On the eve of the 69th anniversary of the liberation of Pskov from the Nazi invaders, I ask Pskov News to return to the sacred theme of the feat, because I hope for the newspaper’s help in restoring historical justice.

In 1941, after leaving the Baltic states, Ostrov and Pskov took the blow of the Nazi troops. In the skies above our city, pilots of the 158th Fighter Aviation Regiment, which was formed before the war and was located in Kresty, fought heroically. The fleet consisted of 63 aircraft. The regiment commander was Arkady Petrovich Aframeev.

In those days, pilots carried out the first aerial rams in the Pskov sky. Already on June 28, junior lieutenants P.T. rammed fascist planes. Kharitonov and S.I. Zdorovtsev, June 29 - junior lieutenant M.P. Zhukov.

On July 8, 1941, the first Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was signed during the war years, awarding three pilots the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

On July 22, 2005, a monument was unveiled to the heroes in front of the military airfield. The feat of pilots Kharitonov, Zdorovtsev and Zhukov was immortalized. But have we done everything we should have? After all, soon another pilot, Petty Officer N.Ya., carried out an aerial ramming in the sky near Pskov. Totmin.

On July 4, 1941, at 16.00, eight Yu-88s, under the cover of two Messers, carried out a raid on the Rozhnopolye airfield, which was located near Pskov. Our pilots had just returned from a combat mission, and only Nikolai Totmin’s plane was refueled. Sergeant Major Totmin flew out alone to meet the enemy.

Later, the report noted: “With bold attacks, he disrupted the battle formations of the bombers and forced them to drop bombs indiscriminately. Enemy fighters launched an attack on Totmin’s plane, which instantly turned around and cut off the plane of the enemy plane with a frontal ram. The plane was also damaged, the pilot landed at the airfield by parachute.”

By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated July 22, 1941, Nikolai Yakovlevich Totmin, who rammed an enemy aircraft, was awarded the title “Hero of the Soviet Union.” This feat was accomplished 72 years ago.

Nikolai Totmin was born on December 19, 1919 in the village of Ust-Yarul, now Irbeysky district, Krasnoyarsk Territory, into a peasant family. Graduated from the 2nd year of the Kansk Agricultural College, flying club. He served in the Red Army since 1939. In 1940 he graduated from the Bataysk military aviation school. Since June 1941 - at the front.

The pilots of the regiment, in which the first Heroes of the Soviet Union served during the Great Patriotic War, carried out 798 combat missions and conducted 244 air battles, in which they destroyed 38 enemy aircraft. Nikolai Yakovlevich Totmin shot down 3 enemy aircraft and made 63 combat missions. In an air battle near Leningrad on October 23, 1942, Totmin died.

In the village of Ust-Yarul, a street is named after the hero, but in Pskov, which the pilot defended, his name has not yet been immortalized.

In a year, our city will celebrate the 70th anniversary of liberation from the Nazi invaders. The duty of Pskov residents is to perpetuate the name of Hero of the Soviet Union Nikolai Yakovlevich Totmin.

Antonina Sokolova

24.12.1916 - 09.07.1941
Hero of the Soviet Union

Decree dates

1.

08.07.1941

Monuments

Annotation board in St. Petersburg

Z Dorovtsev Stepan Ivanovich - commander of the aviation unit of the 158th aviation fighter regiment (39th fighter aviation division, Northern Front), junior lieutenant.

Born on December 24, 1916 on the Zolotarevka farm in the Semikarakorsky district of the Rostov region in a peasant family. Russian. Member of the Komsomol. Graduated from a tractor-mechanical school. After the family moved to the city of Astrakhan, he got a job in a ship repair shop. Soon Zdorovtsev passed the exams to become a longboat mechanic and went to work first at the Chapaevsky fishery, and then as a longboat mechanic at OSVOD - the Society for Promotion of the Development of Water Transport and the Protection of People's Lives on waterways.

Soon Zdorovtsev was promoted to the position of head of the city rescue station OSVOD. The station needed divers, and Zdorovtsev enrolled in diver courses. In February 1937, he was sent to study at the Astrakhan Aero Club, from which he graduated at the end of the same year, officially receiving the title of diver.

In the Red Army since 1938. He graduated from the Stalingrad Military Aviation School in October 1940. Together with his classmate M.P. Zhukov sent Zdorovtsev to serve in the 158th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Leningrad Military District, based at the Kresty airfield in the city of Pskov. There he especially carefully began to practice aerial shooting techniques. Noticing the abilities of junior lieutenant Zdorovtsev, the command sent him to the city of Pushkin for a course for flight commanders. The training ended for Zdorovtsev with participation in an air parade over Palace Square in Leningrad.

