Andrei Grigoryevich Kravchenko

Andrey Grigoryevich Kravchenko (Андре́й Григо́рьевич Кра́вченко; 30 November 1899 – 18 October 1963) was a tank army commander in the Soviet Army  during the Great Patriotic War, twice Hero of the Soviet Union and recipient of several other awards.

Kravchenko was born in a farming family in the village of Sulimivtsy near Poltava, Ukraine. He was an ethnic Ukrainian. Kravchenko fought in the Russian Civil War. He was educated at the Poltava infantry Academy (1923) and the Frunze Military Academy. He subsequently served with the infantry and taught at the Saratov Tank Warfare school. From 1939 he was attached to the Volga Military District as chief of staff of the 61st Rifle Division. Kravchenko fought in the Soviet Finnish War as chief of staff of the 173rd Motorized Division. In 1940 Kravchenko was appointed chief of staff of the 16th Tank Division and later the 18th Mechanised Corps.

Kravchenko commanded the 2nd Tank Corps, 4th Tank Corps, 5th Guards Tank Corps and 6th Guards Tank Army during World War II. He fought in the Battle of Moscow, the Battle of Stalingrad, the Battle of Kursk at the Battle of Prokhorovka, the Battle of the Dnieper, the Korsun-Shevchenkovsky Offensive, the Uman–Botoșani Offensive, the Jassy–Kishinev Offensive, the Vienna Offensive and the Bratislava–Brno Offensive. After the German surrender, Kravchenko's 6th Guards Tank Army was transferred to the Far East and fought in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria as part of the Transbaikal Front.

Kravchenko graduated from the higher academic courses at the Military Academy of the General Staff in 1949. He subsequently commanded tank forces and was commander of the Far Eastern Military District from 1954. Kravchenko retired from the army in 1955 and served as a deputy in the Supreme Soviet. He died on October 18, 1963. He was buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy cemetery. A bronze bust to Kravchenko was installed at his former home in Sumy.