Vasily Timofeyevich Volsky () (Tula Province, Russia, 10 March 1897 – Moscow, Soviet Union, 22 February 1946) was a General of Soviet tank forces.

From 1939–1941, Volsky headed the Soviet Union's Academy of Mechanisation and Motorisation. He then rose to command the 4th Mechanised Corps, which he led at the Battle of Stalingrad in late 1942. Initially Volsky had concerns over the planned Operation Uranus, going as far as to write Joseph Stalin a personal letter "as a good communist" warning him that the attack would fail. After a meeting with Stalin, Volsky retracted his letter and the Corps assisted in the encirclement and destruction of the Romanian army commanded by Gebele.

Vasily Volsky

During 1943, Volsky commanded the 3rd Guards Tank Corps; in 1944, promoted to Colonel General, he was appointed the commander of 5th Guards Tank Army, replacing Pavel Rotmistrov.

Vasily Volsky

Volsky, suffering from tuberculosis, was hospitalized in March 1945. He died on 22 February 1946 in Moscow.

Vasily Volsky

References

Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege (1999) by Antony Beevor.

Footnotes

Soviet colonel generals

Soviet military personnel of World War II

1897 births

1946 deaths

Military personnel from Moscow

Recipients of the Order of Lenin

Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner

Recipients of the Order of Suvorov, 1st class

Recipients of the Order of Suvorov, 2nd class

Russian military personnel of World War I

Imperial Russian Army personnel

Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War

20th-century deaths from tuberculosis

Tuberculosis deaths in the Soviet Union