Heroes and feats

Rank: Senior lieutenant Branch of Service: Land Forces, Air Force (except for Naval Aviation), Coast Guard, NKVD troops, Border Guard Unit: 302nd Ternopil Red Banner Order of Kutuzov Rifle Division Lieutenant Barashkov admissions to service - June 1942. At this time, the division was again sent for re-formation. Since that time, it has ceased to be "Stalingrad" in its composition. It received replenishment from different regions of the country. Convalescents from hospitals and soldiers from disbanded units joined it. But it continued to maintain contact with the workers of the Stalingrad Region until the end of the war. The division was moved to Rostov-on-Don in July 1942, where it took up defense at the line of Bataysk, Kuleshovka, Azov, and Kagalniki. Then, on July 20, it was relocated first to station Zimovniki, from where by trucks – in the district of Morozov. Upon arrival, the division immediately engaged the enemy. Units of the division as part of the 51st Army fought fierce defensive battles in the districts of Morozov, Bolshovskaya, Kholodny, and Martynovka during August. Due to the threat of encirclement and heavy losses, the division was relocated to the Khanata district, Hargota on August 14-16, where it became part of the Stalingrad Front along with 51st Army. After being replenished with personnel and weapons, the division fought offensive battles against the Romanian troops at station Sodovaya from September 25, 1942, and then its units again retreated to the original line of the Swell, Prishib, where they took up defense. The 302nd Rifle Division as part of the 51st Army went on the offensive on November 20, 1942. On the first day, its units broke through the defense of the Romanian troops in the Semkin District (between the lakes of Tsatsa and Prishib) and went 20 km deep on December 12. The 4th Tank Army of Gotha suddenly launched an offensive from the Kotelnikovo area, in order to unblock the Paulus army encircled in Stalingrad. The main blow of the enemy's 6th, 23rd Panzer and the 18th Romanian Infantry Divisions was received by the 302nd Rifle Division at the Gremyachy station. The enemy's superiority was overwhelming. But at the cost of huge losses, these days the division lost about 900 people missing, it managed to prevent the enemy from breaking through. The steadfastness and self-sacrifice of its soldiers allowed the command of the Stalingrad front to transfer the 87th Rifle Division, 13th Tank Corps, 235th Flamethrower Tank Brigade and later parts of 2nd Guards Army. The enemy's offensive was thwarted. The division fought fierce offensive battles in January 1943, participating in the Kotelnikovskaya, North Caucasus, and Rostov offensive operations. Its units captured the city and the Zimovniki station on January 8. In these battles, on January 12, the division commander, Colonel E. Makarchuk, was killed. At the end of January, the division was withdrawn to the 2nd echelon, in March its units fought on the Mius River. From August 24 to August 27, it was relocated to the area of the station Rovenki, where it became part of the Southern Front and participated in the Donbass and Melitopol offensive operations. The division as part of the 1st Ukrainian Front fought in the Korsun-Shevchenko area in 1944. In March, it became part of 60th Army and participated in the Proskurov-Chernovtsy offensive operation, in the liberation of Ternopil. It participated in the Lvov-Sandomierz offensive from July 1944, fought to destroy the encircled enemy group in the Brody District and advanced in the Lvov direction. The division participated in the Vistula-Oder, Sandomierz-Silesian, lower Silesian, upper Silesian, Moravian-Ostrava offensive operations. The division took part in the Prague offensive, in the liberation of Prague, and in the battle of Olomouc in may 1945. For exemplary performance of tasks of the command and the valor and courage shown at the same time, the division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner (10.8.1944), the Order of Kutuzov 2nd degree (26.4.1945), it was awarded the honorary name "Ternopil". After the war, Vitaly Barashkov worked in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Nerekhtsky District until retirement.

