Shorin, Vasilii Ivanovich

Born Dec. 26, 1870 (Jan. 7, 1871), in the city of Kaliazin, in what is now Kalinin Oblast; died 1938. Soviet military leader.

The son of an artisan, Shorin graduated from the Kazan Cadet School in 1892 and from the Officers’ Rifle School. He fought in the Russo-Japanese War. of 1904–05 and in World War I, in which he commanded a battalion and a regiment. Shorin was promoted to colonel in 1916 and was awarded the Order of St. George Fourth Class and the Weapon of St. George. After the October Revolution of 1917 he was elected a division commander by the soldiers.

In September 1918, Shorin enlisted in the Red Army in Viatka. He was appointed commander of the Eastern Front’s Second Army, which he reorganized and which he led in such actions as the Izhevsk-Votkinsk Operation of 1918. After becoming commander of the Northern Group of the Eastern Front in May 1919, he directed the Perm’ and Ekaterinburg operations. In late July 1919, Shorin assumed command of the Southern Front’s Special Group, which consisted of the Ninth and Tenth armies, later joined by the Eleventh. In September, the Special Group became the Southeastern Front, whose troops fought successfully in a counteroffensive against General Denikin in late 1919.

Shorin was named commander of the Caucasian Front in January 1920. From May 1920 through January 1921, as assistant commander in chief of the armed forces of the republic in Siberia, he directed the suppression of the kulak rebellions and the eradication of Ungern von Sternberg’s forces. Shorin was commander of the Turkestan Front from January to November 1922, during the elimination of Enver Pasha’s Basmachi bands.

After serving as deputy commander of the Leningrad Military District from 1923 to 1925, Shorin was put on reserve status for reasons of age. He directed the Society for Assistance to Defense, Aviation, and Chemical Construction in Leningrad.

Shorin was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, the Honorary Revolutionary Weapon, and orders of the Bukhara and Kho-rezm people’s republics.