Mikhail Alexandrovich Yenshin | |
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| Born | 3 December 1900 Smolensk, Russian Empire |
| Died | 6 February 1984 (aged 83) Moscow, Soviet Union |
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| Rank | Lieutenant general |
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Mikhail Alexandrovich Yenshin (Russian: Михаил Александрович Еншин; 3 December 1900 – 6 February 1984) was a Soviet Army lieutenant general and a Hero of the Soviet Union.
Yenshin joined the Red Guards in late 1917 and was among those absorbed into the Red Army upon the creation of the latter, serving as a sapper during the Polish–Soviet War after a brief period in reserve. After another transfer to the reserve in 1922, he was drafted into the Red Army and sent to the Border Troops, rising to command a border detachment by the end of the 1930s. Seconded to the army during the Winter War and decorated for his actions, Yenshin graduated from an NKVD school and taught at the latter until the beginning of Operation Barbarossa.
After commanding the 268th and 291st Rifle Divisions in the Siege of Leningrad, Yenshin briefly led the 140th Rifle Division in early 1943 but was wounded and evacuated to a hospital. After recovery, he took command of the 307th Rifle Division just before it fought in the Battle of Kursk, leading it until June 1944 with a brief temporary corps command. Transferred to command the 362nd Rifle Division after he summarily executed one of his subordinate officers, Yenshin led the 362nd for the rest of the war and was made a Hero of the Soviet Union for his leadership of the division during the Vistula–Oder Offensive in January 1945. Postwar, he commanded a succession of divisions and a corps, finishing his career in 1958 as head of the combat training department of the Soviet Airborne Troops.