Which Soviet general signed Japan’s surrender instrument during the 1945 ceremony?

Lieutenant General Kuzma Derevyanko signed Japan’s surrender instrument as the Soviet representative during the Tokyo Bay ceremony.

Derevyanko signed at approximately 9:16 a.m. on September 2, 1945. He followed representatives of the United States, China, and the United Kingdom. His signature reflected the Soviet Union’s participation in the Allied surrender ceremony after Soviet forces entered the war against Japan in August.

The Soviet Union declared war on Japan on August 8, 1945, and invaded Japanese-held territory in northeast Asia the following day. Soviet operations rapidly affected Manchuria, southern Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands during the final weeks of the war.

Derevyanko later represented the Soviet Union at the Allied Control Council in Japan. His name is sometimes confused with better-known Soviet commanders such as Georgy Zhukov, but Zhukov did not sign Japan’s surrender instrument.