Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin
Encyclopedia
Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin was a Soviet
military commander during World War II
.
), into a Russian peasant family. Commissioned in 1920 to the Red Army
, he fought against the Ukrainian peasant partisans of Nestor Makhno
. The following year, he became a member of the Communist party
, and served diligently in junior command positions. Starting in 1926, he spent the next decade alternating service with studies in the elite Frunze Military Academy and the General Staff Academy
. The 1937–1938 purge
of Red Army commanders opened the road to promotion – in 1938, he received the rank of Komdiv
, and was appointed Chief of Staff of a key Kiev Special Military District
. Throughout this period, Vatutin combined military service with intensive Party activities.
In 1939, Vatutin planned operations for the Soviet partition of Poland with Nazi Germany
, and served as Chief of Staff of the Red Army Southern Group. In 1940, under the command of Georgy Zhukov
, this group seized Bessarabia
from Romania
. As a reward for these non-combat campaigns, Stalin promoted Vatutin to the rank of Lieutenant General
and appointed him to the critical post of Chief of the Operational Directorate of the General Staff
. Vatutin was however, not up to his new appointment: while innovative and hard-working, he lacked any combat experience and his knowledge of operational art and strategy was too abstract. Still, his peasant roots, relative youthful age, and party zeal made him one of Stalin's few favorites in the Soviet military. Vatutin, together with the rest of the Red Army high brass, failed to prepare the army for the German attack
of 22 June 1941.
On 30 June 1941, he was appointed Chief of Staff of the North-Western Front
, (see Soviet Fronts in WWII) which showcased his better qualities. Vatutin did not try to claim success for himself in the battles, but rather focused on discerning and promoting others' talent. Another of his remarkable qualities was his audacity. At that stage of war, most of the Soviet generals, shattered by defeats, were reluctant to carry out offensive operations but Vatutin thrived on attack.
against approaches by the German Army Group North, spearheaded by armored corps led by Erich von Manstein
. Vatutin took command of the Soviet forces near Novgorod and rallied them for offense, attempting to encircle a large German force. He surprised Manstein, put him on the defensive, and forced the entire German Army Group North to regroup its troops to halt the Soviet offensive. The Wehrmacht
lost the precious summer season needed for an effective attack on Leningrad, while the Red Army got additional time to strengthen the fortifications of the city. Due to this, the Germans failed in their best shot to capture Leningrad, one of the key German strategic failures during the early phase of war. Vatutin's immediate operational results were far less impressive. Vatutin overestimated the capacities of his troops and created overly ambitious objectives, while his coordination of his forces and control over the unfolding of the battle were poor. Additionally, he did not take into account the difficult terrain which benefited German defenses and slowed his attack. Vatutin's casualty figures were staggering, in one army nearly reaching 60%. The ineptitude of his subordinate commanders exacerbated Vatutin's own shortcomings. There was one striking exception though, the brilliant actions of Ivan Chernyakhovsky
, an obscure young Colonel in command of 28th tank division. The men had much in common, most prominently their penchant for unorthodox approaches to military art; they soon became close friends.
In January 1942, during the Soviet winter offensive following the Red Army victory in the Battle of Moscow
, Vatutin trapped two German corps in Demyansk
, and achieved the first large Soviet encirclement of German forces. The German and Soviet armies were equal in size. During the battle, Vatutin employed innovative tactics and actions, while Germans responded more conventionally. Vatutin was unable to destroy the German defenses, mainly due to the weakness of the Soviet air-force. In April 1942, Vatutin finally breached the German lines, just as a German relief force arrived. However, post-World War II American experts have evaluated the result of this operation as a draw. The German command drew self-congratulatory and misleading lessons from their narrow escape, concluding that they could overcome Soviet encirclements with supplies from the air while mounting a relief operation. This thinking contributed to the Wehrmacht disaster at Stalingrad
.
, they wanted to breach the Soviet front line at the Battle of Voronezh
and then attack the Soviet Southern Front
and Southwestern Front
from the rear. On 1 July 1942, Stalin sent Vatutin as an all-powerful Stavka
representative, to the critical Bryansk Front
, which within a few days was renamed as Voronezh Front
and placed under Vatutin's command.
