Alexey Nikolayevich Krutikov

Alexey Nikolayevich Krutikov
Alexey Nikolayevich Krutikov
Born	20 July 1895; Lieutenant-general
Commands held	7th Independent Army / 7th Army ; (January 1943 - August 1944);
Battles/wars	World War I; Russian Civil War; World War II Vyborg-Petrozavodsk Offensive Svir-Petrozavodsk Operation; Battle of Nietjärvi; ; Petsamo–Kirkenes Offensive; Manchuria Offensive; ;
Awards	Order of Lenin (2x); Order of the Red Banner (2x); Order of Suvorov, 1st class (2x); Order of the Red Star ; and other awards;

Alexey Nikolayevich Krutikov (Russian: Алексе́й Никола́евич Кру́тиков; 20 July 1895 - 23 April 1949) was a Soviet military leader.

A veteran of the

General Staff Academy in 1938. He was appointed 7th Army chief of staff

in November 1940 and served as the commander of the 7th Army between January 1943 and August 1944.

He closely collaborated with

1st Far Eastern Front

(August - October 1945).

Biography

Early career

Alexey Nikolayevich Krutikov was born in

Bolshevik Party in 1919 during the Russian Civil War

.

Advancing through the Red Army ranks in the interwar period, he graduated from the

major-general when the traditional general officer

ranks were first introduced into the Red Army in June 1940.

Appointed a senior instructor at the General Staff Academy in August 1940, he then took up the position of chief of staff for the 7th Army of the Leningrad Military District in November 1940.

World War II

Following

Army General Meretskov

) in the spring of 1944.

In June 1944, the Karelian Front turned to offensive operations. Destruction of enemy forces between

Filip D. Gorelenko^[1] 's 32nd Army, which received orders to destroy the concentration of enemy troops around Medvezhyegorsk and cooperate with the 7th Army in liberating the city of Petrozavodsk before moving onward.^[2]

Expecting a Soviet offensive, the Finns withdrew from the Svir and their forward positions in the Medvezhyegorsk area, permitting the 7th Army to quickly reach the Svir on the evening of 20 June.

Naval Infantry from the Lake Ladoga Flotilla within a week.^[2] Compelled to withdraw again, the Finns now abandoned Petrozavodsk to the Soviets on 27 June 1944.^[3]

Though successful in eliminating the first two of three Finnish defensive lines between Loymola and Koyrinoya in July after being reinforced by a new corps and tank brigade, Krutikov's 7th Army did not manage to break through the final defense at the Battle of Nietjärvi and the front stabilized.^[3] Despite this last-ditch success, the Soviet attacks had virtually exhausted the Finnish reserves.^[2]

Succeeded as commander of the 7th Army by Lieutenant-General

Neiden on 29 October, ultimately stopping at Tanafjord as the Germans retreated further westward to Lakselv.^[4]

The Red Army's successful operations in the far north were recognized with Kirill Meretskov's promotion to

1st Far Eastern Front

in August 1945.