On the occasion of the Day of Remembrance of Russians who performed their official duties outside the Fatherland, the Ministry of Defense launched a historical and educational project “On distant frontiers, with the Motherland in the heart,” within the framework of which documents about the exploits of Soviet soldiers in Korea, Germany, Afghanistan and Vietnam. The memorial date was established in 2010 and is celebrated annually on February 15 - the day when in 1989 the last unit of Soviet troops returned from Afghanistan to their homeland.

Visitors to the site will be able to familiarize themselves with award materials of Soviet soldiers, operational maps, combat orders and reports.

Fight in the skies over Korea

In the section dedicated to the Korean War of 1950-1953, you can read a memo to Joseph Stalin from the USSR Minister of War, Marshal Alexander Vasilevsky. It praises the work of Soviet military advisers who participated in the conflict on the side of the North. 

“During the period of work of Soviet military advisers in units and formations of the Korean People’s Army, a lot of work was done in the field of combat and political training of troops, and in wartime, in preparing reserves for the front,” notes Vasilevsky.

The note also proposes that 129 military advisers be awarded state awards. Of these, one serviceman was posthumously nominated to the Order of Lenin, 57 people to the Order of the Red Banner, one specialist to the Order of Suvorov III degree and 70 people to the Order of the Red Star.

  • Award sheet for the deputy commander of the guard air squadron, Captain Sergei Kramarenko

  • © Central Archive of the Russian Ministry of Defense

A number of documents published by the Ministry of Defense are devoted to the work of Soviet air defense units. In particular, one of them reports the destruction of several American F-84 and F-86 fighters.

The Ministry of Defense also published the award list for the deputy commander of the guard air squadron, Captain Sergei Kramarenko. The document states that from April 2 to April 18, 1951, he carried out 12 combat missions on a MiG-15 aircraft and took part in six air battles, shooting down an American F-80 jet fighter. And from April to the end of June, he made another 35 combat missions and shot down three F-86 aircraft. On June 2 of the same year he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

The award list also contains the opinion of the command staff that Kramarenko is worthy of being awarded the Order of Lenin. This conclusion, in particular, was made by the commander of the 324th Fighter Aviation Division, three times Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel Ivan Kozhedub.

In addition, the Ministry of Defense website published a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR conferring the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on Sergei Kramarenko. Along with him, the Hero Star was also received by Guard Captain Grigory Ges, Aviation Major General Georgy Lobov, Senior Lieutenant Boris Obraztsov, Guard Senior Lieutenant Evgeniy Stelmakh, Guard Major Seraphim Subbotin and Senior Lieutenants Nikolai Sutyagin and Fyodor Shebanov.

“Loyal to the Motherland and Heaven”

As part of the project “On the Far Frontiers, with the Motherland in the Heart,” the Ministry of Defense also published award certificates for the aviation flight commander, Captain Boris Kapustin, and the navigator, Senior Lieutenant Yuri Yanov, who served in the Soviet group of forces in Germany in the 1960s. 

On April 6, 1966, they flew on a new supersonic aircraft, the Yak-28P. At an altitude of 4 thousand meters, a equipment failure occurred, and the aircraft began to fall into a densely populated area of ​​West Berlin.

  • Captain Boris Kapustin and Senior Lieutenant Yuri Yanov

  • © Central Archive of the Russian Ministry of Defense

As noted in Kapustin’s award certificate, the crew had the opportunity to jump out with a parachute, since the altitude “guaranteed the safety of ejection and saving lives.” However, the pilots did not do this, deciding at the cost of their lives to save the lives of many residents of West Berlin.  

“With a superhuman effort of will,” they managed to turn the plane away from the city towards Lake Stössensee, where the aircraft crashed. Kapustin and Yanov died. Both pilots were posthumously awarded the Order of the Red Banner by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR for courage and courage.

“These people were devoted to their homeland and heaven. What they accomplished was a feat. It is important to note that Kapustin ordered Yanov to eject, but he decided to remain with the commander in the cockpit until the last. They made this decision, realizing that they would not have time to start the engines,” Honored Pilot of the Russian Federation Vladimir Popov said in a commentary to RT.

"Repelling American Air Raids"

As follows from documents published by the Ministry of Defense, in the 1960s, thousands of Soviet troops were ready to volunteer to go to Vietnam to repel US aggression. A memorandum from the head of the Main Political Directorate of the Soviet Army and Navy, Alexei Epishev, to the CPSU Central Committee states that as of April 12, 1965, about 47 thousand applications and requests to send volunteers to Vietnam were received in military districts, in the strategic missile forces assignments - 5433, in the air defense forces - 8756, in the navy - 8564.

