Alexander Utvenko

Alexander Ivanovich Utvenko
Utvenko c. 1940
Native name	Александр Иванович Утвенко
Born	(1905-12-12)12 December 1905 Dyvin village, Korostyshiv Raion, Zhytomyr Oblast
Died	20 August 1963(1963-08-20) (aged 57)
Allegiance	Soviet Union
Service / branch	Red Army
Years of service	1924–1954
Rank	Lieutenant general
Commands	19th Rifle Division 33rd Guards Rifle Division 274th Rifle Division 31st Guards Rifle Corps 38th Guards Rifle Corps 65th Rifle Corps
Battles / wars	World War II Battle of Stalingrad Vienna Offensive Prague Offensive
Awards	Order of Lenin Order of the Red Banner (3) Order of Suvorov 2nd class Order of Kutuzov 2nd class Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky 2nd class

Alexander Ivanovich Utvenko (Russian: Александр Иванович Утвенко; 12 December 1905 – 20 August 1963) was a Red Army Lieutenant general. Utvenko became a Red Army officer in the interwar period and was given command of a division after the German invasion of the Soviet Union. He fought in the Battle of Smolensk (1941), the Yelnya Offensive and the Battle of Moscow.

In December 1941 Utvenko was wounded and after taking the Vystrel courses was given command of the 274th Rifle Division in May 1942. Utvenko took command of the 33rd Guards Rifle Division in August and led that division in the Battle of Stalingrad. In April 1943 he became commander of the 31st Guards Rifle Corps and led it in the Donbass Strategic Offensive (August 1943). In the spring of 1944, he began an accelerated course at the Military Academy of the General Staff. After graduating in early 1945 he became commander of the 38th Guards Rifle Corps which fought in the Vienna Offensive and Prague Offensive in the last months of the war. Postwar Utvenko continued to command the corps which in the summer of 1946 became an airborne unit. He graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff and became commander of the 65th Rifle Corps. During the early 1950s he served in positions at the Frunze Military Academy and retired in 1954. ^[1]