Vasily Ivanovich Petrov was born on 15 January 1917 in the village of
Chernolesskoye,
Stavropol Governorate, the son of a white-collar employee. He graduated from secondary school in 1935 and studied for two years at the Ordzhonikidze Pedagogical Institute until 1937. Petrov joined the
Red Army in 1939 and completed the lieutenant's course in 1941. During
the Second World War, he fought in
defence of Odessa,
defence of Sevastopol and the
Campaign in the Caucasus. He later took part in the liberation of
Ukraine (part of the USSR) and the
invasion of Romania, in addition to the
Budapest Offensive in
Hungary. After the war, Petrov completed the Accelerated Course of the
Frunze Military Academy in
Moscow, and in 1948 graduated from the academy's Special Course. He served in staff roles at the army level in the early postwar years. He served with the
39th Rifle Division as a regimental commander from June 1953 and rose to division chief of staff in December 1955. Petrov was promoted to division commander in January 1957, continuing in command after the 39th was reorganized as the 129th Motor Rifle Division later that year. He was promoted to army chief of staff in July 1961, army commander in June 1964, chief of staff of the
Far Eastern Military District in January 1966, and district commander in April 1972. Simultaneously, Petrov rose through the Soviet military ranks, being promoted to Colonel in 1952, Major General in 1961, Lieutenant General in 1965, Colonel General in 1970 and General in 1972. In 1983, Petrov was finally appointed
Marshal of the Soviet Union. In the late 1970s, Petrov served as a military advisor to the
Ethiopian Army. He was assigned to assist and rebuild the force during the
Ogaden War. In 1982, Petrov was awarded the
Hero of the Soviet Union. He commanded the
Far East Military District in 1972–1976 and served as Commander-in-Chief of Ground Forces in 1980–1985. He then succeeded
Sergey Sokolov as First Deputy Minister of Defence until his retirement in 1986 due to ill health. From 1992, Petrov served as a military advisor to the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation. Petrov died on 1 February 2014 at the age of 97, and was laid to rest at the
Federal Military Memorial Cemetery in
Moscow Oblast. ==Honours and awards==