Mikhail Fedorovich Lukin

Mikhail Fedorovich LUKIN is a Soviet military commander, lieutenant general. Hero of the Russian Federation (1.10.1993, posthumously). He came from a peasant family. He graduated from the 5th grade of the rural School of Public Education. In October 1913, he was called up for military service and assigned to the Ust-Dvinsk fortress Artillery, a private of the 4th company. In March 1914 he was appointed a gunner, and in April he was sent to the training team. Participant of the First World War. In 1916 He graduated from the 5th Moscow Infantry Ensign Training School, was promoted to ensign and enlisted in the 85th Infantry Reserve Battalion, soon reformed into a regiment. In May of the same year, he was appointed commander of a company of the regiment. In February 1917, he was sent to the front and appointed a junior officer in the 4th Grenadier Regiment of Nesvizh. As part of it, he fought on the Western Front. At the front, he received the rank of lieutenant, rose to the rank of company commander. In the period from October 10 to November 21, 1917, he was on repeated officer courses with the 1st Grenadier Division. In November 1917, he was demobilized. Then he worked as an instructor for training railway workers on the Kiev-Voronezh railway. At the same time he was a member of the Red Guard.

In July 1918, he was mobilized for service in the Red Army and sent to military control intelligence courses at the RVSR Field Headquarters. Upon completion of the course in December of the same year, he was enrolled in the 37th Rifle Division: assistant to the Chief of Staff of the division, commander of the 328th Rifle Regiment, commander of the 2nd brigade. He took part in battles on the Southern, Southeastern and Caucasian fronts, and was wounded in February 1920. In April of the same year, he was appointed Chief of Staff of the 1st Caucasian Cavalry Division. Since August 1920 He commanded the 94th Rifle Regiment of the 11th Rifle Division, from September - the 33rd brigade of this division (later renamed the 32nd Brigade). As part of the 15th Army, he took part in the Soviet-Polish War of 1920. After the war, M.F. Lukin was appointed head of the Northern District sector in August 1921. From October 1921, he was the head of the 92nd Infantry command courses in Lubny, and after their disbandment in September 1922, he was appointed assistant commander of the 23rd Infantry Division of the Ukrainian Military. Since April 1923, M.F. Lukin has been the chief, and since November – assistant commander of the 7th Infantry Division. In April 1924 he was appointed assistant commander of the 99th Rifle Division of the 14th Rifle Corps of the Ukrainian Military, and in October of the same year - head of the Department of the staff of the Ukrainian Military. From September 1925 to July 1926, Lukin studied at the advanced training courses of the higher commanding staff at the Military Academy of the Red Army named after M.V. Frunze. Upon their completion, he was appointed head of the 1st Department of the Command and Commanding Staff of the Main Directorate of the Red Army. From January 1929 he commanded the 23rd Infantry Division. From April 1935 he was the commandant of Moscow. In November of the same year, he was awarded the military rank of commander. Since July 1937, he was at the disposal of the Red Army Commissariat Department. Since December 1937 - Deputy Chief, Chief of Staff, and since December 1939 – Deputy Commander of the Siberian Military. In June 1940, Lukin was awarded the military rank of Lieutenant General, and he was appointed commander of the 16th Army of the Siberian Military District.

At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Lieutenant General M.F. Lukin continued to command the same army as part of the Stavka reserve. He participated in the Battle of Smolensk, in which the formations of the 16th Army under his command during the second half of July fought heavy battles on the approaches and on the outskirts of Smolensk. Having suffered heavy losses, units and formations of the army were surrounded. On August 2, they managed to break through the encirclement ring, cross to the left bank of the Dnieper and connect with the main forces of the Red Army. Since August, commander of the 20th army of the same front. In August - September, the army formations conducted stubborn defensive battles south of Yartsevo, covering the Dorogobuzhsky direction. He was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for his skilful command of troops and personal courage in the Battle of Smolensk. From September 10 of the same year, he commanded the 19th Army of the Western Front. In early October 1941, during the Vyazma defensive operation, the formations of the 19th, as well as the 20th, 24th and 32nd armies of the Western and Reserve Fronts were surrounded in the area west of Vyazma. The headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief ordered the encircled armies under the general leadership of Lieutenant General M.F. Lukin to break through to Gzhatsk. When leaving the encirclement on October 14, he was seriously wounded and captured. He was treated in German hospitals, and since 1943 - in prisoner-of-war camps in the cities of Wustrau, Britz, Lichtenfeld, Wudeburg, Mosburg (Germany). In the most difficult conditions of the Nazi concentration camps, he behaved courageously and with dignity. In April 1945, he was released from captivity by American troops and was in Paris until May 25. Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov gave him this assessment: "General Lukin is one of the outstanding commanders of the last war, his military valor is comparable to the valor of the heroes of the war of 1812 - Generals Rayevsky and Bagration."

After the war, Lieutenant General M.F. Lukin was checked by the NKVD in Moscow from May to December 1945, after which he was returned to military service in the Red Army and enlisted at the disposal of the GUK NGO. In November 1946, he was dismissed for health reasons. He lived in Moscow, and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery.

He was awarded the imperial Orders: St. Vladimir of the 4th art., St. Stanislav of the 3rd art., St. Anna of the 4th art.; USSR awards: the Order of Lenin, 5 Orders of the Red Banner, the Orders of the Red Star and the Red Banner of Labor of the USSR, medals.