Merkuriev Valerian Antonovich - Commander of artillery of the 399th rifle Novozybkovskaya Order of Suvorov, 2nd class division (42nd rifle corps, 48th army, 1st Belorussian front), colonel.
Born on January 21, 1907 in the village of Kosya, now the Nizhneturinsky urban district of the Sverdlovsk region. Russian.
He was left without parents early. He worked at an asbestos mine and in logging. From October 1929 in the ranks of the Red Army. He graduated from the artillery department of the Kremlin United Military School named after the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. Passed military service on Far East... He took part in the battles at Lake Khasan.
On the fronts of the Great Patriotic War since 1942. He took part in hostilities on the Volkhov, North-Western, Steppe, Central, 1st, 2nd and 3rd Belorussian fronts. He was wounded four times in battles.
At the beginning of the war, he commanded the 294th artillery regiment of the 170th Ural rifle division. In battle on December 28, 1942, Lieutenant Colonel V.A. Merkuriev personally checked the installation of artillery batteries at firing positions. During the battle, he personally stood behind the gun and fired at the enemy.
On December 30, 1942, adjusting the battery fire, he achieved the destruction of the enemy's resistance node. This allowed the rifle units to move far ahead. For his actions he was nominated for the Order of the Red Banner. By order for the troops of the North-Western Front of January 27, 1943, No. 019 / n, he was awarded the Order of the Red Star.
On July 20, 1943, he was appointed commander of the artillery of the 399th rifle division, which received the honorary name "Novozybkovskaya" for the difference in subsequent battles.
By December 1943, Colonel V.A. Merkuriev, commanding the artillery of the division and the attached forces, showed himself to be a competent and brave officer. In battles, he personally commanded artillery from an observation post. During the pursuit of the enemy, he was all the time in the combat formations of the troops, as a result of which the artillery of the division did not have a single lag behind the infantry. Thanks to timely artillery support, up to 200 settlements were liberated. Using improvised means, the gunners successfully crossed the Desna, Sozh, and Berezina rivers. When repelling one of the enemy offensives, the artillery of the division, under the personal command of Colonel V.A. Merkuriev, knocked out 8 tanks and destroyed up to the enemy infantry regiment. By order of the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front of April 3, 1944, No. 037 / n, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
In the battles from 24 to 30 June 1944, to break through the enemy defense in the area of \u200b\u200bthe village of Kostyushevo (Rogachevsky district of the Gomel region of Belarus) Colonel V. Merkuriev showed good results in performing the assigned combat missions. The artillery led by him inflicted great damage on the enemy in manpower and equipment, clearing the passage for the infantry. As a result, divisions of the division advanced far ahead, destroying and capturing several hundred enemy soldiers and officers. By order for the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front dated August 8, 1944, No. 065 / n, he was awarded the Order of Suvorov, 3rd degree.
Colonel V.A. Merkuriev distinguished himself in early September 1944. September 3, 1944 399th rifle division began the offensive by breaking through the enemy's defenses in the area of \u200b\u200bthe village of Rynek (north-west of the town of Ostrow-Mozowiecki, (Poland). Due to the correct and skillful placement of artillery means, specific assignment of missions based on accurate reconnaissance, the enemy's fire system was immediately suppressed and upset. the fire raid destroyed 38 guns of various calibers with servants and 6 mortar batteries.
On September 4, 1944, units of the division approached the Narew River. Colonel V.A. Merkuriev personally headed the direction of the ferry of artillery across the river. At 4 o'clock in the morning, he was the first with a battery of an anti-tank battalion to cross to the western bank and organized artillery cover for the crossing. I personally discovered the ford along which all 45-mm and regimental artillery was transported.
On September 5, 1944, the enemy launched a counteroffensive. Colonel V.A. Merkuriev personally directed the fire of the artillery battery, as a result of which 15 tanks, 8 armored personnel carriers and 2 armored vehicles were destroyed. He personally destroyed the guns, which killed the entire crew, 4 tanks and 2 armored personnel carriers.
On the same day, in the course of an organized artillery preparation, the barriers of six tank divisions enemy and expanded the bridgehead by 3.5 - 4 kilometers. As a result of the successful action of artillery under the leadership of Colonel V.A. Merkuryev, the enemy suffered great damage in manpower and equipment.
Haveby the kaz of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of November 18, 1944, for courage, courage and heroism shown on the front of the struggle against the German fascist invaders, Colonel Merkuriev Valerian Antonovich awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union with the presentation of the Order of Lenin (No. 23719) and the Gold Star medal (No. 4724).
