Imagine trying to save a blind man from a burning building, walking step by step through searing flames and smoke. Now imagine that you are blind too. Jim Sherman, born blind, heard his 85-year-old neighbor's cries for help when she was trapped in her burning house. He found his way, moving along the fence. Once he got to the woman's house, he somehow managed to get inside and find his neighbor Annie Smith, who was also blind. Sherman pulled Smith from the fire and took her to safety.
Skydiving instructors sacrificed everything to save their students
Few people will survive a fall of several hundred meters. But two women did it thanks to the dedication of two men. The first gave his life to save a man whom he saw for the first time in his life.
Skydiving instructor Robert Cook and his student Kimberley Dear were about to make their first jump when the plane's engine failed. Cook told the girl to sit on his lap and tied their belts together. As the plane crashed to the ground, Cook's body bore the brunt of the impact, killing the man but leaving Kimberly alive.
Another skydiving instructor, Dave Hartstock, also saved his student from being hit. This was Shirley Dygert's first jump, and she jumped with an instructor. Diegert's parachute did not open. During the fall, Hartstock managed to get under the girl, softening the blow to the ground. Dave Hartstock injured his spine, the injury paralyzed his body from the neck down, but both survived.
Mere mortal Joe Rollino (pictured above) performed incredible, inhuman things during his 104-year life. Although he only weighed about 68 kg, in his prime he could lift 288 kg with his fingers and 1,450 kg with his back, for which he won various competitions several times. However, not the title “Most strong man in the world" made him a hero.
During World War II, Rollino served in the Pacific and received a Bronze and Silver Star for bravery in the line of duty, as well as three Purple Hearts for battle wounds that left him in the hospital for a total of 2 years. He carried away 4 of his comrades from the battlefield, two in each hand, and also returned to the thick of the battle for the rest.
Fatherly love can inspire superhuman feats, and this was proven by two fathers on opposite sides of the world.
In Florida, Joeph Welch came to the aid of his six-year-old son when an alligator grabbed the boy's arm. Forgetting about his own safety, Welch hit the alligator, trying to force it to open its mouth. Then a passerby arrived and began punching the alligator in the stomach until the animal finally let go of the boy.
In Mutoko, Zimbabwe, another father saved his son from a crocodile when it attacked him in a river. Father Tafadzwa Kacher began poking reeds into the animal's eyes and mouth until his son ran away. Then the crocodile targeted the man. Tafadzwa had to gouge out the animal's eyes. The boy lost his leg in the attack, but he will be able to tell of his father's superhuman bravery.
Two ordinary women lifted cars to save loved ones
Not only men are capable of demonstrating superhuman abilities in critical situations. The daughter and mother showed that women can be heroes too, especially when a loved one is in danger.
In Virginia, a 22-year-old girl saved her father when the jack slipped from under the BMW he was working under and the car fell onto the man's chest. There was no time to wait for help, the young woman lifted the car and moved it, then performed artificial respiration on her father.
In Georgia, a jack also slipped and a 1,350-pound Chevrolet Impala fell on a young man. Without help, his mother Angela Cavallo lifted the car and held it for five minutes until neighbors pulled her son out.
Superhuman abilities are not only strength and courage, but also the ability to think quickly and act in an emergency.
In New Mexico, a school bus driver suffered a seizure, putting children in danger. A girl waiting for the bus noticed that something had happened to the driver and called her mother. The woman, Rhonda Carlsen, immediately took action. She ran next to the bus and, using gestures, asked one of the children to open the door. After that, she jumped inside, grabbed the steering wheel and stopped the bus. Thanks to her quick reaction, none of the schoolchildren were injured, not to mention people passing by.
A truck and trailer drove along the edge of a cliff in the dead of night. The cab of a large truck stopped right above the cliff, with the driver inside. A young man came to the rescue, he broke the window and pulled the man out with his bare hands.
This happened in New Zealand in the Waioeka Gorge on October 5, 2008. The hero was 18-year-old Peter Hanne, who was at home when he heard the crash. Without thinking about his own safety, he climbed onto the balancing car, jumped into the narrow gap between the cab and the trailer, and broke the rear window. He carefully helped the injured driver out as the truck swayed under his feet.
In 2011, Hanne was awarded the New Zealand Bravery Medal for this heroic act.
War is full of heroes who risk their lives to save their fellow soldiers. In the movie Forrest Gump, we saw how the fictional character saved several of his fellow soldiers, even after he was wounded. In real life, you can find a more abrupt plot.
Take, for example, the story of Robert Ingram, who received the Medal of Honor. In 1966, during an enemy siege, Ingram continued to fight and save his comrades even after he was shot three times: in the head (which left him partially blind and deaf in one ear), in the arm, and in the left knee. Despite his wounds, he continued to kill North Vietnamese soldiers who attacked his unit.
Aquaman is nothing compared to Shavarsh Karapetyan, who saved 20 people from a sinking bus in 1976.
The Armenian speed swimming champion was jogging with his brother when a bus with 92 passengers left the road and fell into the water 24 meters from the shore. Karapetyan dived, kicked out a window and began to pull out people who were by that time in cold water at a depth of 10 m. They say that it took 30 seconds for each person he saved, he saved one after another until he lost consciousness in the cold and dark water . As a result, 20 people survived.
