The names of this year's heroes to remember

They say that in the past year there were too many tragic events, and there is almost nothing good to remember on New Year's Eve. Constantinople decided to argue with this statement and collected a selection of the most outstanding of our compatriots (and not only) and their heroic deeds. Unfortunately, many of them accomplished the feat at the cost of their own lives, but the memory of themselves and their actions will support us for a long time and serve as an example to follow. Ten names that thundered in 2016 and should not be forgotten.

Alexander Prokhorenko

A special forces officer, a 25-year-old lieutenant Prokhorenko, died in March near Palmyra while carrying out missions to direct Russian air strikes against ISIS fighters. He was discovered by terrorists and, being surrounded, did not want to surrender and caused fire on himself. He was awarded the title of Hero of Russia posthumously, and a street in Orenburg was named after him. Prokhorenko's feat aroused admiration not only in Russia. Two French families donated awards, including the Legion of Honor.

Farewell ceremony for the hero of Russia, who died in Syria, Senior Lieutenant Alexander Prokhorenko in the village of Gorodki, Tyulgansky District. Sergei Medvedev / TASS

In Orenburg, where the officer is from, he left a young wife, who after the death of Alexander had to be hospitalized in order to save the life of their child. In August, her daughter Violetta was born.

Magomed Nurbagandov

Magomet Nurbagandov, a policeman from Dagestan, and his brother Abdurashid were killed in July, but the details became known only in September, when a video of the execution of policemen was found on the phone of one of the liquidated militants of the "Izberbash criminal group". On that unfortunate day, the brothers with their schoolchildren were relaxing in nature in tents, no one expected an attack by bandits. Abdurashid was killed immediately because he stood up for one of the boys, whom the bandits began to insult. Mohammed was tortured before his death, because his documents were found as a law enforcement officer. The purpose of the bullying was to force Nurbagandov to renounce his colleagues on record, to recognize the strength of the militants and to urge Dagestanis to leave the police. In response to this, Nurbagandov addressed his colleagues with the words "Work, brothers!" The enraged militants could only kill him. President Vladimir Putin met with the brothers' parents, thanked them for his son's courage and awarded him the title of Hero of Russia posthumously. The last phrase of Mohammed became the main slogan of the outgoing year and, one can assume, for years to come. Two young children were left without a father. Nurbagandov's son now says that he will become only a policeman.

Elizaveta Glinka

Photo: Mikhail Metzel / TASS

The resuscitator and philanthropist, popularly known as Doctor Lisa, has done a lot this year. In May, she took out children from Donbass. 22 sick children were rescued, the youngest of whom was only 5 days old. These were children with heart disease, oncology, congenital diseases. Special treatment and support programs have been created for children from Donbass and Syria. In Syria, Elizaveta Glinka also helped sick children and organized the delivery of medicines and humanitarian aid to hospitals. During the delivery of another humanitarian cargo, Doctor Lisa died in the crash of a Tu-154 aircraft over the Black Sea. Despite the tragedy, all programs will continue. Today for the guys from Lugansk and Donetsk a New Year's party will take place ...

Oleg Fedyura

Head of the Main Directorate of EMERCOM of Russia for the Primorsky Territory, Colonel of the Internal Service Oleg Fedyura. Press service of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergencies in Primorsky Territory / TASS

Head of the Main Directorate of EMERCOM of Russia in the Primorsky Territory, who proved himself during natural disasters in the region. The rescuer personally visited all the flooded towns and villages, led search and rescue operations, helped evacuate people, and he himself did not sit idly by - he has hundreds of such events on his account. On September 2, together with his brigade, he went to another village, in which 400 houses were flooded and more than 1000 people were waiting for help. Crossing the river, KAMAZ, in which Fedyura and 8 other people were, fell into the water. Oleg Fedyura saved the entire personnel, but then he could not get out of the flooded car and died.

Lyubov Pechko

The entire Russian world learned the name of the 91-year-old female veteran from the news on May 9. During the festive procession in honor of Victory Day in Slavyansk occupied by Ukrainians, the column of veterans was thrown with eggs, doused with brilliant green and sprinkled with flour by the Ukrainian Nazis, but the spirit of the old warriors could not be broken, no one was out of action. The Nazis shouted insults, in occupied Slavyansk, where any Russian and Soviet symbols were prohibited, the situation was extremely explosive and could turn into a massacre at any moment. However, the veterans, despite the threat to their lives, were not afraid to openly put on medals and St. George's ribbons; after all, they did not go through the war with the Nazis to frighten their ideological followers. Lyubov Pechko, who during the Great Patriotic War participated in the liberation of Belarus, splashed brilliant green right in her face. The pictures, in which traces of brilliant green are wiped from the face of Lyubov Pechko, spread around social networks and the media. The sister of an elderly woman died of the shock. She saw the abuse of veterans on TV and suffered a heart attack.

