Mikhail Dmitrievich Solomatin(December 5, 1894 - November 22, 1986) - Soviet military leader, Colonel General of tank forces (10.26.44).

Biography

early years

Born on December 5, 1894 in Kyshtym, Perm province. Since December 1914 in the Russian Imperial Army. Participated in the First World War, with the rank of non-commissioned officer, on the Southwestern Front.

In service in the Red Army

In the Red Army since 1918. During the Civil War, he held positions from company commander to regiment commander. Was wounded twice. In 1922, he graduated from the Kharkov secondary school for advanced training of command personnel as an external student. In the same year - assistant commander, and from 1924 - commander of the UVO rifle regiment. In 1927 he graduated from the shooting and tactical courses “Vystrel”, and from 1929 to 1932 he was the course commander of these courses. In 1930 he graduated from the Higher Attestation Commission of the VAF.

Since 1932 - head of motorized mechanized courses of the Moscow Military District. Since May 1933 - head of the armored forces of the Primorsky OKDVA group. From November 28, 1935 with the rank of brigade commander. Since 1937 - commander-commissar of the 59th Infantry Division. From October 1939 - assistant and then assistant commander of the 25th Tank Corps KOVO. From June 4, 1940 to March 1941, as commander of the 15th motorized division, after which he was commander of the 45th tank division, with which he managed to escape from encirclement. From November 1941 - commander of the 145th Tank Brigade, was seriously wounded. Transferred to the position of head of the Gorky Automobile and Armored Center. From April 19, 1942 to September 8 of the same year - commander of the 8th Tank Corps, after - commander of the 1st Krasnograd Mechanized Corps.

From February to August 1944 - deputy commander of the spacecraft's BT&MV. From August 8 to August 18, 1944 - commander of the 5th Guards Tank Army. From September 1944 to November 1945 - Chief of Staff of the Directorate of the Commander of Armed Forces and Military Vehicles of the Spacecraft, at the same time, from March 1945 - Deputy for Armed Forces and Military Vehicles of the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in the Far East.

For military distinctions during the Soviet-Japanese War, Solomatin was mentioned in the commendation order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief

After the war, until May 1946, he was commander of the 5th Mechanized Army of the BVI. Chief of Staff (until January 1949) and Deputy Commander of the Armed Forces of the USSR Armed Forces (until February 1950). After graduating from the Higher Attestation Commission of the Military Military Academy, he became the head of the department of tactics of higher formations and assistant to the head of the Military Academy named after. Frunze on operational-tactical training. Since 1959, due to illness, he was transferred to the reserve.

Awards

• Order of Lenin (02/21/1945)
• Order of the October Revolution
• Four Orders of the Red Banner (1922, 03/27/1942, 11/03/1944, 1948)
• Order of Kutuzov, 1st degree (09/08/1945)
• Order of Suvorov, 2nd degree (12/20/1943)
• Order of Kutuzov, 2nd degree (1943)
• Order of Bohdan Khmelnitsky, 2nd degree (07/29/1944)
• Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree (04/06/1985)
• Medals including:
  • “XX years of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army” (1938)
  • "For the Defense of Moscow" (1944)
  • “For Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.” (1945)
  • "For Victory over Japan" (1945)
  • "For the Capture of Koenigsberg" (1945)
  • “Veteran of the USSR Armed Forces” (1976)

Solomatin Mikhail Dmitrievich was born on December 5, 1894 in the village. Kyshtym, Yekaterinburg district, Perm province (now Kyshtym district, Chelyabinsk region). Russian.

Education. He graduated from the training team of the 126th reserve infantry regiment in Yekaterinburg (1915), passed the external examination for the Kharkov secondary school of command personnel (1922), ST KUKS “Vystrel” (1927), the Higher Attestation Commission at the VA Red Army named after. Frunze (1930), Higher Attestation Commission at the VVA named after. Voroshilov (1951).