On January 14, 1945, in an offensive battle, the division began to break through the deeply echeloned enemy defenses in the Glotkovo-Dzerzhanovo region (Poland). In the rapid advance of the units, the decisive role was played by artillery under the command of Colonel V.A. Merkuriev. Thanks to the previously carried out reconnaissance measures and fixing the enemy's firepower, during the offensive, the artillery immediately suppressed and upset the entire enemy defense system.
With organized artillery preparation, our units fought 46 kilometers in four days, inflicting heavy losses on the enemy in manpower and equipment. During this time, 625 soldiers and officers, 30 machine guns, 6 cannons, 4 mortar batteries, 3 artillery batteries, 4 bunkers were destroyed, 2 tanks and 3 self-propelled guns were destroyed, and many trophies were captured. For his actions, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Colonel V.A. Merkuriev was awarded the Order of Kutuzov, 2nd degree.
After the war he continued to serve in the army. Was the commander of the artillery of the 49th rifle corps and commander of the 5th Fighter Brigade of the 52nd Army of the Carpathian Military District (PrikVO).
Prior to that, for six and a half years, Merkuriev served in Sochi, as the deputy head of the Black Sea-Azov border department. And even earlier, he served in the city of Volzhsky as chief of staff of the 38th border detachment, then - first deputy chief of the border department of the FSB of Russia in the Volgograd region.
- Therefore, this direction is not new for me, - Valery Arsentievich explains, - the border section is familiar. Many employees who were familiar from their previous service in it also remained in the department.
The situation over the past six and a half years on the border section, according to Merkuryev, has not changed significantly, there are no aggravations in it. Although there are issues that need to be worked on. They are conditioned, first of all, by the socio-economic situation of the border regions of both Russia and Kazakhstan. Analysis of offenses at the border section for the first three months current year, shows that they are associated, as a rule, with household issues. Often all this is cattle grazing, which uncontrollably crosses the state border. In this regard, livestock owners are forced to cross the border as well, thus becoming violators themselves.
In order to prevent such facts, explanatory conversations are regularly held with residents of border areas. Nevertheless, in the coming period, experts predict a certain increase in the number of such violations in connection with the transfer of cattle from pastures to pastures, which is common in spring.
Valery Arsentievich also cited specific figures. Thus, over the past three months of this year, the border control units guarding the state border identified and detained twenty violators. Nineteen cases out of these twenty are related to violations of the border crossing procedure, and one more - to violation of the procedure for conducting business activities. Criminal cases were initiated against two offenders, and fifteen more were fined in the amount of about forty thousand rubles. Violators of the border regime during the same time were detained by border guards twenty-five. The sanctions against them were less severe, the punishments were limited to fines in the amount of about four and a half thousand rubles. Forty-two thousand people were allowed through the section of the state border, thirteen thousand of whom are foreign citizens, as well as seven and a half thousand units of vehicles, including two and a half thousand foreign.
During the checks of citizens intending to leave for Kazakhstan, seventy people were identified with invalid documents, and another twenty had the right to leave Russia at the time of the check was temporarily restricted.
More than fifty Russian citizens were not allowed to cross the border for various legal reasons.
Fifteen foreign citizens in accordance with Russian law, border guards were denied the right to enter the Russian Federation.
All checkpoints across the state border are equipped with telephones, through which you can always quickly understand the problems that citizens face when crossing it. Among other things, there is an opportunity to seek advice directly from the management of the border department and its other officials.
As Major General Merkuryev assured us, there is no need to talk about the presence of stable channels for the transfer of drugs, weapons, and means of sabotage to the territory of the Russian Federation on the border section. Its peculiarity, which creates certain difficulties in protecting the state border, is the low population of border areas. After all, local residents living near the state border, as a rule, provide active assistance to border guards in its protection.
Nevertheless, the border guards of the Volgograd region are well helped by the units of the Cossack squad and the voluntary people's squad created in the border areas.
For the seventh anniversary of the introduction of Russian border guards into South Ossetia, the head of the Border Directorate of the FSB of the Russian Federation in the RSO Valery Merkuryev told Sputnik about the situation on the border of the republic with Georgia, the interaction of the Border Directorate with the leadership of the republic and local authorities and on the conditions of service of the Russian border guards.
- What is the situation on the state border of South Ossetia with Georgia? What can you say about the dynamics of violations over the past months? Who and for what reasons most often violates it?
- At present, the situation on the state border is characterized as stable. Although quite recently, the Georgian opposition took provocative actions to destabilize the situation on the state border, mainly in the Tskhinvali direction near the village of Artseu. The provocations were connected with the work carried out by the border authorities of South Ossetia and Russia to equip a fire strip along the state border with Georgia.