Danil Maksudov

In January this year, during a strong snowstorm, a dangerous traffic jam was formed on the Orenburg-Orsk highway, in which hundreds of people were blocked. Ordinary employees of various services have shown heroism, leading people out of the ice captivity, sometimes endangering their own lives. Russia remembered the name of police officer Danil Maksudov, who was admitted to the hospital with severe frostbite due to the fact that he gave a jacket, hat and gloves to those who needed it more. After that, Danil spent several hours in the blizzard helping to get people out of the jam. Then Maksudov himself ended up in the emergency traumatology department with frostbitten hands, it was about amputation of fingers. However, in the end, the policeman began to recover.

Konstantin Parikozha

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Orenburg Airlines' Boeing 777-200 crew commander Konstantin Parikozha, awarded the Order of Courage, during the presentation of state awards in the Kremlin. Mikhail Metzel / TASS

A native of Tomsk, the 38-year-old pilot managed to land a liner with a burning engine, in which there were 350 passengers, including many families with children and 20 crew members. The plane flew from the Dominican Republic, at an altitude of 6 thousand meters a clap sounded and the cabin was clouded with smoke, panic began. During the landing, the landing gear of the aircraft also caught fire. However, thanks to the pilot's skill, the Boeing-777 was successfully landed and none of the passengers were injured. Parikozha received the Order of Courage from the hands of the President.

Andrey Logvinov

The 44-year-old commander of the IL-18 crew that crashed in Yakutia managed to land the plane without wings. They tried to land the plane to the last and in the end they managed to avoid casualties, although both wings of the plane broke off on impact on the ground and the fuselage collapsed. The pilots themselves received multiple fractures, but despite this, according to rescuers, they refused help and asked to be the last to be evacuated to the hospital. “He succeeded in the impossible,” they said about the skill of Andrey Logvinov.

Georgy Gladysh

On February morning, the rector of the Orthodox church in Krivoy Rog, Priest George, as usual, rode home from the service on a bicycle. Suddenly he heard screams for help from a nearby body of water. It turned out that the fisherman fell through the ice. Batiushka ran to the water, threw off his clothes and, having made the sign of the cross, rushed to help. The noise attracted the attention of local residents, who called an ambulance and helped pull the already unconscious retired fisherman out of the water. The priest himself refused the honors: " It was not me who saved it. This is God decided for me. If I were traveling by car, and not by bicycle, I simply would not have heard cries for help. If I started to think whether to help me a person or not, I would not have time. If the people on the shore had not thrown the rope at us, we would have drowned together. And so it all happened by itself"After the feat, he went on to perform church services.

Yulia Kolosova

Russia. Moscow. December 2, 2016. Russian Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights Anna Kuznetsova (left) and Yulia Kolosova, winner in the "Children-Heroes" nomination, at the awards ceremony for the winners of the VIII All-Russian Festival on the subject of safety and rescue of people "Constellation of Courage". Mikhail Pochuev / TASS

A Valdai schoolgirl, despite the fact that she herself is only 12 years old, she was not afraid to enter a burning private house when she heard the screams of children. Yulia took two boys out of the house, and already on the street they told her that there was one more little brother left inside. The girl returned to the house and carried a 7-year-old baby in her arms, who was crying and was afraid to go down the stairs shrouded in smoke. As a result, none of the children was hurt. " It seems to me that in my place any teenager would do this, but not every adult, because adults are much more indifferent than children.", - says the girl. Caring residents of Staraya Russa raised money and presented the girl with a computer and a souvenir - a mug with her photograph. The schoolgirl herself admits that she did not help for the sake of gifts and praise, but she, of course, was pleased, because she is from a poor family - Yulia's mother is a salesman, and her father works at a factory.

Before the war, these were the most ordinary boys and girls. They studied, helped the elders, played, bred pigeons, sometimes even participated in fights. But the hour of difficult trials came and they proved how huge an ordinary little child's heart can become when sacred love for the Motherland flares up in it, pain for the fate of its people and hatred of enemies. And no one expected that these boys and girls are capable of performing a great feat for the glory of freedom and independence of their Motherland!

Children left in ruined cities and villages became homeless, doomed to death by starvation. It was terrible and difficult to stay in the territory occupied by the enemy. Children could be sent to a concentration camp, taken to work in Germany, turned into slaves, made donors for German soldiers, etc.

Here are the names of some of them: Volodya Kazmin, Yura Zhdanko, Lenya Golikov, Marat Kazei, Lara Mikheenko, Valya Kotik, Tanya Morozova, Vitya Korobkov, Zina Portnova. Many of them fought so hard that they deserved military orders and medals, and four: Marat Kazei, Valya Kotik, Zina Portnova, Lenya Golikov, became Heroes of the Soviet Union.

From the first days of the occupation, boys and girls began to act at their own peril and risk, which was indeed fatal.

"Fedya Samodurov. Fedya is 14 years old, he is a pupil of a motorized rifle unit commanded by the Guard Captain A. Chernavin. Fedya was picked up in his homeland, in the destroyed village of the Voronezh region. Together with the unit he participated in the battles for Ternopil, with a machine-gun crew he kicked the Germans out of the city. When almost all the crew died, the teenager, together with the surviving soldier, took up the machine gun, firing long and hard, delayed the enemy. Fedya was awarded the medal "For Courage".