Rank: Petty Officer Branch od Service: Land Forces, Air Force (except for Naval Aviation), Coast Guard, NKVD troops, Border Guars Unit: 183rd Kharkov Order of Lenin Red Banner Order of Suvorov and Bogdan Khmelnitsky Rifle Division Date of birth: 1920 Place of conscription Srednekamsky District Military Commissariat, Sverdlovsk Region, Srednekamsky District. Unit: 227th Rifle Regiment, 183rd Rifle Division Date of enlistment: October 1941 Name of the award: the Hero of the Soviet Union (the Order of Lenin and Gold Star Medal) Operation: The Moravian-Ostrovskaya offensive operation Dates of the feat 01.07.1943-31.07.1943, 10.02.1945, 21.03.1945 Number of the historical information Fund 33, Inventory and information number 793756, Case number 5 TSAMO archive Vitaly Bezgolosov - sniper of the 227th Rifle Regiment (183rd Kharkov Order of Lenin Red Banner Order of Suvorov and Bogdan Khmelnitsky Rifle Division, 38th Army, 4th Ukrainian Front), Petty Officer. Born on May 20, 1920 in the village of Kamenka now the Tavricheskiy District of the East Kazakhstan Region. He moved with his family to the city of Ridder (Leninogorsk) East Kazakhstan Region in 1931. He graduated from seven-year school. He worked for a carpenter's shop and at the same time studied at evening school. Then he graduated from the technical school. He worked as a Metallurgist for the Leninogorsk Lead Plant. He was drafted into the army in October 1941. In the active army during the Great Patriotic War - since 1942. He fought on the Kalinin, Voronezh, Steppe, 1st and 4th Ukrainian Fronts. Four times wounded. He received his baptism of fire in the summer of 1943 on the Voronezh Front near Kharkov during the Belgorod-Kharkov operation, participated in the liberation of Kharkov. He also became a sniper there. Later participated in the liberation of the left- and right-bank Ukraine, including the Zhytomyr-Berdichev operation and the liberation of Berdichev, the Proskurov-Chernivtsi operation and the liberation of Vinnytsia, the Lvov-Sandomierz operation and the liberation of Lvov. Then his division left the territory of Poland in the Eastern Carpathians and took part in the Carpathian-Duklinsky (1st Ukrainian Front) and Yaslo-Gorlinsky (4th Ukrainian Front) operations. During the last operation, the division crossed the Vistula River. In January-March 1945, V. Bezgolosov destroyed 69 Hitlerites, more than once showing skill and resourcefulness. In street battles in the city of Czechowice Dziedzice (Silesian Voivodeship, Poland), German snipers delayed the advance of our infantry. V. Bezgolosov destroyed four enemy snipers, after which the infantry successfully completed its combat mission. In the battles for the bridgehead on the Vistula River, V. Bezgolosov again showed his skill. Only near the village of Pavlovice on March 21, 1945, he killed more than a dozen fascists. V. Bezgolosov participated in the Moravian-Ostrava operation from March 24, 1945. His division was the part of the 38th Army. By this time, since the summer of 1943, he had destroyed 279 German soldiers and officers. During this time, he trained 67 soldiers in sniper skills. They together killed more than 600 fascists. In the battles for the city of Moravska Ostrava (now the Czech Republic) and during the crossing of the Odra River on April 30, 1945, Sergeant V. Bezgolosov destroyed 8 Hitlerites. When he saw that the Major was seriously wounded, he under the intense him on himself to carried him to cover, but was hit by an enemy bullet. By Decree of the Presidium of The Supreme Soviet on May 15, 1946, Vitaly Bezgolosov was awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously) for his courage and heroism in the battles with the Nazi invaders. He was buried in Glucin in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic.

Branch of Service: Land Forces, Air Force (except for Naval Aviation), Coast gGuard, NKVD troops, Border Guard 30th Guards Kuban Cossack Cavalry Regiment. Tatyana Bakir about her husband Nikodim: "Before the war, he worked as a freight forwarder, then as a foreman of the Leninets collective farm. Built Tsitska reservoir. He was called up to the front in August 1941. Served in the cavalry. He wrote a lot. However, at that time the letters were stingy in content. Alive, well, bored, while the bullets are bypassed. I hug and kiss you and the children… But most importantly, it was an expensive message… He is alive and, thank God!... The last letter arrived belatedly from Hungary. "All the time in fights. We are surrounded, but we will break through…” His countrymen Demchenko and Beletsky wrote home in Platnirovskaya about his last day … "The sappers prepared the crossing and the regiment began crossing the river… Nikodim on the ammunition cart was barely holding back his three horses on the raft… Soon the coast, but then the German planes flew and began to bomb the crossing, making one pass after another… We buried all the dead in a mass grave not far from the Hungarian village…” I was invited to the Village Council In 1945 and was given his documents… I was walking home on my own. The tears did not dry up either at night or during the day at work, which started from early in the morning… With my cow, I harrowed, sowed, threshed, and carried grain… The norm for a cow was to plow 0.20 hectares – then I would earn a workday… The cow didn't want to go in the furrow and pull the plow… If you could see how at from it eyes tears flowed, and I forced it to work a bit more... until the poor fellow did not fall on the front legs. And I would sit next to it and cry... I was so hopeful that my husband would come back from the front alive, but my whole hope collapsed… So, was my destiny…" Bakir Nikodim awarded: The Medal For MiIitary Merit “The Guards Cossack Nikodim Bakir, coachman of supply platoon for the fact that during the fighting of the regiment from 31.07.42 to 10.03.43, he worked as a coachman for the delivery of food and ammunition to the front line always honestly, accurately and on time fulfilled the orders of the command (Order #04/n of 18.10.1943, 47th Guards Cavalry Regiment). The Medal For Bravery “For the fact that in the battles for the localities of Valyava 06.02.1944 and N-Buda 15.02.1944 showed bravery under strong artillery and mortar fire took out 10 wounded Cossacks and officers from the front line.

