Efim Istomin was born on September 13, 1924 in the farm Sibirki Morozovsky District of the Rostov Region. The leader of a rifle platoon of the 187th Regiment of the 61st Guards Rifle Division, on September 26, 1943 Istomin was one of the first to cross the Dnieper River with his platoon and fearlessly launched an attack. The platoon destroyed thirty enemy soldiers with machine gun fire and hand grenades, and captured seven fascists. For the feat on the Dnieper, Second Lieutenant Efim Istomin was awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union on March 19, 1944.