Vanya Kozlov, 13 years old, he was left without relatives and for the second year he has been in a motorized rifle unit. At the front, he delivers food, newspapers and letters to soldiers in the most difficult conditions.

Petya Tooth.Petya Zub chose a no less difficult specialty. He has long decided to become a scout. His parents were killed, and he knows how to settle accounts with the accursed German. Together with experienced scouts he gets to the enemy, reports his location on the radio, and artillery fires at their orders, crushing the fascists. "(Argumenty i Fakty, No. 25, 2010, p. 42).

A sixteen year old schoolgirl Olya Demesh with her younger sister Lida at the Orsha station in Belarus, on the instructions of the commander of the partisan brigade S. Zhulin, fuel tanks were blown up with magnetic mines. Of course, girls attracted far less attention from German guards and policemen than teenage boys or adult men. But the girls were just right to play with dolls, and they fought with the soldiers of the Wehrmacht!

Thirteen-year-old Lida often took a basket or bag and went to the railroad tracks to collect coal, mining intelligence on German military echelons. If the sentries stopped her, she explained that she was collecting coal to heat the room in which the Germans lived. Olya's mother and younger sister Lida were captured and shot by the Nazis, while Olya continued to fearlessly carry out the partisans' assignments.

For the head of the young partisan Oli Demesh, the Nazis promised a generous reward - land, a cow and 10 thousand marks. Copies of her photograph were distributed and sent to all patrol services, policemen, headmen and secret agents. Capture and deliver her alive - that was the order! But they failed to catch the girl. Olga destroyed 20 German soldiers and officers, derailed 7 enemy echelons, conducted reconnaissance, participated in the "rail war", in the destruction of German punitive units.

Children of the Great Patriotic War

What happened to the children during this terrible time? During the war?

The guys worked day and night in factories, factories and industries, standing behind the machines instead of the brothers and fathers who had gone to the front. Children also worked at defense enterprises: they made fuses for mines, fuses for hand grenades, smoke bombs, colored flares, and assembled gas masks. They worked in agriculture, grew vegetables for hospitals.

In the school sewing workshops, the pioneers sewed linen and tunics for the army. The girls knitted warm clothes for the front: mittens, socks, scarves, sewed pouches for tobacco. The guys helped the wounded in hospitals, wrote letters to their relatives under their dictation, put on performances for the wounded, arranged concerts, causing a smile from adult men exhausted by the war.

A number of objective reasons: the departure of teachers to the army, the evacuation of the population from the western regions to the eastern, the inclusion of students in labor activity in connection with the departure of the family breadwinners to the war, the transfer of many schools to hospitals, etc., prevented the deployment in the USSR during the war of a universal seven-year compulsory training begun in the 30s. In the remaining educational institutions, training was carried out in two, three, and sometimes four shifts.

At the same time, the children were forced to store firewood for the boiler rooms themselves. There were no textbooks, and because of the lack of paper, they wrote on old newspapers between the lines. Nevertheless, new schools were opened, additional classes were created. Boarding schools were created for the evacuated children. For those young people who left school at the beginning of the war and were employed in industry or agriculture, schools for working and rural youth were organized in 1943.

There are still many little-known pages in the annals of the Great Patriotic War, for example, the fate of kindergartens. "It turns out that in December 1941 in besieged Moscow kindergartens worked in the bomb shelters. When the enemy was driven back, they resumed their work faster than many universities. By the fall of 1942, 258 kindergartens had opened in Moscow!

From the memoirs about the war childhood of Lydia Ivanovna Kostyleva:

“After the death of my grandmother, I was assigned to a kindergarten, my older sister was at school, my mother was at work. I went to kindergarten alone, by tram, in less than five years. Once I got seriously ill with mumps, I was lying at home alone with a high fever, there was no medicine, in my delirium I fancied a pig running under the table, but nothing happened.
I saw my mother in the evenings and on rare weekends. The children were raised by the street, we were friendly and always hungry. From early spring, they ran to the mosses, fortunately, the forest and swamps are nearby, they picked berries, mushrooms, and various early grass. The bombings gradually stopped, the residences of the allies were located in our Arkhangelsk, this brought a certain flavor to life - we, children, sometimes dropped warm clothes, some food. Basically, we ate black shangi, potatoes, seal meat, fish and fish oil, on holidays - "marmalade" of seaweed, tinted with beets. "

More than five hundred educators and nannies in the fall of 1941 dug trenches on the outskirts of the capital. Hundreds worked in the logging area. The educators, who yesterday led a round dance with the children, fought in the Moscow militia. Natasha Yanovskaya, a kindergarten teacher in the Bauman region, heroically died near Mozhaisk. The educators who stayed with the children did not perform feats. They simply rescued babies whose fathers fought, and mothers stood at the machines.

