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Luka Basanets | |
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| Born | 1898 (1898) |
| Died | 1962 (aged 63–64) |
| Allegiance |  Russian Empire(underProvisional Government) .svg) Soviet Russia Soviet Union |
| Branch | Imperial Russian Army.svg) Red Army |
| Rank | Major-general |
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Luka Herasymovych Basanets (Ukrainian:Лука Герасимович Басанець,Russian:Лука Герасимович Басанец; 1898 - 1962) was aSovietmilitary officer who led theRed Army's140th Rifle Division, shattered by theGerman invasion of the Soviet Union in the summer of 1941. He joined theSoviet partisans behind the German front lines in September 1941.
Rejoining the Red Army after two years with the partisans, Colonel Basanets was appointed commanding officer of the235th Rifle Division in 1943 and commanding officer of the192nd Rifle Division in 1944–1945.
Promoted tomajor-general on 6 May 1945, he led the 192nd Rifle Division during theSoviet invasion of Japanese Manchuria (Manchukuo) in August 1945.
Luka Basanets was born in 1898 in theChernigov Governorate village of Kukshyn in theRussian Empire (now inChernihiv Oblast,Ukraine). He was anethnic Ukrainian from apeasant family.[1]
Basanets entered the military duringWorld War I, having been conscripted into theImperial Russian Army for service as aprivate in February 1917.[1] He joined the newly formedRed Army ofSoviet Russia in 1918 and became a member of theBolshevik Party in 1919.[1]
Basanets fought on the Western Front of theRussian Civil War from August 1918 until February 1920, then went on toMoscow to attend the Red Army's 1st Moscow Infantry Course from February 1920 to July 1920.[1] He later attended infantry courses inKyiv in 1921-1923 and theVystrel Higher Infantry Officers' Courses in 1928–1929.[1] Aplatoon andcompany commander in the 1920s, he was promoted tobattalion commander in 1929 and studied at theFrunze Military Academy in 1932–1936.[1]
Basanets worked in themilitary intelligence service after his graduation from the Frunze Military Academy, serving at the disposal of the Intelligence Directorate of the Red Army Staff in May 1936.[1] Awarded theOrder of the Red Banner in 1937, he was next named an assistant of the commanding officer of the51st Rifle Division in December 1938.[1]
He was relieved of his assignment with the 51st Rifle Division to take control of the140th Rifle Division as commanding officer in August 1939.[1] Part of the36th Rifle Corps ofLieutenant-GeneralIvan Muzychenko's6th Army at the time of theGerman invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, the 140th Division sustained heavy casualties in early July 1941. The division was subsequently encircled and destroyed by the Germans, though Basanets managed to escape, joining theSoviet partisans to fight behind the German front lines in September 1941.[1] He managed to cross through the German lines after two years with the partisans, rejoining the regular army in 1943.[1]
Colonel Basanets was named commanding officer of the 235th Rifle Division of Lieutenant-GeneralKonstantin Golubev's43rd Army in July 1943 in place of Colonel Alexey Kubasov, who was reassigned to take charge of the269th. He was succeeded as commander of the 235th by Colonel Andrey Yatsun in October 1943.
In October 1944, Colonel Basanets succeeded the wounded Colonel Konstantin Popov as commander of the192nd Rifle Division of Lieutenant-General (laterColonel-General)Ivan Lyudnikov's39th Army. Alongside the rest of the 39th Army, the division took part in theEast Prussian Offensive in theEast Prussia Province ofGermany as part ofArmy GeneralIvan Chernyakhovsky's3rd Belorussian Front in late 1944 - early 1945.
Promoted tomajor-general, on 6 May 1945, Basanets led the 192nd Rifle Division during theSoviet war with Imperial Japan in the August 1945invasion of Manchuria (Manchukuo), for which the 39th Army crossed theGreater Khingan on theMongolia-Manchukuo border, fighting as part ofMarshalRodion Malinovsky'sTransbaikal Front.
Major-General Basanets remained with the 192nd Rifle Division until its return to the Soviet Union in October 1945, a month after theJapanese surrender at theend of World War II.
Major-General Basanets retired after the war. He died inOdesa in 1962.