Military service. In RIA since December 1914, non-commissioned officer, sergeant major. In the Red Guard from January 1, 1918, head of the detachment. In the Red Army from June 1918

Participation in wars and military conflicts. 1st World War. Civil War. Wounded twice. The Great Patriotic War.

Service in the Russian Imperial Army. During the First World War, M. D. Solomatin was mobilized for military service in December 1914 and enlisted in the 126th Infantry Reserve Regiment in Yekaterinburg. In 1915 he graduated from the training team and served as a detached commander in the regiment for a year and a half. In July 1917, he left with a marching company for the Southwestern Front, where he fought as a platoon non-commissioned officer in the 711th Infantry Regiment of the 78th Infantry Division, and rose to the rank of sergeant major. In the same regiment he was elected a member of the company and battalion committees of soldiers' deputies. In December 1917 he was demobilized. Upon arrival home, he worked at the Karabash plant, and at the same time was the head of the plant’s Red Guard detachment.

Service in the Red Army. In February - March 1918, as part of a Red Guard detachment, he participated in the suppression of the rebellion of the Orenburg Cossack army under the leadership of Ataman A.I. Dutov in the Troitsk, Miass area. In May 1918, he set out with a detachment to suppress the rebellion of the Czechoslovak Corps. In June 1918, during the fighting in the Kasli plant area, the detachment joined the 2nd Mountain Regiment, in which M.D. Solomatin served as company commander and battalion commander. In September - November 1918 he commanded a squadron of the cavalry detachment of the Bogdan Army, which operated in the Krasnoufimsky direction.

From October 5, 1918 - company commander of the regiment named after. Malysheva. Since January 1919, assistant chief of the garrison in the city of Glazov, Vyatka province.

In November he returned to the 2nd Mountain Regiment, which was then reorganized into the 266th Infantry Regiment of the 30th Infantry Division. As a company commander, he participated in the battles near Kungur. Since January 1919 - machine gun instructor of the formation department of the 3rd Army. Since February 1919 - acting head of the economy of the reserve battalion of the 30th Infantry Division. From May 12, 1919 - assistant commander of the 266th Infantry Regiment of the 30th Infantry Division. With this regiment he fought from Perm to Irkutsk, participated in the Perm, Petropavlovsk, Omsk, Novonikolaevsk and Krasnoyarsk operations. From June 10, 1920 - assistant commander of the 262nd Infantry Regiment. From August 10, 1920 - commander of the 263rd Infantry Regiment. In the fall, the regiment fought on the Southern Front with the troops of General P. N. Wrangel, then fought with the armed forces of N. I. Makhno. In November 1920, for fighting in the Crimea, M. D. Solomatin was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. From November 10, 1920 - assistant commander of the 264th Infantry Regiment.

Since August 1922 - served as assistant. combat commander of the 89th Infantry Regiment.

From December 1922 - assistant commander of the 89th Chongar Infantry Regiment for combat units. From October 7, 1924 - commander of the 238th Infantry Regiment of the 80th Infantry Division (Ukrainian Military District).

From October 10, 1926 to October 4, 1929 - student of the Rifle-tactical advanced training courses for the command staff of the Red Army named after. III Comintern (“Shot”).

Since October 4, 1929 - Head of the intermediate command courses of the Rifle-tactical advanced training courses for the command personnel of the Red Army named after. III Comintern (“Shot”). Since January 1932 - head of a special course for driving combat vehicles of motorized mechanized advanced training courses for command staff of the Moscow Military District. In May 1933, M.D. Solomatin was transferred to head the ABTV of the Primorsky OKDVA group of troops.

From May 7, 1932 - Head of courses for motorized mechanized troops of the Moscow Military District. From January 5, 1935 - Head of the Primorsky group of OKDVA.

From February 5, 1937 - commander of the 59th Infantry Division. From July 17, 1937 - acting Head of ABTV OKDVA.