But Karapetyan’s exploits did not end there. Eight years later, he saved several people from a burning building, suffering severe burns in the process. Karapetyan received the Order of the USSR Badge of Honor and several other awards for underwater rescue. But he himself claimed that he was not a hero at all, he simply did what he had to do.
A man takes off a helicopter to save his colleague
The TV show site turned into a tragedy when a helicopter from the popular TV series Magnum PI crashed into drainage ditch in 1988.
During landing, the helicopter suddenly tilted, went out of control and fell to the ground, while the whole thing was captured on film. One of the pilots, Steve Kux, was pinned under the helicopter in shallow water. And then Warren “Tiny” Everal ran up and picked up the helicopter from Kax. It was a Hughes 500D, which weighs at least 703kg empty. Everal's quick reactions and superhuman strength saved Kax from being pinned in the water by a helicopter. Even though the pilot injured himself left hand, he escaped death thanks to a local Hawaiian hero.
On the eve of Defender of the Fatherland Day and the seventieth anniversary of Victory, heroes of bygone times are increasingly remembered. But even in our time there are people who, out of duty, risk their lives every day. FederalPress compiled a list of the top 10 heroes who gave their lives for others in peacetime. Of course, there are much more than ten stories about the courage of doctors, firefighters, police officers, soldiers and officers.
On the eve of Defender of the Fatherland Day and the seventieth anniversary of Victory, heroes of bygone times are increasingly remembered. But even in our time there are people who, out of duty, risk their lives every day. FederalPress compiled the top 10 heroes who gave their lives for others in peacetime. Of course, there are much more than ten stories about the courage of doctors, firefighters, police officers, soldiers and officers. We just wanted to remind you that there is always a place for heroism in life.
In September 2014, an emergency occurred on the territory of a military unit during an exercise in Lesnoy. The junior sergeant pulled the pin on the grenade and dropped the ammunition. Colonel Serik Sultangabiev managed to react in time.
The President of Russia, on the recommendation of the command of the Internal Troops, signed a decree conferring the highest rank of ““” on the colonel.
In July 2014, several journalists and photojournalist Andrei Stenin went to Donbass to provide reliable information about what was happening in southeastern Ukraine.
The circumstances of the death of Andrei Stenin in Donbass. As FederalPress previously reported, the column of refugees in which the photographer was located came under fire northwest of the village of Dmitrovka. The Ukrainian army, presumably the 79th airmobile brigade, opened fire on the vehicles of civilians with cannons and machine guns. As a result, ten cars were destroyed, but several people managed to escape and hide in the roadside bushes.
The next day, representatives of the Ukrainian command inspected the site of the shelling of the convoy, after which the area with the remains of the dead and broken vehicles was treated with Grad rocket launchers. All journalists who died in Donbass were posthumously awarded.
Last June, a major accident occurred at the Achinsk Oil Refinery. During startup work at the gas fractionation unit, a volumetric explosion and fire occurred. As a result.
In January 2012, a fire occurred in the basement of a residential building in Omsk. Thick black smoke came from there and enveloped the second entrance of the house; people were asking for help from the windows. Arriving firefighters evacuated 38 people, eight of them children, and went to the smoky basement.
Despite zero visibility, the fire brigade under the leadership of senior warrant officer of the sixth fire department Alexander Kozhemyakin carried out two gas cylinders which could explode.
Half an hour later, the firefighters' breathing apparatus alarms went off. This meant that the air in the cylinders was running out. Kozhemyakin, realizing that there was a real threat to the lives of his subordinates, became the leader and helped his comrades get out of the smoke-filled and cluttered basement. While freeing a subordinate entangled in a wire, the commander suddenly lost consciousness. For more than an hour, emergency doctors tried to bring him back to life, but without regaining consciousness. He was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage.
In September 2010 in engine room The destroyer "Bystry" at the Fokino naval base, a fire broke out due to a short circuit in the wiring when the fuel pipeline broke. Aldar Tsydenzhapov, who took up duty as a boiler crew operator, immediately rushed to plug the leak. He was in the center of the fire for about nine seconds; after eliminating the leak, he was able to independently get out of the compartment engulfed in flames, receiving severe burns. The prompt actions of Aldar and his colleagues led to the timely shutdown of the ship's power plant, which otherwise could have exploded and caused severe damage to the ship.
Aldar was taken to the Pacific Fleet hospital in Vladivostok in serious condition. Doctors fought for his life for four days, but he died. In 2011, the sailor posthumously became.
Photo: Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, kremlin.ru, mchs.gov.ru, mvd.ru, fssprus.ru, vn-eparhia.ru, fireman.club, personal pages of Andrey Kirillov and Svetlana Ostapenko on social networks
Hero of Russia is the highest title given for services to the state and people associated with the accomplishment of a heroic deed. This section contains information about the heroes of Russia and gives a description of some of their feats. To the hero Russian Federation a special distinction is awarded - the Gold Star medal. The total number of known awards of the title of Hero of the Russian Federation (as of July 10, 2018) is 1099 people, of which 479 Heroes were awarded the title posthumously. Lists of citizens awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation and most Presidential Decrees on conferring the title of Hero are not officially published. The exact number of titles awarded remains unknown due to the secrecy of many awards, which often leads to errors and contradictions in media publications on this topic.
