Vasily Badanov

Vasily Mikhaylovich Badanov (Васи́лий Миха́йлович Бада́нов; 14 December 1895, Verkhnyaya Yakushka – 1 April 1971, Moscow) was a Soviet military officer and general, best known for his leadership in the Tatsinskaya Raid (1942) and subsequent command of the 4th Tank Army (1943–1944).

Biography
Conscripted into the Russian Army during World War I, Badanov graduated from an officers' school in 1916, one year prior to the Bolshevik Revolution. Serving as a commissar and a staff officer in the Red Army during in the Russian Civil War, Badanov joined the Bolshevik Party in 1919.

Noted for his superb command of the 24th Tank Corps in 1942 during the German Stalingrad campaign, Badanov was promoted to lieutenant-general (a rank above major-general in the Soviet system) soon after the Tatsinskaya Raid and became the first recipient of the Order of Suvorov, second class, in 1943. Badanov commanded the 4th Tank Army in 1943-1944, which he led during the Battle of Kursk.

Badanov was seriously wounded during the Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive, and was assigned to the task of preparing the Soviet tank and mechanized forces for the front line for the remaining portion of the war. He served as the commanding officer of the Central Group of Forces' tank units in 1946-1950.

Badanov retired from the active-duty armed forces in 1953.

Honours and awards

 * Order of Lenin
 * Order of the Red Banner, three times
 * Order of Suvorov, 2nd class
 * Order of Kutuzov, 2nd class
 * Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd class
 * Order of the Red Star
 * Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary since the Birth of Vladimir Il'ich Lenin"
 * Medal "For the Defence of Stalingrad"
 * Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
 * Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"
 * Jubilee Medal "XX Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army"
 * Jubilee Medal "30 Years of the Soviet Army and Navy"
 * Jubilee Medal "40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
 * Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"