Rank: Petty Officer. Branch of service: Artillery. My grandfather, Sergey Babushkin was born in 1925 in Dengiz District of Guryev (now Atyrau) Region of the Kazakh SSR. When the war started, he was still too young to be drafted into the army, so, like other boys, he worked for a fishing collective farm. The collective farmers sent the fish they had caught to the front, providing food for our troops. In the summer of 1942, when there was a real danger that the enemy would occupy Astrakhan, the Guryevskiy Region bordering Astrakhan was also declared a war zone. However, the German troops did not enter the area. They just bombed the strategically important objects of Astrakhan and the region: their advance was stopped by the fierce defensive actions of the Red Army, which ended in the beginning of February 1943 with the victorious battle of Stalingrad. It was in 1943 that my father, who was then 18 years old, was drafted by the Dengiz District Military Commissariate into the Red Army. He received a combat training at the school of gunners, after which he was sent to the artillery reconnaissance of the anti-aircraft artillery regiment of the 1st Ukrainian Front. And it was not by chance that he got into the intelligence service. While still studying at the artillery school, he showed his bold, determined and psychologically stable character. Although, as he said, at the beginning of the service, he had to survive a strong fright: crossing the front line and hiding from enemy fire, he jumped into a trench and fell directly on the corps of a German. As ф part of the 1st Ukrainian front, my father liberated from the Nazis not only the territories of the Soviet Union, but also Europe: Poland, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Germany. One of the most remarkable episodes of his sparse military memories was the story of how, after the battle, he, along with his comrades, settled down in a haystack to rest properly before the next attack. Suddenly he was called to the commander of the unit, and when he got up and went, an enemy shell suddenly hit the stack, and everyone who was resting there was torn to pieces. My father went through the war with front-line awards: Medals For Military Merit and For Bravery. In his submission to the medal For Bravery, in a brief description of the merits said: "The commander of the intelligence squad of the staff platoon of the regiment, corporal Sergei Babushkin, should be awarded the medal For Bravery for repelling the counterattack of enemy submachine gunners on the night of February 8 to 9, 1945 on the outskirts of the city Grottkau, despising the danger and risking his life, first rushed to meet the Germans and killed two enemy soldiers with his machine gun, which helped to repel the counterattack" (signed by the commander of the 1404th Guards Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Vasilevsky and Chief of Staff Geriev). But after the war, the army service for my father did not end. For another five years, he was the commander of a platoon of artillery reconnaissance units stationed in Hungary and Austria. He returned to his Homeland in 1951, and settled in Astrakhan, remaining on long-term service as a foreman of the radio engineering regiment, where he served until 1975. The fact that he was a respected man, whose authoritative opinion was listened to by his colleagues, is evidenced by the fact that even after retirement, he was invited to the unit for all festive events, presenting memorable gifts and sincerely thanking for military services in the Great Patriotic War and impeccable service in peacetime. And when in 2011, at the age of 85, my grandfather died, he was seen off with all military honors on his last journey. For me, my grandfather has always been and remains an example of fortitude, courage, discipline, decency, and selfless service to his homeland.

Rank: Sergeant Branch of Service: Artillery. He was born and lived in the village of Dmitrievka Lamskiy District of the Tambov Region. Graduated from the factory school in Michurinsk as mechanic-repairman of rolling stock. He worked for the Kochetovka station in the Michurinsky District of the Tambov Region. They lived very hard and starved. He didn't see anything for two months - he got chicken blindness from malnutrition. The war began and in December there was a general mobilization. Ivan also went to the military enlistment office, adding a year to his age, asked to volunteer for the front, but, exposed, was expelled back to the village. He worked for the collective farm for another year. He was drafted into the army in 1942, trained for a Sergeant in the Surkov camps of the Mari ASSR. Served as a mortar gunner in a mechanized cavalry division: horses pulled carts with 122mm mortars. Fought on the Ukrainian Front, reached the territory of Poland. Liberated cities: Sumy, Rovno, Kovel. There was a particularly heavy battle in 194, - almost all were killed, but the survivors continued to fight. Ivan was concussed, wounded in the head: the entire occipital bone was shattered – 7 months in the hospital. While in the hospital, he was hit by a Nazi air raid, and miraculously survived. In 1945, he was sent to study at the Morshansk Infantry School in the Tambov Region, and then transferred to Rylsk in the Kursk Region, then to Kaluga, where he became a driver. He preferred the civil profession to the military craft and, without completing his military studies, as soon as the opportunity arose, in 1946 he returned to his mother (who was left alone, since her husband, Ivan's father, and son, Ivan's brother, died in the war) in his native village of Dmitrievka in the Tambov Region. Where he started to work as a driver. Awarded the Order of the Patriotic War 2nd degree. Labor Veteran. Udarnik of Communist Labor. Anniversary medals. After the war, he married in 1947 and had three sons. He worked for the Frunze collective farm in the Sosnovsky District of the Tambov Region. In 1969, the family moved to the city of Uzlovaya in the Tula Region due to the reorganization/consolidation of collective farms. He worked as a bus driver for the Plastic chemical plant. Died 02.04.1998. Five grandchildren, five great-grandchildren.