List of heroes of Russia, exploits, photos and videos
Below are the names and short description some Heroes of the Russian Federation by year of their award1992 - 10 people
Plotnikova Marina Vladimirovna(1974-1991) - the youngest Hero of the Russian Federation, the first woman - Hero of the Russian Federation (1992, posthumously). At the cost of her own life, Marina saved three drowning children. June 30, 1991 was a hot day - two younger sisters Zhanna and Lena and their friend Natasha were swimming in the river, but suddenly Natasha Vorobyova moved a little further from the shore and, finding herself in the depths, began to drown. Marina, who saw this, rushed after her and pushed her towards the coastal bushes. Turning back, she saw that her two sisters, frightened for her, also rushed after her. Caught in a whirlpool, Zhanna and Lena began to drown. The girl managed to save them, but she herself, having spent all her strength, died. At the cost of her life, a 17-year-old girl saved three lives girls.1993 - 55 people
Zaitsev Anatoly Grigorievich(born 1945) - Soviet and Russian submarine officer, captain 1st rank. Commander of an experienced ultra-deep-sea nuclear submarine. For courage and heroism shown while performing a special task in conditions involving risk to life, he was awarded the title of Hero of Russia1994 - 39 people
Kozlov Oleg Anatolievich(born 1972) – military man, sniper.
On the night of August 18-19, 1994, a detachment of Mujahideen tried to break through the outpost (Tajik border) and began shelling it. At a time when the main efforts of the border guards-paratroopers were concentrated on the right flank, the left flank of the main defense remained open, which created the threat of encirclement by the enemy. Having assessed the situation, Kozlov decided to cover the left flank of the defense. Having taken a convenient position, he conducted sniper fire at enemy firing points with virtually no cover, destroyed an RPG crew, two snipers, and suppressed a machine gun crew. By his actions, Private Oleg Kozlov prevented the enemy from breaking through to the left flank of the defense. By Decree of the President of the Russian Federation B.N. Yeltsin, Private Oleg Anatolyevich Kozlov was awarded the title of Hero of Russia. 1995 - 146 people
Lelyukh Igor Viktorovich(1967 - 1995) - captain, group commander of the 67th separate special forces brigade of the GRU General Staff.
On January 1, 1995, during the storming of Grozny during the First Chechen war units of the 131st brigade were surrounded in the area of the railway station. The units suffered heavy losses in manpower, lost almost all their armored vehicles and could not escape from the city on their own. The command assigned Captain Lelyukh's reconnaissance group the task of breaking through the encirclement as soon as possible and facilitating the brigade's exit from the city. Igor Lelyukh objected that without the support of armored vehicles by the forces of one reconnaissance group, the task was impossible, but the objections were rejected due to the catastrophic situation of the brigade and the lack of any other reserves. The reconnaissance group managed to break through the encirclement and approach the brigade's positions. But soon the reserves of the Dudayevites were brought up, and the decision was made to retreat. Igor Lelyukh was seriously wounded and remained to cover the retreat of the fighters. For 30 minutes he held off the militants with machine gun fire and grenades, after which he was wounded a second time and shot at point-blank range while unconscious. For courage and heroism shown in the performance of military duty, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation of December 7, 1995, Captain Lelyukh Igor Viktorovich was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation (posthumously) 1996 - 128 people
Alexander Vasilievich Margelov (1945-2016)
On January 23, 1976, for the first time in world practice, they landed and carried out soft landing BMD-1 (combat tracked amphibious vehicle) on a parachute-jet system also with two crew members on board - Major Alexander Vasilyevich Margelov and Lieutenant Colonel Leonid Ivanovich Shcherbakov. The landing was carried out at great risk to life, without personal means of rescue. Landing equipment with a crew on jet systems made it possible to bring airborne divisions into battle not in seven days, as before, but in 22 minutes. This became a serious trump card during the Cold War. For his feat, Alexander Margelov was awarded the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union. Twenty years later, for the feat of the seventies, both were awarded the title of Hero of Russia. 1997 - 49 people
Evgeniy Nikolaevich Parchinsky(1946 - 2012) – railway worker, diesel locomotive driver.
On October 6, 1996, at 11:25 a.m., as a result of deliberate criminal actions of an unknown person, the TEM2-595 diesel locomotive was set in motion; After making sure that the locomotive was picking up speed, the attacker jumped off. When the dispatcher raised the alarm, the distance between the trains was only two kilometers. There was no time to think. Alexander and his assistant stopped their train, uncoupled the locomotive and made the only right decision: use the locomotive as a battering ram, drive towards the freight train and take the hit themselves. This was the only way to save the passengers. The uncontrollable diesel locomotive was moving, as calculations showed, at a speed of 120 km/h. As a result of the collision, both locomotives cannot be restored. The driver and his assistant survived, having received minor injuries. The train passengers (more than 200 people) were not injured; a possible explosion of a nearby oil pipeline was prevented. For courage and heroism shown in extreme situation for preventing a passenger train crash, awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation with the presentation of the Gold Star medal 1998 - 46 people
Andrey Nikolaevich Rozhkov(1961-1998) - Russian rescuer, mountaineer.
