Kirill Afanasievich Meretskov (Russian: Кири́лл Афана́сьевич Мерецко́в; June 7, 1897 – December 30, 1968) was a Soviet military commander. Having joined the Communist Party in 1917, he served in the Red Army from 1920. During the Winter War, he was responsible for penetrating the Mannerheim Line as commander of the 7th Army. He was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union shortly afterwards.Meretskov was arrested at the start of World War II, but was released two months later.