Pavel Shurukhin

Pavel Ivanovich Shurukhin (; – 3 November 1956) was an army officer and partisan with NKVD ties who was twice awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union during World War II. After the war he became a general, but died just three years later.

Civilian life Born on to a Russian peasant family in what is now Novonikolskoe village of Volgograd Oblast, he was forced to begin working at a young age due to the deaths of his parents. After completing his education at a rural secondary school he entered the military.

Military career Having been drafted into the Red Army in 1931, he soon went on to graduate from a military academy in 1934 and was made a platoon commander. He quickly rose up through the ranks, becoming an assistant company commander and then chief of regimental training; during the Winter War with Finland he commanded a ski battalion.

Upon his return to the army he commanded the 132nd Guards Rifle Regiment; during his tenure the unit fought on the Western, Voronezh, and 1st Ukrainian fronts, participating in offensive operations that resulted in the expulsion of enemy forces from many areas, including a bridgehead of the Dnieper which they crossed on 24 September 1943. For success in the river crossing Shurukhin was awarded his first gold star on 23 October. After the advance over the Dnieper his unit saw success in the offensives for Iași, Bucharest, and the Carpathians; from August to September 1944 the regiment was credited with advancing , capturing 25 populated areas, killing up to 3000 combatants, and taking up to 1,500 prisoners. In later 1944 he was promoted to commander of the 42nd Guards Rifle Division, but shortly afterwards he was badly wounded when his car drove over a land mine. Despite the injuries, he eventually returned to active duty. For the offensive in the Carpathians he was awarded the title of hero again on 24 March 1945.

After the end of the war he remained in the military in addition to serving as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union from 1946 to 1950; after graduating from courses for infantry commanders he commanded a regiment, then a division. He was promoted to the rank general-major in 1953, but died in Moscow on 3 November 1956 of a serious illness and was buried in the Novodevichy Cemetery.

Awards Twice Hero of the Soviet Union Two Order of Lenin Two Order of the Red Banner Two Order of the Red Star