  • Reports by the head of the Main Political Directorate of the Soviet Army and Navy, Alexei Epishev, and the USSR Minister of Defense Andrei Grechko

  • © Central Archive of the Russian Ministry of Defense

In April 1968, USSR Defense Minister Andrei Grechko reported to the CPSU Central Committee that Soviet military specialists “provide great assistance to the command of the Vietnamese people’s army in mastering military equipment supplied by the Soviet Union,” and also take a direct and active part in repelling American air raids on Democratic targets. Republic of Vietnam, showing courage and bravery.

With the direct participation of Soviet military specialists, in 1967 alone, 1,066 American aircraft were shot down, including 395 by anti-aircraft missiles and 129 by fighter aircraft, according to the report of the USSR Minister of Defense.

Grechko’s memorandum also contains a proposal to nominate dozens of Soviet military personnel for various awards, including the Order of the Red Star, the Red Banner, as well as the medals “For Courage” and “For Military Merit.”

Not only the military, but also the medical personnel showed selflessness. An example is the award list of Lieutenant Colonel of the Medical Service Mikhail Zolochevsky. From June 1967, he was in Vietnam as a consultant epidemiologist. He had to work in a tense combat situation, a difficult tropical climate and the unfavorable “sanitary and epidemiological condition of the combat area.”

When in September 1967, Soviet specialists were at risk of contracting particularly dangerous infections, Zolochevsky “did a lot of work to prevent cholera and plague” and personally participated in vaccinating more than 600 Soviet specialists against cholera.

On November 17, 1967, the first aid station building was damaged by the explosion of an American AGM-45 Shrike missile. Despite a slight concussion, Zolochevsky took measures to save the supply of vaccines and serums. For these services, he was nominated for the Order of the Red Star.

"Personal heroism and courage"

The largest volume of documents was published by the ministry in the section on the war in Afghanistan. On the website of the RF Ministry of Defense, in particular, you can familiarize yourself with the service description of the head of the Control Group of the USSR Ministry of Defense in Afghanistan, Army General Valentin Varennikov, with the humanitarian activities of the Soviet military contingent, details of the use of service dogs during combat operations, and a map of the “Magistral” combat operation.

  • Soviet soldier in Afghanistan

  • © Central Archive of the Russian Ministry of Defense

The Ministry of Defense also published documents about the exploits of the Soviet military. One of the archival materials tells about senior lieutenant Vladimir Zadorozhny, who was involved in adjusting the work of artillery. During one of the battles, Zadorozhny covered a grenade with his body to save his comrades. He was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

The feat of two more Soviet soldiers was appreciated after the collapse of the USSR. Thus, on May 16, 1983, in the province of Kunar, 16 Soviet soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Sergei Amosov, covering the passage of their battalion through the Ganjal gorge, entered into an unequal battle with the enemy. They managed to destroy up to 70 Mujahideen and, at the cost of their lives, save the battalion from a surprise attack by Afghan rebels.

Of the group, only the seriously wounded Private Prokhorenko survived, and Sergei Amosov and Private Nukhidin Gadzhiev provided timely assistance. Amosov himself was also wounded, but continued to fight until the last bullet and was the last to die - “the dushmans broke his bones, after which they shot the dead man with a machine gun,” says the Moscow Region website. In 1994, he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.

  • Documents on awarding Sergei Amosov and Sergei Vashchernev

  • © Central Archive of the Russian Ministry of Defense

Driver Sergei Yesterday was one of the first to enter Afghanistan in 1979, according to the ministry’s website. In 1980, his tank took part in the evacuation of wounded military personnel and BRDM-2 of the Afghan government forces.

“Thanks to the demonstrated personal heroism and courage of Yesterday, it was possible to complete the assigned combat mission, restore a section of the road under enemy fire, and also save the wounded,” the documents say.

However, Yesterday himself died - his combat vehicle was hit by a cumulative shot from an enemy grenade launcher. In 1994, he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.

“The Afghan war still causes a lot of controversy. But I, as a participant in those events, can say that these are glorious pages for the history of the Soviet army. The army carried out the order of the Motherland, entered Afghanistan and fulfilled its functions there to protect the territorial integrity of the country, which we took under our protection, and to protect the southern borders of the USSR. You can name many heroic names from that campaign - Ruslan Aushev, Alexander Rutskoi, Alexander Chernozhukov and the recently deceased Valery Vostrotin. These people fulfilled their duty and showed heroism,” retired colonel Anatoly Matviychuk said in a conversation with RT.

According to the analyst, Soviet soldiers in all of these conflicts showed their best qualities, demonstrating dedication and continuity with the era of the Great Patriotic War.

“The continuity was maintained from the Great Patriotic War to Afghanistan. From Afghanistan to the Chechen events, and from them to the operation in Syria and, finally, to the Northern Military District. Heroism and continuity can be traced in all the actions of our army,” the expert concluded.