1. Kirill Meretskov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union shortly afterwards.
24 Facts About Kirill Meretskov
1. 2.
Kirill Meretskov was born at Nazaryevo in Ryazan Governorate, southeast of Moscow.
3.
Kirill Meretskov's parents were peasants of Russian ethnicity and lived in a rural village.
4.
Kirill Meretskov was a factory worker from 1909, first in Moscow, later near Vladimir.
5.
Kirill Meretskov joined the Bolsheviks in August 1917, and became chief of staff of Red Guard militia that helped to organise in the town.
6.
From September 1936 to May 1937, Kirill Meretskov fought for the Republicans during the Spanish Civil War under a pseudonym of "General Pavlovich".
7.
In November 1939, at the start of the Winter War, Kirill Meretskov initially ran the overall operation against the Finns.
8.
Kirill Meretskov failed and the command was passed on 9 December 1939 to the General Staff Supreme Command, Stavka, directly under Kliment Voroshilov, Nikolai Kuznetsov, Joseph Stalin and Boris Shaposhnikov.
9.
Less than two weeks after the signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty, on March 21,1940, Kirill Meretskov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
10.
On June 22,1941, when Operation Barbarossa started, Kirill Meretskov was appointed permanent adviser to Stavka.
11.
Kirill Meretskov had lost so much weight he could hardly speak.
12.
Kirill Meretskov was then presented to Stalin, in full army dress, and given command of the 7th Separate Army.
13.
Kirill Meretskov was appointed Commander of the 4th Army which fought in the defense of Leningrad against the Army Group North of von Leeb.
14.
In January 1942, Kirill Meretskov started a new offensive near Lyuban, aimed at lifting the siege of Leningrad and encircling a large number of German forces.
15.
However, when Kirill Meretskov reported this to the Stavka, he omitted that the corridor that was linking the 2nd Shock Army to the rest of the Soviet forces was no more than 2 kilometres wide, under constant German air strikes and artillery bombardment, and therefore, had a very poor transport capacity.
16.
Furthermore, Kirill Meretskov does bear some responsibility for the defeat as the commander of the front who planned the operation and carried it out.
17.
Together with the new Leningrad Front's commander, Leonid Govorov, Kirill Meretskov planned a new offensive to break the siege of the city.
18.
Kirill Meretskov wanted to conduct further local attacks, but this request was categorically denied by the Stavka, in addition to a formal critique he received on October 15,1942, for his conduct of the operation.
19.
In February 1944, Kirill Meretskov was transferred to the Karelian Front.
20.
Kirill Meretskov's front liberated the city of Petrozavodsk and East Karelia.
21.
Kirill Meretskov decisively ordered the attack without artillery fire as planned.
22.
Kirill Meretskov ordered the airborne troops to be dropped at Harbin and other airports.
23.
Kirill Meretskov died on December 30,1968, at the age of 71.
24.
Kirill Meretskov is a character in the 2009 novel The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared.