Nikolay Nikolayevich Voronov (5 May 1899-28 February 1968) was a Chief Marshal of the Artillery of the Soviet Union during World War II. Voronov commanded the Red Army artillery at the Battle of Stalingrad from 1942 to 1943, and he served as the Stavka representative at the Siege of Leningrad and the Battle of Kursk.
Biography[]
Nikolay Nkolayevich Voronov was born in St. Petersburg, Russian Empire in 1899, and he joined the Red Army in 1918 and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1919. He distinguished himself during the Russian Civil War, being wounded and captured several times during the war. Voronov graduated from the Frunze Military Academy in 1930 and joined the Soviet mission to Italy in 1932, and he was sent to Spain in 1937 (using the nom de guerre "Voltaire") to advise the Spanish Republican Army during the Spanish Civil War. In June 1937, he returned to Moscow as a decorated war hero, winning the Order of Lenin and the Order of the Red Banner; in 1939, he was awarded another Order of Lenin after fighting at the Battle of Khalkhin Gol. During the Invasion of Poland in 1939, Voronov commanded the Belorussian Military District's artillery. He inspected the Leningrad Military District's troops during the Winter War, and he was promoted to Colonel-General on 4 June 1940. He led the Southwestern Front's artillery during the annexation of Bessarabia and northern Bukovina.
World War II[]
Voronov on the cover of Time Magazine, 20 March 1944
When Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, Voronov reinforced the air defense of Moscow, and he was made chief of the artillery on 19 July 1941. Voronov and Leonid Govorov sent anti-tank instructions to Red Army troops as a Stavka directive, and Voronov organized anti-tank artillery in Leningrad, where he assisted in organizing counterattacks against the Axis forces during their siege of Leningrad. In July 1942, he became commander of the Soviet artillery at the Battle of Stalingrad, and he coordinated the Soviet artillery barrages during Operation Uranus. He later played a key role in the victories at the Battle of Kursk and the Second Battle of Smolensk in 1943, and he resigned from the Stavka in early 1944 due to health issues. He helped to redeploy ammunition and artillery to the Eastern Front, and he became Chief Marshal of the Artillery on 21 February 1944. In May 1946, he established the Academy of Artillery Sciences, and he also became a deputy of the Soviet of the Union. He served in various military administrative roles until his death in 1968.