Ivan Chistyakov

Ivan Mikhailovich Chistyakov
Chistyakov in 1943
Born27 September [O.S. 14 September] 1900
Otrubnevo, Slavkovskoy volost, Kashinsky Uyezd, Tver Governorate, Russian Empire
Died7 March 1979(1979-03-07) (aged 78)
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Allegiance Soviet Union
Service / branchRed Army
Years of service1918–1968
RankColonel general
Commands
Battles / wars
AwardsHero of the Soviet Union

Ivan Mikhailovich Chistyakov (Russian: Иван Михайлович Чистяков; 27 September [O.S. 14 September] 1900 – 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.