Eyes of the Guns: Artillery Recon Staff – 1st Ukrainian Front, WWII

June 30, 2025 - Reading time: 11 minutes

Officers and personnel of the Artillery Reconnaissance Department of the 1st Ukrainian Front.

In this solemn wartime photograph, we see officers and personnel from the Artillery Instrumental Reconnaissance Department of the 1st Ukrainian Front of the Red Army, captured during the later period of the Great Patriotic War.

These were the people who provided the eyes of Soviet artillery — professionals responsible for mapping enemy positions, adjusting fire, and ensuring accurate strikes. Their work, often conducted under extreme pressure and close to the front line, played a decisive role in the success of Soviet offensives from the Vistula to the Oder.

Standing, from left to right:

• Starshina Fyodor Nikanorovich Muzhzhalyev (b. 1913), draughtsman of the reconnaissance department.

• Raissa Ivanovna Pryakhina (b. 1923), typist of the department — one of many Soviet women who served with professionalism and quiet courage behind the lines.

• Junior Lieutenant Anatoly Apollinaryevich Piontkovsky (b. 1911), assistant to the head of the department.

Seated, from left to right:

• Major Gilel Avseyevich Mirlin (1911–2001), assistant to the head of the reconnaissance department. A veteran officer whose personal archive preserved this moment for posterity.

• Colonel Semyon Dmitrievich Zaika (b. 1913), chief of the reconnaissance department.

• Guards Colonel Mikhail Stepanovich Konoplev (1902–1971), Chief of Artillery Staff.

• Major Adam Frantsevich Lobodzinsky (b. 1905), senior assistant to the head of the department.

This group portrait is more than a lineup of names and ranks. It is a glimpse into the intellectual and operational backbone of Red Army artillery, where mathematics, topography, engineering, and human resilience came together to shape the battlefield.

Their combined expertise helped guide fire from thousands of Soviet guns — saving lives, breaking German fortifications, and advancing the front toward final victory in Berlin.

📷 Technical photo data:
📅 Date: 1944–1945
📍 Location: Likely in Poland or Germany during the final months of the war
📝 Caption: Officers and personnel of the Artillery Reconnaissance Department of the 1st Ukrainian Front.
📚 Source of information: Personal album of reconnaissance officer Gilel Mirlin
🖼️ Photographer: Unknown

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