He took part in many search and rescue operations in Russia and abroad, participated in the operation to deliver humanitarian aid during the war in Bosnia, in the search for helicopter pilots who died during the Georgian-Abkhaz war in the area of the Kodori River, and evacuated the sick during the first Chechen war and wounded from Grozny, rescued exhibits of the local museum. He led a ski group during the exercises of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations at the North Pole. Andrei Rozhkov died on April 22, 1998 while diving into the waters of the Arctic Ocean while testing a new life-saving device. diving equipment. On June 30, 1998, for the courage and heroism shown during testing of new rescue diving equipment, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation. 1999 - 68 people
Irina Yurievna Yanina(1966-1999) – nurse, sergeant.
On August 31, 1999, during the cleansing of the village of Karamakhi (Dagestan), Irina Yanina, as part of an evacuation group, provided assistance to wounded soldiers. At the risk of her life she provided assistance to 15 wounded people. Three times she drove an armored personnel carrier directly to the line of fire, from where she took out another 28 wounded soldiers of the federal forces. During the fourth sortie, the enemy launched a counterattack and Yanina, having organized the loading of the wounded, covered the operation with machine gun fire. During the retreat, the armored personnel carrier was hit by two grenades, resulting in a strong fire. Irina Yanina helped the wounded get out of the burning car. Thanks to her, captain A.L. Krivtsov, privates S.V. Golnev and I.A. Lyadov were saved. Irina herself did not have time to leave the burning car. She left behind a son. 2000 - 176 people
Alexey Viktorovich Galkin(born 1970) - GRU officer, participant in the Chechen war.
In 1996-2002 he served in the North Caucasus Military District. Alexey Galkin repeatedly participated in counter-terrorism operations, acting as part of a strictly classified reconnaissance group, and in the fall of 1999 he was captured by Basayev himself. It’s better not to remember what the officer suffered in captivity. Galkin himself told his friends what happened: he prayed to God that when shelling militant bases, his shell would hit the place of his imprisonment. However, fate decreed otherwise. The courageous intelligence officer, who went through all the circles of Chechen hell, managed to escape with weapons in his hands. After escaping from captivity, Basayev and Khattab, who was still alive, promised a million dollars for Galkin’s head. The GRU officer was a very strong trump card for them, and they really planned to take him to London for some political intrigue. In the fall of 2002, A.V. Galkin’s reconnaissance group, during a special operation, captured important documents that confirmed the involvement of international terrorism in the activities of separatist gangs in Chechnya. 2001 - 28 people
Sergey Alexandrovich Shreiner(1979 - 2000) - senior sergeant of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
On May 26, 1997 he was called up for military service. During all his years of service, he served in Chechnya and was awarded five commendations for conscientiously fulfilling his duty to the Fatherland on the Dagestan-Chechen border. After completing his military service, he remained to serve under a contract. He was the owner of a maroon beret. July 14, 2000 during military operation, covered a grenade thrown by militants with his body and thereby saved the life of the commander and several colleagues. He was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Russia. 2002 - 31 people
2003 - 32 people
2004 - 35 people
2005 - 23 people
2006 - 15 people
2007 - 16 people
2008 - 41 people
2009 - 20 people
2010 - 18 people
2011 - 10 people
2012 - 16 people
2013 - 7 people
2014 - 13 people
2015 - 5 people
2016 - 21 people
2017 - 11 people
2018 - 4 people
Roman Nikolaevich Filipov(1984-2018) - Russian military pilot, deputy squadron commander.
Filipov was an ace pilot of attack aircraft, repeatedly took part in the All-Russian military maneuvers “Aviadarts”, where in 2013 he took second place among attack aircraft. On February 3, 2018, while flying over the Idlib de-escalation zone (Syria) to monitor the ceasefire, the leading Russian Su-25SM attack aircraft in a pair, under the control of Major Filipov, near the city of Serakib was shot down by a shot from a MANPADS. The pilot tried to keep the plane in the air and reported that he was attacked by a missile, after which he ejected. On the ground, the pilot was surrounded by militants and died in the ensuing battle: while firing back from the attackers with a Stechkin pistol, he was seriously wounded, and then blew himself up with a grenade with the words “This is for the boys!” During the Great Patriotic War, not much was known about the incredible feat of the simple Russian soldier Kolka Sirotinin, as well as about the hero himself. Perhaps no one would ever have known about the feat of the twenty-year-old artilleryman. If not for one incident.
In the summer of 1942, Friedrich Fenfeld, an officer of the 4th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht, died near Tula. Soviet soldiers discovered his diary. From its pages some details of that same thing became known. last fight senior sergeant Sirotinin.
It was the 25th day of the war...
In the summer of 1941, the 4th Panzer Division of Guderian’s group, one of the most talented German generals, broke through to the Belarusian city of Krichev. Units of the 13th Soviet Army were forced to retreat. To cover the retreat of the artillery battery of the 55th Infantry Regiment, the commander left artilleryman Nikolai Sirotinin with a gun.
