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Markian Mikhaylovich Popov (; 15 November 1902 – 22 April 1969) was a Soviet military commander, Army General (26 August 1943), and Hero of the Soviet Union (1965).
He maintained this position until 28 June 1942. Then he was shifted to the Stalingrad area. He was Assistant Commander of the Stalingrad Front (under Yeremenko, 13 October – 20 November), then Commander of the 5th Shock Army (8 December – 28 December). On December 26 this army was switched to Nikolai Vatutin's Southwestern Front. In 1943 firstly he commanded a larger mechanized group, but in February his unit was .
Then he was appointed Commander of the Bryansk Front (5 June – 10 October 1943), with which he participated in the Battle of Kursk. During the battle, the Bryansk Front was very successful in pushing back the German opposition, and was able to capture Oryol and Bryansk in August. He was promoted to Army General (26 August 1943). After the Battle of Kursk he was sent north, to command the 2nd Baltic Front (20 October 1943 – 23 April 1944). He was demoted to Colonel General (20 April 1944) because of the unsuccessful actions in the Baltic area, but the real reason seems to be his criticism on Nikolai Bulganin, who was Commissar at the front. Until the end of the war he was Chief of Staff of the Leningrad Front.
He died on 22 April 1969 from an accidental fire at home and was buried in Moscow's Novodevichy Cemetery.
He was never given the rank Marshal of the Soviet Union, although Marshal of Aviation Golovanov and Marshal Vasilevsky considered him very talented.
| Hero of the Soviet Union (7 May 1965) | |
| Order of Lenin, five times (22 February 1941, 30 April 1945, 14 November 1952, 16 November 1962, 7 May 1965) | |
| Order of the Red Banner, three times (5 October 1944, 3 November 1944, 2 September 1950) | |
| Order of Suvorov, 1st class, twice (28 January 1943, 27 August 1943) | |
| Order of Kutuzov, 1st class, twice (22 June 1944, 29 June 1945) | |
| Order of the Red Star (22 February 1968) | |
| Medal "For the Defence of Stalingrad" (22 December 1942) | |
| Medal "For the Defence of Moscow" (1 May 1944) | |
| Medal "For the Defence of Leningrad" (22 December 1942) | |
| Medal "For the Defence of the Soviet Transarctic" (5 December 1944) | |
| Medal "For the Capture of Königsberg" (9 June 1945) | |
| Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (9 May 1945) | |
| Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945" (7 May 1965) | |
| Jubilee Medal "XX Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army" (22 February 1938) | |
| Jubilee Medal "30 Years of the Soviet Army and Navy" (22 February 1948) | |
| Jubilee Medal "40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (18 December 1957) | |
| Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (22 December 1967) | |
| Medal "In Commemoration of the 250th Anniversary of Leningrad" (16 May 1957) | |
| Medal of Sino-Soviet Friendship (China) | |
| Military Order of the White Lion, Second Class (Czechoslovakia) | |
| War Cross 1939–1945 (Czechoslovakia) | |
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