Utvenko became a Red Army officer in the interwar period and was given command of a division after the German invasion of the Soviet Union.

In April 1943 he became commander of the 31st Guards Rifle Corps and led it in the Donbass Strategic Offensive (August 1943).

[1] Alexander Utvenko was born on 12 December 1905 in what is now the village of Dyvin in Korostyshiv Raion in Zhytomyr Oblast.

[2] In July 1941, Utvenko became the commander of the 19th Rifle Division, which he led during the Battle of Smolensk, the Yelnya Offensive[3] and the Vyazma Defensive Operation.

In December 1941, the division became part of the 43rd Army and fought in the counterattack at Moscow in the Naro-Fominsk axis.

On 17 December, Utvenko was wounded and after discharge from the hospital in March was enrolled in the Vystrel courses.

[5] In December, the division was advanced to the Myshkova River, where it helped repulse Operation Winter Storm.

In March 1945, after graduating from an accelerated course at the Military Academy of the General Staff, he became the commander of the 38th Guards Rifle Corps.