Vasily Merchanskiy was born in 1924 in the village of Kozinka in the Morozovsky District of the Rostov Region to a peasant family Gun commander of the 134th Artillery Regiment (172nd Rifle Division, 13th Army, 1st Ukrainian Front). When crossing the Oder River, on January 28-29, 1945, with his crew, he repelled eight enemy counterattacks, destroyed about 150 soldiers and officers and an armored personnel carrier. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of April 10, 1945, Sergeant Major Vasily Merchanskiy was awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union for his courage, bravery and heroism in the fight against the Nazi invaders.