Born on December 13 (26), 1916 in Petrograd (now the city of St. Petersburg) in a working class family. After graduating from 7 classes and a factory apprenticeship school, he worked as a turner at the Leningrad plant named after MI Kalinin. Since 1935 in the ranks of the Red Army. In 1937 he graduated from the Leningrad School of Aviation Technicians.
Member of the Soviet - Finnish War of 1939-1940. He was awarded the Order of the Red Star.
In 1941 he graduated from the Kachin Military Aviation Pilot School.
Since June 1941, Lieutenant N.F. Kuznetsov in the army. Until September 1941 he served in the 191st IAP, flew I-16 and Hurricane. Then, until May 1945, in the 436th IAP (67th Guards IAP), he flew the Kittyhawk and Aircobra.
By February 1943, the deputy squadron commander of the 436th Fighter Aviation Regiment (239th Fighter Aviation Division, 6th Air Army, North - Western front) Senior Lieutenant N.F. Kuznetsov made 213 sorties, personally shot down 17 enemy aircraft and 12 in the group in air battles.
May 1, 1943 for courage and military valor shown in battles with enemies, was awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union.
In total, he made 252 sorties, in 150 air battles he shot down 25 enemy aircraft personally and 12 in a group with comrades.
After the war he continued to serve in the Air Force. In 1949 he graduated from the Frunze Military Academy. Member of the armed conflict on the territory of Korea in 1950 -1953.
In 1956 he graduated Military academy General Staff... In 1963-1972 he headed the Cosmonaut Training Center. Since 1978, Major General of Aviation N.F. Kuznetsov - retired. In December 1999 he was awarded the second Gold Star medal of the Hero. Author of the books: "The Front Above the Ground" and "Years of Trials". He died on March 5, 2000.
Decorated with the orders: Lenin (twice), the Red Banner (four times), Alexander Nevsky, Patriotic War 1st degree, Red Star (three times); medals.
* * *The fate of this combat pilot personifies the continuity of generations in soviet aviation... Having started his service as a cadet of the Leningrad School of Aviation Technicians in 1935, he went through 3 wars, commanded large aviation formations, and directed the Cosmonaut Training Center.
Nikolai Kuznetsov was born in December 1916 in Petrograd into a working class family. After graduating from the Leningrad School of Aviation Technicians in 1937, as part of the 68th Fighter Aviation Regiment, he participated in the Soviet - Finnish War in the winter of 1939-1940, ensured the trouble-free operation of all the flight's aircraft in prolonged 40-degree frosts and was awarded the Order of the Red Star. Then, at his own request, he was sent to the Kachin Military Aviation Pilot School, which he successfully graduated in 1941.
Since June 1941 - at the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. Member of the defense of Leningrad. First, he fought in the 191st Aviation Regiment, flying I-16 and Hurricane. Lieutenant N.F. Kuznetsov won his first victory in July 1941 in the Petrokrepost area, when two Me-110 multipurpose aircraft were destroyed by a salvo of rockets fired by an I-16 unit ... After retraining on the Hurricane Kuznetsov, of the same regiment fought on the Kalinin Front.
In the fall of 1941, the wonderful Soviet artist Yar-Kravchenko worked in the regiment. From early morning until late at night, he was in the airplane parking lots, on the runway, looked at the command post, in the dugouts, the pilots' dormitory and drew, drew tirelessly.
Yar-Kravchenko refused all privileges. He lived in a dugout at the airfield, ate the same food as the pilots - often only breadcrumbs. He shared with them the bitterness of failure and the joy of victory. Maybe that's why his works were so expressive and realistic.
When the artist finished a series of aviation drawings and portraits in the battle regiments, the journalist M. Zhesthev wrote a warm correspondence about him in one of the Leningrad newspapers:
“The names of our fighter pilots are fanned with glory, they are loved by the people, and this love led the artist Yar-Kravchenko to national heroes. With the workshop hand of a portraitist, he created this wonderful front-line album.
When you look at this album, every stroke takes on an extraordinary meaning. There are no battles in the air. The heroism of the pilots is given through the portrait. You feel it in the gaze of the eyes, the turn of the head, in every line of the face ... "
 |
We flip through the album. Here is Junior Lieutenant Kharitonov, Hero of the Soviet Union. He sits in the cockpit. The artist sketched his strong-willed face before flying into battle. Here are Kuznetsov, Grachev, Plavsky at the airfield. These 3 winged heroes shot down 48 German aircraft in air battles. Here is the master of attack, Captain Gorokhov, here are the pilots - night lamps Appolonin, Matsievich, Grigoriev - people of a keen eye, fearlessly following the enemy on the trail of anti-aircraft explosions. And here is the pilot Murga. Under the portrait there are laconic lines: "In air battles, he destroyed 11 fascist aircraft ..."
The album was published by the editorial staff of the newspaper "Attack" in November 1941. You leaf through it from beginning to end, from the first to the last portrait, and you do not want to part with those close and dear to you. Their cheerfulness, courage and courage make your heart beat hard. You are deeply moved by the image of the hero of the pilot, the glorious defender of the city of Lenin. He has many faces, this image, he is in the heart of every Soviet patriot. "
 I-16 type 17 N.F. Kuznetsov. 191st IAP, 1941.
|
Soon, having re-armed again, now with the American P-40 Kittyhawk, Kuznetsov was transferred to the 436th IAP (which later became the 67th Guards IAP), where he fought until the end of the war.