In the summer period of last year, in the Znaur and Tskhinvali directions, facts of grass fires were recorded with the passage of fire centers across the state border. In this regard, together with the leadership of the Border Service of the Committee state security Republic, it was decided to carry out the above works in anticipation of the onset of hot weather. As far as I know, the Georgian side was informed about the planned implementation of these works in advance during the meetings in the format of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism, abbreviated as IPRM.
As for the dynamics of violations of the legal regimes established on the state border of South Ossetia with Georgia, the analysis shows that their number in the 1st quarter of 2016, compared to the same period in 2015, slightly decreased. All violations are also mainly of a household nature. At the same time, the border is more often violated by residents of Georgian border settlements.
- Does the border department carry out any work to prevent violations of the state border and border regime?
- The Border Administration and the Border Guard Service of the State Security Committee regularly conduct joint work with residents of border settlements in order to maintain South Ossetian border legislation and clarify the rules of the border regime and the need to comply with them. This work is carried out by us in close cooperation with the heads of the administrations of border regions and settlements, who, at our request, organize gatherings of citizens living in the villages of the border regions.
In this regard, I would like to take this opportunity and thank the leadership of the republic, the KGB, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the heads of the administrations of border regions and settlements and, of course, our South Ossetian colleagues for the joint work and support provided to the border administration in protecting and protecting the state border of South Ossetia.
- Many shops in the republic sell vegetables and fruits produced in Georgia. Could you tell us how these goods get to South Ossetia? How do Russian border guards control their movement across the state border? What measures, in your opinion, should be taken to reduce or eliminate altogether the appearance of Georgian products in South Ossetia?
- I can assure you that these goods enter South Ossetia only in the manner prescribed by law, that is, through certain points of crossing the state border. We control the regime of the state border, attempts to illegally move goods across the state border outside the established places of its crossing are suppressed. As for the functioning of border crossing points with Georgia, there are now four of them in the republic: two in Dzau Pereu and Sinagur, one in Leningor Hrazdakhan and one recently opened in the village of Khelchua, Tskhinvali region. The order of their work is determined by a number of decrees of the government of the republic, and we are strictly guided by them when carrying out the passage of citizens and the consumer goods they carry for personal purposes.
Here I would like to note that in accordance with the legislation of the republic, citizens who are allowed to travel to Georgia for humanitarian purposes have the right to carry cargo with them weighing no more than 50 kg per person for personal purposes. Thus, goods produced in Georgia end up in South Ossetia. In addition, issues related to the control of cargo, as such, are not within the competence of border guards. These are customs functions. Although we now have to partially fulfill them.
In my opinion, a measure to enhance control over the transportation of Georgian goods would be to organize the work of the customs authorities of South Ossetia at the border crossing points with Georgia. After all, the state border of the republic exists unilaterally, therefore, the issues of organizing customs control could be worked out in the same way.
- The border department has been in South Ossetia for seven years already. During this time, all conditions were created for the border guards and their families. How did this affect the service and everyday life of employees?
- Yes you are right. To date, all conditions have been created for a full-fledged life of border officials and family members. In their free time from the service, in addition to rest, the border guards are actively involved in sports, read books, in each unit there are gyms and libraries.
The life of border guards is no different from the life of other people. The wives of employees who live with them, as a rule, are engaged in raising children and providing a reliable rear for their husbands. There are also entire families of border guards, in which the wives are also servicemen of the border department. School-age children study in secondary schools in South Ossetia.
All this has a positive effect on service activities, because if there is a reliable and secure rear, then the border guard does not have to think about anything except the border guard service.
- Could you briefly tell about how the state border of South Ossetia with Georgia is guarded and what happens to the violators after the arrest by your employees?
- In accordance with the Agreement between Russia and South Ossetia on Joint Efforts to Protect the State Border of the Republic, the Border Administration carries out the protection of the state border jointly with the border service of the RSO State Security Committee.
On the basis of the joint plans of the head of the border service and the head of the border department, border patrols are sent to guard the state border as part of Russian and South Ossetian border guards. The number of outfits depends on the prevailing situation and the time of year.
If we talk about the procedural actions against violators of the state border or border regime, then after the violators were detained by Russian border guards, they are transferred, in accordance with the legislation of South Ossetia, to representatives of the Border Service of the State Security Committee for further investigation.
- How are the relations of the representatives of the Russian border service with the administration and the population of border settlements developing?
