He played a crucial role in the Soviet victory at Stalingrad in December 1942, and helped drive German troops out of Ukraine following the Dnieper–Carpathian offensive.

Malinovsky was a strong advocate for the importance of conventional forces, and maintained a delicate balance with Khrushchev's missile-based approach regarding Soviet military policy.

In October 1915, as a reward for repelling a German attack, he received his first military award, the Cross of St. George of the 4th class, and was promoted to the rank of corporal.

He graduated in 1930, and during the next seven years he rose to the Chief of Staff of the 3rd Cavalry Corps, where his commander was Semyon Timoshenko (a protégé of Joseph Stalin).

After the start of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, Malinovsky volunteered to fight for the Republicans against the right-wing nationalists of General Francisco Franco and their Italian and German allies.

In the spring of 1941, Timoshenko, who then served the People's Commissar for Defence, was alarmed by the massive German military buildup on the Soviet borders, as the Wehrmacht was secretly preparing for Operation Barbarossa.

Malinovsky was promoted to Major General, and took command over the freshly raised 48th Rifle Corps, 9th Army in the Odessa Military District.

After Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, with the Red Army suffering enormous defeats and losing hundreds of thousands of troops in German encirclements, Malinovsky emerged a competent general.

Unable to stop the Wehrmacht, Malinovsky had to retreat along the Black Sea shore, while frustrating enemy attempts to encircle his troops.

In December 1941, Malinovsky received command of the Southern Front, consisting of three weak field armies and two division-sized cavalry corps.

They were short of manpower and equipment, but Malinovsky managed to push deep into the defenses of the Germans, who, after 6 months of fighting, were suffering from fatigue and shortages as well.

On 12 May 1942, Malinovsky and the Southwestern Front, under the overall command of Timoshenko, launched a joint attack in the Second Battle of Kharkov pushing the Germans back 100 kilometres (62 mi).

[citation needed] The 66th Army had no combat experience, but this was the first time in the war Malinovsky had commanded a unit that was near full strength in both troops and equipment.

His territorial gains were marginal, but he denied the Germans an opportunity to encircle Stalingrad from the north, and, slowed down, they decided to push into the city.

Stalin promoted Malinovsky to colonel general, and awarded him with the highest Soviet decoration for outstanding generalship — the Order of Suvorov of the 1st degree.

In February 1943, Malinovsky resumed his command of Southern Front, and in less than two weeks he expelled Manstein from Rostov-on-Don, opening the road to Ukraine to the Red Army.

In March 1943, Stalin elevated him to rank of Army General and gave him command of Southwestern Front, tasked to drive German troops away from the industrially rich Donbas.

Through a sudden attack in mid-October, Malinovsky managed to surprise a large German force in the region's key city of Zaporizhia and captured it.

From December 1943 to April 1944, Malinovsky smashed the German Army Group South, and liberated much of the southern Ukraine, including Kherson, Nikolaev and his home city of Odessa.

He expelled the Germans from the remaining Soviet territory and participated in an unsuccessful invasion of the Balkans (the first Jassy–Kishinev Offensive) together with Marshal Ivan Konev and Army General Fyodor Tolbukhin (who received Malinovsky's former command over the smaller 3rd Ukrainian Front).

With the help of Tolbukhin and the Romanian First and Fourth armies, Malinovsky carried out Stalin's order, and faced Adolf Hitler's determination to defend Budapest at any cost.

Malinovsky's strategic and operational skills enabled him to overcome his troops' weakness and to conquer Budapest on 13 February 1945, following an exceptionally harsh battle.

Malinovsky ended his campaign in Europe with the liberation of Brno in the Czech lands, observing a jubilant meeting of his and American advance forces.

To confirm Malinovsky's high status in the Soviet Party-state hierarchy, he was selected a full member of the Communist Party Central Committee.

The new Party leadership accepted Malinovsky's demand for an autonomous and professional military establishment, as well as his concept of balanced development of the armed forces.