Background
Fyodor Kostenko was born on December 6, 1896 in village Bol’shaya Martynovka, Rostov Oblast. Son of a peasant.
Fyodor Kostenko was born on December 6, 1896 in village Bol’shaya Martynovka, Rostov Oblast. Son of a peasant.
Completed two grades of village school. 1941 completed Red Army Advanced Commanders Courses.
A civil war veteran, wounded four times as a cavalry commander, Gen Lt Kostenko headed a cavalry group in June 1941 before taking over the 26th Army that month. He was captured with his army around Kiev but escaped to become Timoshenko's deputy commander in the SW Front. Concurrently he led an operations group that liberated Yelets on 9 Dec 1941 (Scarecrow). The general then took over the SW Front from Timoshenko on 18 December 1941, leading it in what the Soviets call the Moscow Offensive Operation, 5 December 1941-1947 January 1942. With Timoshenko doubling at times as SW Front and SW Theater commander, Kostenko alternated as Timoshenko’s deputy and as front commander.
On 12 April 1942, when he reverted to being deputy front commander, Kostenko launched the Kharkov offensive. After weeks of confused fighting the Germans cut off the Soviet salient, capturing 1,200 tanks, 2,000 guns, and 214,000 prisoners. Trapped with his command group, Kostenko was killed on 26 May 1942 while trying to break out. Other casualties were 6th Army commander Gen Lt A.M. Gorodnyansky (suicide), 57th Army commander Gen Lt K.P. Podlas. and operational group commander Gen Maj L.V. Bobkin.
Religious leaders contribute to secular and religious wars by endorsing or supporting the violence.
The emphasis on peaceful coexistence doesn’t mean that the Soviet Union accepted a static world with clear lines. Socialism is inevitable and the "correlations of forces" were moving towards socialism.