The battle score of Nikolai grew rather quickly: on December 26, 1942, on the day of his 26th birthday, he had already won the 26th victory - an interesting coincidence of dates! And soon, on January 6, 1943, he fought his most difficult battle during the entire period of the war.
On that day, a group of fighters from the 436th Aviation Regiment, having flown out to escort attack aircraft, was suddenly attacked by enemy aircraft. Kuznetsov's couple rushed to the nearest Messer. Coming with their wingman Goldobin to the Germans from the direction of the sun, they started a battle.
The fight was fierce - the whole sky was covered with smoke. There was also a battle below. In one of the attacks, the Messer hit Kuznetsov's car, damaging the oil pipe with a burst. Splashed oil flooded the entire lantern, for several minutes nothing was visible at all, there was only a small unspotted space behind. Then the oil a little glass to the side, a layer formed in the glass of the lantern, and Kuznetsov involuntarily began to look for the slave in the air: where is he?
But Goldobin was gone. A minute later, he saw that his wingman was on fire, tumbling with a long tail of smoke to the ground (Goldobin managed to jump out of the burning plane with a parachute, got to the partisans, survived and subsequently continued to fight successfully).
Friends congratulate NF Kuznetsov with another victory.
In general, Nikolay was one against 5 "Messers". They attacked him competently: at first Kuznetsov was attacked by a couple, then by a troika, then again by a couple and again by a troika, and so on, the Germans replaced each other, which, in fact, Kuznetsov needed: he pinned down the German fighters, did not allow them to reach our attack aircraft - he distracted 5 planes at once.
At some point, Kuznetsov noticed that one German plane had disappeared - one pair of Messers was in front, the second pair was behind, and the fifth plane was not there, it disappeared, although it should not have disappeared. He had to be found by all means. But senior lieutenant N.F. Kuznetsov did not find the 5th German, did not have time to find, he seemed to disappear without a trace in the bottomless blue sky, in the huge whitish sun.
At this time, the command of General F.P. Polynin sounded from the ground:
Stormtroopers have worked their way, stormtroopers go home, hawks can also return. Hawks, hawks - home! Hawks, you can go back!
“Well, everything, it's time for me to go to the airfield,” was the last thought that flashed through Kuznetsov's mind before a sharp blow that literally threw the plane aside. This disappeared Messer suddenly fell out of the magnificent winter sun, striking in its size, and attacked Kuznetsov. Metal slapped on the shoulder. As if hit with a sledgehammer. Left hand Kuznetsov's work immediately ceased to function, she was interrupted, the lantern, splashed with oil, this time spattered with blood ... The engine stopped pulling.
But there was neither pain nor red turbidity before my eyes. Kuznetsov turned around and on a burning plane dragged himself to the front line, to his own. The Kittyhawk's motor was not working. The front line was 15 kilometers, no less. The stock of altitude allowed us to pull more - the devices showed 3500 meters. While the flames are unlikely to be brought down by simple gliding, good speed is required. The front line was clearly visible - it passed along the railway line far ahead, the line dissolved in a faint frosty haze, leaving in an arc to the left and in the same arc to the right.
 |
Kuznetsov was drawn to this railroad, as to his only life goal, which was very important to achieve. For the Messers, his plane now represented an easy profit, they began to shoot the Kittyhawk, as at the training ground, it is indicative, the Germans seemed to be training on air exercises: at first a deuce entered the plane, hit Kuznetsov with all the barrels, fired, turned aside , and a troika took its place. And also whipped from all the trunks.
And still, the Germans could not finish off the plane: Kuznetsov burned, lost altitude, but left the Germans in one direction, then in the other, glided through the air, and stubbornly pulled towards his own. When there was nothing left to the front line, the three "Messers" turned aside and left, and the two decided to attack the Russian from above, hit the cockpit in order to finish him off for sure.
Then Kuznetsov lifted the nose of the aircraft up and responded to the attack with all 6 machine guns with which the Kittyhawk was armed, and he hit and hit the German, - then, working with the rudders, he dived sharply down.
Kuznetsov worked masterfully - with his screw he chopped off, or rather, broke off the enemy's tail. The German fell to the ground like a stone, whipping up a tall plume of snow, and exploded at the same second. The sunlit space turned pink from the intense flames.
And Kuznetsov continued to pull on the wrecked car to his own, felt that the fire would soon make its way into the cabin. Because of this, he did not open the lantern, he was afraid that the flame would penetrate the cockpit - it would penetrate even through a very small gap, and then everything - the pilot would turn into a torch.
Kuznetsov literally crawled through the air, through the railway line, dropped behind an uneven fishing line, beaten by shells, looked at the altimeter, noticing how much remains to the ground, and was surprised: he was already at an altitude of 100 meters below the level of the airfield. It was impossible to release the landing gear - the Kittyhawk would instantly turn upside down, so Kuznetsov continued to plan. And the land is already very close, to the snowdrifts a stone's throw. Kuznetsov opened the lantern and the next moment a sharp blow threw him out of the cockpit.
He flew several meters through the air and buried himself in the snow. From the blow Kuznetsov lost consciousness for a few moments, although he did not record this moment - he woke up pretty quickly. It was dark. But just now, just a few minutes ago, he saw a bright light, the sun, a haze rising from the snow, snow pink from the flame of a burning German, and suddenly - darkness, night. The doomed flashed through my head: "Did your eyes really knock out? Or did they burn out?"
 |
Fighter R-40K "Kittyhawk" of Senior Lieutenant NF Kuznetsov. 436th IAP, winter 1943.