During the battle, Vatutin met Cherniakhovsky – now the newly appointed commander of the 18th Tank Corps of the 60th Army – again. The massive German attack was on the verge of breaching the Soviet front line when Cherniakhovsky's corps arrived by train. Cherniakhovsky unloaded one of his brigades and, without waiting for the rest of his troops, led that brigade against the numerically superior German forces, throwing them back. After this action, Vatutin asked Stalin to give command of the 60th army to Cherniakhovsky. Initially, Stalin opposed the request, mostly because he had reservations about appointing such a young General to lead a field army. However, Vatutin finally convinced Stalin to promote Cherniakhovsky, who would rapidly rise to become one of the major Red Army field commanders.
Although the Germans captured the city, their attempt to breach Vatutin's front line failed. Following this debacle, the Germans abandoned their initial plan, and in one fateful misjudgment, shifted their efforts toward Stalingrad. On 22 October 1942, Vatutin received command of the newly formed Southwestern Front and played an important role in planning the Soviet counter-offensive and following encirclement of the German 6th Army in the Battle of Stalingrad
. In December 1942, to secure the Soviet ring around Stalingrad, Vatutin encircled and destroyed two-thirds of the 130,000-strong Italian 8th Army
in operation Little Saturn, contributing to the defeat of Manstein's Operation Wintergewitter
("Winter Storm"), the relief effort for the 6th Army.
to capture Kharkov, but he overextended his depleted troops and did not pay enough attention to the changing strategic situation. In February 1943, Manstein mustered a large force, and managed to surprise and defeat Vatutin, south of Kharkov, leading to encircling of Golikov's advance troops in Kharkov, and recapturing the city in the Third Battle of Kharkov
. Stavka removed Golikov from his command, but did not see Vatutin's debacle as significant. For his audacity, Stalin awarded Vatutin the rank of Army General.
On 28 March 1943, Vatutin took command of the Voronezh Front, preparing for the momentous Battle of Kursk
. In the battle of Kursk, he rejected conventional echeloning of armies; his innovative deployment allowed him to not only skillfully conduct defense against the technically superior Germans, but also to quickly switch from defense to offense. Following the Soviet victory at Kursk, Vatutin captured Belgorod.
Vatutin now aspired to liberate Kiev. He undertook a secret regrouping under an imaginative and deceptive plan. His forces surprised Manstein, attacking the Germans from an unexpected direction, and on 6 November 1943, he liberated Kiev
. Vatutin relentlessly exploited his victory in Kiev, and pushed deep into the German defenses. When Vatutin overextended his armies, Manstein used the XLVIII Panzerkorps to counterattack. In the battle of Radomyshl
(6–15 November 1943) and the battle of the Meleni pocket (16–23 December 1943) Manstein unleashed successful counterattacks which took terrain back and inflicted heavy losses on the Red Army forces. In January, Vatutin and the 2nd Ukrainian Front of Army General Ivan Konev
carried out an encirclement of the Korsun
salient in the Korsun-Shevchenko operation. Although Vatutin started the operation two days after Konev and his striking formation, and the 6th Tank Army
was only recently formed, he achieved the element of surprise by committing his tanks to the battle from the first echelon. This allowed the 6th Tank Army to penetrate deep into German defenses and, on 3 February, it linked with the advancing armor of Konev's front and trapped 56,000 German troops. By 17 February, Vatutin and Konev had eliminated the Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket
.
(Khmelnytskyi Oblast
), was ambushed by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) insurgents far behind the front lines near village of Mylyatyn in Ostroh Raion
(Rivne Oblast
). He succumbed to his injuries from sepsis
in a hospital at Kiev six weeks later. Vatutin's brothers, Afanasy Fyodorovich and Semyon Fyodorovich, were killed in action in February and March 1944; his mother, Vera Yefimovna, buried her three sons in two months. Nikolai Vatutin was given a state funeral in Kiev
. He was succeeded by Georgy Zhukov
.
decline in Germanocentric analyses of the Eastern Front
, Vatutin has won recognition among Western military experts as one of World War II's most creative commanders.
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
military commander during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Before World War II
Vatutin was born in Chepuhino village near Valuiky in Voronezh Governorate (now Vatutino in Belgorod OblastBelgorod Oblast
Belgorod Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Belgorod. Population: 1,532,670 .-History:...