Most of the kindergartens became boarding schools during the war, the children were there day and night. And in order to feed children in a half-starved time, to protect them from the cold, to give them at least a bit of comfort, to occupy them with the benefit of the mind and soul - such work required great love for children, deep decency and boundless patience. ”(D. Shevarov“ World of news ”, No. 27, 2010, p. 27).

Children have changed their games, "... a new game - in the hospital. They played in the hospital before, but not like that. Now the wounded are real people for them. But they play war less often, because no one wants to be a fascist. They are carried out by trees. They shoot snowballs at them. We have learned to help the victims - the fallen, bruised. "

From a boy's letter to a front-line soldier: “We used to also often play war, but now much less often - we are tired of the war, it would sooner be over, so that we live well again ...” (Ibid.).

In connection with the death of parents, many street children have appeared in the country. The Soviet state, despite the difficult wartime, nevertheless fulfilled its obligations to children left without parents. To combat neglect, a network of children's receivers and orphanages was organized and opened, and the employment of adolescents was organized.

Many families of Soviet citizens began to take orphans to their upbringingwhere they found new parents for themselves. Unfortunately, not all educators and heads of children's institutions were distinguished by honesty and decency. Here are some examples.

"In the fall of 1942, children dressed in rags were caught in the Pochinkovsky district of the Gorky region, who were stealing potatoes and grain from collective farm fields. It turned out that the pupils of the regional orphanage were" harvesting "the crops. And they did not do it out of a good life. Investigations by local police officers uncovered a criminal group, and, in fact, a gang consisting of employees of this institution.

In total, seven people were arrested in the case, including the director of the Novoseltsev orphanage, the accountant Sdobnov, the storekeeper Mukhina and others. During the searches, 14 children's coats, seven suits, 30 meters of cloth, 350 meters of manufactory and other misappropriated property were confiscated from them, which were allocated with great difficulty by the state during this harsh wartime.

The investigation established that by not supplying the due norm of bread and food, these criminals only during 1942 plundered seven tons of bread, half a ton of meat, 380 kg of sugar, 180 kg of cookies, 106 kg of fish, 121 kg of honey, etc. The workers of the orphanage sold all these scarce products on the market or simply ate them up.

Only one comrade Novoseltsev received fifteen portions of breakfast and lunch for himself and his family members every day. At the expense of the pupils, the rest of the staff ate well. The children were fed "dishes" made from rot and vegetables, citing poor supplies.

Throughout 1942, they were given only one candy each for the 25th anniversary of the October Revolution ... And what is most surprising, the director of the Novoseltsev orphanage in the same 1942 received an honorary diploma from the People's Commissariat of Education for excellent educational work. All these fascists were deservedly sentenced to long terms of imprisonment "(Zefirov MV, Dektyarev DM" Everything for the front? How the victory was actually forged ", pp. 388-391).

At such a time, the whole essence of man is manifested .. Every day to face a choice - how to act .. And the war showed us examples of great mercy, great heroism and great cruelty, great meanness .. We must remember this !! For the future !!

And no time can heal wounds from war, especially children. "These years that were once, the bitterness of childhood does not allow to forget ..."

Imagine trying to rescue a blind person from a burning building, making your way step by step through burning flames and smoke. Now imagine that you are also blind. Jim Sherman, blind from birth, heard cries for help from his 85-year-old neighbor as she was trapped in her burning house. He found his way along the fence. Once he got to the woman's house, he somehow managed to sneak in and find his neighbor Annie Smith, also blind. Sherman pulled Smith out of the fire and took him to safety.

Parachuting instructors donated everything to save their students

Few people will survive a fall from several hundred meters. But the two women succeeded thanks to the dedication of the two men. The first gave his life to save the person 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 broke. Cook told the girl to sit on his lap and tied their belts together. When the plane crashed to the ground, Cook's body took the brunt, killing the man and leaving Kimberly alive.

Another skydiving instructor, Dave Hartstock, also saved his student from being hit. This was Shirley Dygert's first jump, she jumped with the instructor. Digert's parachute did not open. During the fall, Hearthstock managed to get under the girl, softening the impact on the ground. Dave Hearthstock injured his spine, the injury paralyzed his body from the very neck, but both survived.

Simple mortal Joe Rollino (pictured above) has done incredible, inhuman deeds during his 104-year life. Although he weighed only about 68 kg, in his prime he could lift 288 kg with his fingers and 1450 kg using his back, for which he won various competitions several times. However, it was not the title of "World's Strongest Man" that made him a hero.

During World War II, Rollino served in the Pacific and received a bronze and a silver star for his bravery in the line of duty, as well as three purple hearts for combat wounds that led him to hospital for a total of 2 years. He carried off 4 of his comrades from the battlefield, two in each hand, while also returning to the heat of battle for the rest.

Paternal love can inspire superhuman feats, as two fathers have proven in different parts of the world.

In Florida, Joesph Welch came to the aid of his six-year-old son when an alligator grabbed the boy's arm. Forgetting his own safety, Welch struck the alligator, trying to force it to open its mouth. Then a passerby arrived and began to beat the alligator in the stomach until the beast finally released the boy.