He moved his legs, both legs acted, moved his right hand - the right hand is acting, but the left, pressed to the body, no, it’s like a rag, someone else’s. Either she was killed, or else what happened to her - you can't understand. There was no pain. A piece of snow fell on my face, scorched with cold. Kuznetsov began to dig up snow above him with his good hand and soon got out to the surface, into the light. He sighed with relief - his eyes saw.
Somehow - as I got to the plane - there was a walkie-talkie, from the cockpit it was possible to communicate with their own, although the connection with the ground from the ground is not the same as with the ground from the air. The radio turned out to be broken, there were no hopes that someone would try to help him. The plane continued to burn, the flame was not extinguished even by a highly whipped column of snow. The Kittyhawk's nose was buried in a tall snowdrift. Kuznetsov took out of the fuselage shortened Finnish skis - not skis, but skis, almost childish in appearance, very light. Kuznetsov always took them with him on flights: what if they might come in handy. And now they came in handy.
I heard something squelching in high boots. I thought that I was in a swamp, scooped up a black fetid liquid, it turned out - no. Blood was squelching in high boots, and it got there from under the tunic. He turned away the raglan board, and there - scary to look at - a mess, half of the chest - a continuous wound, open. The blood has already thickened, turned into a black jelly. Kuznetsov flew on missions without unscrewing orders - he had old orders, screws - Lenin, Red Star - and when a line slashed at him, he turned the orders into crumbs, hammered metal into his body.
Friends congratulate Nikolai Kuznetsov on another victory won.
Kuznetsov calmly, as if he had not been wounded, estimated the size of the wound - about 20 centimeters by 12. He did not yet know that his ribs were broken. But the main thing is that the pain was not yet felt, there was numbness, there was nausea rolling up to the throat, there was something else, but not pain. It should be noted that the 30-degree frost was not felt either. Kuznetsov grabbed a blood mess from the wound, tore off a piece of sweater, rubbed the wound, and the glands remaining from the orders on the surface of the wound put it in his pocket. Then he tore off a large clump from his undershirt and closed the wound with it.
He got up on skis and moved towards the so-called rockade road that fed the front - he knew the area, the map, remembered where everything was - he had seen all this more than once from the air, memorized it, - cars were constantly running along the road, they drove shells, cartridges, food, the wounded, Kuznetsov from the cars will certainly be seen and picked up.
He walked about 7 kilometers, and walking on snow, on virgin soil, on short, constantly falling skiers - it's hard even for a healthy person who is not cut by lead, not to mention a wounded man who has lost a lot of blood. When Kuznetsov became completely unbearable, he began to throw off unnecessary things that prevented him from walking. He dropped the tablet, then the scarf, then something else. The only thing that I did not throw was the TT pistol - the weapon can always come in handy. He did not think about what weapons should be answered.
 |
The day quickly faded, the sun set over the horizon, and soon it became dark. Exhausted, Nikolai sat down on the snow to rest a little and lost consciousness. He woke up from the fact that a large winter moon hung over his head, Christmas bright, witchcraft, she blinded, like the sun, made his eyes water. Digging into his pocket, Kuznetsov took out a watch he had taken from his hand and peered at it. There was already a lot of time, half past ten at night.
“Lord, have I really lost consciousness again?” He thought doomely. “Don't let me die, don't let me ...” A few minutes later, somewhere far away, maybe even beyond the borders of the earth, voices were heard, they seemed to melt away from some unkind dream, from a stupor, not from reality, and Kuznetsov again wearily thought: "Hallucination. That's it, I'm freezing ... This is the end!"
But it was not a hallucination, it was a reality. People were going to Kuznetsov - the commander of the Air Army F.P. Polynin, in front of whom the senior lieutenant rammed - the general saw everything from his command post, - sent a group in search of the pilot: maybe he survived?
The group found the plane, realized that the pilot was alive, and followed in the footsteps of Kuznetsov. She found him lying in the snow, already freezing. Paramedic Leleko was in the group. He gave him an injection, brought him to his senses, the soldiers put the pilot on skis, grabbed him from both sides under the arms and so, on skis, dragged him through the snow. In such an unusual way - standing up on skis - we managed to overcome as much as 10 kilometers. For the last kilometers Kuznetsov saw nothing: his eyes were swollen, squeezed into tiny slits. Yes, and began to switch off.
He woke up warm, in a dugout. After some time, at the same night, a car came for him - a lorry with an open body, the body was covered with spruce branches - and in the morning Kuznetsov was taken to the hospital. On the way we met a car from an aviation regiment; in the cabin next to the driver were a doctor and a regimental navigator, the regimental commander sent them to support Kuznetsov, what if help is needed?
Kuznetsov, lying in the back, kept trying to break through the heavy stupor and inform people that he was still alive, there was no need to keep him in a coffin - the pilots in their unit were buried in coffins covered with spruce paws, this became a tradition in the aviation regiment, and Kuznetsov it seemed that he was being taken to the cemetery. But he was being taken to the hospital. And it's good that the regiment's doctor was with him.
In the hospital, Kuznetsov was examined by a surgeon and made an implacable conclusion:
You cannot operate!
Why? - the doctor of the aviation regiment jumped up, turning white badly. - How so, you can not?
Sorry, it's late.
No, it's not too late. He was injured only yesterday, there are no gangrene processes yet.
