Aleksandr Alekseyevich Golovachev (; 6 March 1945) was a Red Army colonel twice awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for his leadership of the 23rd Guards Motor Rifle Brigade of the 7th Guards Tank Corps of the Red Army during the World War II. Golovachev joined the Red Army in the late 1920s and rose to infantry company commander before he was arrested during the Great Purge, but was released due to lack of evidence. After fighting as in the Winter War as a battalion commander, Golovachev became a regimental chief of staff before the beginning of Operation Barbarossa. His unit was destroyed in the first weeks of the war in the Uman pocket, and Golovachev led its remnants for several months behind German lines before joining a partisan detachment in late 1941. He returned to Soviet lines in early 1942 and became a regimental commander before being appointed commander of the 52nd Motor Rifle Brigade in September 1942. Golovachev led the brigade in the Third Battle of Kharkov, during which it suffered heavy losses and was encircled. Decorated for his actions in the breakout, Golovachev continued to command the brigade, which became the 23rd Guards Motor Rifle Brigade for its actions in Operation Kutuzov. He was made a Hero of the Soviet Union twice for his leadership of the brigade in the Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive and the Sandomierz–Silesian Offensive. His second award proved posthumous, as he was killed in early March 1945. Early life and prewar service Golovachev was born to a working-class family on 25 December 1909 in the settlement of Lyubokhna, Bryansky Uyezd, Oryol Governorate. He joined the Red Army in September 1929 and was sent to study at the Combined Military School in Moscow, from which he graduated in 1932. In March of that year, Golovachev was appointed a platoon commander in the 2nd Rifle Regiment of the Moscow Proletarian Rifle Division. In June 1933 he transferred to the 25th Separate Territorial Rifle Battalion of the 9th Rifle Regiment of the Moscow Military District in Kirsanov, serving as an air defense platoon commander before transferring to serve in the same position with the machine gun company of the battalion. From January 1935 he served with the 57th Rifle Regiment of the 19th Rifle Division in Ostrogozhsk as a company commander and battalion chief of staff. During the Great Purge, Golovachev was transferred to the reserve