Serhi Gnatovich Rudenko (Ukrainian

Ukrainian language

Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....

: Сергій Гнатович Руденко, Russified

Russian language

Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

: Сергей Игнатьевич Руденко [Sergei Ignatevich Rudenko]; , Korop

Korop

Korop is an urban-type settlement in Chernihiv Oblast of northern Ukraine, the administrative center of the Korop Raion.The name of the town means "carp" in Ukrainian, and the fish is present in the coat of arms and flag of the town....

, Russian Empire

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

 - 10 July 1990, Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

, Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

) was a Soviet Marshal of the Aviation.

Early life

A shoemaker's son, Rudenko volunteered into the Red Army

Red Army

The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

 in 1923. At 1926 he completed his studies in the Leningrad

Leningrad

Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...

 Military Theoretical Flight School and graduated from the Crimea

Crimea

Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...

 Military Flight Academy a year later. At 1928 he joined the Communist Party

Communist Party of the Soviet Union

The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...

. From 1932, Rudenko commanded a reconnaissance squadron. At 1936 he matriculated from the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy, and was soon appointed commander of the 118th Bomber Brigade.

On January 1941, Rudenko was put in charge of the 31st Air Division of the Western Special Military District, an office he held when Germany invaded the Soviet Union

Operation Barbarossa

Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...

.

World War II

On November 1941 he was transferred to command the 20th Air Army, and on December he was assigned to supervise the 61st Air Army.

On January the following year, Rudenko was made chief of the air component in the Kalinin Front

Kalinin Front

The Kalinin Front was a Front of the Soviet Army during the Second World War. This sense of the term is not identical with the more general usage of military front which indicates a geographic area in wartime, although a Soviet Front may operate within designated boundaries.The Kalinin Front was...

. From April to June he headed the 1st Air Operations Group at the Stavka

Stavka

Stavka was the term used to refer to a command element of the armed forces from the time of the Kievan Rus′, more formally during the history of Imperial Russia as administrative staff and General Headquarters during late 19th Century Imperial Russian armed forces and those of the Soviet Union...

, and then posted as deputy commander of the air component in the Southwestern Front.

On October 1942, Rudenko assumed command over the 16th Air Army. Under his leadership, the Army participated in the battles of Stalingrad

Battle of Stalingrad

The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943...

, Kursk

Battle of Kursk

The Battle of Kursk took place when German and Soviet forces confronted each other on the Eastern Front during World War II in the vicinity of the city of Kursk, in the Soviet Union in July and August 1943. It remains both the largest series of armored clashes, including the Battle of Prokhorovka,...

, Belorussia, Poland, Pomerania

East Pomeranian Offensive

The East Pomeranian Strategic Offensive operation was an offensive by the Red Army in its fight against the German Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front...

 and Berlin

Battle of Berlin

The Battle of Berlin, designated the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, was the final major offensive of the European Theatre of World War II....

 - as part of the air component in the Stalingrad

Stalingrad Front

The Stalingrad Front was a front of the Soviet Union's Red Army during the Second World War. The name indicated the primary geographical region in which the Front first fought, based on the city of Stalingrad on the Volga River....

, Don

Don Front

The Don Front was a front of the Soviet Union's Red Army during the Second World War. The name refers to Don River, Russia....

, Central and Belorussian

1st Belorussian Front

The 1st Belorussian Front was a Front of the Soviet Army during World War II...

 (later, 1st Belorussian) Fronts.

On 11 May 1944 Rudenko was promoted to Colonel-General. On 19 August that year, he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union

Hero of the Soviet Union

The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...

 (Medal no. 3087).

Post-war career

Rudenko remained in charge of the 16th Army until February 1947, when he was appointed a commander of an airborne corps. From December 1948, Rudenko commanded the Soviet Airborn Troops. On September 1949, he became Chief of Staff and First Deputy to the Supreme Commander of the Air Force. At 11 March 1955, he received his final promotion to Marshal of the Aviation. From May 1968 to August 1973, Rudenko headed the Gagarin Military Academy and then became an inspector in the Ministry of Defense.

He was also a deputy in the 2nd anf 6th Convocations of the Supreme Soviet

Supreme Soviet

The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union was the Supreme Soviet in the Soviet Union and the only one with the power to pass constitutional amendments...

, and candidate member of the Central Committee

Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , abbreviated in Russian as ЦК, "Tse-ka", earlier was also called as the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party ...

in the years 1961-66.