Butnikov Fedorovich was born and lived in in the villadge of Isaevka, Omsk Region. When the Great Patriotic War began, he was 26 years old. He was drafted into the army on June 25, 1941. Three days later he was sent to Moscow and after a short training was sent to the front near Moscow, to Vyazma, Smolensk Region. There, near Vyazma, he performed a heroic act. He and a group of soldiers delivered artillery shells on horseback and came under fire. All his colleagues were killed. A horse was also wounded by shrapnel from a shell. But he managed to deliver the shells in time and the Germans were unable to continue the offensive. For this, he received the first Medal For Bravery. He fought both at Mozhaisk and Solnechnogorsk, his unit was surrounded near Rzhev for 3 months. In 1943, he was seriously wounded in the shoulder. After the hospital, he joined an artillery regiment and became a gunner. He was awarded the Medals For Military Merit and For the Capture of Konigsberg in 1944. During the fighting for the village of Auerhof in April 1945, acting boldly and decisively with direct fire, he killed 7 German soldiers and personally captured 5 enemy soldiers. For this, he was presented to the Order of Glory of the 3rd degree.At the same time, in April, he received a second Medal for Bravery. Also participated in military operations after the Victory, until November 1945 – liberated the cities of East Prussia. He also had the Medal for the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War, the Order of the Patriotic War 1st degree, the Order of the Patriotic War 2nd degree. Alexey Butnikov died in 1993, at the age of 78.

Rank: Petty Officer Branch of Service: Land Forces, Air Force (except for Naval Aviation), Coast Guard, NKVD troops, Border Guard Unit: 6th Guards Grodno Order of Lenin Red Banner Order of Suvorov, Kutuzov and the Red Star Cavalry Division named after A. Parkhomenko Berezhnoy Ivan was drafted into the Red Army in 1939 and was demobilized in 1945. He went from Stalingrad to Berlin with valor performing his duty to the Motherland. After returning home from the front, he married and raised three daughters and six grandchildren. He was a decent and respected man. Four of his brothers went to the front, three returned, Ivan (my grandfather), Vasily and Grigory. The eldest, Lavrenty, went missing in July 1941. His family had been waiting to hear from him all through the war... the place of death and burial is not known. As a kid of 7-8 years, I often asked my grandfather about the war. He did not tell it willingly, and everything I heard from my grandfather remained in my memory for the rest of my life. ...July 1941. The Nazis are advancing on all fronts. The Red Army is in dire need of manpower. Mass mobilization. There is no time to train new recruits. They were loaded into echelons and sent to the front line. My grandfather was in one of these trains. …Airstrike. German pilots iron our echelon over and over again. There is a clear field around, no place to hide. Train and people at a glance. Horror, panic, everyone is running somewhere, shouting, not listening to commands.In this meat grinder, the echelon was completely broken, not many were left alive. My grandfather told me about it with great bitterness and regret. People died in vain, at the very beginning of the war because of unpreparedness and inexperience. There were many similar cases in the first months of the war... November 1942. Right (West Bank of the Don River), 70 km behind are Stalingrad and the Volga River. The fighting was heavy, the enemy launched a counteroffensive, heavy bombing, confusion, and my grandfather's regiment was retreating. Under the fire of tanks and infantry, my grandfather. a coachman of a staff cart, managed to save the secret documents of the headquarters. Making his way between the exploding shells, he sent the horses to the bridge over the river and as soon as his cart reached the opposite Bank, the bridge shattered into splinters from a direct hit by an enemy shell. For this feat, he was awarded the first medal For Bravery. In another episode… For official business, Sergeant Berezhnov was ordered to arrive at the division headquarters. He needed to ride a horse. My grandfather was a good rider, and he planned the route the day before. To shorten the path, he decided to drive through an open field. One could only go through the field in the dark. He left early in the morning, before dawn. He thought of passing, but did not count on it, the first glimmer of dawn found him galloping across the field. The Germans noticed the brave horseman and hit him with a mortar... the sound of a falling mine... explosion... He woke up on the ground, it was already dawn. He felt myself - not a scratch, the mine hit right under the horse. By the blast wave, grandfather, was thrown out of the saddle far ahead, the explosion concussed. Remembering, he said: "it's good to put the toes of your boots in the stirrups not too deep, as they taught, otherwise, when the legs were thrown out of the saddle by an explosion, they would have been torn off..." He crawled out of the field. At night he returned and took the saddle off the dead horse - one can't throw away any equipment. Then it was worth its weight in gold... My grandfather was always a kind, fair and respected person, helped his fellow villagers with business and advice, and did not refuse to help anyone. Once, once again asking about the war, I asked him a question - "Grandfather, did you shoot from a machine gun in the war... and killed fascists with it...? My question confused him. He did not answer it immediately, thought for a while and said: "In the war, I served as a Sergeant, my job was to cook porridge in time and feed the soldiers, there was no time to shoot." I never bothered my grandfather with such a question again. I felt with my childish instinct that my grandfather did not like such questions. Many years have passed, and my grandfather is no longer alive. I was reading found on the Internet, on the website the Memory of the people, the scan of the order on awarding my grandfather's order of Glory 3rd degree and suddenly find a complete answer to my old child's question.... From the order about rewarding: " Ivan Berezhnov, Guards Petty Officer of the 1st squadron of the heave machine-guns of the 41th Guards Air Defense Battalion, 6th Grodno Cavalry Division. He is presented to the third Degree of Glory... During the battles of 28.04.45 to 03.05.45, the squadron was in continuous battles with the retreating enemy. During this time, the squadron was never left without hot food. Under the fire of enemy machine gunners, the squadron Petty Officer brought hot food in due time, which gave strength to the combat units. And, during the offensive on 29.04.45, the kitchen brought a hot dinner, in the head of the platoon going. At this time, the lead group was fired at by the Germans from the forest, then Guards Petty Officer Berezhnov himself personally killed 5 Germans with a machine gun, knocked out 1 machine gun and captured 6 German prisoners. For his courage and sensitive attitude to the soldiers of the Guards, Petty Officer deserved the government award of the Order of Glory of the 3rd degree. Commander of the 25th Guards Cavalry Regiment Guards Lieutenant Colonel Lyalin. Chief of Staff of the 25th Guards Cavalry Regiment Guards Major Istibaev. May 7, 1945."

