Which Soviet general signed Japan’s surrender aboard USS Missouri?

Kuzma Derevyanko signed Japan’s surrender aboard USS Missouri for the Soviet Union. He was a lieutenant general in the Red Army and represented the Soviet Union at the 2 September 1945 ceremony in Tokyo Bay.

Derevyanko signed after the representatives of the United States, China, and the United Kingdom. His participation reflected the Soviet Union’s entry into the war against Japan on 8 August 1945, followed by the Soviet invasion of Japanese-held territories in northeast Asia beginning on 9 August.

The Soviet representative is sometimes confused with better-known Soviet commanders such as Georgy Zhukov, who was not the signatory at Tokyo Bay. Derevyanko later became involved in postwar affairs in Japan and Korea. His signature was one of nine national Allied signatures on the Instrument of Surrender, following MacArthur’s signature as Supreme Commander for the Allied powers.