The surgeon conceded: Kuznetsov was carried to the operating table. The operation took a long time. No anesthesia. The surgeon flattened his ribs with nippers, bit off the bones, removed the enamel from the orders from the muscles. Kuznetsov heard through the pain how the fragments fell with a clink into the enamel basin. A plate from the Order of the Red Star, which depicts a soldier with a rifle - those who are familiar with this order know a silver plate attached to ruby \u200b\u200benamel, - put it in the pocket of his robe, said to Kuznetsov, wincing with pain:
I, starley, will take this for myself. In memory of the operation, if you don't mind.
When the operation was over, the doctor gave Kuznetsov half a glass of alcohol:
Have a drink! The pain will take off.
Indeed, after alcohol the pain became dull, distant ...
* * *
While Kuznetsov was in the hospital, the command prepared and sent to the authorities an idea of \u200b\u200bawarding him the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. By February 1943, the deputy squadron commander of the 436th Fighter Aviation Regiment, Senior Lieutenant N.F. Kuznetsov, flew 213 sorties, personally shot down 17 enemy aircraft and 12 more in the group.
For exemplary fulfillment of combat missions of the command, courage, courage and heroism shown in the struggle against the German - fascist invaders, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of May 1, 1943, Captain Nikolai Fedorovich Kuznetsov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal "(No. 966).
After treatment, Nikolai returned to the regiment and, having retrained for a new aircraft - the American "Airacobra", continued to fight. He fought at the Kursk Bulge, participated in the liberation of Belarus and Poland. He ended the war in Berlin, Guards Major, Deputy Commander of the 67th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment for Air Rifle Service.
In total, he performed 252 successful combat missions, in 150 air battles he shot down 37 enemy aircraft - 25 personally and 12 in a group with comrades.
Then, in the victorious May 1945 of the year, or rather, on the 13th, he was presented to the rank of twice Hero of the Soviet Union, as the division commander announced in front of the formation. On August 17, 1945, this submission was signed by S. I. Rudenko, the commander of the 16th Air Army, the future Marshal of Aviation, followed by a member of the Front Military Council, Lieutenant General K. Telegin and Marshal of the Soviet Union G. K. Zhukov. We must assume that this performance has been discussed more than once: this title is too high - twice Hero. But he received this award only 54 years later ...
 |
In the first row in the center, the commander of the 67th Guards IAP, Lieutenant Colonel A.B. Panov,
to the right of him - Hero of the Soviet Union N.F. Kuznetsov. Autumn 1943.
The documents went to Moscow and ... got stuck. Despite the fact that they were signed so tall people, that's how. By Zhukov himself! Kuznetsov did not become interested in how the papers were progressing - it was inconvenient. It's none of his business. And Marshal Zhukov, by this time, had become uncomfortable for Stalin, those who sat in the Kremlin and intrigued in government corridors. This was instantly cut off by various court shakuns, they began to stop all cases signed by the legendary Marshal. Among other things, they stopped the papers for conferring the title of twice Hero of the Soviet Union to Kuznetsov. Kuznetsov's award case was written off and sent to the archive in the city of Podolsk. As if there were no 37 German planes shot down by him (M. Yu. Bykov in his research indicates 21 personal and 12 group victories) and many other destroyed equipment: cars, armored cars, steam locomotives ...
And life, meanwhile, went on as usual. After the war, Nikolai Fedorovich continued to serve in the Air Force. In 1949 he graduated from the Frunze Military Academy. Then he had to fight a little more - from the beginning of 1952, the Guard Colonel Kuznetsov commanded the 16th IAP, fighting in the sky North Korea... There, the regiment under his command shot down 26 enemy aircraft, losing 4 pilots. Kuznetsov himself made 27 sorties on a MiG-15bis fighter.
Returning to the Soviet Union, Nikolai Kuznetsov commanded an aviation division. In 1956 he graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff, became a general, honored military pilot of the country, doctor of military sciences. From 1963 to 1972 he headed the Cosmonaut Training Center. With his active participation, dozens of the most important manned space missions were carried out. By the way, he built the Star City - from the very first brick. Yuri Gagarin was his deputy ...
In 1978, Major General of Aviation N.F. Kuznetsov retired and settled in the Moscow Region (in the Star City of the Shchelkovsky District of the Moscow Region).
In 1986, his award documents were found in the Podolsk archive - the same ones signed by Zhukov. General designerwho replaced S. Korolev, Academician V. Glushko sent a letter on the deputy's letterhead to the then Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR A. Gromyko with a request to return to the consideration of the old award case. After a while, Gromyko called Glushko and said: "You can congratulate Kuznetsov. The presentation is supported. Although the Decree has not yet been signed."
The academician was not slow to congratulate General NF Kuznetsov, but it turned out that he did it early: he did not receive the second "Golden Star" then.
The case again, as in the post-war years, stuck. There were appeals from cosmonauts to the President, appeals from scientists, war veterans - everything was in vain. But nevertheless, they say correctly: water does not flow under a lying stone. I had to knock on this door all the time. Not the general, of course, knocking himself, but his friends.
In the late 1990s, the Semya newspaper published an article about 5 failed women astronauts. Nikolai Fedorovich Kuznetsov was one of the consultants of this article - after all, all cosmonauts, successful and not successful, passed through his hands. After this article, as well as after the essay on the death of Yuri Gagarin, petitions were resumed to confer the title of twice Hero on Nikolai Fedorovich. And again refusals. From a variety of officials. Both the Semya newspaper and the Moscow Press Club of the Central House of Arts have joined in these petitions. As a result, as they say in such cases, it "took place": at the end of 1999, the news came that Major General of Aviation NF Kuznetsov was finally awarded this long-awaited title.