), into a Russian peasant family. Commissioned in 1920 to 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...
, he fought against the Ukrainian peasant partisans of Nestor Makhno
Nestor Makhno
Nestor Ivanovych Makhno or simply Daddy Makhno was a Ukrainian anarcho-communist guerrilla leader turned army commander who led an independent anarchist army in Ukraine during the Russian Civil War....
. The following year, he became a member of the Communist party
Communist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...
, and served diligently in junior command positions. Starting in 1926, he spent the next decade alternating service with studies in the elite Frunze Military Academy and the General Staff Academy
General Staff Academy
General Staff Academy may refer to one of the following.*Soviet General Staff Academy, now the Russian Federation's General Staff Academy*General Staff Academy...
. The 1937–1938 purge
Great Purge
The Great Purge was a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin from 1936 to 1938...
of Red Army commanders opened the road to promotion – in 1938, he received the rank of Komdiv
Comdiv
Comdiv or Komdiv , abbreviated from команди́р диви́зии was a military rank in the Red Army until the end of the 1930s....
, and was appointed Chief of Staff of a key Kiev Special Military District
Kiev Military District
The Kiev Military District was a Russian unit of military-administrative division of the Imperial Russian Army and subsequently of the Ukrainian Army, RKKA, and Soviet Armed Forces...
. Throughout this period, Vatutin combined military service with intensive Party activities.
In 1939, Vatutin planned operations for the Soviet partition of Poland with Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, and served as Chief of Staff of the Red Army Southern Group. In 1940, under the command of Georgy Zhukov
Georgy Zhukov
Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov , was a Russian career officer in the Red Army who, in the course of World War II, played a pivotal role in leading the Red Army through much of Eastern Europe to liberate the Soviet Union and other nations from the Axis Powers' occupation...
, this group seized Bessarabia
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
from Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. As a reward for these non-combat campaigns, Stalin promoted Vatutin to the rank of Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
and appointed him to the critical post of Chief of the Operational Directorate of the General Staff
General Staff
A military staff, often referred to as General Staff, Army Staff, Navy Staff or Air Staff within the individual services, is a group of officers and enlisted personnel that provides a bi-directional flow of information between a commanding officer and subordinate military units...
. Vatutin was however, not up to his new appointment: while innovative and hard-working, he lacked any combat experience and his knowledge of operational art and strategy was too abstract. Still, his peasant roots, relative youthful age, and party zeal made him one of Stalin's few favorites in the Soviet military. Vatutin, together with the rest of the Red Army high brass, failed to prepare the army for the German attack
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...
of 22 June 1941.
On 30 June 1941, he was appointed Chief of Staff of the North-Western Front
North-Western Front
The Northwestern Front was a military formation of the Red Army during the Winter War and World War II. It was operational with the 7th and 13th Armies during the Winter War. It was re-created on June 22, 1941, the first day of the Soviet-German War on the basis of the Baltic Special Military...
, (see Soviet Fronts in WWII) which showcased his better qualities. Vatutin did not try to claim success for himself in the battles, but rather focused on discerning and promoting others' talent. Another of his remarkable qualities was his audacity. At that stage of war, most of the Soviet generals, shattered by defeats, were reluctant to carry out offensive operations but Vatutin thrived on attack.
The Battles in the North
The Northwestern Front was defending LeningradSaint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
against approaches by the German Army Group North, spearheaded by armored corps led by Erich von Manstein
Erich von Manstein
Erich von Manstein was a field marshal in World War II. He became one of the most prominent commanders of Germany's World War II armed forces...
. Vatutin took command of the Soviet forces near Novgorod and rallied them for offense, attempting to encircle a large German force. He surprised Manstein, put him on the defensive, and forced the entire German Army Group North to regroup its troops to halt the Soviet offensive. The Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
lost the precious summer season needed for an effective attack on Leningrad, while the Red Army got additional time to strengthen the fortifications of the city. Due to this, the Germans failed in their best shot to capture Leningrad, one of the key German strategic failures during the early phase of war. Vatutin's immediate operational results were far less impressive. Vatutin overestimated the capacities of his troops and created overly ambitious objectives, while his coordination of his forces and control over the unfolding of the battle were poor. Additionally, he did not take into account the difficult terrain which benefited German defenses and slowed his attack. Vatutin's casualty figures were staggering, in one army nearly reaching 60%. The ineptitude of his subordinate commanders exacerbated Vatutin's own shortcomings. There was one striking exception though, the brilliant actions of Ivan Chernyakhovsky
Ivan Chernyakhovsky
Ivan Danilovich Chernyakhovsky, also Cherniakhovsky, ; Oksanina, Uman, Russian Empire , - Mehlsack, today Pieniężno, Poland, 18 February 1945) was a Soviet General of the Army , twice Hero of the Soviet Union, commander of the 3rd Belorussian Front, who died from wounds received outside...
