Stepan Shutov

Stepan Fyodorovich Shutov (, ; 30 January 1902 – 17 April 1963) was a Red Army Colonel and double Hero of the Soviet Union. Shutov fought in the Russian Civil War and the Polish–Soviet War. He was demobilized after recovering from Typhus in 1921 but was drafted into the Red Army again in 1924. He initially served in cavalry units and later became an officer in the tank troops. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union, Shutov was a tank battalion commander. He fought in the Battle of Moscow. In December 1941, he became deputy commander of a tank brigade and in August 1942, was given command of the 187th Tank Brigade of the 9th Tank Corps. Shutov was appointed commander of the 50th Separate Guards Tank Regiment in October. From May 1943 he took commanders courses at the Military Academy of the Mechanization and Motorization of the Red Army. After graduation Shutov became commander of the 20th Guards Tank Brigade in August 1943. For his leadership of the brigade in the Battle of Kiev, he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. During the Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive the brigade captured Ploiești. For his leadership Shutov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union a second time. In September 1944, he became 9th Guards Mechanized Corps deputy commander but a few days later was seriously wounded, resulting in the amputation of his arm while in the hospital. He retired in September 1945 and later became deputy minister for social welfare of the Belorussian SSR.

Early life Shutov was born on 30 January 1902, on the Skubeykovo estate near the village of Dvarets in Minsk Governorate to a poor peasant family of Belarusian ethnicity with eight children. He worked for the landlord for nine years, and during 1915 worked on the estate. From 1916 Shutov worked in steel and glass mills. He fought in the Russian Civil War, becoming a local partisan and Red Guard in December 1917, fighting against German troops and later Polish troops. In the summer of 1920 he joined the 200th Rifle Regiment of the 16th Army as a cavalry scout, but only served for a brief period as he caught typhus and was demobilized upon recovery. After graduating from the Lenin Military-Political Academy in 1930, Shutov became a political commissar in the 1st Reserve Cavalry Regiment. In 1943 he graduated from the academic courses of improvement at the Military Academy of Armored and Mechanized Forces. He became deputy commander of the 9th Guards Mechanized Corps in mid-September. A few days later, Shutov was seriously wounded during a night battle in the Southern Carpathians, resulting in the amputation of his arm while in hospital.

Postwar Shutov was discharged in September 1945. He worked as Belorussian SSR Deputy Minister of Social Welfare between 1946 and 1947. He was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR during its second convocation between 1946 and 1950. Between 1951 and 1955, he was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic during its third convocation. He lived in Minsk and died on 17 April 1963. Shutov was buried in the Baikove Cemetery in Kiev.

Legacy A bronze bust of Shutov was erected in Glusk. A street in Kiev was also named for Shutov, at the beginning of which a plaque was located.