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Pavel KvashninSoviet military figure, major general
Date of Birth: 23.03.1907
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Content:
- Early Life and Career
- World War II
- Senior Military Commands
- Post-War Career
- Awards and Honors
- - Order of Lenin
Early Life and Career
Mikhail Ivanovich Kvashninwas born on March 23, 1907, in Novo-Nikolaevsk (now Novosibirsk), Russia. In 1920, he joined the workforce as a messenger and repairman in the railroad industry. He became a member of the Communist Party in 1925.
Kvashnin graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Railway Transport in 1932. He entered military service the following year, holding various positions in the Railroad Troops of the Red Army, including sector chief, instructor, and head of the training department at the Moscow Railway School.
World War II
With the outbreak of World War II, Kvashnin was appointed as a military commissar and later as deputy head of the Political Department of the Military Communications Directorate of the Red Army General Staff. He played a key role in dismantling and evacuating vital railway infrastructure from the threatened Chudovo railway station in 1941.
In 1942, he was responsible for evacuating factory equipment from Moscow, earning him the Order of Lenin. He also served as an authorized representative for the evacuation of industrial equipment in the Battle of Stalingrad and managed military transport operations during the battle.
Senior Military Commands
Promoted to major general in 1943, Kvashnin became head of the Military Communications Directorate on the North-Western, Byelorussian, and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts. He successfully organized railway transportation for major operations, including the Battle of Kursk, the Vitebsk Offensive, and the Belgorod-Kharkov Offensive. He was awarded the Orders of the Red Banner, Bogdan Khmelnitsky, and the Patriotic War for his contributions.
Post-War Career
After the war, Kvashnin continued to hold senior positions in the military and civilian sectors. He served as deputy head of the Military Communications Directorate of the Soviet Army and the NKPS (Ministry of Transportation) in Romania, ensuring supplies for Soviet and Allied forces in the southwest. He later became head of the Transportation Department and subsequently the Transportation Directorate of the Soviet Military Administration in Germany.
He retired from active duty in 1958 and passed away on December 23, 1973, in Moscow. He is buried in the Nikolo-Arkhangelskoye Cemetery.
Awards and Honors
Kvashnin was awarded numerous military and civilian decorations, including:
- Order of Lenin
- Three Orders of the Red Banner- Order of Kutuzov I degree
- Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky II degree
- Order of the Patriotic War I degree
- Order of the Red Star
- Various Soviet and foreign medals