In Mutoko, Zimbabwe, another father saved his son from a crocodile when he attacked him in the river. Father Tafadzwa Kacher began poking the cane in the eyes and mouth of the animal until his son ran away. Then the crocodile aimed at the man. Tafadzwa had to gouge out the animal's eyes. As a result of the attack, the boy lost his leg, but he will be able to talk about his father's superhuman bravery.

Two ordinary women raised cars to rescue loved ones

Not only men are capable of manifesting superhuman abilities in critical situations. Daughter and mother have shown that women can be heroes too, especially when a loved one is in danger.

In Virginia, a 22-year-old girl rescued her father when a jack slipped from under a BMW he was working under and the car fell on a man's chest. There was no time to wait for help, the young woman lifted the car and moved it, then gave her father artificial respiration.

In Georgia, the jack also slipped and the 1,350-pound Chevrolet Impala fell on the young man. Without assistance, his mother, Angela Cavallo, lifted the car and held it for five minutes until neighbors pulled her son out.

Superhuman ability is not only about strength and courage, it is also about the ability to think quickly and act in an emergency.

In New Mexico, a school bus driver had a seizure, putting children in danger. The girl who was waiting for the bus noticed that something had happened to the driver and called her mother. The woman Rhonda Carlsen took action immediately. She ran next to the bus and gestured to 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 hurt, not to mention the people passing by.

A truck with a trailer drove along the edge of a cliff in the dead of night. The cab of a large truck stopped just above the cliff, with the driver in it. A young man came to the rescue, he broke the window and pulled out the man with his bare hands.

This happened in New Zealand in the Vayoeka Gorge on October 5, 2008. The hero was 18-year-old Peter Hanne, he 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 gently helped the injured driver out as the truck staggered under his feet.

In 2011, Hanne was awarded the New Zealand Medal of Bravery for this heroic deed.

The war is full of heroes who risk their lives to save fellow soldiers. In Forrest Gump, we saw a fictional character rescue several of his co-workers, even after being wounded. In real life, you can find a plot and more abruptly.

For example, here is the story of Robert Ingram receiving the Medal of Honor. In 1966, during a siege from the enemy, Ingram continued to fight and save his comrades even after he was wounded three times: in the head (as a result, he partially lost his sight and was deaf in one ear), in the arm and in the left knee. Despite his injuries, he continued to kill the 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 \u200b\u200bSwimming Champion was jogging with his brother when a 92-passenger bus pulled off the road and fell into the water 24 meters from the shore. Karapetyan dived, kicked out the 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 by one 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, while sustaining severe burns. Karapetyan received the Order of the USSR Badge of Honor and several other awards for salvation under water. But he himself claimed that he was not at all a hero, he just did what he had to do.

A man lifted a helicopter to rescue his colleague

The set for the TV show turned into a tragedy when a helicopter from the hit TV series Magnum PI crashed into a drainage ditch in 1988.

During the landing, the helicopter suddenly tilted, got out of control and fell to the ground, while everything was filmed. One of the pilots, Steve Kux, found himself trapped under a helicopter in shallow water. And then Warren "Tiny" Everal ran up and lifted the helicopter from Kaks. It was the Hughes 500D, which weighs at least 703 kg empty. Everal's quick reaction and his superhuman strength saved Kaks from the helicopter, which pinned him in the water. Despite the fact that the pilot injured his left arm, he escaped death thanks to a local Hawaiian hero.

Modernity, with its measure of success in the form of monetary units, gives rise to much more heroes of the scandalous gossip than true heroes, whose actions cause pride and admiration.

Sometimes it seems that real heroes remained only on the pages of books about the Great Patriotic War.

But at any time, there are those who are ready to sacrifice the dearest in the name of their loved ones, in the name of the Motherland.

On Defender of the Fatherland Day, we will remember five of our contemporaries who performed heroic deeds. They did not seek fame and honor, but simply fulfilled their duty to the end.

Sergey Burnaev

Sergey Burnaev was born in Mordovia, in the village of Dubenki on January 15, 1982. When Seryozha was five years old, his parents moved to the Tula region.

The boy grew and matured, and the era was changing around. Peers were eager for some business, some for crime, and Sergei dreamed of a military career, wanted to serve in the Airborne Forces. After graduating from school, he managed to work at a rubber shoe factory, and then was drafted into the army. I got, however, not in the landing, but in the special forces detachment of the Vityaz Airborne Forces.

Serious physical activity, training did not scare the guy. The commanders immediately drew attention to Sergey - stubborn, with character, a real commando!

During two business trips to Chechnya in 2000-2002, Sergei proved himself to be a real professional, skillful and persistent.

On March 28, 2002, the detachment in which Sergei Burnaev served, conducted a special operation in the city of Argun. The militants turned a local school into their fortification, placing an ammunition depot in it, as well as breaking through a whole system of underground passages under it. The commandos began to examine the tunnels in search of militants who had taken refuge in them.

