Pyotr Kirillovich Koshevoy (Ukrainian: Петро Кирилович Кошовий; Russian: Пётр Кириллович Кошевой; 21 December [O.S.

Koshevoy was born to a Ukrainian peasant family and joined the Red Army in 1920, fighting in the Russian Civil War.

By the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Koshevoy commanded the 65th Rifle Division, which he led during the Siege of Leningrad.

He was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union twice – in 1944, for the taking of Mount Sapun during the Crimean Offensive and in 1945, for his part in the capture of Königsberg.

[2] After Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, began in June 1941, Koshevoy remained with the division in the Transbaikal Military District.

[2] The division was relocated to Rasskazovo on 25 October 1942, where it joined the 2nd Guards Army of the Reserve of the Supreme High Command, receiving replacements and new equipment.

He went on to lead the corps as part of the 44th and 51st Armies of the 4th Ukrainian Front in the Melitopol and Crimean Offensives, during which it captured Kakhovka, Simferopol, and Sevastopol.

For his "skillful leadership" of the corps in the Crimean Offensive, including in the crossing of the Sivash and the taking of Mount Sapun, Koshevoy was made a Hero of the Soviet Union and awarded the Order of Lenin on 16 May 1944,[4] being promoted to lieutenant general a day later.

[2] Transferred to command the 71st Rifle Corps on 27 May, he led the latter as part of the 31st Army of the 3rd Belorussian Front in Operation Bagration and the Baltic Offensive.

During the offensive, according to his superiors, Koshevoy personally organized the attacks of the corps and led from the front, in the "most critical and dangerous" areas of Insterburg.

Promoted to colonel general on 31 May 1954,[2] Koshevoy was transferred to command the 11th Guards Army in the Baltic Military District in June 1954 and became first deputy commander-in-chief of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSFG) in July 1955.