Maksim Alexeyevich Purkayev , 1894, in the village of Nalitovo, Dubyonsky Uyezd, Volhynian Governorate

Volhynian Governorate

Volhynian Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit initially of the Russian Empire, created in 1792 after the Second Partition of Poland from the territory of the Kiev Voivodeship and Wołyń Voivodeship...

, Russian Empire

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

 - January 1, 1953, Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

) was a Soviet military leader, reaching service rank of Army General.

Purkayev was conscripted into the Imperial Russian Army

Imperial Russian Army

The Imperial Russian Army was the land armed force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian army consisted of around 938,731 regular soldiers and 245,850 irregulars . Until the time of military reform of Dmitry Milyutin in...

 in 1915, and reached the rank of praporshchik

Praporshchik

Praporshchik is a rank in the Russian military.-Imperial Russia:Praporshchik was originally a name of a junior commissioned officer rank in the military of the Russian Empire equivalent to ensign...

 before joining the Red Army

Red Army

The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

 in 1918. During the Russian Civil War

Russian Civil War

The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...

 he served in the capacity of a company and battalion commander, and after completing officer training course "Vystrel" in 1923, he served as a regimental commander (24th Rifle Division

24th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

style="float: right; clear: right; background-color: transparent"| The 24th Samaro-Ulyanovsk Division was a rifle, then a motor-rifle division of the Red Army of the USSR...

, staff officer and commander of a division until 1936 when he commenced studies at the Frunze Military Academy.

From 1938 Purkayev served as the Chief of Staff of the Belorussian Military District

Belorussian Military District

The Byelorussian Military District was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces. Originally in the times of Russian Civil War it formed as the Western Front, and in April 1924 it was renamed to the Western Military District. In October 1926 it was redesignated the Belorussian Military...

, as the Soviet military attaché in Berlin at the start of the Second World war in 1939, and participated in planning of the Soviet invasion of Poland

Soviet invasion of Poland (1939)

The 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland was a Soviet military operation that started without a formal declaration of war on 17 September 1939, during the early stages of World War II. Sixteen days after Nazi Germany invaded Poland from the west, the Soviet Union did so from the east...

. From July 1940, Purkayev served as the Chief of Staff of the Kiev Special Military District, and from the start of the Soviet-German War

Operation Barbarossa

Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...

 serving as the Chief of Staff of the Southwestern Front

Southwestern Front

Southwestern front may refer to one of the following.*A Southwestern front, a particular geographical area where armies are engaged in conflict* The Soviet Southwestern Front, one of the Soviet Fronts in World War Two...

 (June-July 1941), and later the 60th Army and 3rd Shock Army

3rd Shock Army (Soviet Union)

The 3rd Shock Army was a field army of the Red Army formed during the Second World War. The 'Shock' armies were created with the specific structure to engage and destroy significant enemy forces, and were reinforced with more armoured and artillery assets than other combined arms armies...

. In 1942-43 he served as commander of the Kalinin Front

Kalinin Front

The Kalinin Front was a Front of the Soviet Army during the Second World War. This sense of the term is not identical with the more general usage of military front which indicates a geographic area in wartime, although a Soviet Front may operate within designated boundaries.The Kalinin Front was...

 and from April 1943, the Far Eastern Front (from 1945 2nd Far Eastern Front

2nd Far Eastern Front

The 2nd Far Eastern Front was a Front — a formation equivalent to a Western Army Group — of the Soviet Army. It was formed just prior to the Soviet invasion of Manchuria and was active from August 5, 1945 until October 1, 1945.-History:...

). From September 1945 to January 1947 Purkayev served as the commanding officer of the Far Eastern Military District

Far Eastern Military District

The Far Eastern Military District was a military district of the Russian Ground Forces. In 2010 it was merged with the Pacific Fleet and part of the Siberian Military District to form the new Eastern Military District....

 during which time he was nominated to the Highest Soviet of USSR (1946-1950).

From June 1947 Purkayev was the Chief of Staff and 1st Deputy of Chief Commander of the Far Eastern Forces. From July 1952 to his death Purkayev served as the Head of Higher Education Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of USSR.

Maksim Purkayev has been decorated with two Orders of Lenin, four Orders of the Red Banner, Order of Suvorov

Order of Suvorov

The Order of Suvorov is a Soviet award, named after Aleksandr Suvorov , that was established on July 29, 1942 by a decision of the Presidium of Supreme Soviet of the USSR. This decoration was created to award senior army personnel for exceptional leadership in combat operations...

 (1st class), Order of Kutuzov

Order of Kutuzov

The Order of Kutuzov is a Soviet and Russian military award, named after famous Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov ....

(1st class), and numerous medals.

Sources

• Zalessky, K.A., Stalin's Empire: Biographical encyclopaedic dictionary, Moscow, Veche, 2000,