted the 4th Ukrainian Front in overcoming the Carpathians and liberating Transcarpathian Ukraine. Following the Debrecen operation, the troops of the Malinovsky Front, in cooperation with the 3rd Ukrainian Front, carried out the Budapest operation (October 1944 - February 1945), as a result of which the enemy group was eliminated and Budapest was liberated. The troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front fought on the outskirts of Budapest, and Malinovsky’s troops directly behind the city itself. Then the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, under the command of Marshal Malinovsky, together with the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, successfully carried out the Vienna operation (March-April 1945), during which they expelled the enemy from Western Hungary, liberated a significant part of Czechoslovakia, the eastern regions Austria, and its capital - Vienna. The Vienna operation accelerated the capitulation of German troops in Northern Italy.

After the surrender of Nazi Germany in July 1945, Malinovsky R.Ya. - commander of the troops of the Trans-Baikal Front, which dealt the main blow in the Manchurian strategic operation, which ended in the complete defeat and surrender of the almost million-strong Japanese Kwantung Army. During the Soviet-Japanese War of 1945, Malinovsky R.Ya. again proved himself to be a talented commander. He precisely defined the tasks of all front armies and boldly and unexpectedly for the enemy decided to transfer the 6th Guards Tank Army across the Greater Khingan ridge. The Japanese command was confident that cars and tanks would not be able to overcome the mountains and gorges. And therefore they did not prepare defensive lines there. Japanese generals were shocked when they learned about the appearance of Soviet tanks from the Greater Khingan. The combat actions of the troops of the Trans-Baikal Front in this operation were distinguished by the skillful choice of the direction of the main attack, the bold use of tanks, the clear organization of interaction when conducting an offensive in separate isolated directions, and the extremely high pace of the offensive for that time. For the victory in the Soviet-Japanese War of 1945, Marshal Malinovsky was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and awarded the highest Soviet military order "Victory".

After the war, Malinovsky R.Ya. in 1945-1947 - Commander of the Transbaikal-Amur Military District. Since 1947, Commander-in-Chief of the troops in the Far East. Marshal Malinovsky, when he was appointed after the war as Commander-in-Chief of the Far East troops I.V. Stalin described him as a “cold-blooded, balanced, calculating person who makes mistakes less often than others.” Since 1946, Malinovsky has been a permanent deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Since 1952, candidate member, since 1956, member of the CPSU Central Committee. In 1953-1956. Commander of the Far Eastern Military District. Since March 1956, First Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR and Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces. October 26, 1957 Marshal Malinovsky R.Ya. became the Minister of Defense of the USSR, replacing G.K. Zhukova in this post. At the October plenum of the CPSU Central Committee in 1957, where the issue of removing G.K. Zhukov from the leadership of the country's armed forces, Malinovsky made a sharply accusatory and largely unfair speech against him. As Minister of Defense of the USSR, Malinovsky did a lot to strengthen the Armed Forces and improve the country's security. In 1964, he actively supported the participants in the “palace coup” who advocated the removal of N.S. Khrushchev. from the post of First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee and replacing him with L.I. Brezhnev. After that, until his death, he remained at the head of the Soviet armed forces and enjoyed significant influence in the country's leadership.

Malinovsky spoke two languages: Spanish and French. Rodion Yakovlevich is the author of the following books: “Soldiers of Russia”, “The Angry Whirlwinds of Spain”; under his leadership, “Iasi-Chisinau Cannes”, “Budapest - Vienna - Prague”, “Final” and other works were written. He constantly took care of the education of military personnel: “We need the military intelligentsia like air now. Not just highly educated officers, but people who have mastered a high culture of mind and heart, a humanistic worldview.

Modern weapons of enormous destructive power cannot be entrusted to a person who has only skillful, steady hands. We need a sober head, capable of foreseeing consequences and a heart capable of feeling - that is, a powerful moral instinct. These are the necessary and, I would like to think, sufficient conditions,” the marshal wrote in the 60s. Colleagues retained warm memories of Rodion Yakovlevich: “Our commander was a demanding, but very fair person. And in simple human communication he was very charming. Many people remember his smile. She did not appear often, was never on duty and greatly changed his face - something childish, boyish, and simple-minded appeared in it. Rodion Yakovlevich had a wonderful sense of humor - he felt like a real Odessa citizen. He understood well that in a difficult situation a detente was necessary and knew how to relieve tension with a joke without affecting anyone’s pride.” R.Ya. Malinovsky died on March 31, 1967. He was buried in Moscow in the Kremlin wall.