- I would characterize the relations of border control officers with representatives of the administrations of border regions and settlements as fruitful. For example, the heads of the units directly guarding the state border constantly maintain friendly and good-neighborly relations both with the authorities and with the inhabitants of the settlements in which their units are located. In matters of ensuring border security and protecting the state border, one simply cannot do without their help. It's not for nothing that they say - "The border is guarded by the whole people!" We try to adhere to this professional wisdom in our activities. Therefore, any help from the local population in protecting the border is welcome.
In addition, given the fact that the state border of South Ossetia is not marked on the ground, and technical means can never completely replace a person. The help that residents of border villages often provide is truly invaluable. Many times violators were detained according to the information of local residents.
In conclusion, taking this opportunity, I would like to congratulate all employees of the Border Administration, as well as those who, since 2009, in difficult conditions, have organized and carried border guard for the protection of the borders of South Ossetia. Wish you peace on the border, family well-being and success in the service for the good of the Fatherland!
The Nizhny Novgorod regional public-patriotic organization actively participates in the life of civil society. Key areas of activity are the implementation of social policy in relation to the elderly, strengthening the moral values \u200b\u200bof youth, which are the basis of patriotism, as well as improving the quality of the intellectual education of schoolchildren.
At the general meeting, issues were considered on the nomination of delegates to the regional reporting and election conference of the Council of Veterans on behalf of the generation of children of war and on the candidate for the post of chairman of the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Council of Veterans. As a result, the meeting approved by the delegates of the Chairman public organization "Children of war" Alexander Fedorovich Sherstnev and Party member A JUST RUSSIA, former commander of the 22nd Guards Army, General Alexey Alekseevich Merkuriev .
Also, A.A. Merkuriev by unanimous decision of the meeting, he was recommended for the post of chairman of the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Council of Veterans. The final protocol states that today in the Nizhny Novgorod region there are Alexey Merkuriev for this position no. Biography, life and combat path russian general convincingly they say that the Council of Veterans of the Nizhny Novgorod Region will be headed by a principled, honest and fair person.
Curriculum Vitae:
Alexey Merkuriev
Graduated in 1972 from the Kazan Higher Tank command school, in 1980 Military academy BTV SA, in 1991 the Academy of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces. Specialty - AT equipment operation engineer. Command post.
1972 - 1975 - platoon commander of the company of the military unit 61563 in Brest.
1975 - 1977 - chief of staff of the battalion of military unit 52820, Slonim, Brest region.
1980 - 1982 - Chief of Staff of military unit 53526, Prishib of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
1982 - 1986 - commander of military unit 52332, Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan.
1986 - 1987 - Commander of military unit 39486, Kirovabad, Republic of Azerbaijan.
1987 - 1989 - Commander of military unit 52829 in Havana, Republic of Cuba.
1991 - 1995 - Commander of the unit of military unit 52495 in the Republic of Karelia.
1995 - 1996 - Commander of the peacekeeping forces in the zone of armed conflict in the city of Tskhinval, Republic of South Ossetia.
1996 - 1999 - Chief of Staff of the 58th Combined Arms Army, Vladikavkaz.
1999 - 2006 - Commander of the 22nd Guards Combined Arms Army in Nizhny Novgorod.
2006 - 2008 - Deputy Director of the Odessa Oil Refinery.
Since 2008, Chairman of the Board of the Life After War Foundation.
Lieutenant General.
He was awarded the Order of the Red Star, For Military Merit, the Medal of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 2nd Degree, the Order of the Republic of Cuba, Ernesto Che Guevara, 2nd Degree, 16 medals, and personal firearms (PM pistol).
Member of the Council of Veterans of the 22nd Guards Army, member of the Nizhny Novgorod Committee regional office the all-Russian public organization of veterans of the armed forces of the Russian Federation.
Honored Military Specialist of the Russian Federation.
During its existence, the Service has managed to establish not only business, but also warm friendly relations with everyone. Among the guests were veterans' organizations, heads and representatives of municipalities, urban settlements, the prosecutor of the Sretensky district, sponsored by the detachment of the association of young soldiers in Sretensk and Nerchinsk. Everyone had something to wish for and for something to say thank you.
Today it seems inconceivable for the existence of the region without the presence of the military on its territory. The necessity and importance of them is confirmed by more than one page of history, including many heroic and glorious ones. And even though the Service is not located at the extreme borders of our country, the strategic tasks performed by it cannot be overestimated. Militaristic Japan, China, which became unfriendly in its time, and other threats confirmed the right to exist for border guards in Sretensky and neighboring regions. It should be noted that the Service in the village of Kokuy is the successor to the previously existing military formations and has changed its name more than once over a long history, but the essence remained unchanged - the protection of the state border.
