CP ВОЕННЫЙ БИЛЕТ ОФИЦЕРА ЗАПАСА ВООРУЖЕННЫХ СИЯ СОЮЗА ССР МИНИСТЕРСТВО ВООРУЖЕННЫХ СИЛ СОЮЗА ССР 1948 – Military identity card of Reserve Officer of the Armed Forces, Military Prosecutor Vitaly Mitrofanovich Yatsenko – the man whose signature appears on sentencing orders for executions and deportations to NKVD camps of Red Army personnel. Issued by the Ministry of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, 1948. On the first page: Yatsenko’s passport photograph, his signature, and personal details filled in 1949.
Vitaly Mitrofanovich Yatsenko was born on April 26, 1906, in the village of Filippovsky, Novoanninsky District, Stalingrad region (today Volgograd Oblast, Russia). Of Ukrainian ethnicity and a native Russian speaker, he completed technical and legal studies in Stalingrad and Leningrad, including a law degree from the prestigious Institute of Law in Leningrad (1938). Alongside his academic training, he underwent military instruction and artillery officer training, eventually transitioning into legal roles within the Red Army. In the early stages of Soviet engagements with Finland and Germany, Yatsenko operated in the harsh Arctic theater, where Soviet forces contended with extreme cold, difficult topography, and brutal though limited combat. He was later transferred to the Ukrainian front, where the Soviets fought intense battles against the advancing Wehrmacht, including the fall of Kyiv and the battles over the Dnieper River. Yatsenko’s duties involved military discipline oversight, criminal investigations, and the immediate judgment of traitors, deserters, and collaborators. In a later stage of the war, he was deployed to the Käpinjoki River area, where Soviet forces fought alongside Allied support against German-Finnish troops. Toward the end of the war, he served with the 1796th Division, which operated in Lithuania, East Prussia, and Königsberg (today Kaliningrad), as part of major offensives to liberate Eastern Europe. From 1941 to 1943, Yatsenko served as prosecutor of the 114th Rifle Brigade of the Kalinin Front, and until 1945, as prosecutor of the 17th Rifle Division of the Third Belorussian Front (notably active during the Battle of Kursk and in Königsberg). This is the man whose signature appears on sentencing orders for executions and deportations of Red Army personnel to NKVD camps. After the war, Yatsenko continued his service for another two years, until his discharge from active duty in April 1947. His contribution to the war effort was critical in the areas of order enforcement, punishment, and field military justice. He bore military decorations and official commendations attesting to his active participation in the war.
31 [1] pp. Good condition.