Sergei walked first and ran into the bandits. A battle ensued in the narrow and dark space of the dungeon. During an outbreak from a machine gun fire, Sergei saw a grenade rolling on the floor, thrown by a militant towards the commandos. The explosion could have injured several soldiers who did not see this danger.

The decision came in a split second. Sergei covered the grenade with his body, saving the rest of the soldiers. He died on the spot, but averted the threat from his comrades.

A bandit group of 8 people in this battle was completely eliminated. All of Sergei's comrades survived in this battle.

For the courage and heroism shown during the performance of a special task in conditions associated with the risk to life, by the decree of the President of the Russian Federation of September 16, 2002 No. 992 Sergeant Burnaev Sergei Aleksandrovich was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation (posthumously).

Sergeant Sergei Burnaev is forever enrolled in the lists of his military unit of the Internal Troops. In the town of Reutov, Moscow Region, on the Alley of Heroes of the military memorial complex "To All Reutov People Who Died for the Fatherland", a bronze bust of the hero was installed.

Denis Vetchinov

Denis Vetchinov was born on June 28, 1976 in the village of Shantobe, Tselinograd region of Kazakhstan. He spent his ordinary childhood as a schoolboy of the last Soviet generation.

How is the hero brought up? Probably no one knows this. But at the turn of the eras, Denis chose the career of an officer, after enrolling in a military school after military service. Maybe it was also affected by the fact that the school he graduated from bore the name of Vladimir Komarov, a pilot-cosmonaut who died while flying on the Soyuz-1 spacecraft.

After graduating from college in Kazan in 2000, the newly-made officer did not run away from difficulties - he immediately ended up in Chechnya. All who knew him repeat one thing - the officer did not bow to the bullets, he took care of the fighters and was a real "father to the soldiers" not in words, but in essence.

In 2003, the Chechen war ended for Captain Vetchinov. Until 2008, he served as deputy battalion commander for educational work in the 70th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment, in 2005 he became a major.

The life of an officer is not sugar, but Denis did not complain about anything. His wife Katya and daughter Masha were waiting for him at home.

Major Vetchinov was promised a great future, general's shoulder straps. In 2008, he became deputy commander of the 135th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 19th Motorized Rifle Division of the 58th Army for educational work. In this position, he was caught by the war in South Ossetia.

On August 9, 2008, a marching column of the 58th Army on its way to Tskhinvali was ambushed by Georgian special forces. The vehicles were shot from 10 points. The commander of the 58th Army, General Khrulev, was wounded.

Major Vetchinov, who was in the convoy, jumped off the armored personnel carrier and entered the battle. Having managed to prevent chaos, he organized a defense, suppressing Georgian firing points with return fire.

During the withdrawal, Denis Vetchinov was seriously wounded in the legs, however, overcoming the pain, he continued the battle, covering his comrades and journalists with the column with fire. Only a new heavy wound to the head could stop the major.

In this battle, Major Vetchinov destroyed up to ten enemy special forces and saved the lives of Komsomolskaya Pravda war correspondent Alexander Kots, VGTRK special correspondent Alexander Sladkov and Moskovsky Komsomolets correspondent Viktor Sokirko.

The wounded major was sent to the hospital, but he died on the way.

On August 15, 2008, Major Denis Vetchinov was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation (posthumously) for his courage and heroism in the performance of military duty in the North Caucasus region.

Aldar Tsydenzhapov

Aldar Tsydenzhapov was born on August 4, 1991 in the village of Aginskoye, in Buryatia. The family had four children, including the twin sister of Aldar Aryun.

His father worked in the police, his mother was a nurse in a kindergarten - a simple family, leading the ordinary life of the inhabitants of the Russian province. Aldar graduated from school in his native village and was drafted into the army, ended up in the Pacific Fleet.

He served as a sailor Tsydenzhapov on the destroyer "Bystry", enjoyed the confidence of the command, was friends with his colleagues. There was only a month left before the "demobilization", when on September 24, 2010, Aldar took over duty as a boiler-house operator.

The destroyer was preparing for a military campaign from the base in Fokino in Primorye to Kamchatka. Suddenly, a fire broke out in the engine room of the ship due to a short circuit in the wiring at the time of a break in the fuel pipeline. Aldar rushed to plug the fuel leak. A monstrous flame raged around, in which the sailor spent 9 seconds, managing to eliminate the leak. Despite the terrible burns, he got out of the compartment himself. As the commission later established, the prompt actions of the sailor Tsydenzhapov led to the timely shutdown of the ship's power plant, which otherwise could explode. In this case, the destroyer itself and all 300 of the crew would have died.

Aldar, in a grave condition, was taken to the hospital of the Pacific Fleet in Vladivostok, where doctors fought for the hero's life for four days. Alas, on September 28 he passed away.

By the Decree of the President of Russia No. 1431 of November 16, 2010, the sailor Aldar Tsydenzhapov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.