By order of NKO No. 0476 dated July 11, 1938, he was dismissed under Art. 44c.

In June 1938, he was relieved of his post and was at the disposal of the Command Directorate of the Red Army. In October he was arrested on false charges, dismissed from the Red Army and was under investigation until April 25, 1939. Then he was released due to the termination of the case and on May 15, 1939, he was reinstated in the cadres of the Red Army and was placed at the disposal of the Directorate of Command and Command Staff of the Red Army.

From October 21, 1939 - assistant commander of the 25th Tank Corps for combat units (Proskurov, Kiev OVO). From June 4, 1940 - commander of the 15th motorized division of the 2nd mechanized unit. Since March 11, 1941 - commander of the 45th tank division of the 24th mechanized unit.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the division fought near the city of Kamenets-Podolsky, then defended the city of Vinnitsa. For the successful military operations of the division, which ensured the withdrawal across the river. Southern Bug troops of the 12th and 6th armies, brigade commander M.D. Solomatin was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. At the end of July - beginning of August, the division fought defensive battles near the city of Uman, then at the beginning of August near Dnepropetrovsk it was surrounded. Brigade commander M.D. Solomatin with part of the division (up to 300 people) managed to reach his troops, but a day later his group was again surrounded by the enemy. Part of the group was destroyed, part was captured. Brigade commander M.D. Solomatin with several fighters emerged from encirclement on August 28 in civilian clothes, without documents or weapons. Until November, he was at the disposal of the commander of the BT and MV of the Red Army, carrying out instructions for the formation of units.

Since November 1941 - commander of the 145th Tank Brigade. Participated in the counteroffensive near Moscow as part of the operational group of the Western Front under the command of General P. A. Belov. In December 1941 he was seriously wounded. While undergoing treatment from December 1941 to April 1942, he held the position of Head of the Gorky ABTC Center. From April 19, 1942 - commander of the 8th Tank Corps. He distinguished himself in the defeat of the enemy in the area of ​​the Pogoreloe Gorodishche settlement and the capture of the Karmanovo settlement. Since September 8, 1942 - commander of the 1st Mechanized Corps. In December, the corps distinguished itself in the offensive operation of the Kalinin Front near the city of Bely. Having successfully entered the breakthrough, its units fought deeper into the enemy’s defenses up to 75 km, but together with part of the forces of the 6th Siberian Corps they found themselves surrounded. The commander of the front troops, General M.A. Purkaev, ordered General M.D. Solomatin to hold the area occupied by the encircled group, counting on the connection of the front troops with it. For 15 days, in fierce battles with a large tank group and under the strong influence of enemy aviation, the units subordinate to M. D. Solomatin successfully completed the assigned task. Subsequently, the group left the encirclement on its own.

From February 9 to August 12, 1944, 3rd deputy commander of the spacecraft's armored vehicle and combat vehicle. From August 8 to August 18, 1944 - commander of the 5th Guards. tank army. From August 12 to September 7, 1944 - i.d. Chief of Staff of the Management Company BTiMV KA. From September 7 to September 25, 1944 - i.d. Chief of Staff of the Directorate - Deputy Commander of the BT&MV spacecraft. From September 29, 1944 - Chief of Staff - Deputy Commander of the BC&MV spacecraft.

In April 1945, Colonel General of Tank Forces M.D. Solomatin was sent to the Far East. Since August 31, 1945 - Commander of the BTiMV under the Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Forces in the Far East.

Since November 1945 - commander of the 5th Guards. tank army. From April 27, 1946 - Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR Armed Forces. Since January 1949, he served as deputy. Commander of the BT and MB of the Soviet Army for combat training.

From July 6, 1950 to January 22, 1955, student at the Higher Academic Courses of the Military Academy. Voroshilov.

From January 22, 1955 - Head of the Department of Higher Formations of the Military Academy named after. Frunze. Since November 23, 1955 - Head of the department of operational-tactical training of the Military Academy named after. Frunze. From December 12, 1956 - Head of the department of operational-tactical training - assistant to the head of the Military Academy named after. Frunze.

