Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov

Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov (1900-82), was a general in the former Soviet Union and was a military adviser to Chiang Kai-shek. The army he commanded held on to Stalingrad in 1942.

Chuikov went to China for the first time when he was 26, and as a military leader he assisted the Chinese people in fighting WWII, his grandson Nikolai Chuikov said on Wednesday.

"I want to thank the Chinese people, not only because some Chinese soldiers took part in the Great Patriotic War, but at the same time on the Chinese battlefield, the Chinese troops effectively tied up the Japanese troops and allowed the Soviet troops to focus on the battlefield in Moscow," said Nikolai Chuikov.