Sergey Solnechnikov

Born on August 19, 1980 in Germany, in Potsdam, in a military family. Seryozha decided to continue the dynasty as a child, not looking back at all the difficulties of this path. After the 8th grade, he entered a cadet boarding school in the Astrakhan region, then without exams he was admitted to the Kachin military school. Here he was found by another reform, after which the school was disbanded.

However, this did not turn Sergey away from a military career - he entered the Kemerovo Higher Military Command School of Communications, which he graduated in 2003.

He served as a young officer in Belogorsk, in the Far East. “A good officer, real, honest,” - said friends and subordinates about Sergei. And they gave him a nickname - "battalion commander Sun".

I did not have time to get a family - it took too much time for the service. The bride waited patiently - after all, it seemed there was still a whole life ahead.

On March 28, 2012, at the training ground of the unit, the usual exercises on throwing the RGD-5 grenade were held, which are part of the training course for conscripts.

19-year-old private Zhuravlev, worried, threw a grenade unsuccessfully - it, hitting the parapet, flew back, where his colleagues were standing.

The confused boys looked with horror at the death lying on the ground. Combat Sun reacted instantly - throwing the soldier back, he covered the grenade with his body.

The wounded Sergei was taken to the hospital, but from numerous injuries he died on the operating table.

On April 3, 2012, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, Major Sergei Solnechnikov was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation (posthumously) for heroism, courage and dedication displayed in the performance of military duty.

Irina Yanina

“War does not have a woman’s face” is a wise phrase. But it just so happened that in all the wars that Russia waged, women were next to men, enduring all the hardships and hardships on an equal footing with them.

Born in Taldy-Kurgan of the Kazakh SSR on November 27, 1966, the girl Ira did not think that the war would enter her life from the pages of books. School, medical school, the position of a nurse in a tuberculosis dispensary, then in a maternity hospital - a purely peaceful biography.

The collapse of the Soviet Union turned everything upside down. Russians in Kazakhstan suddenly became strangers, unnecessary. Like many others, Irina and her family left for Russia, where there were enough of her own problems.

The husband of the beautiful Irina could not stand the difficulties, left the family in search of an easier life. Ira was left alone with two children in her arms, without normal housing and a corner. And then there was the misfortune - my daughter was diagnosed with leukemia, from which she quickly faded away.

Even men break down from all these troubles, go into a binge. Irina did not break - after all, she had a son, Zhenya, a light in the window, for which she was ready to move mountains. In 1995, she joined the Internal Troops. Not for the sake of feats - they paid money there, gave rations. The paradox of modern history - in order to survive and raise her son, a woman was forced to go to Chechnya, in the very heat. Two business trips in 1996, three and a half months as a nurse under the daily shelling, covered in blood and mud.

Nurse of the medical company of the operational brigade of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia from the city of Kalach-na-Donu - in this position, Sergeant Yanina got into her second war. Basayev's gangs were rushing to Dagestan, where local Islamists were already waiting for them.

And again fighting, wounded, killed - the daily routine of the medical service in the war.

“Hello, my little, beloved, most beautiful son in the world!

I really miss you. You write to me how you are doing, how are you with the school, who are you friends with? Are you sick? Don't go late in the evenings - there are a lot of bandits now. Be near home. Don't go anywhere alone. Listen to everyone at home and know - I love you very much. Read more. You are already a big and independent boy, so do everything right so that you don't get scolded.

Waiting for your letter. Listen to everyone.

Kisses. Mum. 21.08.99 years "

Irina sent this letter to her son 10 days before her last fight.

On August 31, 1999, a brigade of internal troops, in which Irina Yanina served, stormed the village of Karamakhi, turned by terrorists into an impregnable fortress.

On that day, Sergeant Yanina, under enemy fire, assisted 15 wounded soldiers. Then she drove into the line of fire three times in an APC, taking out 28 more seriously wounded from the battlefield. The fourth flight was fatal.

The APC came under heavy enemy fire. Irina began to cover the loading of the wounded with return fire from a machine gun. Finally, the car managed to move back, but the militants set fire to the armored personnel carrier from grenade launchers.

Sergeant Yanina, while she had enough strength, pulled the wounded out of the burning car. She did not have time to get out on her own - ammunition began to explode in the APC.

On October 14, 1999, the sergeant of the medical service Irina Yanina was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation (posthumously), she is forever enrolled in the lists of the personnel of her military unit. Irina Yanina became the first woman to be awarded the title of Hero of Russia for military operations in the Caucasian wars.

Heroes of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 and their exploits

The battles have long died down. One by one the veterans leave. But the heroes of the Second World War 1941-1945 and their exploits will forever remain in the memory of grateful descendants. This article will tell you about the brightest personalities of those years and their immortal deeds. Some were still very young, and some were no longer young. Each of the heroes has his own character and his own destiny. But all of them were united by love for the Motherland and the willingness to sacrifice themselves for its good.

Alexander Matrosov

Sasha Matrosov, a pupil of the orphanage, got into the war at the age of 18. Immediately after the infantry school, he was sent to the front. February 1943 turned out to be "hot". Alexander's battalion went on the attack, and at some point the guy, along with several comrades, was surrounded. There was no way to break through to our own - enemy machine guns fired too dense fire.