Military ranks: brigade commander (NKO Order No. 2488 of November 28, 1935), major general of the military unit (Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR No. 1959 of 08/12/1941), lieutenant general of the military unit (Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR No. 131 of 02/07/1943), Colonel General t/v (Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR No. 1492 of October 26, 1944).

Awards: Order of Lenin, four Orders of the Red Banner (01/00/1942, 03/27/1942), Order of Suvorov II degree (12/20/1943), Order of Kutuzov I degree (09/08/1945), II degree, Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky II degree (07/29/1944) , Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree (1985), Medals: “XX years of the Red Army”, “For the defense of Moscow” (04/04/1945), “For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945.” (08/09/1945).

Solomatin Mikhail Dmitrievich , military leader, participant of the 1st world., Civil. and Vel. Otech. wars, Colonel General Tank. troops (26 Oct. 1944). He graduated from advanced training courses for command personnel (1952), courses “Shot” (1927), Higher Academic. courses at the Military Academy named after. M. V. Frunze (Moscow). He worked as a mechanic at the Karabash copper smelting plant. In 1914–17 he served as a non-commissioned officer. On Nov. 1917 returned to the Karabashsky plant and joined the Red Guard. detachment, as part of which in June 1918 participated in the hostilities in Yekaterinburg-Chel. direction (Argayash Front); deputy squad leader. During the retreat from the Southern Urals, he led a combined detachment that formed. from the remnants of the Argayash Front detachments. In July 1918, during the formation of the 2nd mountain regiment (which included the Karabash, Kyshtym and Kasli Red Guard detachments), he was appointed company commander. Participated in the battles for the Kasli plant, Yekaterinburg. He distinguished himself when escaping from encirclement in the area of ​​the Verkh-Neivinsky plant. In the fall of 1918, during the formation of the Thirtieth Infantry Division, he was assistant. commander of the 266th rifle. regiment, Crimea commanded in the winter of 1918 in battles in the Glazov region. In the spring and summer of 1919, the commander of the 263rd Krasnoufim. shooter regiment (see Thirtieth Rifle Division) in battles in the Urals (Perm, Krasnoufim and Yekaterinburg operations) and in Siberia against the troops of adm. A.V. Kolchak. From Sep. 1920 to the South. on the front participated in battles against the army of General. P. N. Wrangel. In the 1920s and 30s. The gunner commanded. regiments and brigades. Upon completion of the armored tank. school served in an armored tank. troops. Brigade commander (November 28, 1935), command. armored vehicle in parts Dept. Krasnoznam. Dalnevost. army (1935-37). Arrested by the NKVD (1937), was imprisoned (until 1940); released and acquitted. Colonel (1940), commander of the 15th motor unit. div. (until May 1941), commander of the 45th tank. div. 24th mechan. Corps of the Kyiv Special Military. district (March 11 - September 30, 1941), since June 22, 1941, fought as part of the troops of the 26th Army of the Southwestern Front with the 14th Motorized Division. by a German corps in the Starokonstantinov area, at the beginning of July it was transferred to the 12th Army, defended in the Letichevsky fortified area; at the end of July she found herself surrounded near Uman. After the death of the divas. S. with a small detachment made his way to Dnepropetrovsk. Major General Tank. troops (Aug. 12, 1941). Commander of the 145th tank. brigade (group of General P. A. Belov near Moscow; Sep. 1941 - Apr. 1942), was seriously wounded in the battles. Commander of the 8th Tank Corps of the 20th Army of the Western Front in the battles in the area of ​​Rzhev and Kozelsk (April 19 - September 8, 1942), then commander of the 1st Krasnograd mechanizer. corps (September 8, 1942 - February 9, 1944) on the Kalinin, Steppe fronts, in the battle on the Kursk Bulge, in the Belgorod-Kharkov direction, in crossing the river. Dnieper in Poltava region. and in the battles for the Right Bank, then as part of the 1st Belorussian. front during the liberation of Belarus, in Operation Bagration. Lieutenant General tank. troops (February 18, 1943). Team 5th Guards. tank. army (8-18 August 1944) as part of the 3rd Belorussian. front. After the war he was deputy. on armored tanks to the troops of the Commander-in-Chief in the Far East. He headed the department of operational warfare at the Military Academy named after. M. V. Frunze. In 1960-77 pred. scientific-methodological Council for Military Propaganda. knowledge and members Presidium of the All-Russian Board. Society "Knowledge"; promoted topical issues of military-patriotic. education. Order awarded Lenin, October Revolution, 5th horde. Kr. Banner, horde. Suvorov 1st class, Kutuzov 1st and 2nd class, Bogdan Khmelnitsky 1st class, Patriotic War 1st class. and others. In 1988, a street in Karabash was named after S., and a memorial plaque was installed. S. became the prototype of Ch. hero of the film “General Shubnikov’s Corps” (1980, directed by D. V. Berezhnykh).