Oh, how glad Nikolai Fyodorovich was! In December 1999, he was presented with the second "Gold Star" of the Hero, and he gladly attached it to the lapel of his jacket. But, unfortunately, he did not go through with the award for long - in January 2000 he fell ill, and he was admitted to the hospital. And wounds, and diseases, and age took their toll ... On March 5, no matter how bitter it is to report this, twice Hero of the Soviet Union Nikolai Fedorovich Kuznetsov passed away. But justice nevertheless triumphed: in our memory, General N.F. Kuznetsov will forever remain a twice Hero ...
The famous Soviet ace is buried at the Preobrazhensky cemetery in Moscow (section 4).
* * *List of all known victories of the Guard Major N.F. Kuznetsov:
(From the book by M. Yu. Bykov - "Victory of Stalin's Falcons". Publishing house "Yauza - EKSMO", 2008.)
| № p / p | Date | Downed aircraft | Air battle site (victory won) | Their aircraft |
| 1 | 08/27/1941 | 1 Ju-87 | Tosno | I-16, "Hurricane", Kittyhawk, Airacobra. |
| 2 | 1 Me-109 (paired - 1/2) | art. Hats | ||
| 3 | 08/29/1941 | 1 Ju-87 | Mga - Fireplace | |
| 4 | 09/06/1941 | 1 Ju-88 (paired - 1/2) | "set on fire" | |
| 5 | 09/11/1941 | 2 Ju-87 | Nikolaevskoe | |
| 6 | 09/12/1941 | 1 Hs-126 | aer. Siverskaya | |
| 7 | 09/16/1941 | 1 Me-109 | sowing. - app. Krasny Bor | |
| 8 | 09/21/1941 | 1 Ju-87 | Gorelovo | |
| 9 | 09/22/1941 | 1 FW-200 (paired - 1/2) | Kronstadt | |
| 10 | 09.24.1941 g. | 1 Ju-88 (in a group - 1/3) | south. env. Shlisselburg | |
| 11 | 09/27/1941 | 1 Me-109 | Shlisselburg | |
| 12 | 06/27/1942 | 1 Me-110 | Fiber | |
| 13 | 1 Me-109 | Lentsovo | ||
| 14 | 06/28/1942 | 1 Me-109 | Bogdanovka | |
| 15 | 07/01/1942 | 1 Me-109 | Fiber | |
| 16 | 06.12.1942 g. | 1 FW-189 | Paul | |
| 17 | 12/30/1942 | 1 Me-109 | south Sosnino | |
| 18 | 06.01.1943 | 1 Me-109 (in the group - 1/6) | Olkhovets | |
| 19 | 1 Me-109 (shot down by ramming) * | Kuzminskoe | ||
| 20 | 1 Me-109 (in the group - 1/6) | Olkhovets | ||
| 21 | 09/12/1944 | 1 FW-190 | Belolenka - Terkhomin | |
| 22 | 10/15/1944 | 1 Me-109 | south Dzebanice | |
| 23 | 03/27/1945 | 1 FW-190 | app. Hohen | |
| 24 | 04/19/1945 | 1 FW-190 | Danenberg | |
Total aircraft shot down - 21 + 12 [19 + 6]; sorties - 252; air battles - 99. |
||||
[* Information taken from open press, archival documents are not confirmed. ]
The topic of Stalingrad has long worried me - since my youth, when I learned that somewhere near this city, being bombed in an evacuation hospital, in 1942, my grandmother's younger brother, the family's favorite, Vladimir Zakharovich Ermakov, died.
Years later, when I started working in a regional newspaper, I met one of the defenders of the fortress on the Volga - Veniamin Timofeevich Andryushchenko, then the head teacher of Veselov secondary school No. 5. A contemporary of the revolution, our fellow countryman received his baptism of fire in the trenches of Stalingrad. V.T. Andryushchenko fought in the same regiment as Ruben Ibarruri, the son of the leader of the Spanish Communist Party Dolores Ibarruri, who was nicknamed Pasionaria, or Flame.
The stories of Veniamin Timofeevich about heavy battles, during which the metal melted and the snow became hot, are still in my memory. However, as well as conversations with another Stalingrad citizen - Peter Nikitovich Pirozhenko. The Pavlovian for heroism during the capture of the Apostolovo railway station in the Dnepropetrovsk region was awarded the commander's order of Alexander Nevsky. And his first award - the medal "For Courage" - the fellow countryman received for Stalingrad. Together with his comrades, he fought on the Mamayev Kurgan, in the shops of one of the factories.
Many Novoleushkovites who defended the strategic city on the Volga were mentioned in his book "Kuban Stanitsa" by V.K. Panfilets. I will list some - A.I. Shcherbukha, G.A. Krylach, P.G. Davidenko, N.G. Marchenko, D.M. Borovik. Data on their combat path, as well as frontline biographies of these and other fellow countrymen are collected in photo albums. They are stored in the Novoleushkovskaya rural library named after the village man, full cavalier Order of Glory I.I. Nikonov. And this is done largely thanks to the concern of the director, an enthusiast of patriotic work N.I. Blinova.
The topic of Stalingrad attracted me again after it was published last romance V.S. Pikul "Barbarossa" from the unfinished dilogy "Square of the Fallen Fighters". In the work on the manuscript, Valentin Savvich used more than 500 sources and was convinced: Stalingrad is not just a city on the Volga, a symbol of our Victory, but also the main military-political factor of the entire war. The battles in the attics and in the trenches of Stalingrad echoed in the deserts of Libya and the waters of the Atlantic. There were battles too, and much in the life of the peoples of Europe depended on them. Stalingrad marked the beginning of the collapse of the Hitler regime.
