Vasily Dmitryevich Kryuchyonkin (Russian: Василий Дмитриевич Крючёнкин; 13 January 1894 – 10 June 1976) was a Soviet Lieutenant general during World War II who commanded several armies.
Vasily Dmitryevich Kryuchyonkin was born on 13 January 1894 in the village of Karpovka, Buguruslansky Uyezd, Samara Governorate,[1] in a peasants' family, and had seven siblings.
[2] Conscripted into the Imperial Russian Army during World War I, Kryuchyonkin was sent to the Western Front in September 1915, rising to junior unter-ofitser with the 5th Hussar Regiment of the 5th Cavalry Division.
In September the regiment was redesignated as the 13th Cavalry, which as part of the 3rd Turkestan Brigade fought on the Southern Front against the Armed Forces of South Russia, with Kryuchyonkin commanding a squadron.
After the Soviet defeat in the war the division was relocated to the Southern Front and took part in the Northern Taurida and Perekop–Chongar operations.
In October 1921, he was appointed acting commander of the 63rd Cavalry Regiment, leading it in the suppression of the Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine, the forces of Talak and Savinkov and other opponents of the Soviets in Belorussia.
[1] After the German invasion of the Soviet Union began on 22 June 1941, Kryuchyonkin led the division in the defense of Kremenets as part of the 5th Cavalry Corps of the 6th Army of the Southwestern Front.
[1] Kryuchyonkin was relieved of command in mid-October and began an accelerated course at the Military Academy of the General Staff in December.
That month, the 33rd Army was shifted to the Orsha axis and until the end of June defended the line of Bayevo and Dribin.
Relieved of command due to illness in July, Kryuchyonkin was sent to await assignment with the 1st Belorussian Front on recovery in December.