Ivan Chistyakov

Ivan Mikhailovich Chistyakov (; – 7 March 1979) was a Soviet Army colonel general and a Hero of the Soviet Union.

Chistyakov joined the Red Army during the Russian Civil War and rose from ordinary soldier to junior commander. He served in Dagestan during the 1920s and early 1930s before being transferred to the Soviet Far East, where he commanded a corps by the outbreak of Operation Barbarossa. Chistyakov was transferred to the Eastern Front in late 1941 and attained division and corps command during the Battle of Moscow. He commanded the 21st Army during the Battle of Stalingrad and continued to command it for the rest of the war as the 6th Guards Army. Chistyakov led the army in the Battle of Kursk and was made a Hero of the Soviet Union for his leadership of the army during Operation Bagration. After the end of the war in Europe, he was transferred to the Far East again to serve as the commander of the 25th Army, which occupied North Korea during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August 1945. Postwar, Chistyakov held several army commands before finishing his career with the Ground Forces inspectorate in the 1960s. Provided by Wikipedia