Andrey Yeryomenko Andrey ( Andrei ) Ivanovich Yeryomenko ( or Yeremenko , Eremenko ; ; ; November 19 , 1970 ) was a Soviet general during World War II and , subsequently , a Marshal of the Soviet Union . Military career . Draft and early service . Born in Markovka in the province of Kharkov in Ukraine to a peasant family , Yeryomenko was drafted into the Imperial Army in 1913 , serving on the Southwest and Romania n Fronts during World War I . He joined the Red Army in 1918 , where he served in the legendary Budyonny Cavalry ( First Cavalry Army ) . He attended the Leningrad Cavalry School and then the Frunze Military Academy , graduating in 1935 . World War II . In 1940 , Yeryomenko was placed in command of the 6th Cavalry Corps , which was responsible for invading Eastern Poland following the Molotov – Ribbentrop Pact . The operation was characterized by poor organization and command . Yeryomenko had to request an emergency airlift of fuel so as to continue his advance . Afterwards , he held a number of commands , ending up in control of the Transbaikal Military District , the post he held when Operation Barbarossa began in June 1941 . Eight days after the invasion began , Yeryomenko was recalled to Moscow , where he was made the Acting Commander of the Soviet Western Front , two days after its original commander , General of the Army Dmitri Pavlov , was dismissed ( and later convicted and executed ) for incompetence . Yeryomenko was thrust into a very precarious position . Ironically , during a political purge , Stalin had executed the most experienced army officers just prior to the German invasion . Stalin did not expect Hitler to invade the Soviet Union until 1942 at the earliest . The Nazi Blitzkrieg approach to warfare quickly dominated the Western Front , but Yeryomenko motivated the remaining troops , and halted the German offensive just outside of Smolensk . During this vicious defensive Battle of Smolensk , Yeryomenko was wounded . Because of his injuries , he was transferred to the newly created Bryansk Front . In August 1941 , Yeryomenko was ordered to launch an offensive along the Bryansk Front , despite the obvious superiority of the German forces . The offensive failed to accomplish its objective despite a valiant effort . In October the Germans launched Operation Typhoon , which was an offensive aimed at capturing Moscow . Yeryomenko ' s forces were pushed back , but eventually a number of counterattacks were able to halt the German push . On October 13 , Yeryomenko was once again wounded , this time severely . He was evacuated to a military hospital in Moscow , where he spent several weeks recovering . In January 1942 , Yeryomenko was appointed commander of the 4th Shock Army , part of the North - Western Front . During the Soviet Winter Counteroffensive , Yeryomenko was again wounded ; this time on January 20 , when German planes bombed his headquarters . Yeryomenko refused to evacuate to a hospital until the battle surrounding him finished . Stalin gave Yeryomenko the command of the Southeastern Front , on August 1 , 1942 , where he proceeded to launch vicious counterattacks against the German offensive into the Caucasus , " Fall Blau " . Yeryomenko and Commissar Nikita Khrushchev planned the defense of Stalingrad . When his subordinate , Gen . Lopatin , doubted his ability to defend Stalingrad , Yeryomenko replaced him with lieutenant general Vasily Chuikov as 62nd Army commander on September 11 , 1942 . On September 28 , the Southeastern Front was renamed the Stalingrad Front . During Operation Uranus , November 1942 , Yeryomenko ' s forces helped surround the German 6th Army , which was eventually destroyed or captured in the Battle of Stalingrad . After German General Erich von Manstein attempted to counterattack the Soviet forces and break through the line to relieve the surrounded Germans . Yeryomenko ' s successfully repelled the attack . On January 1 , 1943 , the Stalingrad Front was renamed Southern Front . After the end of the winter offensive , in March 1943 , Yeryomenko was transferred north to the Kalinin Front , which remained relatively quiet until September , when Yeryomenko launched a small , but successful offensive . In December , Yeryomenko was once again sent south , this time to take command of the Separate Coastal Army , which was put together to retake Crimea , which was accomplished with assistance from Fyodor Tolbukhin ' s 4th Ukrainian Front . In April , Yeryomenko once again was sent north , to command the 2nd Baltic Front . During the summer campaign , 2nd Baltic was very successful in crushing German opposition , and was able to capture Riga , helping to bottle up some 30 German divisions in Latvia . On March 26 , 1945 , Yeryomenko was transferred to the command of the 4th Ukrainian Front , the unit he controlled until the end of the war . Fourth Ukrainian was positioned in Eastern Hungary . Yeryomenko ' s subsequent offensive helped capture the rest of Hungary , and paved the way for the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia . His army occupied many cities and towns in Czechoslovakia , most notably Ostrava . Today , many streets in the Czech Republic bear his name . After the war . After the war , Yeryomenko had three major commands : between 1945 – 1946 , he was the Commander in Chief of the Carpathian Military District , from 1946 - 1952 he was the Commander in Chief of the Western Siberian Military District , and from 1953 - 1958 he was the Commander in Chief of the North Caucasus Military District . On March 11 , 1955 , Yeryomenko , along with five other noteworthy commanders , was given the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union . He was made Inspector General for the Ministry of Defense in 1958 , a largely ceremonial role that allowed him to retire that same year . He died November 19 , 1970 . The urn containing his ashes is buried in the Kremlin .