Branch of Service: Land Forces, Air Force (except for Naval Aviation), Coast Guard, NKVD troops, Border Guard Unit: 42nd Rifle Division (1st formation) Want to share my knowledge about my grandfather - a veteran of the Grat Patriotic War My grandfather Fedor Berestov (on my father's side) was born in 1908 in the village of Larentsy in the Bogorodsky District of the Kirov Region. Before the war, he was a member of the CPSU (b) and passed the school of political instructors in Sarapul. Called up to the front on 12.12.1941, and according to documents participated in the Great Patriotic War until 25.09. He served in the 127th Infantry Regiment, 42nd Infantry Division, 30 Army of the Western Front in 1943 in a rank of Lieutenant (according to stories of close relatives he was a political Commissar). In the battles for the Soviet Homeland on 25.12.1942, he was seriously wounded. Also, according to the stories of his children, he reached Berlin and came back from the war in 1946. He received the awards: Orders of the Red Star, of Glory 2 degrees, anniversary awards. After the war, he was Chairman of the collective farm until his retirement. He had six children: three sons and three daughters (three of them were born in the pre-war period and three in the post-war period). Every summer in 1970s, we went to his village, all 10 grandchildren gathered. I remember him as a kind, loving grandfather. Together they went to haymaking, for mushrooms huntings and to collect berries, fishing, grazing cows. Now I think how happy we were! At that time, we were not very interested in his exploits, and he did not tell us anything about the war. We saw a lot of anniversary medals. Unfortunately, my grandfather passed away early in 1979. Our duty is to preserve the historical memory of the exploits of participants, veterans of the Great Patriotic War and home front workers. We should all be proud of our ancestors who saved the world from the Nazis and defended the independence of our Motherland. We must remember the price of Victory and honor their memory. The people who defended our homeland deserve respect and attention. Veterans of the Great Patriotic War live in our city. But every year there are less and less of them: years and wounds make themselves felt. I want to believe that there will be no war in the future. Let there be only peace, friendship and harmony on our land! I am proud of my grandfather and all those who defended our Homeland. Thank them very much.