Like many children at the front, he grew up early. My father did not return from the front, forever remaining a private in that war. His mother passed away when he was young... He had to choose his fate himself. And he chose it, once and for all connecting his life with the profession of a builder, a creator.
After seven-year school, Anatoly Solomatin from the small Ryazan village of Shigaevka went to study at one of the Moscow technical construction schools. After graduating, he worked on new buildings in the capital. And when the turn came to put on a military uniform, he accepted the offer to become a cadet at the Pushkin Military Construction and Technical School.
The first test for Lieutenant Solomatin was a business trip to Cuba. It was a difficult time: a time of confrontation between two superpowers, which later went down in history as the Caribbean Crisis. The united detachment of Soviet military builders, where a young officer was appointed head of one of the sections, carried out tasks for the construction of special-purpose facilities. Even then, his inclinations as an organizer, commander, and leader were evident. Despite the difficult conditions, all tasks assigned to the builders in uniform were completed clearly and on time. The leader of the Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro, visited construction sites more than once. For completing a state task, Anatoly Solomatin, among a group of our military personnel, was awarded the highest state award of the USSR - the Order of the Red Banner of Battle.
Cuba was not the last “special” area in his officer’s biography. After graduating from the Red Banner Higher Engineering and Technical School, he receives an assignment to the Far East - to an area where the passions of confrontation between the USSR and China had recently raged. The sad events at Damansky prompted the need for active development of our eastern borders. Many military installations, or even entire towns, had to be built almost from scratch. The work was carried out in the most difficult natural and climatic conditions, in the taiga, in impassable places. Military vehicle parks, barracks and housing facilities, and utility infrastructure were built. By the way, decades later this experience will be useful to Anatoly Vasilyevich in solving problems related to the arrangement of formations and military units withdrawn from the countries of Eastern Europe. But more on that later...
Anatoly Solomatin gave 19 years of his life to the Far East. He came here as a lieutenant, the head of the SMU, and ended his service in the Far Eastern Military District as a general, deputy commander of the district troops for the construction and quartering of troops. He recalls that not only our garrisons, but the entire region was then in a powerful stream of development. Much depended on the determination of the then commanders of the troops of the Far Eastern Military District, on their mood to create and build. Anatoly Vasilyevich considers it a great success to serve in the Far Eastern Military District under such talented military leaders as Vasily Ivanovich Petrov, Ivan Moiseevich Tretyak, Dmitry Timofeevich Yazov, Mikhail Alekseevich Moiseev. It was truly an invaluable experience of both service and work.
In 1987, he received a new appointment: he became the head of the Main Engineering Directorate of the Air Defense Forces. The arrangement of military facilities was of a specific nature. In addition, they were located throughout the country, including in remote areas. “For four years I was almost constantly on a business trip,” says Anatoly Vasilyevich. - We had to build new facilities for the emerging missile defense, anti-missile attack, and space control systems. This was an extremely complex job in terms of execution technology. In addition, it was necessary to build interaction with the management of construction departments, general designers, and representatives of regulatory authorities. At that time, under the Council of Ministers of the USSR, a special commission was created to monitor the construction of these facilities: the state gave priority attention to this area.”
In general, it is worth recalling that the late 1980s - early 1990s of the last century turned out to be a time of intensive development of the Armed Forces. The troops received missile systems of various classes, ultra-long-range bombers took wing, and modern nuclear submarines were put into combat service. To master new weapons, appropriate infrastructure facilities were also needed: launch sites, technical positions, special airfields, special-purpose facilities on the sea coast, bases for the Navy. These tasks were carried out by a team of thousands of people from the military construction complex of the Ministry of Defense.
But with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the vector of efforts of military builders was forced to change direction. One of the key tasks was the arrangement of our troops leaving the near and far abroad. Anatoly Solomatin, appointed in 1993 to the highest post in the military-construction complex - Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation for the construction and quartering of troops, was closely involved in resolving these issues.
Not only efficiency and coherence were required: given the difficult economic situation, non-standard approaches were also needed. And they were found in the form of the implementation of international investment projects with the transfer of construction contracts on a competitive basis. First of all, this concerned the construction of housing for military personnel and members of their families. The army then received 45 thousand new apartments! In a short time, not just comfortable towns, but microdistricts were built in various Russian regions, which became an example in modern housing construction.
Those years also turned out to be the time of formation of a competitive environment in the field of construction. Moreover, it was the builders in uniform who initiated this approach. Later, with the participation of General Solomatin, a scientific work will be published, revealing the features of modern market mechanisms in the construction industry. This book will become a guide to action for enterprising people. In general, it was a time of a large number of innovations related to military development and the organization of troops. For example, the system of providing military personnel with service housing has been developed. The military construction industry developed, absorbing and putting into practice the latest scientific and technical developments and technologies. It had its own harmonious system for training production and command personnel.
By the way, Anatoly Vasilyevich, as a military builder with many years of experience, cannot but welcome the efforts of the current leadership of the Russian Ministry of Defense in the construction sector. This also applies to a radical solution to the housing issue for officer families, and to the large-scale construction of infrastructure facilities for new weapons and military equipment. Perhaps, General Solomatin believes, someday the time will come for the revival of a full-fledged military construction industry, which at one time was not only mobile, but also self-sufficient, economically beneficial for the state. It is possible that the realities of today, including threats of sanctions, will prompt the acceleration of the adoption of this decision...
After being transferred to the reserve, Colonel General Anatoly Solomatin participated in the construction of facilities in the Moscow construction complex for more than ten years. The joys and hardships of life and service were shared with him by his wife, Galina Vasilievna. They have been together for more than half a century! My daughter grew up and became a certified economist. My granddaughter recently graduated from the Law Faculty of Moscow State University.
People who served under Colonel General Anatoly Vasilyevich Solomatin admit: in life he is a fighter. He is not afraid to take responsibility - neither for words nor for deeds. He himself is happy that his fate turned out this way, and life gave him the opportunity to express himself, to express himself in real action. A business called Creation.

