Fyodor Kharitonov
Fyodor Mikhaylovich Kharitonov (January 24, 1899 – May 28, 1943) was a Soviet military leader during World War II. He was born in the village of Vasilievskoye, Yaroslavl Governorate (now part of Rybinsk). He finished a local four-year school and joined the Red Army in 1919. He fought in the Russian Civil War and joined the Communist Party in 1918.
In 1941 he commanded the 2nd Airborne Corps. In the Great Patriotic War, he served as Deputy Chief of Staff of the Southern Front from July 1941, then as commander of the 9th Army of the Southern Front from September 1941. In 1942 he commanded the 6th Army of the Voronezh Front, later of the Southwestern Front. Under his command his forces took part in major operations including the Donbas–Rostov Defensive Operation, the Rostov Offensive (1941), the Battle of Stalingrad, the Ostrogozhsk–Rossosh Offensive, the Donbas Offensive, and the Kharkov Defensive.
He died on May 28, 1943, from a serious illness in Moscow, at age 44. The Yaroslavl Military Infantry School was named after him; a monument stands in Rybinsk by sculptor Matvey Manizer, and another monument on the Volga bank in his birthplace was erected in 2007. Streets in Yaroslavl and Rybinsk bear his name. His life inspired the story of Mark Kolosov and the 1973 film Comrade General (the protagonist’s name is changed to Kapitonov but is based on Kharitonov). He was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and the Order of Kutuzov, as well as the Jubilee Medal for 20 Years of the Red Army.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 05:32 (CET).