Born on 15.02.1920, Krasnoyarsk REgion, Nazarovsky District, villadge of Podsosnoe. He was called up for military service on November 10, 1940. He served in the 518th Riflr Regiment, the 322th Division as a squad leader. He was captured on 24.09.1941, was held captive in Poltava. Released on 24.08.1944. Since October 1944 - 12 Rifle Regiment, 53rd Rifle Division, 25th Guards Rifle Corps, 7th Guards Army, 2nd Ukrainian Front. Private Viktor Balaev - machine gunner of the 1st machine-gun company of the 12th Rifle Regiment was awarded the medal For Bravery" (order of division #2/n of 01.02.1945). Platoon leader of the 12th machine gun company of the 53rd Order of Kutuzov Rifle Regiment of the Ukrainian Red Banner Division Viktor Balaev was awarded the Order of Glory of the 3rd degree. (Order of division #17/n of 20.04.1945). AWarded Order of the Patriotic War 1st degree Awarded with medals. The feat from the award list "in the battle for the capture of the city of Moshon in Hungary showed courage and bravery. Moving forward with a machine gun, he suppressed six firing points and sixty enemy soldiers with accurate fire of his machine gun, which contributed to the rapid capture of the city. In subsequent battles, acting boldly and decisively by personal example draws the rest of the unit's fighters forward". The feat from the award list "in the battle during the offensive on the locality of Turaya in Hungary, being with his machine gun in the infantry battle formations, acting boldly and decisively, with accurate machine-gun fire, he promoted the advance of the infantry. Having received a slight wound in battle, he remained at the machine gun, continued to fire at the enemy and only after a second wound on the orders of the company commander left the battlefield". Wounded on 04.11.1944 and the second time on 14.11.1944 in Hungary. After the next wound on 11.01.1945 (Hungary), got to the hospital and met the Victory Day there. He was discharged in September 1946. From October 1944 - 2nd Ukrainian Front. After the war he returned to the village of Podsobnoe in October 1946. Moved to the Zverevskiy (Starozhilovo) State Farm. He married Anna Podlegaeva. Together they raised six children. Before retiring, he worked as a machine operator for a state farm. Not once was encouraged and awarded by the management of the state farm for an excellent work. After retirement, he worked for several more years. They moved to Krasnopolyansky State Farm in 1984. He received group two of disability (injury, shrapnel from the war) in February 1993. Viktor Balaev passed away on November 27, 1993.

My grandfather Viktor Bashinsky Petrovich was born on June 20, 1926 in the village of Sarnovichi Narodnichesky District of Zhytomyr Region. He with his parents moved to the Far East to the Primorsky Region of the Imansky District, to the village of Lazo when he was five. There he spent his childhood and youth. When the war began, his father Peter was called up to the front. From his letters, the family learned about Peter's military life, how he was awarded the medal For Bravery. My grandfather inherited his firmness of character and indomitable will to win - at the age of 17, he volunteered for the front. In the fighting against the Japanese imperialists, Red Army soldier Viktor Bashinsky served as a signalman in the 68th Separate Signal battalion. He was awarded the medal For Bravery (#3058788), the medal For Victory over Japan (#1517780420), and for Bravery, Fortitude and Courage Shown in the Battles for the Motherland on April 6, 1985. He received the Order of the Patriotic War 2nd degree. After the end of the war, he was left to serve in the Red Army. Before the war, my grandfather had a dream to learn to play the accordion well. By nature, he had an excellent ear for music, independently mastered the ability to play the accordion and guitar. After military service, he came to Tula in 1951 to enroll in a music school, but arrived late, as the enrollment was already over. However, the trip to Tula was not in vain. As fate would have it, in this city he met a girl named Elena, fell in love with her, and the next day, October 19, 1951, my grandparents registered their marriage. Through the newspaper, the young couple learned that in the city of Magnitogorsk, workers were required for the metallurgical plant. So it was decided to move and settle in Magnitogorsk, where my grandparents lived until the end of their days. Grandfather's working years were spent at the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel works in LPC #4. For the conscientious work as an operator, he was awarded the title Veteran of Labor. The whole family congratulated our grandparents on their 50th anniversary of marriage in 2001 - on their Golden wedding. Viktor Bashinsky passed away on February 17, 2007, and four years later, his wife Elena Bashinskaya died on February 17, 2011. For me, they will always be an example of how to live, love, raise children and take care of grandchildren, how to overcome challenges and enjoy life, find solutions in difficult situations and at the same time remain responsive people with an open heart. I love my family, cherish the memory of it and am proud of my roots, so I want to sincerely thank the organizers and coordinators of the "Immortal Regiment" for the opportunity to tell about the life, fate and military past of my grandfather. Now, more than ever, it is important to honor and preserve the memory of the Great Patriotic war. We have no right to forget the feat of our ancestors, to allow the rewriting of history and the revival of Nazism. Glory to our veterans! Those who forged victory at the front and in the rear! Eternal glory to the heroes who fell in the battles for the Motherland, who gave their lives for the freedom and happiness of future generations!