And today, on the days when the country celebrates its 70th anniversary Stalingrad battleLet us once again recall the defenders of the city who stood to death at the strategic line and performed feats "not for the sake of glory - for the sake of life on earth!"
There must be two golden stars on his chest
Among my fellow countrymen who distinguished themselves at Stalingrad, with special pride I name a nezamayev Grigory Ivanovich Sverdlikov, among the few survivors after the battles for the city awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Repeatedly I wrote about this officer, for whom serving the Motherland was above all. And it seemed that there were no blank spots in the Hero's biography for me. But the staff of the Pavlovsk Museum recently gave me a folder from the archive V.G. Shvets... He was a member of the council of the district club of revolutionary, military and labor glory and in the 70s collected solid material about G.I. Sverdlikov. Reading these notes, I discovered previously unknown facts.
It turned out that the countrymen learned about the exploits of the artillery officer only in 1974. Then an article from the Belarusian newspaper "Dneprovskaya Pravda" appeared in our district. It told about the publication of the 9th volume of the Belarusian Soviet Encyclopedia, in which Senior Lieutenant G.I. Sverdlikov, a native of the village of Nezamayevskaya, Pavlovsky district.
Grigory Ivanovich especially distinguished himself in September 1943. Under enemy fire, Sverdlikov's battery crossed the Dnieper River and repulsed two enemy counterattacks on the captured bridgehead, destroying a lot of equipment. For courage, the brave commander, as Belarusian journalists wrote, was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
And to find out more about him, V.G. Shvets wrote dozens of inquiries to the Hero's family and classmates and, bit by bit, collected a voluminous and reliable dossier.
It turned out that Grigory Ivanovich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for repelling a tank attack at Stalingrad. And for the battles in Belarus he was presented to the Golden Star for the second time. Alas, some circumstances prevented its delivery.
In addition to Gregory, five of his brothers fought on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. Pavel died at Stalingrad, Aleksey - at Kharkov. Both were political instructors. Peter, Nikolay, Ivan were wounded, concussed and died after the war.
The Hero's nephew Vladimir Ivanovich Sverdlikov recalled: “In January 1945, I was a cadet at the Rostov artillery anti-tank school, where my uncle was the commander of a training battery. He enjoyed great prestige among the cadets. At the beginning of April 1945, Grigory Ivanovich was again sent to the front, where Sverdlikov in the last days war participated in the storming of Berlin. "
Former neighbor of Sverdlikov Ya.G. Nekrasov said that the Hero was born on the Kavalsky farm, which belonged to the lands of the Nezamayevskaya stanitsa. Then the Sverdlik family (as they were initially called) moved to the Ploskiy farm (now the village of Shevchenkovskoye, Krylovsky district). And since 1934, after the death of his father, the son-in-law transported his relatives to Nezamaevskaya. Yakov Grigorievich talked about his meeting with Grigory Ivanovich after the war, in 1945. Then G.I. Sverdlikov decided to visit his relatives on the Plosky farm. But he did not find them, and the guest went to the neighbors, told about two facts of the frontline biography.
The first took place in Ukraine. Firing back from the Germans to the last bullet, Gregory was wounded and only thanks to the fact that he pretended to be dead, lying among the killed comrades, he survived. The German tankman hit him in the side with his boot and was sure that there was a corpse in front of him. With the onset of darkness, our orderlies carried away the wounded G. Sverdlikov from the battlefield.
The second episode involved a raid behind enemy lines in the area of \u200b\u200bthe city of Mozyr (Belarus). Grigory Sverdlikov went on reconnaissance together with a friend, armed with machine guns. On the outskirts of the village we were met by a young woman and invited to her house, where she handed over the soldiers to the Germans. After interrogation, Grigory managed to untie his hands and killed the fascist. Helped a friend to free himself. I will not dwell on other details, how they set up an ambush and captured the "tongue", which was brought to the headquarters, having brilliantly completed the reconnaissance.
Lieutenant Kuznetsov, is he Sverdlikov?
Watching once again the film “Hot Snow” based on the novel by Y. Bondarev, released in 1972, I caught myself thinking: how much the movie hero of Boris Tokarev - Lieutenant Kuznetsov - looks like our fellow countryman Grigory Sverdlikov. (By the way, for this film role B. Tokarev became a laureate of the State Prize of the RSFSR).
And if this is not an accident? Could the front-line soldier, writer Yuri Bondarev take a Kuban man as a prototype for his hero?
In Simferopol, with the blessing of the Metropolitan of Simferopol and Crimean Lazar, a regional stage of the Christmas readings in the military direction was held. The event was supported by the Frontier Directorate of the FSB of Russia in the Republic of Crimea.
Plenary session topics: “The Orthodox Church and the Army in Crimea. Moral values \u200b\u200band the formation of patriotism in the interaction of the Church and law enforcement agencies. "
Common name for International Christmas Readings: "Moral values \u200b\u200band the future of humanity."