Solomatin Mikhail Dmitrievich, Soviet military leader, Colonel General of tank forces (1944).

During the First World War, in December 1914, he was mobilized for military service and enlisted as a private in the 126th Infantry Reserve Regiment. In 1915 he graduated from the training team in the regiment and served as a separate commander in it for a year and a half. In July 1917, he left with a marching company for the Southwestern Front, where he fought as a platoon non-commissioned officer in the 711th Infantry Regiment of the 78th Infantry Division, sergeant major. He was elected as a member of the company and battalion committees of soldiers' deputies. In December 1917 he was demobilized. Upon arrival home, he worked at the Karabash plant, and at the same time was the head of the Red Guard detachment at this plant.

During the Civil War M.D. Solomatin in February - March 1918, as part of the same Red Guard detachment, participated in the suppression of the rebellion of the Orenburg Cossack army under the leadership of Ataman A.I. Dutov in the Troitsk and Miass area. In May, he set out with a detachment to suppress the rebellion of the Czechoslovak Corps. In June 1918, during the fighting in the area of ​​the Kasli plant, the detachment became part of the 2nd mountain regiment, where Solomatin commanded a company and battalion. Commanding a company in the 266th Infantry Regiment of the 30th Infantry Division, he took part in the battles near Kungur. In December he was wounded again and was in a hospital in Glazov, then from January 1919 he was a machine gun instructor in the formation department of the 3rd Army. From May 1919, he again served in the 266th Infantry Regiment: assistant regiment commander for combat units, and from October - regiment commander. With this regiment he fought from Perm to Irkutsk, participated in the Perm, Petropavlovsk, Omsk, Novonikolaevsk and Krasnoyarsk operations, and in battles in the Irkutsk direction. From July 1920, in the same 30th Infantry Division, he held the position of assistant commander of the 262nd Infantry Regiment, and from August - commander of the 263rd Infantry Regiment. In the fall, as part of the latter, he fought on the Southern Front with the White Guard troops of General P.N. Wrangel in Crimea, then fought with the armed forces of N.I. Makhno.

After the war M.D. Solomatin continued to serve in the 30th Irkutsk Rifle Division named after. All-Russian Central Executive Committee, from August 1922 he held the position of assistant commander for the combat unit of the 89th Infantry Regiment. In the same 1922, he passed the external examination for the Kharkov secondary school for command personnel. From October 1924 he commanded the 238th Infantry Regiment of the 80th Infantry Division of the Ural Military District. In 1926 - 1927 studied at the rifle and tactical advanced training courses for the command staff of the Red Army "Vystrel" named after. Comintern. In 1930 he graduated from the Higher Attestation Commission at the Military Academy of the Red Army named after. M.V. Frunze. Since January 1932 - head of a special course for driving combat vehicles of motorized mechanized advanced training courses for command personnel of the Moscow Military District. In May 1933 M.D. Solomatin is appointed head of the ABTV of the Primorsky Group of Forces of the Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army (OKDVA). In November 1935 M.D. Solomatin was awarded the military rank of brigade commander. Since February 1937 - commander and commissar of the 59th Infantry Division OKDVA. Since July 1937, he held the position of head of ABTV OKDVA. In June 1938, he was relieved of his post and was at the disposal of the Command Directorate of the Red Army. In October, he was arrested on false charges, by order of the NGO dated October 12, 1938, he was dismissed from the ranks of the Red Army and until April 25, 1939, he was under