Grigory Kulik

Grigory Ivanovich Kulik was a Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union who was chief of the Red Army's Main Artillery Directorate until June 1941. He was known as an incompetent commander with a knowledge of military technology "frozen in 1918", and dismissed innovations such as tanks, anti-tank guns, and the Katyusha rocket launcher; only his personal friendship with Stalin from service together in the Russian Civil War protected him from criticism. He had a reputation as a buffoon and a bully, who would shriek at subordinates who disagreed with him, "Prison or a medal!" On Stalin's orders, he was dismissed from his posts in 1946, arrested in 1947, and executed for treason in 1950.