Pictured: Commemorative badge and citation honoring veterans of the 62nd (8th Guards) Army presented to Polycarp Dmitrievich Ovchinnikov, signed by Marshal V. I. Chuikov. In later years, Ovchinnikov served as the Secretary of the Veterans Council for the 62nd/8th Guards Army. In the BBC miniseries “War of the Century,” German, Ukrainian, and Russian veterans and civilians were interviewed to share their experiences on the Eastern Front in WW2. Soviet soldiers and the medical

Pictured: Personal effects from Marshal V. I. Chuikov's office gifted by his family to the Museum of the Cadet Corps of the Investigative Committee of Russia in Volgograd. A few items of note: Chuikov's Stalingrad citation, a commemoration for his 80th birthday, personalized stationery notepad, and tea pair. The tea pair was a gift from his granddaughter Ekaterina Chuikova, daughter of Alexander Vasilievich. Having the opportunity to examine the personal effects of a distingu

Pictured: Marshal Chuikov at his desk in Moscow, 19 June 1968, with thumbnails of the journal Oгонёк and Chichkov’s book В погоне за Мексикой (Chasing Mexico). In a diversion from the topic of authentic leadership, this blog post focuses on the Marshal’s reading material. To share a bit of the story behind the entry, there exists a photo of Marshal Chuikov at his desk in 1968 taken by TASS photographer Vladimir Savostyanov. When I first saw this photo, I focused on the magazi

Pictured: Marshal Chuikov speaking during a memorial service for veterans of the Great Patriotic War at Nikopol, Ukraine, 1970s (Marshal of Aviation Sudets is behind, to the left) From Smena , № 11, 1979: “In the fourth and fifth issues of the Smena magazine for this year, chapters were published in the documentary book by Ivan Paderin Burns of War . The story, written at the call of memory and heart about the writer's fighting friends of Stalingrad, caused a wide flow of re

Pictured: from the publication Pioneerskaya Pravda of 1 February 1963. The text says the following: “The Beginning of the Path—the favorite book of war of pupil of the Moscow Suvorov School of Yuri Kashcheev. This book was written by commander Marshal of the Soviet Union Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov, Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, General of the 62nd Army defending Volgograd. Yura dreamed of meeting the marshal, hearing from him the story of the battle on the Volga. And so this

Pictured: image from Marshal V. I. Chuikov's visit to Mongolia in the 1970s, from the Venevsky Museum of Local Lore. (A brief entry to share a few reflective thoughts...) Over the past 6 years, I have explored Marshal Chuikov's life and work, to build the case for identifying him as an authentic leader. It has been a pleasure learning about him directly from his own works as well as through the words and reflections of those who knew him through the years. Authentic leaders a

Pictured: Marshal V.I. Chuikov receiving honors at a ceremony, 1980. To the left of Chuikov is General M.G. Vainrub; to the right of Chuikov is General A.G. Merezhko (seated); beside Merezhko (standing in background) is General V.A. Belyavsky. To gain a deeper understanding of Marshal Chuikov’s enduring legacy in modern-day Russia, I reached out to my friends overseas for their insights. The following paragraphs are synthesized from the generous and warm responses I received