Vasily Ivanovich Kazakov (1898–1968) — Marshal of Artillery, Hero of the Soviet Union.
In military circles, Kazakov needs no introduction — he is well known not only among artillerymen. Marshal of Artillery and Hero of the Soviet Union Kazakov was one of the supreme masters of organizing an artillery offensive. Vasily Ivanovich Kazakov is the only commander or military leader of the Great Patriotic War who was a native of the Nizhny Novgorod Region.
Among the Heroes of the Soviet Union — the celebrated marshals of the wartime era — V.I. Kazakov stands apart as the only artilleryman among the front artillery commanders of the war to have been awarded the commanders' Order of Suvorov, 1st Class, three times. V.I. Kazakov was born on 18 July 1898 in the village of Filippovo, Buturlinskiy District. Until the age of eight he lived in the village with his grandparents. His parents, like many peasants, had left for the city to find work. His father soon summoned young Vasya to join him in St. Petersburg. From that moment a new, adult working life began for the boy. First a "shop boy" in a store, then an apprentice and worker in a printing house. At eighteen he was conscripted into the Imperial Army. He served on active duty from 1916. In 1917, during fighting against the Germans near Riga, he suffered a severe concussion and was sent to Petrograd for treatment.
In 1918, V.I. Kazakov enlisted as a volunteer in the Red Army, and from that time on his entire life was inseparably bound up with the armed forces.
History chooses its own heroes. A marshal's baton could not find its way into a common soldier's knapsack by chance. Perseverance, hard work, and a constant drive to acquire new knowledge characterized V.I. Kazakov throughout his life. First at artillery courses, then at the M.V. Frunze Military Academy, then again at advanced training courses for Red Army commanding staff: raising the level of mastery in fire control was one of the principles that guided V.I. Kazakov all his life.
The life's journey of Hero of the Soviet Union and Marshal of Artillery V.I. Kazakov encompassed all the major events in the building, the bitter defeats, and the glorious victories of the Red Army, in which he was a direct participant. The Battle of Moscow, the Battle of Stalingrad, the Battle of Kursk, the liberation of Belorussia, the Vistula–Oder Offensive, and the capture of Berlin. History and Supreme Commander-in-Chief Stalin made no mistake in entrusting him with a role in every decisive battle of the Great Patriotic War and in the capture of Berlin. It is for this reason that he was among those who signed the Act of Surrender of Nazi Germany at Karlshorst on 9 May 1945.
The name of V.I. Kazakov is associated with such concepts in the art of artillery employment as "artillery offensive," "double creeping barrage," and "massed artillery strike." There were other artillery commanders who fought skillfully on other fronts, but Vasily Ivanovich was an artilleryman "by the grace of God," a brilliant master of his craft. It is for this reason that history assigned him his place on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War as the closest comrade-in-arms of the legendary commanders Zhukov and Rokossovsky.
In the postwar years, V.I. Kazakov commanded the artillery of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, served as deputy commander and commander of the artillery of the Soviet Army, commander of the Ground Forces Air Defense, and Inspector General of the Ministry of Defense. In the final years of his life he was commander of the All-Union military sports game Zarnitsa.
It was during this period that he frequently visited his homeland in Nizhny Novgorod and in Buturlino, meeting with young people, workers at the largest Nizhny Novgorod enterprises, students, and schoolchildren.
In his letters to schoolchildren in Buturlino, V.I. Kazakov would remind them: "…Do your best to ensure that the good work you have begun — creating a Museum of Military Glory — remains in active hands… The main thing is to collect material in your museum about participants in the Great Patriotic War, to record the memoirs of soldiers and officers, and to preserve these precious manuscripts with care…" Since 2006, the marshal's hometown of Buturlino has hosted a remarkably beautiful and highly creative project: the "Buturlino Readings in the Name of Marshal of Artillery V.I. Kazakov," which draws a great number of young participants. The Administration of Buturlinskiy District, which established the Marshal Kazakov Prize, is genuinely cultivating a patriotic consciousness in the younger generation by stimulating its interest in the history of the homeland through the example of fellow countrymen who have brought glory to their native land.