Konstantin Apollonovich Koroteyev (; –4 January 1953) was a Soviet Army colonel general and a Hero of the Soviet Union. He became colonel-general in 1944 and was awarded the title “Hero of the Soviet Union” on April 6th, 1945. Early life and World War I Koroteyev was born on 25 February 1901 in the village of Shcheglovka (now in Bogodukhov) in Kharkov Governorate, then part of the Russian Empire, to a working-class family. He graduated from primary school and worked as a laborer at the Shcheglovka mine. Koroteyev volunteered for the Imperial Russian Army in August 1916 during World War I and was sent to the Southwestern Front as a ryadovoy. He became a grenadier in the 290th Lipetsk Infantry Regiment, serving until the Imperial Army collapsed following the Russian Revolution in December 1917. Koroteyev returned home and became a laborer at the mine again. Russian Civil War In February 1918, Koroteyev joined a Red Guard detachment formed from Shcheglovka mine workers during the Russian Civil War. After completing its formation, the detachment was reorganized as the 1st Lugansk Battalion, and Koroteyev was elected commander of its 2nd Company. In April, the battalion became part of Kliment Voroshilov's 2nd Ukrainian Soviet Army, participating in the defense of Lugansk and in battles against German troops on the Southern Front. He then fought in the suppression of a Don Cossack uprising and the retreat to Tsaritsyn. In June, the 1st Communist Rifle Division was formed there, and Koroteyev became a platoon commander in its 2nd Communist Regiment. After the Red Army's retreat from Tsaritsyn, Koroteyev was sent to study at the Saratov Infantry and Machine Gun Courses in September 1919. As part of a cadet detachment, he helped suppress the Sapozhkov Uprising in the Ural steppes before graduating in July 1920. He participated in battles with the White movement near Lugansk, Millerovo, Belaya Kalitva and Tsaritsyn (later Stalingrad, now Volgograd). Interwar period In July 1920, Koroteyev was appointed a platoon commander in the 4th Reserve Regiment, stationed in Roslavl. He was transferred to become a platoon commander in the 4th Rifle Division's 31st Rifle Regiment in January 1921, and in June of the same year transferred to the 11th Rifle Regiment. Koroteyev graduated from the Western Front's courses for midlevel commanders in Smolensk in July 1924, serving successively as an assistant company commander, company commander, and rifle battalion commander. In October 1926,