The order was brief: to delay the German tank column on the bridge over the Dobrost River, and then, if possible, catch up with our own. The senior sergeant carried out only the first half of the order...
Sirotinin took up a position in a field near the village of Sokolnichi. The gun sank in the tall rye. There is not a single noticeable landmark for the enemy nearby. But from here the highway and the river were clearly visible.
On the morning of July 17, a column of 59 tanks and armored vehicles with infantry appeared on the highway. When the lead tank reached the bridge, the first – successful – shot rang out. With the second shell, Sirotinin set fire to an armored personnel carrier at the tail of the column, thereby creating a traffic jam. Nikolai shot and shot, knocking out car after car.
Sirotinin fought alone, being both a gunner and a loader. It had 60 rounds of ammunition and a 76-mm cannon - an excellent weapon against tanks. And he made a decision: to continue the battle until the ammunition runs out.
The Nazis threw themselves to the ground in panic, not understanding where the shooting was coming from. The guns fired at random, across squares. After all, the day before, their reconnaissance had failed to detect Soviet artillery in the vicinity, and the division advanced without special precautions. The Germans attempted to clear the jam by dragging the damaged tank from the bridge with two other tanks, but they were also hit. An armored vehicle that tried to ford the river got stuck in a swampy bank, where it was destroyed. For a long time the Germans were unable to determine the location of the well-camouflaged gun; they believed that a whole battery was fighting them.
This unique battle lasted a little over two hours. The crossing was blocked. By the time Nikolai's position was discovered, he had only three shells left. When asked to surrender, Sirotinin refused and fired from his carbine to the last. Having entered Sirotinin's rear on motorcycles, the Germans destroyed the lone gun with mortar fire. At the position they found a lone gun and a soldier.
The result of the battle of Senior Sergeant Sirotinin against General Guderian is impressive: after the battle on the banks of the Dobrost River, the Nazis were missing 11 tanks, 7 armored vehicles, 57 soldiers and officers.
The tenacity of the Soviet soldier earned the respect of the Nazis. The commander of the tank battalion, Colonel Erich Schneider, ordered the worthy enemy to be buried with military honors.
From the diary of Chief Lieutenant of the 4th Panzer Division Friedrich Hoenfeld:
July 17, 1941. Sokolnichi, near Krichev. In the evening, an unknown Russian soldier was buried. He stood alone at the cannon, shot at a column of tanks and infantry for a long time, and died. Everyone was surprised at his courage... Oberst (Colonel - editor's note) said before the grave that if all the Fuhrer's soldiers fought like this Russian, they would conquer the whole world. They fired three times in volleys from rifles. After all, he is Russian, is such admiration necessary?
From the testimony of Olga Verzhbitskaya, a resident of the village of Sokolnichi:
I, Olga Borisovna Verzhbitskaya, born in 1889, a native of Latvia (Latgale), lived before the war in the village of Sokolnichi, Krichevsky district, together with my sister.
We knew Nikolai Sirotinin and his sister before the day of the battle. He was with a friend of mine, buying milk. He was very polite, always helping elderly women get water from the well and do other hard work.
I remember well the evening before the fight. On a log at the gate of the Grabskikh house I saw Nikolai Sirotinin. He sat and thought about something. I was very surprised that everyone was leaving, but he was sitting.
When the battle started, I was not home yet. I remember how the tracer bullets flew. He walked for about two to three hours. In the afternoon, the Germans gathered at the place where Sirotinin’s gun stood. They forced us, local residents, to come there too. To me, as someone who knows German, the main German of about fifty with orders, tall, bald, gray-haired, ordered his speech to be translated to local people. He said that the Russian fought very well, that if the Germans had fought like that, they would have taken Moscow long ago, and that this is how a soldier should defend his homeland - the Fatherland.
Then a medallion was taken out of the pocket of our dead soldier’s tunic. I firmly remember that it was written “the city of Orel”, Vladimir Sirotinin (I didn’t remember his middle name), that the name of the street was, as I remember, not Dobrolyubova, but Gruzovaya or Lomovaya, I remember that the house number was two digits. But we could not know who this Sirotinin Vladimir was - the father, brother, uncle of the murdered man or anyone else.
The German chief told me: “Take this document and write to your relatives. Let the mother know what a hero her son was and how he died.” Then a young German officer standing at Sirotinin’s grave came up and snatched the piece of paper and medallion from me and said something rudely.
The Germans fired a volley of rifles in honor of our soldier and put a cross on the grave, hanging his helmet, pierced by a bullet.
I myself clearly saw the body of Nikolai Sirotinin, even when he was lowered into the grave. His face was not covered in blood, but his tunic had a large bloody stain on the left side, his helmet was broken, and there were many shell casings lying around.
Since our house was located not far from the battle site, next to the road to Sokolnichi, the Germans stood near us. I myself heard how they spoke for a long time and admiringly about the feat of the Russian soldier, counting shots and hits. Some of the Germans, even after the funeral, stood for a long time at the gun and the grave and talked quietly.
