Ivan Sidorovich Lazarenko
| Ivan Sidorovich Lazarenko | |
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| Born | 8 October [O.S. 26 September] 1895 Staromikhailovka, Labinsky Otdel, Kuban Oblast, Russian Empire |
| Died | 26 June 1944 (aged 48) near Kholmy, Chavusy Raion, Mogilev Oblast, Soviet Union |
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| Rank | Major general |
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Ivan Sidorovich Lazarenko (Russian: Иван Сидорович Лазаренко; 8 October 1895 – 26 June 1944) was a Red Army major general and a posthumous Hero of the Soviet Union.
From 1940 to 1941 he was the commander of the 42nd Rifle Division. After his division was destroyed near Brest, Belarus during the German invasion of the Soviet Union (see also Defense of Brest Fortress), in 1941 he was court-martialed and condemned to death but the sentence was canceled. In 1943 he became the commander of the 369th Rifle Division; he was killed in action in 1944. Lazarenko was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for his leadership of the division in the Mogilev Offensive.
Lazarenko was born on 8 October 1895 in the stanitsa of Staromikhailovka in the Labinsky Otdel of Kuban Oblast (now Mikhailovka, Kurganinsky District, Krasnodar Krai) to a peasant family. After graduating from seven grades at a gymnasium, he worked as a miner. During World War I, Lazarenko was mobilized into the Imperial Russian Army's 5th Amur Border Regiment on 15 May 1915. In September, he was sent to the 107th Severotroitsk Cavalry Regiment, fighting on the Western Front. There, Lazarenko graduated from the regiment's training unit. He was awarded four Crosses of St. George for his actions on the Southwestern Front, making him a Full Cavalier of St. George. During the Povolzhye famine of 1921, Lazarenko donated his crosses for famine relief. For his actions, he was promoted to senior unteroffizier and later wachtmeister, and given command of a platoon for 1.5 years, in addition to carrying the regimental flag for five months.
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