Iosif Rodionovich Apanasenko (1890 - 1943) Soviet division commander. fought in the Imperial Russian Army in World War I before going over to the Bolsheviks in the subsequent civil war. He commanded forces in both Central Asia and the Russian Far East. In June 1943, I.R. Apanasenko, after numerous requests to be sent to the front, was appointed deputy commander of the Voronezh Front. He visited units on the frontline and led them during the fighting. He was killed by an airstrike during the Soviet counteroffensive at Kursk.