Rank: Sergeant, Hero of the Soviet Union_x000D_ Division: 161st Infantry Division (1st Formation). _x000D_ _x000D_ Nikolay Turchenko was born on June 15, 1921 in the village of Kholmogorovka (now - Shagan Kerbulak district of Almaty region of Kazakhstan). After finishing six years of school he worked as a tractor driver. In 1940, Turchenko was called up to serve in the Red Army. Since July 1942 he had been on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. In combats he was seriously wounded. _x000D_ By September 1943, Senior Sergeant Nikolai Turchenko commanded a squad of 565th Rifle Regiment of 161st Rifle Division of 40th army of the Voronezh front. He distinguished himself during the combat for the Dnieper. _x000D_ As part of a reconnaissance group, Turchenko made his way into the village of Rymarovka, Gadyach district, Poltava region, Ukrainian SSR, personally capturing the "tongue", a German prisoner, and destroying 3 German soldiers. When the Soviet units reached the Dnieper, Turchenko was one of the first to cross it in the area of the village of Lukovitsa, Kanevsky district, Cherkasy region of the Ukrainian SSR, conducted reconnaissance of the German defense and took an active part in the combats to seize and hold the foothold. _x000D_ By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of October 23, 1943, for “courage and heroism shown during the liberation of Ukraine and the crossing of the Dnieper”, Senior Sergeant Nikolai Turchenko was awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal numbered 2024. _x000D_ After the end of the war, Turchenko was demobilized. He lived and worked first in Ulyanovsk, then in Mineralnye Vody. He died on September 25, 1972, and was buried in the city cemetery of Mineralnye Vody.