Ivan Koryavko Hero of the Soviet Union Date of Birth: 02.09.1906 Country: Ukraine

Biography of Ivan Koryavko

Ivan Porfiryevich Koryavko, a Ukrainian, was born on September 2, 1906, in the village of Pigarevka in the present-day Seredino-Budsky district of the Sumy region of Ukraine. He worked as a blacksmith before joining the army in 1926.

After completing his military engineering education at the Leningrad Military Engineering School in 1930 and the Higher Academic Courses at the Military Engineering Academy in 1938, Koryavko became a participant of the Great Patriotic War in June 1941.

As the commander of the 23rd Motorized Assault Engineer-Sapper Brigade, he led his brigade from Stalingrad to Berlin, participating in various battles and operations. The brigade stormed enemy positions to create conditions for the construction of crossings. Koryavko's warriors fought under enemy fire at the Don and Mius rivers, an eleven-kilometer bay near Perekop, and the North Bay in Sevastopol. They cleared the way for advancing infantry and tanks and engaged in combat themselves.

After successfully crossing the Dnieper, the brigade participated in the liberation of Right-Bank Ukraine and reached the Oder River in Poland in January 1945. As part of the advancing 13th Army (1st Ukrainian Front), the vanguard crossed the river on the shoulders of the enemy using a bridge with tanks near Steinau (now Scinawa, Poland). The bridge was bombed by the fascists, and their fortifications on the western bank shelled the approaching units. Koryavko received an urgent order to establish a new crossing. A company of scouts crossed the river on thin ice, followed by two battalions that suppressed the enemy fortifications. The ice bridge collapsed due to the bombing, and two tall bridges were built in different locations. Under bombardment and shelling, the assault sappers successfully completed their task. The crossing over the Oder for the 12th and 52nd Armies began using the two bridges.

On April 6, 1945, Ivan Porfiryevich Koryavko was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, along with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. After the war, he continued his service in the army and became a Major General in 1958 before retiring. He lived in Moscow on Leningradsky Prospekt until his death on June 16, 1980. Koryavko was buried at the Kuntsevo Cemetery in Moscow. He received numerous awards, including two Orders of Lenin, three Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky 2nd class, the Order of the Patriotic War 1st class, two Orders of the Red Star, and various other medals and foreign decorations.