investigation in the Khabarovsk prison, released due to the termination of the case. By order of the NKO of the USSR dated May 15, 1939, he was reinstated in the cadres of the Red Army and placed at the disposal of the Directorate for Command and Command Staff of the Red Army. In October 1939, he was appointed assistant commander of the 25th Tank Corps KOVO, at the same time temporarily acting. corps commander. Since March 1940, he commanded the 15th motorized division as part of the 2nd mechanized corps of KOVO. In March 1941, he was appointed commander of the newly formed 45th Tank Division as part of the 24th Mechanized Corps of the same district.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the division under his command fought near the city of Kamenets-Podolsky, then defended the city of Vinnitsa. At the end of July - beginning of August, the division fought defensive battles near the city of Uman, then, as part of the 12th Army near Dnepropetrovsk, it was surrounded. M.D. Solomatin, who on August 12 was awarded the military rank of major general of tank forces, with part of a division of up to 300 people. managed to reach his troops, but a day later his group was again surrounded by the enemy. Part of the group was destroyed, part was captured. M.D. Solomatin and several fighters emerged from encirclement on August 28 in civilian clothes, without documents or weapons. Until November, he was at the disposal of the commander of the BT and MV of the Red Army, carrying out instructions for the formation of units. In November - December 1941, he commanded the 145th Tank Brigade, which participated in the counteroffensive near Moscow as part of the operational group of General P.A. Belova. He was wounded in the battles. While undergoing treatment from December 1941 to April 1942, he simultaneously held the position of head of the Armored Training Center in Gorky. In April 1942 M.D. Solomatin took command of the 8th Tank Corps of the Western Front, which distinguished itself in defeating the enemy during the Rzhev-Sychevsk operation. In September 1942, he was appointed commander of the 1st Krasnograd Mechanized Corps on the Kalinin Front. In December, the corps participated in the offensive operation of the Kalinin Front near the city of Bely. Having successfully entered the breakthrough, its units fought deeper into the enemy’s defenses up to 75 km, but together with part of the forces of the 6th Siberian Corps they found themselves surrounded. Commander of the front forces, General M.A. Purkaev ordered M.D. Solomatin to hold the area occupied by the encircled group, counting on the connection of front troops with it. For 15 days, in fierce battles with a large tank group and under the strong influence of enemy aviation, the units subordinate to him successfully completed the assigned task. Subsequently, the group was ordered to leave the encirclement on their own. In January 1943, he was awarded the rank of lieutenant general of tank forces. In 1943-1944. The 1st Mechanized Corps under his command as part of the Steppe (from October 20, 1943 - 2nd Ukrainian) Front participated in the Battle of Kursk and in the battles in Left Bank Ukraine, in the battle for the Dnieper, in the battles to hold the bridgehead on the Dnieper in the area southeast of the city of Kremenchug, in the liberation of Belgorod, the Ukrainian cities of Kharkov, Krasnograd, Kremenchug, as well as the Polish city of New Prague. From February to August 1944 he served as deputy commander of the BT and MV of the Red Army. In August - September 1944, he commanded the 5th Guards Tank Army, which during this period operated as part of the 3rd Belorussian Front in the area of ​​Šiauliai. From September 1944 until the end of the war, he was chief of staff of the Directorate of the Commander of the BT and MV of the Red Army. In October 1944, he was awarded the military rank of Colonel General of Tank Forces.