The event was attended by: Archpriest Sergei Privalov, Chairman of the Synodal Department of the Russian Orthodox Church for Cooperation with the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies, lieutenant general Zviryk Yuri Dmitrievich - head of the border department of the FSB of Russia in the Republic of Crimea, military prosecutor of the Black Sea Fleet Russian Federation major general Justice Bykov Yevgeny Anatolyevich, Deputy Commander of the Black Sea Fleet of Russia for work with personnel Rear Admiral Yury Ivanovich Orekhovsky, Commander of the Crimean Formation of National Guard Troops Major General Nikolai Anatolyevich Kuznetsov, Chairman of the Crimean Garrison Military Court Colonel Mikhail Mikhailovich Putilovsky, Field Military Commissioner of the Republic of Krym Oleg Vladimirovich, Deputy Military Commissar of the Republic of Crimea Colonel Maloletko Anatoly Vladimirovich, Deputy Head of the Border Directorate of the FSB of Russia for the Republic of Crimea Colonel Bondarev Konstantin Aleksandrovich, Deputy Commander of the 22nd Army Corps of the Black Sea Fleet of Russia Colonel Zaitsev Vasily Petrovich, clergymen of the diocese, clergymen of military units, staff and deputies of the FSB, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Russian Guard, Black Sea Fleet, military prosecutor's office Black Sea Fleet, military garrison court, military commissariat of the Republic of Crimea, investigative committee. The event was also attended by the head of the missionary department of the diocese, Archpriest Maxim Kondakov, head of the diocese department for interaction with the Cossacks, Archpriest Igor Lesik, the district ataman of the Crimean Cossacks Vadim Yakovlevich Ilovchenko and the assistant to the head of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Archpriest Roman Tsurkan.
Before the start of the Plenary session, a general photo of the participants was taken, and then in the conference room of the border department of the FSB, after a joint prayer, the meeting itself began, which was opened with a welcoming speech by Lieutenant General Yuri Dmitrievich Zviryk, head of the border department of the FSB of Russia in the Republic of Crimea
Further spoke:
Archpriest Sergiy Privalov - Chairman of the Synodal Department of the Russian Orthodox Church for cooperation with the Armed Forces and law enforcement agencies.
Deputy Head of the Directorate of the FSB of Russia for the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol on the organization of events, preventive work and interaction with various structures in the fight against religious extremism and terrorism.
Priest Mikhail Mamaev - Assistant Commander of the Black Sea Fleet. Experience of work of the regular clergy in the navy. The co-rapporteur was the Deputy Commander for work with the personnel of the Black Sea Fleet, Rear Admiral Orekhovsky Yuri Ivanovich.
Colonel Ermilov Oleg Vladimirovich - Military Commissioner of the Republic of Crimea - conscription and specifics of passing military service.
Archpriest Maxim Kondakov, head of the missionary department of the Simferopol and Crimean diocese: "The destructive influence of neo-paganism and its spread in the military environment."
Ilovchenko Vadim Yakovlevich - District Ataman of the Crimean Cossack Society
Archpriest Dmitry Krotkov - head of the military department of the Simferopol and Crimean diocese - speech on the work of the military department of the diocese on interaction and problematic issues.
Colonel Bondarev Konstantin Alexandrovich - Deputy Head of the Border Directorate of the FSB of Russia in the Republic of Crimea.
All speeches and reports were accompanied by slideshows and photographs.
At the end of the meeting, a greeting from the Governor of the Simferopol and Crimean Diocese was voiced, and the final document was read out, which was adopted unanimously by voting (the text of the final document is given below).
Upon completion, Archpriest Sergius Prival presented the diplomas of the Synodal Military Department of the ROC to the generals, officers and clergy of the diocese, and the head of the military department of the diocese was presented with an icon of St. Seraphim of Sarov.
On the same day, Archpriest Sergius Privalom and Archpriest Dmitry Krotkov, accompanied by Archpriest Georgy Deines, cleric of the church of the holy warrior Theodore Ushakov in Novofedorovka, got acquainted with a military training facility in the village. Novofedorovka called "Nitka", which is the only training center in Russia, built during the Soviet period as a prototype aircraft carrier take-off deck for landing fighter planes.
KUZNETSOV Nikolay Nikolaevich, was born on January 26, 1954 in Yaroslavl.
In 1961 he entered the 1st class of Nikolo-Kormskaya high school No. 4 of the Rybinsk region.
From 1966 to 1967 he studied at the Maryinsky secondary school of the Nekouz district.
In 1967 he was transferred to the 7th grade of the boarding school No. 9 in Yaroslavl. In 1969 he was transferred to secondary school No. 9 of the Leninsky district of Yaroslavl, which he graduated in 1971.
From July 1971 to July 1972 he worked at the Severohod factory in Yaroslavl.
From July to November 1973 he worked at the Yaroslavl Tire Plant.
On the job he studied at the Yaroslavl Aviation Training Center.
On military service called on 04/01/1972 by the Lenin RVC of Yaroslavl.
He took the military oath on 05/01/1972 at the Yaroslavl UAC.
He passed military training at the Vyaznikovsky UAC in 1973.
From 03.12.1973 he served in the181st separate helicopter regiment 73rd air army Of the Central Asian Military District in the positions of "pilot-navigator", "flight navigator" on Mi-8 helicopters (military unit 23319, Dzhambul).
In Afghanistan from December 1979 to October 1980 in military unit. p.p. 70419.
Nikolai Kuznetsov died on 10/12/1980 from a thermal burn from a head flame.
Awarded the Order of the Red Star (posthumously).
He was buried at the cemetery "Green Carpet" in Taraz (Dzhambul), Zhambyl region of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
November 15, 2007 in secondary school No. 9 in Yaroslavl in memory of the graduate Nikolai Kuznetsov wasinstalled Memorial plaque.
