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Petr ShafranovHero of the Soviet Union, Colonel General
Date of Birth: 22.01.1901
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Content:
- Early Life and Military Career
- Civil War and Pre-World War II Service
- World War II
- Post-War Career
- Awards and Legacy
- - Two Orders of Lenin
Early Life and Military Career
Pavel Grigorievich Shafranov was born on January 19, 1901, in the village of B. Frolovo in the Buinsky district of the Tatar ASSR. He began his military service in 1919.
Shafranov attended the Saratov Artillery Courses (1923), the Sumy Artillery School (1928), and the F.E. Dzerzhinsky Artillery Academy (1934). He also completed academic courses at the General Military Academy (1948).
Civil War and Pre-World War II Service
During the Civil War, Shafranov served as a private and junior commander. In 1923, he became deputy commander of a battery and temporarily held the position of head of the regimental artillery school.
Shafranov was an adjunct of the Artillery Academy (1934), an engineer, and later head of the department of the Artillery Directorate of the Red Army (1935). From 1938 to 1941, he served in the Defense Committee under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR.
World War II
Upon the outbreak of World War II in August 1941, Shafranov became commander of an artillery regiment. In October, he was appointed chief of artillery for a rifle division.
In August 1942, Shafranov was assigned to command the 16th Guards Rifle Division. In September 1943, he took over as commander of the 36th Guards Rifle Corps, fighting on the Kalinin, Bryansk, 3rd Belorussian, and 1st Ukrainian fronts.
From October to December 1944, Shafranov led the 5th Army. From December 1944 to May 1945, he commanded the 31st Army on the 3rd Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts.
The 31st Army, under Shafranov's leadership, participated in key operations, including the Vitebsk-Orsha, Minsk, Vilnius, East Prussian, and Prague offensives. For his skillful command of his army during the elimination of enemy forces southwest of Königsberg (Kaliningrad) in March-April 1945, Shafranov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Post-War Career
After the war, Shafranov commanded an army and held various high-ranking positions in the air defense forces, including command of the Donbass Air Defense District (1948), the Baku Air Defense District (1952), and the Ural Air Defense District (1954).
He served as deputy commander of the Transcaucasian Military District for Air Defense (1955) and as head of the Air Defense Department of the General Military Academy (1956).
From December 1956 to 1959, Shafranov was head of the Military Command Academy of Air Defense. He then spent several years (1959-1966) as part of the Joint Armed Forces of the Warsaw Pact countries.
Awards and Legacy
Pavel Grigorievich Shafranov received numerous awards and honors, including:
- Two Orders of Lenin
- Three Orders of the Red Banner- Order of Suvorov, 2nd class
- Order of Kutuzov, 2nd class
- Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, 2nd class
- Medals
- Foreign orders
He was also a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR for the 3rd convocation.