Rank: Red Army Soldier Branch of Service: Land Forces, Air Force (except for Naval Aviation), Coast Guard, NKVD troops, Border Guard Ivan Bityukov was born in 1894 in a large family, in the village of Makashevka. Even before the Great October revolution, he married Alexandra Afanasyevna. Their daughter Manya was born on July 15, 1915, and a son Zhora, on April 27, 1922. They also had a daughter, Nyura, and a small son, Sashenka. They used to live well, as they said at the time. His ancestors and he was a coachman, was carrying the mail. Im Their homestead they had horses, a cow, even had their own meadows, which were not far from Spornoe Lake, and they were called "post people". With the advent of Soviet power, he had to work for hire, dig wells. He had to leave home for several weeks in neighboring villages. A horse and a cow remained at his home. By order of A. Perevozchenko, they were dispossessed, a horse was taken from the yard, a cow was taken away, and their house was dismantled and taken out. Ivan was not at home at that time. The family had to wander around relatives and neighbors. When he returned from work, he and his brother were arrested on false charges of murdering the Chairman of the Village Council Perevozchenko. Alexander's wife did not survive this. Nyura and Sashenka died of starvation. Fortunately, Ivan and his brother were acquitted and rehabilitated, but the brother died of a broken heart when they came to read the verdict. And he was left alone with two children. Fortunately, the house was returned to him, and he had to put it up again. He continued to dig wells. When he went to work, the children were left alone at home. Manya herself was a housekeeper. In Saltykovka he met Vasilisa, she loved him. Life in her first marriage did not work out for her either. He invited her to stay with him, helping him with the housework and children. So they began to live. And then the feelings came, and they got married. When the Great Patriotic War began, corporal Ivan Bityukov, due to his age, did not go to the front immediately, but in 1942. He was an excellent wagon driver. Provided evacuation of the wounded during offensive operations of our Army, from Voronezh to Vienna. Was on the 3rd Voronezh and 2nd Ukrainian fronts in the 230th and 46th armies. How many lives were saved by Ivan is not countable. He did not care about his own life. Only often he thought about his family, his wife, and most importantly that the children returned home alive. So he went all the way to Prague. The army ended its combat operations with participation in the Prague strategic operation (May 6-11). The army was relocated to the Odessa Military District in July-September 1945 and disbanded on September 25. Ivan was demobilized and returned home, but his son Zhora had not yet returned from the army, and his daughter Manya remained to restore the city of Murmansk. But it was lucky that they were still alive. Vasilisa was happy. Ivan immediately went to work for the collective farm as a Stockman. Life began to improve. Later, his son got married and had children, Ivan’s grandchildren. Ivan Bityukov passed away in 1964. He left his descendants only a bright memory of himself!

Rank: Senior Paramedic. Branch of Service: Military Medical Staff. “Born on March 20, 1922 in the village of Utyagulovo, Asinovskiy District of Bashkir ASSR. I was drafted into the Soviet Army on September 20, 1941 by the Zianchurinsky District Military Commissariat. I studied at the school of paramedics in Ufa, Bashkir ASSR, South Ural Military District from October 1941 to May 1942. I was a paramedic from May 1942 to January 1, 1943. I worked as a paramedic for the 129th Separate Air Surveillance and Communications Service company of the 13th Army of Voronezh Front, 1st Ukrainian Front from January 1, 1943 to March 1944,. From March 1944 to March 1945 – company paramedic of the 150th Separate Tank Brigade. I was a paramedic of the 2nd Tank Battalion, 150th Brigade from March 1945 to July 1946. I was a medical assistant of the 150th Separate Tank Regiment from July 1946 to April 1947. Since April 1947 - Senior paramedic of the self-propelled detachment of the 150th Tank Regiment of the 95th Guards Rifle Division from July 1946 to April 1947. He was appointed to the post on March 31, 1947 by order of the Central Group of Troops #855. During the Patriotic War, he participated in battles as a member of the Company from March 1944 to March 1945. He served in the 2nd Tank Battalion of the 150th Separate Tank Brigade, of the 1st Ukrainian front in Ukraine in the cities of Bodry, Rovno, Kremenets, Korosten. He partiсipated in the battles for the liberation of Poland, Czechoslovakia, in the battles in Germany. He was wounded on January 14, 1945 near Kielce in Poland. He was treated in the hospital from January 15 to February 20, 1945. In May 1942, he received the military rank of "Military paramedic" by the order of the South Ural Military District of 1942. He received the military rank of Lieutenant of Medical Service (order #0117 of September 25) on September 25, 1943. 1943 of the Belorussian front. heavy-tank regiment. Gratitude from comrade Stalin for fighting on the fronts of the Patriotic War:1. From 6.11.1943 for the liberation of Kiev.2. From 18.11.1943 for the liberation of Korosten.3. From 5.2.1944 for the liberation of Rivne.4. From 15.3.1944 for the liberation of Dubno.5. from 19.3.1945, the liberation of the city of Kremenets.6. From 15.1.1945 for the liberation of the city of Calz.7. From 27.3.1945 for the capture of Shterlen 8. from 8.5.1945 for the capture of Derzen. I was awarded the Order of the Red Star #140056 on March 14. Awarded the Order of Patriotic War 2nd degree #29340 on July 14, 1954. Awarded the medals For Bravery July 30, 1944. Awarded the medals For the Liberation of Prague, For the Victory over Germany.”

