Mikhail Kirponos

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Mikhail Petrovich Kirponos (Кирпонос, Михаил Петрович) (January 12, 1892 — September 20, 1941) was a Soviet general of Ukrainian descent.

Mikhail Kirponos was in military since 1915 and took part in WWI. In 1917 he joined the Red Army, took part in Russian Civil War, and joined the Bolshevik party in 1918.

In 1927 he graduated from the Frunze Military Academy.

On March 21, 1940, he was awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union for his actions during the Soviet-Finnish War.

In February 1941 he was assigned commander of the Kiev Special Military District, which was transformed into the Southwestern Front at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War.

Kirponos was killed in an encircled pocket during the Battle of Kiev in 1941.

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