, an obscure young Colonel in command of 28th tank division. The men had much in common, most prominently their penchant for unorthodox approaches to military art; they soon became close friends.
In January 1942, during the Soviet winter offensive following the Red Army victory in the Battle of Moscow
Battle of Moscow
The Battle of Moscow is the name given by Soviet historians to two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated Hitler's attack on Moscow, capital of...
, Vatutin trapped two German corps in Demyansk
Demyansk
Demyansk is an urban locality and the administrative center of Demyansky District of Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located along the Yavon River. Population:...
, and achieved the first large Soviet encirclement of German forces. The German and Soviet armies were equal in size. During the battle, Vatutin employed innovative tactics and actions, while Germans responded more conventionally. Vatutin was unable to destroy the German defenses, mainly due to the weakness of the Soviet air-force. In April 1942, Vatutin finally breached the German lines, just as a German relief force arrived. However, post-World War II American experts have evaluated the result of this operation as a draw. The German command drew self-congratulatory and misleading lessons from their narrow escape, concluding that they could overcome Soviet encirclements with supplies from the air while mounting a relief operation. This thinking contributed to the Wehrmacht disaster at Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943...
.
Voronezh and Stalingrad
From early May to July 1942, Vatutin served briefly as deputy of the Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army until the German Army Group South embarked on its huge strategic offense, "Operation Blau". Initially, the German assault focused on VoronezhVoronezh
Voronezh is a city in southwestern Russia, the administrative center of Voronezh Oblast. It is located on both sides of the Voronezh River, away from where it flows into the Don. It is an operating center of the Southeastern Railway , as well as the center of the Don Highway...
, they wanted to breach the Soviet front line at the Battle of Voronezh
Battle of Voronezh (1942)
The Battle of Voronezh was a battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, fought in and around the strategically important city of Voronezh on the Don river, south of Moscow, from 28 June-24 July 1942, as opening move of the German summer offensive in 1942....
and then attack the Soviet Southern Front
Soviet Southern Front
The Southern Front was a Front - a roughly Army group sized formation - of the Soviet Army during the Second World War. The Southern Front directed military operations during the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina in 1940, and then was formed twice after the June 1941 German...
and Southwestern Front
Soviet Southwestern Front
The Southwestern Front was a name given to a Front by the Imperial Russian Army during the First World War, by the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic during the Russian Civil War, and by the Red Army during the Second World War.The Southwestern Front in this article describes several...
from the rear. On 1 July 1942, Stalin sent Vatutin as an all-powerful Stavka
Stavka
Stavka was the term used to refer to a command element of the armed forces from the time of the Kievan Rus′, more formally during the history of Imperial Russia as administrative staff and General Headquarters during late 19th Century Imperial Russian armed forces and those of the Soviet Union...
representative, to the critical Bryansk Front
Bryansk Front
The Bryansk Front was a Front of the Soviet Army during the Second World War.General Andrei Yeremenko was designated commander of the Front when it first formed in mid-late August 1941, comprising, in Erickson's words, 'on paper two armies, 50th and 13th, with eight rifle divisions each, three...
, which within a few days was renamed as Voronezh Front
Voronezh Front
The Voronezh Front was a front of the Soviet Union's Red Army during the Second World War. The name indicated the primary geographical region in which the Front first fought, based on the town of Voronezh on the Don River....
and placed under Vatutin's command.
