Vasily Pavlovich Sokolov

Vasily Pavlovich Sokolov (Russian: Василий Павлович Соколов; 16 June 1902 – 7 January 1958) was a Soviet Army major general and a Hero of the Soviet Union.

After conscript service as a junior officer, Sokolov became a militsiya officer but was recalled to active duty in the early 1930s. He held staff positions and after Operation Barbarossa served as a division chief of staff and regimental commander. Sokolov commanded the 45th Rifle Division during the Battle of Stalingrad, and continued in that position after the division became the 74th Guards Rifle Division. Severely wounded in late 1943, he returned to action as commander of the 60th Guards Rifle Division. Sokolov led the latter for the remainder of the war and was made a Hero of the Soviet Union for his leadership of it during the Battle of Berlin. Postwar, he held posts with the Soviet Military Administration in Germany and finished his career in the 1950s as an advisor to the East German military.