Russian Civil War He returned to his native village, where he worked in the rural revolutionary committee. When the province of his village was seized by the troops of the
Volunteer Army of General
Anton Denikin, he hid because of the threat of execution. After the occupation of the village by the troops of the
Red Army in August 1920, he joined their ranks. Moskalenko fought in the Civil War while serving as the member of the
First Cavalry Army. He fought against the troops of General
Pyotr Wrangel and Ataman
Nestor Makhno. From 1922 to 1932 he served in the
6th Cavalry Division and First Cavalry Army, and platoon commander of the Cavalry Artillery Division. During his service in
Armavir, he participated in battles against political banditry in the
North Caucasus. When
Operation Barbarossa began in June 1941, Moskalenko was the commander of an anti-tank brigade which was stationed in
Lutsk. Between June 1941 and March 1942, Moskalenko first held command of the 1st Anti-Tank Brigade, 15th Rifle Corps,
6th Army, and later of the 6th Cavalry Corps. During this time, he took part in the defensive battles in Lutsk,
Volodymyr-Volynskyi,
Rovno,
Torchyn,
Novohrad-Volynskyi and
Malyn. Moskalenko participated in the
Kiev Strategic Defensive Operation and fought in battles near
Teterev,
Pripyat,
Dnieper and
Desna. During a month of continuous fighting, being in the direction of the main attack of the enemy
Army Group South, the brigade destroyed more than 300 enemy tanks. For military successes, courage and bravery, he was awarded the
Order of Lenin on 23 July 1941. In December 1941, he was appointed deputy commander of the 6th Army of the
Southwestern Front and acting commander of the army. The 6th Army under the command of Moskalenko took part in the
Barvenkovo-Lozovaya offensive and the liberation of the cities of
Izium and
Lozova. On 12 February 1942, he was appointed as commander of the 6th Cavalry Corps and from March to July 1942, he served as commander of the
38th Army. He was the commander of the newly reformed 38th Army from March to July 1942. Moskalenko led his troops during the winter counteroffensive and during the
Battle of Kursk. He participated in the
Ostrogozhsk–Rossosh offensive,
third Battle of Kharkov and the
Battle of the Dnieper. Moskalenko was awarded the title
Hero of the Soviet Union for heroism and courage when crossing the Dnieper and securing a bridgehead on its western bank. As a result of this operation, on 11 March 1955, Moskalenko, along with five other commanders, was given the rank of
Marshal of the Soviet Union. Moskalenko remained in the
Moscow Military District until 1960, when he was made Commander-in-Chief of the
Strategic Rocket Forces. Moskalenko owed his very rapid promotion to having served with Khrushchev during the war. In his memoirs, Khrushchev said: Khrushchev also claimed to have been shocked by the virulence with which Moskalenko denounced Marshal Zhukov in 1957, when Khrushchev had decided to sack Zhukov, but even so, he remained in office until April 1962, when he was dismissed without any reason being given, and was made an Inspector General of the Ministry of Defense, an honorary post of no significance. The French journalist Michel Tatu, who was based in Moscow at the time, surmised that his fall was related to the
Cuban Missile Crisis: For his services in the development and strengthening of the Armed Forces of the USSR, he was awarded the title
Hero of the Soviet Union for the second time in 1978. From December 1983, he was part of the
Group of Inspectors General of the USSR Ministry of Defense. Moskalenko died on 17 June 1985 in
Moscow, at the age of 83. He is buried in
Novodevichy Cemetery. ==Honours and awards==