Alexei Burdeinei Oleksi Semenovich Burdeinei ( Ukrainian : " Олексій Семенович Бурдейний " , Russified : " Алексей Семёнович Бурдейный " [ Alexei Semionovich Burdeinei ] . 18 October 1908 , Zhytomir , Russian Empire - 21 April 1987 , Moscow , Soviet Union ) was a Soviet general . Biography . Early life . Born to a workers ' family , he graduated from a Rabfak and worked in a factory at his native town . He joined the Communist Party already at 1928 . On June 1931 , he was drafted into the Red Army , completing training in the Saratov Armored Force School the following year . From March 1932 he commanded a platoon in a mechanized brigade stationed near Kalynivka . On September 1935 he was assigned to command a company in the 5th Tank Corps . At September 1937 he entered the Academy of Mechanized and Motorized Services , graduating on May 1940 to become the deputy intelligence officer of the 53rd Tank Regiment . On October , he was made assistant to the operations department chief in the staff of the 4th Mechanized Corps . World War II . Soon after the beginning of Operation Barbarossa , Burdeinei became a senior assistant to the Mechanized Forces ' chief of operations in the 37th Army . On August 1941 he took over the 3rd Armored Brigade ' s 3rd Regiment . On January the next year he was posted as the 2nd Armored Brigade chief of staff . On April 1942 , when the 24th Tank Corps was formed , Burdeinei joined it as chief of staff to General Badanov . The Corps was sent to engage the advancing German forces in the South , and was nearly wiped out in the fighting near the Don River , during July . On late October , the unit has recovered after several months on the reserve . It was assigned to the Southwestern Front and took part in the Battle of Stalingrad . On December , the Corps destroyed the Tatsinskaya Airport and was renamed 2nd Tatsinskaya Guards Tank Corps in honor of this operation . After the Battle of Stalingrad the Corps was made part of the Voronezh Front on March . On the 26 June 1943 , Colonel Burdeinei assumed command over the Corps , holding the post to the end of the war . As such , he participated in the Battle of Kursk , and was promoted to Major General on 31 August . On 3 July 1944 , during Operation Bagration , his units were the first to enter Minsk and liberated the city . He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General on the 2 November 1944 . The Corps later took part in the Baltic , East Prussian , Vistula - Oder and Berlin operations . For his leadership during the Minsk Offensive he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union ( Medal no . 5026 ) on 19 April 1945 . Post - war years . On May 1946 , Burdeinei was assigned as the 7th Mechanized Army ' s chief of staff . He studied at the Voroshilov Academy from December 1947 to February 1950 . At October 1950 , he became the commander of the 8th Mechanized Army , a position he held until June 1953 . At April 1954 , He was transferred to serve as the Belorussian Military District ' s deputy commander for tank armament . On January 1958 , he was posted as deputy commander for training , and from May 1960 he served as the First Deputy Commander of the District . At August 1963 , he was assigned as the Chief of the Central Armored Directorate in the Ministry of Defence . On August 1970 he was appointed representative of the Warsaw Pact Chief - of - Staff in the East German National People ' s Army , and retired from the Armed Forces on January 1974 . Beside his military career , he was also an honorary citizen of Minsk since 1967 and a deputy in the 3rd Convocation of the Ukrainian SSR ' s Supreme Soviet . A street in Minsk was named after him .