Mikhail Petrovich Kirponos (Russian: Михаи́л Петро́вич Кирпоно́с, Ukrainian: Михайло Петрович Кирпонос, Mykhailo Petrovych Kyrponos; 12 January 1892 – 20 September 1941) was a Soviet general of the Red Army during World War II.

Kirponos was one of the organizers of Bolshevik sabotage units in the Chernihiv region and took part in battles with the army of the Ukrainian People's Republic.

That same night, the unfortunate Dmitry Pavlov of the Western Front accepted Stavka's assertion that rumors of war were deception at face value and watched a comedy in Kiev.

Severe communications, supply and coordination problems plagued the operation; the uncoordinated Mechanized Corps were late and disorganised at their jump-off points, short of equipment, entering the battle piecemeal.

The enemy is threatening Dubno from the southwest ... the enemy also has several separate tank groups acting in the rear of Panzer Group 1, which are managing to cover considerable distances.Even though the Southwestern Front did comparatively better than the other front commands in the frontier battles and generally remained organised and kept some operational initiative, Nikita Khrushchev noted that Zhukov said "I am afraid your commander (Kirponos) here is pretty weak".

[6] Zhukov was soon forced to return to Moscow due to the dangerous situation developing along the Bialystok–Minsk–Smolensk axis, and the Southwestern Front and the new Southern Front created from the Odessa Military District, were put under the umbrella of the "Southwestern Direction" commanded by Marshal Semyon Budyonny, a long time Stalin associate, in mid July, with disastrous results in the Battle of Uman.

Kirponos was killed in action during mortar shelling in a ravine near Dryukivshchyna, 15 km (9.3 mi) southwest of Lokhvytsia while trying to break out of the Kiev encirclement, a Soviet disaster due to the advantageous position of the Germans, exacerbated by the lateness of the order to withdraw.

[citation needed] After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kirponos remains highly regarded in Ukraine[dubious – discuss] and Russia for his exemplary military leadership and courage.