Stepan Shutov

Stepan Fyodorovich Shutov was a Red Army Colonel and double Hero of the Soviet Union. Shutov fought in the Russian Civil War and the Polish–Soviet War. He was demobilized after recovering from Typhus in 1921 but was drafted into the Red Army again in 1924. He initially served in cavalry units and later became an officer in the tank troops. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union, Shutov was a tank battalion commander. He fought in the Battle of Moscow. In December 1941, he became deputy commander of a tank brigade and in August 1942, was given command of the 187th Tank Brigade of the 9th Tank Corps. Shutov was appointed commander of the 50th Separate Guards Tank Regiment in October. From May 1943 he took commanders courses at the Military Academy of the Mechanization and Motorization of the Red Army. After graduation Shutov became commander of the 20th Guards Tank Brigade in August 1943. For his leadership of the brigade in the Battle of Kiev (1943), he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. During the Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive the brigade captured Ploiești. For his leadership Shutov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union a second time. In September 1944, he became 9th Guards Mechanized Corps deputy commander but a few days later was seriously wounded, resulting in the amputation of his arm while in the hospital. He retired in September 1945 and later became deputy minister for social welfare of the Belorussian SSR.