Ivan Ivanovich Volkotrubenko

Born June 30 (July 12), 1898, in the village of Cherntsy, in present-day Balta Raion, Odessa Oblast. Became a colonel general of the artillery in 1944. Joined the CPSU in 1924. Born into the family of a peasant.

Volkotrubenko fought in World War I as an enlisted man. He went into the Red Army in April 1918 and fought in the Civil War. He graduated from the First Moscow Artillery Courses in 1918, from the Higher Military Communications School in 1924, and from the advanced artillery training courses for commanders in 1931. From 1938 to 1941 he was chief of artillery supply for the Kiev Military District. During the Great Patriotic War he was appointed chief of artillery supply for the Southwestern Front in June 1941, and in February 1942 he was named deputy and first deputy chief of the Main Artillery Directorate. In 1950 he became head of the Main Artillery Directorate. From 1953 to 1961 Volkotrubenko was chief of several military artillery educational institutions. He retired in 1967. He has been awarded two Orders of Lenin, three Orders of the Red Banner, Orders of Kutuzov First and Second Class, the Order of Suvorov Second Class, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, the Order of the Red Star, the Order of the Badge of Honor, and several foreign orders, as well as medals.