Rank: Military Technician 2nd rank Unit: 10th Tank division Ivan Baksheev was born in 1919 in Kursk Region, Grayvoronsky District, Mokraya Orlovka village, participant of the Great Patriotic War, Military Technician of the 2nd rank. Ivan graduated from the Kiev Tank Technical School, was a Senior Tank Technician of the 20th Tank Regiment, 10th Tank Division. He joined the Red Army in 1939, and after graduation from school, he was promoted to the rank of officer. When the war began, Ivan was sent to the South-Western Front. The war ended very soon for him… Ivan was killed on the sixth day of the war, during the battle of 28.06.1941 in the area of Pochapy. He was only 22 years old, a very young boy, no family, no children... But he could have had everything else, and love and family, and grandchildren and great-grandchildren, but no... this terrible war (1941-1945), which claimed millions of human lives, crossed out the entire fate of Ivan. From the memoirs of Yevgeny Krasyukov "My grandmother (Anna Baksheeva) told me that after the war his classmate came to the village of Mokraya Orlovka with the rank of Colonel, who told his mother Fiona Baksheeva about the fate of her son, told how Ivan died. From the memoirs of his classmate: "We were standing in a clearing, and at this time there were German motorcyclists, we managed to jump into the tank, and Ivan did not have time to close the hatch in the tank and the Germans shot him with automatic fire, right in front of my eyes." Ivan was buried in Ukrainian SSR, Lvov Region, Zolochiv District, Pochapy. We remember and are proud of him!

My great grandfather Beltsy Alexander Beltsev (1926-1991) was born on 18.05.26 in Chkalov, now Orenburg, in the family of a worker. Alexander moved to the 7th grade. The Great Patriotic War began in the summer of 1941. It was necessary to help the front. Alexander, along with the same teenagers as him, worked in the city of Chkalov in the rear, mastered various professions. They also asked to go to war, but they were not taken because of their age. Years passed, the war went on, and there were not enough soldiers... Alexander was 16 years old and he and a group of the other guys were sent to military training courses for tankers. On completion of the course in 1943 he was called up to serve in the Red Army. He was sent to the 1st Ukrainian Font, in the 933rd Rifle Regiment, as a commander of the T-34 tank and served there until the end of the war. At the front, fighting the enemy, everything happened: there were victories, there were defeats, but the young, purposeful and brave guys of the crew did not give up and with honor and dignity came out of various situations, and most importantly remained alive! For breakthroughs in battles, for courage and bravery in battles, Alexander and his comrades were awarded medals and orders more than once. So, Alexander Beltsev had the medal For the Victory over Germany and six other medals: two medals For Valor, one For the Capture of Berlin, For the Capture of Budapest, For the Capture of Warsaw, jubilee medal 50 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the documents for them the awards themsefs, unfortunately were not preserved. (We can only confirm the awards that we found on the sites: "Feat of the People in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945", "Soldat.ru”, "People and Awards"). Alexander Beltsev continued to serve in the 933rd Rifle Regiment from 01.1944 to 01.1948, participating in the battles for the liberation of cities and towns in Europe. The first country that the Soviet Army entered was Romania. Alexander Beltsev took an active part in the liberation mission of the Soviet Army to liberate the peoples of Central and South-Eastern Europe from the fascist yoke. He liberated countries: Romania, Hungary, Austria, Yugoslavia, Poland, etc. After performing international duty and service in the Soviet Army, the Alexander Beltsev returned home, in the city of Orenburg in 1948.

Rank: Red Army Soldiers Branch of Service: Land Forces, Air Force (except for Naval Aviation), Coast Guard, NKVD troops, Border Guard Unit: 8th Guards Rezhitskaya Order of Lenin Red Banner Order of Suvorov Rifle Division named after I. Panfilov. Yakov Bondarenko (1905-1941) – rifleman ofthe 4th Company of the 2nd Battalion, the 1075th Rifle Regiment, the 316th Rifle Division, the 16th Army on the Western Front, Red Army, Hero of the Soviet Union. He was born in a peasant family in the village of Millerovo (present-day Rostov Region). Ukrainian. Education incomplete secondary. Before the Great Patriotic war, he worked for a collective farm. He was drafted into the Red Army in July 1941, and sent to the front. He participated in repelling numerous enemy attacks at the Dubosekovo junction of the Volokolamsk District of the Moscow Region, as member of a group of tank destroyers during November 16, 1941. They destroyed 18 enemy tanks then. This feat went down in history as the feat of 28 Panfilov Heroes. Yakov Bondarenko died a brave death in that battle. However, according to the data of the OBD Memorial, a soldier of the 4th Company of the 2nd Battalion, the 1075 Rifle Regiment, the 316th Rifle Division Yakov Bondarenko was wounded on 5.12.1941 and died of wounds on 6.12.1941, and was buried at the Vagankovsky Cemetery in Moscow. Yakov Bondarenko was posthumously awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union on July 21, 1942, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR for his exemplary performance of the command's combat tasks at the front of the fight against the Nazi invaders and for his courage and heroism.