Soon Matrosov was left alive alone. His comrades were killed by bullets. The young man had only a few seconds to make a decision. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the last in his life. Wanting to bring at least some benefit to his own battalion, Alexander Matrosov rushed to the embrasure, covering it with his body. The fire stopped. The attack of the Red Army was eventually crowned with success - the Nazis retreated. And Sasha went to heaven as a young and handsome 19-year-old guy ...

Marat Kazei

When the Great Patriotic War began, Marat Kazei was only twelve. He lived in the village of Stankovo \u200b\u200bwith his sister and parents. In 41st he was in the occupation. Marat's mother helped the partisans, providing them with her own shelter and feeding them. Once the Germans found out about this and shot a woman. Left alone, the children, without hesitation, went into the forest and joined the partisans.

Marat, who had finished only four classes before the war, helped his older comrades as much as he could. They even took him on reconnaissance; and he also took part in blowing up German trains. In 43rd the boy was awarded the medal "For Courage" for heroism shown during the breakthrough of the encirclement. The boy was wounded in that terrible battle.

And in 1944 Kazei was returning from intelligence with an adult partisan. The Germans noticed them and started firing at them. The senior comrade died. Marat fired back to the last bullet. And when he had only one grenade left, the teenager let the Germans get closer and blew himself up with them. He was 15 years old.

Alexey Maresyev

The name of this person is known to every inhabitant of the former Soviet Union. After all, we are talking about the legendary pilot. Alexey Maresyev was born in 1916 and dreamed of the sky from childhood. Even the transferred rheumatism did not become an obstacle on the way to the dream. Despite the prohibitions of doctors, Alexey entered flight - they took him after several vain attempts.

In 1941, the stubborn young man went to the front. The sky was not what he dreamed of. But it was necessary to defend the Motherland, and Maresyev did everything for this. One day his plane was shot down. Alexey, wounded in both legs, managed to land the car on the territory occupied by the Germans and even somehow get to his own.

But time was lost. The legs were “devoured” by gangrene and had to be amputated. Where can a soldier go without both limbs? After all, he is completely crippled ... But Alexey Maresyev was not one of those. He remained in the ranks and continued to fight the enemy.

As many as 86 times, a winged machine with a hero on board managed to rise into the sky. 11 German planes were shot down by Maresiev. The pilot was lucky enough to survive in that terrible war and feel the heady taste of victory. He died in 2001. Boris Polevoy's The Story of a Real Man is a work about him. It was the feat of Maresyev that inspired the author to write it.

Zinaida Portnova

Born in 1926, Zina Portnova met the war as a teenager. At that time, the native of Leningrad was visiting relatives in Belarus. Once in the occupied territory, she did not sit out on the sidelines, but joined the partisan movement. I pasted leaflets, established contacts with the underground ...

In 1943, the Germans seized the girl and dragged her to their lair. During interrogation, Zina somehow managed to take a pistol from the table. She shot her tormentors - two soldiers and an investigator.

It was a heroic act that made the attitude of the Germans towards Zina even more brutal. It is impossible to convey in words the torment that the girl experienced during the terrible torture. But she was silent. The Nazis failed to squeeze a word out of it. As a result, the Germans shot their captive, and did not get anything from the heroine Zina Portnova.

Andrey Korzun

Andrei Korzun turned thirty in the 41st. He was drafted to the front immediately, sending him to the gunners. Korzun took part in terrible battles near Leningrad, during one of which he was seriously wounded. It was November 5, 1943.

As he fell, Korzun noticed that the ammunition depot started on fire. It was urgent to extinguish the fire, otherwise an explosion of enormous force threatened to take many lives. Somehow, bleeding and suffering from pain, the artilleryman crawled to the warehouse. The artilleryman had no strength left to take off his overcoat and throw it into the flames. Then he covered the fire with his body. The explosion did not happen. Andrey Korzun did not manage to survive.

Leonid Golikov

Another young hero is Lenya Golikov. Was born in 1926. He lived in the Novgorod region. With the beginning of the war, he left to partisan. Courage and determination this teenager was not to take. Leonid destroyed 78 fascists, a dozen enemy trains and even a couple of bridges.

The explosion, which went down in history and carried away the German general Richard von Wirtz, was his handiwork. The car of an important rank flew into the air, and Golikov took possession of valuable documents, for which he received the Star of the Hero.

A brave partisan died in 1943 near the village of Ostraya Luka during a German attack. The enemy significantly outnumbered our fighters, and they had no chance. Golikov fought until his last breath.

These are just six of the many stories that permeate the entire war. Everyone who passed it, who even for a moment brought victory closer is already a hero. Thanks to the likes of Maresyev, Golikov, Korzun, Matrosov, Kazei, Portnova and millions of other Soviet soldiers, the world got rid of the brown plague of the 20th century. And the reward for their exploits was eternal life!