During the battle, Vatutin met Cherniakhovsky – now the newly appointed commander of the 18th Tank Corps of the 60th Army – again. The massive German attack was on the verge of breaching the Soviet front line when Cherniakhovsky's corps arrived by train. Cherniakhovsky unloaded one of his brigades and, without waiting for the rest of his troops, led that brigade against the numerically superior German forces, throwing them back. After this action, Vatutin asked Stalin to give command of the 60th army to Cherniakhovsky. Initially, Stalin opposed the request, mostly because he had reservations about appointing such a young General to lead a field army. However, Vatutin finally convinced Stalin to promote Cherniakhovsky, who would rapidly rise to become one of the major Red Army field commanders.
Although the Germans captured the city, their attempt to breach Vatutin's front line failed. Following this debacle, the Germans abandoned their initial plan, and in one fateful misjudgment, shifted their efforts toward Stalingrad. On 22 October 1942, Vatutin received command of the newly formed Southwestern Front and played an important role in planning the Soviet counter-offensive and following encirclement of the German 6th Army in the Battle of Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943...
. In December 1942, to secure the Soviet ring around Stalingrad, Vatutin encircled and destroyed two-thirds of the 130,000-strong Italian 8th Army
Italian Army in Russia
The Italian Army in Russia was an army-sized unit of the Italian Royal Army which fought on the Eastern Front during World War II...
in operation Little Saturn, contributing to the defeat of Manstein's Operation Wintergewitter
Operation Wintergewitter
Operation Winter Storm was a German offensive in World War II, undertaken between 12–23 December 1942, in which the German 4th Panzer-Armee failed to break the encirclement of Axis forces during the Battle of Stalingrad....
("Winter Storm"), the relief effort for the 6th Army.
Kharkov and Kursk
In January 1943, Vatutin relentlessly drove Germans from the Eastern Ukraine. His actions enabled the Voronezh Front under General Filipp GolikovFilipp Golikov
Filipp Ivanovich Golikov, was a Soviet military commander, promoted Marshal of the Soviet Union in 1961.Golikov saw service during the Russian Civil War...
to capture Kharkov, but he overextended his depleted troops and did not pay enough attention to the changing strategic situation. In February 1943, Manstein mustered a large force, and managed to surprise and defeat Vatutin, south of Kharkov, leading to encircling of Golikov's advance troops in Kharkov, and recapturing the city in the Third Battle of Kharkov
Third Battle of Kharkov
The Third Battle of Kharkov was a series of offensive operations on the Eastern Front of World War II, undertaken by the German Army Group South against the Red Army, around the city of Kharkov , between 19 February and 15 March 1943...
. Stavka removed Golikov from his command, but did not see Vatutin's debacle as significant. For his audacity, Stalin awarded Vatutin the rank of Army General.
On 28 March 1943, Vatutin took command of the Voronezh Front, preparing for the momentous Battle of Kursk
Battle of Kursk
The Battle of Kursk took place when German and Soviet forces confronted each other on the Eastern Front during World War II in the vicinity of the city of Kursk, in the Soviet Union in July and August 1943. It remains both the largest series of armored clashes, including the Battle of Prokhorovka,...
. In the battle of Kursk, he rejected conventional echeloning of armies; his innovative deployment allowed him to not only skillfully conduct defense against the technically superior Germans, but also to quickly switch from defense to offense. Following the Soviet victory at Kursk, Vatutin captured Belgorod.
Victories in Ukraine
Battle of Kiev (1943)
The 1943 Battle of Kiev describes three strategic operations by the Soviet Red Army, and one operational counterattack by the Wehrmacht which took place in the wake of the failed German offensive at Kursk during World War II...
. Vatutin relentlessly exploited his victory in Kiev, and pushed deep into the German defenses. When Vatutin overextended his armies, Manstein used the XLVIII Panzerkorps to counterattack. In the battle of Radomyshl
Radomyshl
Radomyshl is a historic city in the Zhytomyr Oblast of northern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Radomyshl Raion , and is located on the left bank of Teteriv River, a right tributary of Dnieper River....
