Question: Alexander Petrovich Nikolayev received the title Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin for his actions during the   the final major offensive of the European theatre of what war?

Passages:
The Battle of Berlin, designated the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, was the final major offensive of the European theatre of World War II. Anatoly Iosifovich Petrakovsky (Russian: Анатолий Иосифович Петраковский; 28 December 1901 – 3 September 1969) was a Ukrainian Soviet Army major general and Hero of the Soviet Union.  After joining the Red Army in 1922, Petrakovsky became an officer and rose through the ranks.  On the eve of the Winter War, he was a battalion commander in the 13th Rifle Division.  Petrakovsky was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin for his leadership of the battalion.  After Operation Barbarossa, he became commander of the 395th Rifle Division.  He led the division during the Battle of Rostov and the Battle of Voronezh but was relieved of command due to a "systemic failure to comply with orders".  In August 1943, Petrakovsky became commander of the 57th Rifle Corps but lost command of the corps and was sent to hospital to receive treatment for an illness.  After graduating from the Military Academy of the General Staff, he was appointed deputy commander of 16th Army and participated in the Invasion of South Sakhalin.  Postwar, Petrakovsky served in various staff positions and retired in 1956. Boris Alexandrovich Vladimirov (Russian: Борис Александрович Владимиров ; 14 April 1905 – 1 May 1978) was a Soviet Army lieutenant general and a Hero of the Soviet Union.  Vladimirov served in the Russian Civil War after being drafted into the Red Army in 1921.  He became an officer and by 1941 was a deputy regimental commander.  After the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Vladimirov successively became senior officer in charge of the formation of march battalions in the Siberian Military District, chief of staff of a ski brigade, and a rifle brigade.  He commanded the rifle brigade in the Siege of Leningrad, during the Lyuban Offensive Operation and the Sinyavino Offensive.  Vladimirov took command of the 311th Rifle Division in March 1943, leading it until the end of the war.  He was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for his leadership in the Vistula–Oder Offensive.  Postwar, Vladimirov became a lieutenant general, commanded a rifle corps, and was deputy chief of staff of the Soviet airborne.  He retired in 1960 and lived in Moscow. Alexander Petrovich Nikolayev (Russian: Александр Петрович Николаев; 14 November 1918 – 13 June 2009) was a Red Army senior lieutenant and Hero of the Soviet Union.  He received the title Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin for his actions during the Battle of Berlin.  Nikolayev also fought in the Siege of Leningrad. Mikhail Nikiforovich Linnik (Russian: Михаил Никифорович Линник; 25 October 1916 – 21 December 2007) was a Soviet Army captain and Hero of the Soviet Union.  Linnik was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin for his actions during the Lublin–Brest Offensive in September 1944. Stepan Fyodorovich Shutov (Russian: Степан Фёдорович Шутов; 30 January 1902 – 17 April 1963) was a Red Army Colonel and double Hero of the Soviet Union.  Shutov fought in the Russian Civil War and the Polish–Soviet War.  He was demobilized after recovering from Typhus in 1921 but was drafted into the Red Army again in 1924.  He initially served in cavalry units and later became an officer in the tank troops.  When Germany invaded the Soviet Union, Shutov was a tank battalion commander.  He fought in the Battle of Moscow.  In December 1941 he became deputy commander of a tank brigade and in August 1942 was given command of the 187th Tank Brigade of the 9th Tank Corps.  Shutov was appointed commander of the 50th Separate Guards Tank Regiment in October.  From May 1943 he took commanders courses at the Military Academy of the Mechanization and Motorization of the Red Army.  After graduation Shutov became commander of the 20th Guards Tank Brigade in August 1943.  For his leadership of the brigade in the Battle of Kiev (1943), he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.  During the Jassy–Kishinev Offensive the brigade captured Ploiești.  For his leadership Shutov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union a second time.  In September 1944 he became 9th Guards Mechanized Corps deputy commander but a few days later was seriously wounded, resulting in the amputation of his arm while in the hospital.  He retired in September 1945 and later became deputy minister for social welfare of the Belorussian SSR. Vladimir Fedorovich Vladimirov (Russian: Владимир Фёдорович Владимиров; 9 July 1914 – December 1943) was a Red Army Lieutenant during World War II and a Hero of the Soviet Union.  He was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin for his actions during the Battle of the Dnieper.  Vladimirov was killed in action during December 1943. List of Azerbaijani Heroes of the Soviet Union lists all ethnic Azerbaijani Heroes of the Soviet Union, along with their unit and rank at time of action, and the date of the award.  The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction of the Soviet Union.  42 Azerbaijanis were awarded the title, including three whose ethnicity is disputed.  All Azerbaiajni Heroes of the Soviet Union received their award for actions in World War II.  Hazi Aslanov was the only Azerbaijani to receive the title twice. Bahatdin Shahveled oglu Mirzayev (Azerbaijani: Bahəddin Şahvələd oğlu Mirzəyev; 31 December 1914 – 15 April 1987) was an Azerbaijani Red Army captain and a Hero of the Soviet Union.  During World War II, Mirzayev served as a battery commander in the 416th Rifle Division.  During the Vistula–Oder Offensive, Mirzayev corrected the battery's fire and was wounded, reportedly enabling it to destroy multiple German firing points.  On the next day his battery knocked out German artillery pieces which had been slowing the infantry's advance.  Two days after the start of the offensive, his battery destroyed two German tanks and an armored personnel carrier, enabling the capture of the village.  For his actions Mirzayev received the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 24 March 1945.  He was seriously wounded in the Battle of Berlin and was discharged upon recovery.  Postwar, Mirzayev worked as head of the militarized guard department at the Azerbaijan SSR Ministry of Communications. Georgy Vasilyevich Ivanov (Russian: Георгий Васильевич Иванов; 25 May 1901 – 25 December 2001) was a Soviet Army major general and Hero of the Soviet Union.  Ivanov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin for his leadership of the 6th Guards Rifle Division from late 1944 to 1945.  Ivanov fought in World War II at the Battle of the Dnieper and the Vistula–Oder Offensive.

Supporting sentences:
 He received the title Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin for his actions during the Battle of Berlin. The Battle of Berlin, designated the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, was the final major offensive of the European theatre of World War II.