In April 1945 M.D. Solomatin was sent to the Far East. During the Soviet-Japanese War of 1945, he served as commander of the BT and MV at the Main Command of the Soviet Forces in the Far East. He participated in the leadership of the main group of armored and mechanized troops operating from the Mongolian border to Shenyang (Mukden) and Lushun (Port Arthur) in China.

After the war M.D. Since November 1945, Solomatin commanded the 5th Guards Tank Army in the Belarusian Military District (later transformed into the 5th Mechanized Army). From May 1946, he was the chief of staff of the commander of the armored and mechanized forces of the USSR Armed Forces (since June 10 - chief of staff, also the deputy commander of the BT and MV Directorate of the BT and MV Commander of the USSR Armed Forces). Since January 1949, he served as deputy for combat training of the commander of the BT and MV of the Soviet Army. From February to June 1950 he was at the disposal of the Minister of the Armed Forces of the USSR, then he was enrolled as a student at the Higher Attestation Commission at the Higher Military Academy named after. K.E. Voroshilov. After their completion, from July 1951, he was teaching at the Military Academy named after. M.V. Frunze: head of the department of BT and MV, from January 1955 - head of the department of tactics of higher formations, from November - department of operational-tactical training. In March 1959 he was transferred to the reserve due to illness.

Awarded: Orders of Lenin, October Revolution, 4 Orders of the Red Banner, Orders of Kutuzov 1st and 2nd class, Suvorov 2nd class, Bogdan Khmelnitsky 2nd class, Order of the Patriotic War 1st class, medals , as well as foreign orders and medals.