February 29, 1960
Testimony of telephone operator M.I. Grabskaya:
I, Maria Ivanovna Grabskaya, born in 1918, worked as a telephone operator at DEU 919 in Krichev, lived in native village Sokolnichi, three kilometers from the city of Krichev.
I remember the events of July 1941 well. About a week before the Germans arrived, Soviet artillerymen settled in our village. The headquarters of their battery was in our house, the battery commander was a senior lieutenant named Nikolai, his assistant was a lieutenant named Fedya, and of the soldiers I remember most of all the Red Army soldier Nikolai Sirotinin. The fact is that the senior lieutenant very often called this soldier and entrusted him, as the most intelligent and experienced, with this and that task.
He was slightly above average height, dark brown hair, a simple, cheerful face. When Sirotinin and senior lieutenant Nikolai decided to dig a dugout for the local residents, I saw how he deftly threw the earth, I noticed that he was apparently not from the boss’s family. Nikolai answered jokingly:
“I am a worker from Orel, and I am no stranger to physical labor. We Orlovites know how to work.”
Today in the village of Sokolnichi there is no grave in which the Germans buried Nikolai Sirotinin. Three years after the war, his remains were transferred to a mass burial site Soviet soldiers in Krichev.
Pencil drawing made from memory by a colleague of Sirotinin in the 1990s Residents of Belarus remember and honor the feat of the brave artilleryman. In Krichev there is a street named after him, and a monument has been erected. But, despite the fact that Sirotinin’s feat, thanks to the efforts of the workers of the Soviet Army Archive, was recognized back in 1960, he was not awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. A painfully absurd circumstance got in the way: the soldier’s family did not have his photograph. And it is necessary to apply for a high rank.
Today there is only a pencil sketch made after the war by one of his colleagues. In the year of the 20th anniversary of the Victory, Senior Sergeant Sirotinin was awarded the Order Patriotic War first degree. Posthumously. This is the story.
Memory
In 1948, the remains of Nikolai Sirotinin were reburied in mass grave(according to the military burial registration card on the OBD Memorial website - in 1943), on which a monument was erected in the form of a sculpture of a soldier grieving for his fallen comrades, and on the marble plaques in the list of those buried the surname N.V. Sirotinin is indicated.
In 1960, Sirotinin was posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree.
In 1961, at the site of the feat near the highway, a monument was erected in the form of an obelisk with the name of the hero, near which a real 76-mm gun was installed on a pedestal. In the city of Krichev, a street is named after Sirotinin.
A memorial plaque with brief information about N.V. Sirotinin.
The Museum of Military Glory in Secondary School No. 17 in the city of Orel contains materials dedicated to N.V. Sirotinin.
In 2015, the council of school No. 7 in the city of Orel petitioned to name the school after Nikolai Sirotinin. Nikolai’s sister Taisiya Vladimirovna was present at the ceremonial events. The name for the school was chosen by the students themselves based on the search and information work they did.
When reporters asked Nikolai’s sister why Nikolai volunteered to cover the division’s retreat, Taisiya Vladimirovna replied: “My brother could not have done otherwise.”
The feat of Kolka Sirotinin is an example of loyalty to the Motherland for all our youth.
Heroes of the Great Patriotic War
Alexander Matrosov
Submachine gunner of the 2nd separate battalion of the 91st separate Siberian volunteer brigade named after Stalin.
Sasha Matrosov did not know his parents. He was brought up in orphanage and a labor colony. When the war began, he was not even 20. Matrosov was drafted into the army in September 1942 and sent to the infantry school, and then to the front.
In February 1943, his battalion attacked a Nazi stronghold, but fell into a trap, coming under heavy fire, cutting off the path to the trenches. They fired from three bunkers. Two soon fell silent, but the third continued to shoot the Red Army soldiers lying in the snow.
Seeing that the only chance to get out from under fire was to suppress the enemy’s fire, Sailors and a fellow soldier crawled to the bunker and threw two grenades in his direction. The machine gun fell silent. The Red Army soldiers went on the attack, but the deadly weapon began to chatter again. Alexander’s partner was killed, and Sailors was left alone in front of the bunker. Something had to be done.
He didn't have even a few seconds to make a decision. Not wanting to let his comrades down, Alexander closed the bunker embrasure with his body. The attack was a success. And Matrosov posthumously received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Military pilot, commander of the 2nd squadron of the 207th long-range bomber aviation regiment, captain.
He worked as a mechanic, then in 1932 he was drafted into the Red Army. He ended up in an air regiment, where he became a pilot. Nikolai Gastello participated in three wars. A year before the Great Patriotic War, he received the rank of captain.
On June 26, 1941, the crew under the command of Captain Gastello took off to strike a German mechanized column. It happened on the road between the Belarusian cities of Molodechno and Radoshkovichi. But the column was well guarded by enemy artillery. A fight ensued. Gastello's plane was hit by anti-aircraft guns. The shell damaged the fuel tank and the car caught fire. The pilot could have ejected, but he decided to fulfill his military duty to the end. Nikolai Gastello directed the burning car directly at the enemy column. This was the first fire ram in the Great Patriotic War.