How it was? On the basis of the order of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the formation of the 74th Shilkinsky border detachment of the NKVD troops began. The military commandant's office at that time was stationed on the territory of the Mogochinsky district in the village of Pokrovka. For high vigilance, courage shown by the detachment's border guards, and the detention of violators of the state border, on February 23, 1939, the detachment was awarded a red combat banner. On June 22, 1941, the command of the detachment received more than 400 notes and reports with a request to send them to the front, but not every such request was satisfied, because the threat to the country was not only on its western borders. In November 1942, 790 soldiers and officers of the Shilkinsky cavalry frontier detachment were included in the 106 Transbaikal rifle army, who managed to adequately defend the Motherland on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. In 1945, when the USSR took part in military operations against Japan and Sretensky border guards also wrote their names in the chronicle of this victory. All divisions combat squad were put on alert and his forces liquidated two Japanese garrisons, three military groups in the rear. The heroic deed of Mikhail Derevianko and Pavel Nesovsky, who died a heroic death in one of the battles with Japanese saboteurs, became a resounding feat. In September 1969, the border outpost, where Derevianko served, was named after him, and the hero himself was forever enlisted in the outpost personnel.
On July 19, 1950, the Red Banner Shilkinsky Cavalry Border Detachment was disbanded, but after tragic events on Damansky Island in 1965, the country's leadership again took measures to strengthen the borders. And in April 1972, the detachment was restored with a deployment site in the village of Nerchinsky Zavod. In September 1978, the detachment was redeployed with a service and combat support unit to the location of the village of Kokuy. It would seem that a peaceful and calm time had come, but this time did not last long - in 1979 the war broke out in Afghanistan ... Again "to the gun", again full combat readiness ...
And so day after day, year after year, and in the near future, century after century, the border detachment has proved and will continue to prove its necessity and relevance. 80 years old is an old age for any person, but quite young for a military unit. As we have already noted, many guests arrived with congratulations to visit the detachment. Among them, the presence of Major General Valery Arsentievich, the head of the Frontier Directorate of the FSB of Russia for the Trans-Baikal Territory, Major General Merkuriev, was especially honorable.
Comrades border guards, dear veterans! For eighty years, the border guards of Sretensk have served with honor on the Trans-Baikal border. The most sacred thing is entrusted to the personnel - to protect Russia. This is, perhaps, the most invaluable advantage of border guards. Their exploits swept through the pages of history with a loud echo. Your task is not to lower the honor of your predecessors and to become an example for those who will serve after you. You have something to be proud of, someone to look up to. Responsibility for a restful sleep fell on your shoulders along with shoulder straps. civilians our homeland. Do everything in your power to ensure that the Russian border is under reliable protection. One cannot but remember the veterans of the service. Who if not them, who have studied all the subtleties of military affairs, can help a young employee in a difficult situation? Their experience is invaluable, their advice is a treasure trove life wisdom... Everyday and painstaking work awaits you ahead. I am convinced that the glorified staff of the Service will cope with the tasks set. Border guards of Sretensk, continue to align with the heroes, their readiness to defend every inch of their native land. Increase military traditions of service, persistently master the skill. On my own behalf, on behalf of the leadership of the Russian border department for the Trans-Baikal Territory, I congratulate you on the 80th anniversary of the Red Banner border detachment! - with wishes good health and all the best the Major General turned to the heroes of the day. He noted the important contribution of women - wives, mothers of the military, thanked everyone who interacts with the detachment, and expressed hope for the continuation and strengthening of such ties.
The ceremonial meeting was decorated with performances by military musical groups from the town of Kokuy and the town of Priargunsk. As always, the performances from the Song and Dance Ensemble of the Border Administration were enchanting Trans-Baikal Territory... The children of the art schools of the city of Sretensk and the town of Kokuy also made their contribution.
Well, what about without awards and rewards? For the conscientious performance of official duties, diligence and diligence, the employees of the now FSB were announced Acknowledgments, were awarded titles one step higher than those provided by the state for personal merit and were awarded certificates. We are sure that the number of awardees could have been much larger, but everything will have its time and awards will find their heroes, if not today, then definitely tomorrow.
For our part, we want to note once again that the border guards are the shield of our state, the threat of all enemies. You tirelessly and sleep all the time stand at the post, defending our Motherland. We call you heroes, because only you the country trusts and trusts in you. May good luck favor you every day, may your children laugh. Let there always be prosperity in your house, and let the sun shine in the peaceful sky, warming you with its rays. Strive with dignity for your goals, avoid crooked paths, follow the right path you have chosen.