Ivan Gorbachyov

Ivan Sergeyevich Gorbachyov (; 29 October 1902 25 July 1941) was a Red Army major general.

Born in a poor peasant family, Gorbachyov joined the Red Army after the end of the Russian Civil War. He became an officer in the NKVD Border Troops and commanded a border detachment in 1941. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Gorbachyov became the commander of the newly formed 250th Rifle Division, which included many personnel of the Border Troops. Gorbachyov led the division during the Battle of Smolensk and died of wounds received in a counterattack.

Early life Gorbachyov was born in Strechanovo, Tyuninsky volost, Roslavlsky Uyezd, Smolensk Governorate, to an impoverished peasant family. He worked as a farm labourer. His family moved to Kamensk in Ukraine after the 1905 Revolution for economic reasons and Gorbachyov graduated from a gymnasium school there. His father became a factory worker in Kamensk, joining the Bolsheviks and participating in the Russian Revolution. The commander of NKVD forces in the Transbaikal district assessed him as a "mature and serious commander" who was firm, decisive, and disciplined.

World War II After Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, began on 22 June 1941, several new rifle divisions were formed under the command of officers from the NKVD Border Troops. Gorbachyov was among those officers and on 27 June was appointed commander of the 250th Rifle Division, which began formation in Vladimir soon after. The officers were drawn from the NKVD Border Troops, while the enlisted men were called-up reservists. The 250th was relocated to the Rzhev area on 15 July, the same day that Gorbachyov was promoted to major general. From there the division marched through Olenino to positions south of Belyi. The division was assigned to the 30th Army and entered the Battle of Smolensk on 22 July, counterattacking towards Dukhovshchina to stop the German advance. Two days later, Gorbachyov and the division commissar visited elements of the 250th at Demyakhi. As Gorbachyov left the staff car that they arrived in at the entrance to the village and went to personally inspect the defenses, he was mortally wounded by shrapnel from a German artillery shell. Gorbachyov died of his wounds in a field hospital on the next day, and was buried in Olenino.

Personal life Gorbachyov married and had a daughter, Galina, and two sons, Pyotr and Vladimir.