Military engineering
Roman Kondratenko was born in Tiflis, (now the capital of Georgia) as the tenth child to a retired Army major of Ukrainian origin. He was sent to study at the Polotsk Cadet Corps in Polotsk (located in what is now Belarus) with the assistance of an elder brother, and obtained a scholarship to study at public expense. Graduating with honors in 1877, he was able enter the Nikolaev Engineering Institute, now Military engineering-technical university. He got a praporshchik and was assigned to the 1st Caucasian sapper battalion. Kondratenko was admitted into the Military Engineering Academy in 1879, and in 1884 he became an attendee of the General Staff Academy. After serving some time on the engineering department (1882–1894), he received command of a regiment in 1895 and was promoted to major general in 1901 and served as chief of staff of the Amur Military District. In 1903, Kondratenko received command of the 7th East Siberian Rifle Brigade, based at Port Arthur. The brigade was expanded into the 7th East Siberian Rifle Division, and Kondratenko was promoted to lieutenant general.