The name of the brave pilot became a household name. Until the end of the war, all aces who decided to ram were called Gastellites. If you follow official statistics, then during the entire war there were almost six hundred ramming attacks on the enemy.
Brigade reconnaissance officer of the 67th detachment of the 4th Leningrad partisan brigade.
Lena was 15 years old when the war began. He was already working at a factory, having completed seven years of school. When the Nazis captured his native Novgorod region, Lenya joined the partisans.
He was brave and decisive, the command valued him. Over the several years spent in the partisan detachment, he participated in 27 operations. He was responsible for several destroyed bridges behind enemy lines, 78 Germans killed, and 10 trains with ammunition.
It was he who, in the summer of 1942, near the village of Varnitsa, blew up a car in which was the German Major General of the Engineering Troops Richard von Wirtz. Golikov managed to obtain important documents about the German offensive. The enemy attack was thwarted, and the young hero was nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for this feat.
In the winter of 1943, a significantly superior enemy detachment unexpectedly attacked the partisans near the village of Ostray Luka. Lenya Golikov died like a real hero - in battle.
Pioneer. Scout of the Voroshilov partisan detachment in the territory occupied by the Nazis.
Zina was born and went to school in Leningrad. However, the war found her on the territory of Belarus, where she came on vacation.
In 1942, 16-year-old Zina joined the underground organization “Young Avengers”. She distributed anti-fascist leaflets in the occupied territories. Then, undercover, she got a job in a canteen for German officers, where she committed several acts of sabotage and was only miraculously not captured by the enemy. Many experienced military men were surprised at her courage.
In 1943, Zina Portnova joined the partisans and continued to engage in sabotage behind enemy lines. Due to the efforts of defectors who surrendered Zina to the Nazis, she was captured. She was interrogated and tortured in the dungeons. But Zina remained silent, not betraying her own. During one of these interrogations, she grabbed a pistol from the table and shot three Nazis. After that she was shot in prison.
An underground anti-fascist organization operating in the area of modern Lugansk region. There were more than a hundred people. The youngest participant was 14 years old.
This underground youth organization was formed immediately after the occupation of the Lugansk region. It included both regular military personnel who found themselves cut off from the main units, and local youth. Among the most famous participants: Oleg Koshevoy, Ulyana Gromova, Lyubov Shevtsova, Vasily Levashov, Sergey Tyulenin and many other young people.
The Young Guard issued leaflets and committed sabotage against the Nazis. Once they managed to disable an entire tank repair workshop and burn down the stock exchange, from where the Nazis were driving people away for forced labor in Germany. Members of the organization planned to stage an uprising, but were discovered due to traitors. The Nazis captured, tortured and shot more than seventy people. Their feat is immortalized in one of the most famous military books by Alexander Fadeev and the film adaptation of the same name.
28 people from the personnel of the 4th company of the 2nd battalion of the 1075th rifle regiment.
In November 1941, a counter-offensive against Moscow began. The enemy stopped at nothing, making a decisive forced march before the onset of a harsh winter.
At this time, fighters under the command of Ivan Panfilov took up a position on the highway seven kilometers from Volokolamsk, a small town near Moscow. There they gave battle to the advancing tank units. The battle lasted four hours. During this time, they destroyed 18 armored vehicles, delaying the enemy's attack and thwarting his plans. All 28 people (or almost all, historians’ opinions differ here) died.
According to legend, the company political instructor Vasily Klochkov, before the decisive stage of the battle, addressed the soldiers with a phrase that became known throughout the country: “Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat - Moscow is behind us!”
The Nazi counteroffensive ultimately failed. The Battle of Moscow, which was allotted vital role during the war, was lost by the occupiers.
As a child, the future hero suffered from rheumatism, and doctors doubted that Maresyev would be able to fly. However, he stubbornly applied to the flight school until he was finally enrolled. Maresyev was drafted into the army in 1937.
He met the Great Patriotic War at a flight school, but soon found himself at the front. During a combat mission, his plane was shot down, and Maresyev himself was able to eject. Eighteen days later, seriously wounded in both legs, he got out of the encirclement. However, he still managed to overcome the front line and ended up in the hospital. But gangrene had already set in, and doctors amputated both of his legs.
For many, this would have meant the end of their service, but the pilot did not give up and returned to aviation. Until the end of the war he flew with prosthetics. Over the years, he made 86 combat missions and shot down 11 enemy aircraft. Moreover, 7 - after amputation. In 1944, Alexey Maresyev went to work as an inspector and lived to be 84 years old.
His fate inspired the writer Boris Polevoy to write “The Tale of a Real Man.”
Deputy squadron commander of the 177th Air Defense Fighter Aviation Regiment.
Viktor Talalikhin began to fight already in the Soviet-Finnish war. He shot down 4 enemy planes in a biplane. Then he served at an aviation school.
In August 1941, he was one of the first Soviet pilots to ram, shooting down a German bomber in a night air battle. Moreover, the wounded pilot was able to get out of the cockpit and parachute down to the rear to his own.
Talalikhin then shot down five more German aircraft. He died during another air battle near Podolsk in October 1941.
73 years later, in 2014, search engines found Talalikhin’s plane, which remained in the swamps near Moscow.
