Vasily Stepanovich Rakovsky (Russian: Василий Степанович Раковский; 1 January 1898–7 January 1978) was a Soviet Army major general. Drafted into the Imperial Russian Army during World War I, Rakovsky briefly served as a non-commissioned officer without seeing action in 1917 before the dissolution of the army and was conscripted by the White forces in Siberia during the Russian Civil War, deserting to the Red Army. Decorated for his actions as a junior commander, he served at a military school during much of the 1930s and became commander of the 167th Rifle Division as the Red Army expanded before Operation Barbarossa. Rakovsky led the division in a temporarily successful counterattack during the Battle of Smolensk, and managed to lead a small group from his command out of encirclement seve