Kornii Andrusenko

Kornei Mikhailovich Andrusenko (; 27 September 1899 – 8 October 1976) was a Ukrainian Red Army colonel and a Hero of the Soviet Union.

Andrusenko joined the Red Army in 1918, fighting in the Russian Civil War in Ukraine and the Polish–Soviet War. During the interwar period, he became an infantry officer and studied at the Frunze Military Academy just before the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. Andrusenko commanded two different rifle regiments in the Battle of Moscow before taking command of the 329th Rifle Division in December. In March 1942, his division was encircled and destroyed. Andrusenko escaped and was sentenced to death for "inaction", but the sentenced was changed to ten years and delayed until the end of the war. He was demoted to command a cadet rifle brigade, which he led during the Battle of Stalingrad. For an unauthorized retreat, he was again demoted to command of a regiment. For his subsequent leadership of the regiment, Andrusenko was restored in rank and for his actions in the Battle of the Dnieper was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. In January 1944, he was given command of the 55th Rifle Division, leading it in Operation Bagration and the Baltic Offensive. In the spring of 1945 Andrusenko took command of the 184th Rifle Division in the Soviet Far East and led it in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August of that year. He retired from the army after the end of the war.

Early life and Russian Civil War Andrusenko was born on 27 September 1899 to a peasant family with seven children in Parafiyevka, Chernigov Governorate (now in Pryluky Raion). From the age of eight he worked as a farmhand for his landlord. Andrusenko graduated from the local three-grade rural school. From 1909, he worked as a laborer at the Parafiyevka sugar factory. Andrusenko worked as a fitter and turner at the Linovizky sugar beet factory and the Slavyansk soda plant between 1913 and 1916. From 1916, he worked at the Sumy Machine Building Factory. In the summer of 1917, Andrusenko was fired from his job for distributing Bolshevik pamphlets.

From June 1918, Andrusenko fought with the 1st Soviet Partisan Group in the Russian Civil War. In August, he volunteered for the Red Army, serving as a soldier in the 4th Nizhyn Regiment. He transferred to the 1st Kiev Communist Regiment in March 1919. From the beginning of 1920 Andrusenko served with the guard battalion at the Borzensky Uyezd Recruiting Office. During the Civil War, Andrusenko was involved in fighting against German and Austrian troops, the Ukrainian People's Army, the White Army, and the Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army, among others. From August, he served with the 73rd and then 6th Rifle Regiments of the Southwestern Front, fighting in the Polish–Soviet War. On 27 September, pursuing retreating German troops, the regiment reached the east bank of the Dnieper near Redkovka in Ripky Raion. Andrusenko organized the collection of the rafts, boats, and tools available for the crossing. During 28 and 29 September, in the area of Liubech, the regiment crossed the river on boats and rafts. During 29 and 30 September, it repulsed counterattacks from German infantry and tanks, and entrenched in the bridgehead. The regiment held the bridgehead, enabling the crossing of the rest of the division. For his actions, Andrusenko received the title Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin on 15 January 1944. During the fall of 1943, he led the regiment in the Gomel-Rechitsa Offensive in eastern Belarus. Andrusenko was wounded three times during the period he led the 239th Regiment.

Postwar After the end of the war, Andrusenko continued to command the 184th until February 1946, when he became deputy commander of the 393rd Rifle Division in the Primorsky Military District. Andrusenko was transferred to the reserve in May of that year for health reasons. He moved to Sorochinsk and lived there until 1956, when he moved to Kiev. Andrusenko worked in civil institutions. His wife died in a car crash while both were visiting their son, who had joined the Soviet Army. Andrusenko remarried Varvara Ivanovna Frolova (died 1994). Andrusenko died on 8 October 1976 and was buried at the Lukyanivka military cemetery. Streets in Chernihiv and Parafiyevka were named for Andrusenko. In the school where he studied, a memorial plaque was created.