Vasyl Herasymenko

Vasyl Herasymenko (Ukrainian: Василь Пилипович Герасименко) was a Soviet military leader from Ukraine who was nominally and temporarily appointed the People's Commissar of Defense of the Ukrainian SSR in 1944-45.

Vasyl Herasymenko was born in a village of Velyka Burimka, Poltava Governorate (today part of Chornobai Raion, Cherkasy Oblast) on April 24, 1900 in a peasant family. When he was nine years of age, together with mother they moved to relatives in Kuban, stanytsia Berezanska. There Herasymenko finished a village school and the Nkil city college in Yekaterinodar.

In 1918 Herasymenko joined the Red Army and during the Russian Civil War he fought at the Northern Caucasus and the Southern Russia. In 1920 Herasymenko joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and in 1922 he finished the courses of commanding staff of the Red Army. In 1927 Herasymenko also finished the Joint Military School in Minsk and in 1931 - the Frunze Military Academy. In 1937 Herasymenko was commissioned as a commander of the 8th Rifle Corps. In 1938 he was a deputy commander of the Kiev Special Military District (see Kiev Military District). During World War II in July 1940 Herasymenko was appointed the commander of Volga Military District. At that time he was promoted to the Lieutenant General. In 1940 under the command of Georgi Zhukov participated in the invasion of Romania as a commander of the 5th Army.

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