Lieutenant General. During the Battle of Kursk in July, the army, holding positions on the northern face of the Kursk bulge, repulsed six days of German attacks in fierce fighting, preventing a German breakthrough and limiting the German advance to 10–12 kilometers. When the Soviet troops switched over to the attack after decisively defeating the German army, the 13th Army fought in Operation Kutuzov. The army advanced into Ukraine in the Chernigov-Pripyat Offensive. By 26 August, the army had advanced over 300 kilometers in less than a month. On 9 September, the army crossed the Desna River in the area of Obolonnaya and Spasskoye, repulsing German counterattacks for six days before resuming the advance. Between 15 and 16 September, the army crossed the bend of the Desna in the Chernigov and Morovsk area. Expanding the bridgehead, the army captured Chernigov on 21 September. On 23 September, two corps from the army crossed the Dnieper and on 30 September the Pripyat River. On 16 October, Pukhov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin for his leadership in the offensive. Joining the Voronezh Front, which became the 1st Ukrainian Front on October 20, the army fought to recapture Right-bank Ukraine and southeastern Poland. During the Battle of Kiev, Zhitomir–Berdichev Offensive, Rovno–Lutsk Offensive, Proskurov–Chernovtsy Offensive, and the Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive from the end of 1943 to mid-1944, the army advanced more than 750 kilometers. On 26 August 1944, Pukhov was promoted to Colonel General. During the final stage of the war in 1945, the army fought in the Vistula–Oder Offensive, the Sandomierz–Silesian Offensive, the Lower Silesian Offensive, the Upper Silesian Offensive, the Berlin Offensive, and the Prague Offensive. Postwar Postwar, Pukhov continued to command the 13th Army, and in June 1946 became the first commander of the 8th Mechanized Army in the Carpathian Military District. In February 1948, he was transferred to command the Odessa Military District. After graduating from Higher Academic Courses at the Military Academy of the General Staff in 1952, Voroshilov became commander of the North Caucasus Military District in April 1953 before being transferred to command the West Siberian Military District in November of that year. He continued to command the Siberian Military District when it was recreated after the merger of the East and West Siberian Military Districts on January 4, 1956. In June 1957, Pukhov became the chief Soviet advisor to