Artilleryman of the 3rd counter-battery artillery corps of the Leningrad Front.
Soldier Andrei Korzun was drafted into the army at the very beginning of the Great Patriotic War. He served on the Leningrad Front, where there were fierce and bloody battles.
On November 5, 1943, during another battle, his battery came under fierce enemy fire. Korzun was seriously injured. Despite the terrible pain, he saw that the powder charges were set on fire and the ammunition depot could fly into the air. Gathering his last strength, Andrei crawled to the blazing fire. But he could no longer take off his overcoat to cover the fire. Losing consciousness, he made a final effort and covered the fire with his body. The explosion was avoided at the cost of the life of the brave artilleryman.
Commander of the 3rd Leningrad Partisan Brigade.
A native of Petrograd, Alexander German, according to some sources, was a native of Germany. He served in the army since 1933. When the war started, I joined the scouts. He worked behind enemy lines, commanded a partisan detachment that terrified enemy soldiers. His brigade destroyed several thousand fascist soldiers and officers, derailed hundreds of trains and blew up hundreds of cars.
The Nazis staged a real hunt for Herman. In 1943, his partisan detachment was surrounded in the Pskov region. Making his way to his own, the brave commander died from an enemy bullet.
Commander of the 30th Separate Guards Tank Brigade of the Leningrad Front
Vladislav Khrustitsky was drafted into the Red Army back in the 20s. At the end of the 30s he completed armored courses. Since the fall of 1942, he commanded the 61st separate light tank brigade.
He distinguished himself during Operation Iskra, which marked the beginning of the defeat of the Germans on the Leningrad Front.
Killed in the battle near Volosovo. In 1944, the enemy retreated from Leningrad, but from time to time they attempted to counterattack. During one of these counterattacks, Khrustitsky's tank brigade fell into a trap.
Despite heavy fire, the commander ordered the offensive to continue. He radioed to his crews with the words: “Fight to the death!” - and went forward first. Unfortunately, the brave tanker died in this battle. And yet the village of Volosovo was liberated from the enemy.
Commander of a partisan detachment and brigade.
Before the war he worked for railway. In October 1941, when the Germans were already near Moscow, he himself volunteered for a complex operation in which his railway experience was needed. Was thrown behind enemy lines. There he came up with the so-called “coal mines” (in fact, these are just mines disguised as coal). With the help of this simple but effective weapon, hundreds of enemy trains were blown up in three months.
Zaslonov actively agitated the local population to go over to the side of the partisans. The Nazis, realizing this, dressed their soldiers in Soviet uniforms. Zaslonov mistook them for defectors and ordered them to join the partisan detachment. The way was open for the insidious enemy. A battle ensued, during which Zaslonov died. A reward was announced for Zaslonov, alive or dead, but the peasants hid his body, and the Germans did not get it.
Commander of a small partisan detachment.
Efim Osipenko fought back in Civil War. Therefore, when the enemy captured his land, without thinking twice, he joined the partisans. Together with five other comrades, he organized a small partisan detachment that committed sabotage against the Nazis.
During one of the operations, it was decided to undermine the enemy personnel. But the detachment had little ammunition. The bomb was made from an ordinary grenade. Osipenko himself had to install the explosives. He crawled to the railway bridge and, seeing the train approaching, threw it in front of the train. There was no explosion. Then the partisan himself hit the grenade with a pole from a railway sign. It worked! A long train with food and tanks went downhill. The detachment commander survived, but completely lost his sight.
For this feat, he was the first in the country to be awarded the “Partisan of the Patriotic War” medal.
Peasant Matvey Kuzmin was born three years before the abolition of serfdom. And he died, becoming the oldest holder of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
His story contains many references to the story of another famous peasant - Ivan Susanin. Matvey also had to lead the invaders through the forest and swamps. And, like the legendary hero, he decided to stop the enemy at the cost of his life. He sent his grandson ahead to warn a detachment of partisans who had stopped nearby. The Nazis were ambushed. A fight ensued. Matvey Kuzmin died at the hands of a German officer. But he did his job. He was 84 years old.
A partisan who was part of a sabotage and reconnaissance group at the headquarters of the Western Front.
While studying at school, Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya wanted to enter a literary institute. But these plans were not destined to come true - the war interfered. In October 1941, Zoya came to the recruiting station as a volunteer and, after a short training at a school for saboteurs, was transferred to Volokolamsk. There, an 18-year-old partisan fighter, along with adult men, performed dangerous tasks: mined roads and destroyed communication centers.
During one of the sabotage operations, Kosmodemyanskaya was caught by the Germans. She was tortured, forcing her to give up her own people. Zoya heroically endured all the trials without saying a word to her enemies. Seeing that it was impossible to achieve anything from the young partisan, they decided to hang her.
Kosmodemyanskaya bravely accepted the tests. Moments before her death, she shouted to the assembled locals: “Comrades, victory will be ours. German soldiers, before it’s too late, surrender!” The girl’s courage shocked the peasants so much that they later retold this story to front-line correspondents. And after publication in the newspaper Pravda, the whole country learned about Kosmodemyanskaya’s feat. She became the first woman to be awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War.
