He was born in
Kharkov, in the Russian Empire, and joined the Red Army in October 1924. At the age of 14, he entered the Kharkov Military Preparatory School (soon relocated to
Poltava) and in 1926, was sent to study at the Military Cavalry School, graduating in 1929. From March 1929 to May 1935, he served in the cavalry and commanded a platoon and squad in the
Byelorussian Military District. In 1938, he graduated with honors from the
Frunze Military Academy. From September 1939 to December 1940, he was in
China as Chief of Staff of Soviet military advisers at the headquarters of
Chiang Kai-shek. Upon returning to the Soviet Union, he was made Chief of Staff of the 11th Motorized Machine Gun Artillery Brigade at
Kaunas in the
Baltic Special Military District. In March 1941, he was appointed Chief of Staff of the
202nd Motorized Division. Later that year, he took command of the
254th Rifle Division. Later, during World War II, he commanded the
73rd Rifle Corps (1943–1944) and the 128th Rifle Corps (1944–1945). After World War II he was Chief of the General Staff and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the
Soviet Air Forces (1950–1953). In December 1953, he was chosen personally to execute
Lavrentiy Beria as part of a plot led by
Nikita Khrushchev and assisted by the military forces of
Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov (Batitsky was
Colonel-General and First Deputy Commander of the
Moscow Military District at the time). Batitsky died in
Moscow on 17 February 1984. He was buried in the
Novodevichy Cemetery. == Honours and awards ==