(6–15 November 1943) and the battle of the Meleni pocket (16–23 December 1943) Manstein unleashed successful counterattacks which took terrain back and inflicted heavy losses on the Red Army forces. In January, Vatutin and the 2nd Ukrainian Front of Army General Ivan Konev
Ivan Konev
Ivan Stepanovich Konev , was a Soviet military commander, who led Red Army forces on the Eastern Front during World War II, retook much of Eastern Europe from occupation by the Axis Powers, and helped in the capture of Germany's capital, Berlin....
carried out an encirclement of the Korsun
Korsun
Korsun may refer to:People*Nikolai Georgiyevich Korsun , a Soviet military historian*Nikolai Nesterovich Korsun , a Soviet army officer and Hero of the Soviet Union...
salient in the Korsun-Shevchenko operation. Although Vatutin started the operation two days after Konev and his striking formation, and the 6th Tank Army
6th Guards Tank Army
The 6th Guards Order of Red Banner Tank Army was a tank army of the Soviet Union's Red Army, first formed during World War II and disbanded in Ukraine in the 1990s after the dissolution of the Soviet Union....
was only recently formed, he achieved the element of surprise by committing his tanks to the battle from the first echelon. This allowed the 6th Tank Army to penetrate deep into German defenses and, on 3 February, it linked with the advancing armor of Konev's front and trapped 56,000 German troops. By 17 February, Vatutin and Konev had eliminated the Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket
Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket
The Korsun–Shevchenkovsky Offensive led to the Battle of the Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket which took place from 24 January to 16 February 1944. The offensive was part of the Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive...
.
Death
On 28 February 1944 Vatutin, regrouping for a new operation and heading to SlavutaSlavuta
Slavuta is a city in the Khmelnytskyi Oblast of western Ukraine, located on the Horyn River. Serving as the administrative center of the Slavutsky Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast, and is located approximately 80 km from the oblast capital,...
(Khmelnytskyi Oblast
Khmelnytskyi Oblast
Khmelnytskyi Oblast is an oblast of western Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Khmelnytskyi.The current estimated population is around 1,401,140 .-Geography:...
), was ambushed by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) insurgents far behind the front lines near village of Mylyatyn in Ostroh Raion
Ostroh Raion
Ostroh Raion is a raion in Rivne Oblast in western Ukraine. Its administrative center is Ostroh. It has a population of 31 000.-External links:*...
(Rivne Oblast
Rivne Oblast
Rivne Oblast is an oblast of Ukraine. Its administrative center is Rivne. The area of the region is 20,100 km²; its population is 1.2 million...
). He succumbed to his injuries from sepsis
Sepsis
Sepsis is a potentially deadly medical condition that is characterized by a whole-body inflammatory state and the presence of a known or suspected infection. The body may develop this inflammatory response by the immune system to microbes in the blood, urine, lungs, skin, or other tissues...
in a hospital at Kiev six weeks later. Vatutin's brothers, Afanasy Fyodorovich and Semyon Fyodorovich, were killed in action in February and March 1944; his mother, Vera Yefimovna, buried her three sons in two months. Nikolai Vatutin was given a state funeral in Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
. He was succeeded by Georgy Zhukov
Georgy Zhukov
Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov , was a Russian career officer in the Red Army who, in the course of World War II, played a pivotal role in leading the Red Army through much of Eastern Europe to liberate the Soviet Union and other nations from the Axis Powers' occupation...
.
Legacy
His influence on the Red Army strategic planning, operational, and tactical techniques continued even after his death. Following the post-Cold WarCold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
decline in Germanocentric analyses of the Eastern Front
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
, Vatutin has won recognition among Western military experts as one of World War II's most creative commanders.
Popular culture
- Vatutin is supposedly related to a KGBKGBThe KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
officer in Tom ClancyTom ClancyThomas Leo "Tom" Clancy, Jr. is an American author, best known for his technically detailed espionage, military science, and techno thriller storylines set during and in the aftermath of the Cold War, along with video games on which he did not work, but which bear his name for licensing and...
's novel The Cardinal of the KremlinThe Cardinal of the KremlinThe Cardinal of the Kremlin is a novel by Tom Clancy, featuring his character Jack Ryan. It is a sequel to The Hunt for Red October, based on the development of the Strategic Defense Initiative and its Soviet equivalent, covering themes including intelligence gathering and counterintelligence,...
. - The battle of the Korsun Salient is the basis for the award-winning computer wargame Decisive Battles of WWII: Korsun PocketDecisive Battles of WWII: Korsun PocketDecisive Battles of WWII: Korsun Pocket is a turn-based strategy computer game developed by the Strategic Studies Group . The game is part of the Decisive Battles of World War II series and was released on August 25, 2003. The game depicts the historical World War II battle of the Korsun Pocket,...
.