And in 2009 in boarding school number 9 of the city of Yaroslavl, a memorial plaque was also installed to the soldier-internationalist.
From the Book of Memory of the Fallen in Afghanistan, Zhambyl Region of Kazakhstan (2003):
“... Kolya, like many of his peers, gazing with bated breath at the winged cars flying high in the sky, dreamed of flying.
It turned out as planned. Having received a certificate of maturity in secondary school No. 9 in Yaroslavl, the nineteen-year-old boy entered the Syzran military aviation school of pilots. He studied well. He was fond of boxing and music. Apparently, these hobbies influenced his character in the most positive way. Brave and determined, he was at the same time a lyricist and romantic, loved songs, read poetry, played musical instruments.
Arriving after graduation in the combat unit of the city of Dzhambul, Lieutenant Kuznetsov quickly won universal respect and authority in the team. He was described as an officer with excellent training, decision-making ability and proactive attitude.
In December 1979, he was among the first to be sent to Afghanistan to provide international assistance to the Afghan people. He performed a wide variety of tasks. I practically visited all the local airfields, flew around the country from north to south, from west to east ...
In the skies of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, Senior Lieutenant Nikolai Kuznetsov flew 287 sorties, flown 360 hours.
On June 12, 1980, to the northwest of Faizabad, Nikolai discovered a stronghold of the rebels. As a result of the flight attack, about 30 bandits were killed.
Such flights were regular.
This was the case for the last time, when on October 6, 1980, during the next combat mission in the Puli-Khumri area, Nikolai Kuznetsov's car was shot down by the air defense forces of the dushmans and fell to the ground. The crew was killed.
Senior Lieutenant N.N. Kuznetsov died from his severe wounds. "
Lieutenant
29.06.1962 –
Kuznetsov Nikolai Anatolyevich - commander of a special forces group, lieutenant.
Born on June 29, 1962 in the village of Pervaya Piterka, Morshansk District, Tambov Region (Russia) into a peasant family. Russian. At the age of 5, he became an orphan. Together with his sister, he was brought up by his grandmother. In 1977 he graduated from the 8th grade of secondary school in the village of Sokolniki, Morshansk district, in 1979 - the Leningrad Suvorov military school.
In the Armed Forces of the USSR since August 4, 1979. In 1983 he graduated with honors from the Leningrad Higher Combined Arms command school named after S.M. Kirov. Served as a group commander special purpose in the 2nd Special Forces Brigade of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces (Pskov). He has repeatedly submitted reports with a request to send him to Afghanistan.
In the Republic of Afghanistan since March 18, 1985. Served as commander of a special group of the 1st company of the 334th separate special forces detachment of the 15th separate brigade special purpose of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR (military unit field mail 83506; the city of Asadabad, Kunar province).
On April 21, 1985 * the group of Lieutenant Kuznetsov received a task as part of a company to reconnoiter the location and destroy a detachment of mujahideen located in the area of \u200b\u200bthe Sangam and Daridam villages of the Kunar province in the Maravarsky gorge. In the course of fulfilling the assigned task, Kuznetsov's unit was cut off from the main forces of the company and surrounded by the enemy. A fight ensued. In the midst of the battle, Warrant Officer Bakhmutov was seriously wounded. Lieutenant Kuznetsov carried him to the shelter and then returned to his group. Having ordered his subordinates to break out of the encirclement, the officer, along with three fighters, remained to ensure the withdrawal. He was wounded in the leg, but continued to fire from a machine gun. Realizing the intention of the dushmans to capture the covering soldiers, Lieutenant Kuznetsov ordered the soldiers to withdraw to join the main forces, while he continued to fire at the enemy, covering them. When he ran out of cartridges, he used grenades. The last sixth grenade blew himself up and the spooks who approached him.
He was buried in the cemetery of his native village Pervaya Piterka. A cenotaph (symbolic grave) has been installed at the city cemetery in Morshansk.
Hero of the Soviet Union (11/21/1985; posthumously). Awarded with the order Lenin (11/21/1985; posthumously), medals.
By order of the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Belarus No. 95 of February 19, 1996, Hero of the Soviet Union N.A. Kuznetsov was forever enlisted in the lists of the 1st training company of the 5th separate special purpose brigade (the city of Maryina Gorka, Minsk region). Also, he is forever enlisted in the lists of the 5th company of the Suvorovs of the St. Petersburg (Leningrad) Suvorov military school. In the city of Morshansk, near the assignment of the military registration and enlistment office and in the St. Petersburg Suvorov military school, busts of the Hero were installed. In 1990, in honor of N.A. Kuznetsov, a postal envelope of the USSR was issued. A street in the village of Sokolniki of the Morshansk region is named after the Hero. In February 2009, a cadet detachment of secondary school No. 4 in the city of Kyshtym was named after him Chelyabinsk region, a memorial plaque to the Hero was unveiled on the school building in May 2010. In Morshansk, a regional volleyball tournament is held annually, dedicated to the memory of N.A. Kuznetsov.
* On the cenotaph, which is installed at the city cemetery in Morshansk, and in many publications the date of the death of Lieutenant N.A. Kuznetsov appears April 23, 1985... This information is not accurate: on April 23, the identification of the officer's remains took place. After the battle on April 21, the bodies of the dead were collected for two days. Many had to be identified by tattoos and red buttonholes. In this regard, some of the victims, including Lieutenant N.A. Kuznetsov, had the date of death - April 23rd.