In the early morning of June 22, 1941, the 158th Fighter Aviation Regiment was alerted. Several days passed in continuous flights of the duty units. Our troops retreated across the Western Dvina River. The fighters protected the cities of Pskov, Ostrov and the communications of our troops’ approach to the front line from attacks by fascist aviation. In the first battles, Zdorovtsev established himself as a courageous and talented fighter pilot.

On June 27, 1941, junior lieutenant Zdorovtsev flew out to intercept an enemy aircraft flying in the direction of our airfield. Having discovered a fascist bomber, Zdorovtsev attacked it, came close from above and fired a long burst. The enemy plane, engulfed in flames, flew to the ground like a stone. This was Zdorovtsev's first victory.

On June 28, 1941, a group of our fighters patrolled over the city of Ostrov. Soon 10 German Ju-88 bombers appeared in the sky, accompanied by ME-109 fighters. Our fighters entered the battle and prevented the fascist bombers from approaching the city. In this air battle, Zdorovtsev completely used up his ammunition. On the way back to his airfield, he encountered an enemy bomber. Not wanting to let the fascist plane pass with impunity, the pilot decided to ram it. While revving up the engine, Zdorovtsev approached the bomber’s tail from below and cut off the Junkers’ tail unit with a propeller. He managed to keep his damaged I-16 in flight, while the Junkers fell, rolling from wing to wing. The fascist pilots who parachuted out were captured by our infantry. Zdorovtsev landed safely and 2 hours later took off on the same plane for a new mission.

By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of July 8, 1941, for committing an air ram against a junior lieutenant Stepan Ivanovich Zdorovtsev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. He and the pilots P.T. Kharitonov, who carried out the ramming on June 27, and M.P. Zhukov, who carried out the ramming on June 29, 1941, became the first Hero of the Soviet Union in the Great Patriotic War.

On July 9, 1941, fellow soldiers congratulated the Hero on this high rank. After the ceremonial formation, junior lieutenant Zdorovtsev flew out for reconnaissance. On the way back in the Pskov area, he met a group of enemy fighters and engaged them in battle. The forces turned out to be too unequal, and Zdorovtsev died in this battle.

On the Volga, a passenger ship was named after the Hero; in Astrakhan and Volgograd, streets were named after him. In 1975, a street in the city of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) was named after the Hero. A monument to the Hero was erected in the city of Astrakhan. It is also worn by schools in many localities across the country.

By order of the Minister of Defense of the USSR, S.I. Zdorovtsev was forever included in the lists of the military unit.

Awarded the Order of Lenin.

The country's beloved brave men,

I want to take a closer look

The hero has a simple face.

Semyon Kirsanov.

Introduction

The history of the Air Force (Air Force) is rich in many glorious and heroic pages. Over the past 100 years, Russian aviation has become truly legendary. Already during the First World War, during the tests of the Great Patriotic War, Russian pilots fully demonstrated their skill and courage in air battles and fulfilled the tasks assigned to them with honor. The winged defenders of the Fatherland, designers and engineers, technicians and workers of the aviation industry have always been the embodiment of courage and skill, talent and hard work. The names of the best of them have become national and world treasures.And we can rightfully be proud that the Vologda region has made a significant contribution to the creation of the domestic aerospace empire.

Tamara Spivak, in a historical and literary narrative about the participation of Vologda residents in the formation and development of domestic aviation, writes about the heroism of Vologda pilots:

“Whatever you say, the word “first” carries a special magical energy. You say it, and something will definitely stir in your soul, as if you have touched something mysterious, unknown. What if this word also refers to your father’s land!?

… Who was the first to receive the title of Hero of the Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War? Do you remember?.. With difficulty?.. Yes, of course, these were pilots of the 158th Fighter Aviation Regiment, junior lieutenants Pyotr Kharitonov, Stepan Zdorovtsev and our fellow countryman, a native of the Cherepovets region, Mikhail Zhukov.”

It is necessary to know the names of famous fellow countrymen. We strive for this. Quite recently, our school was named after the famous pilot, Twice Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Fedorovich Klubov, and a museum was opened, where many exhibits related to aviation were collected. I would like to make my contribution and present material about another of our fellow countrymen, fighter pilot M.P. Zhukov.

The purpose of this work is to study the life and battle path M.P. Zhukova.

Research objectives:

Consider the formation of the personality of M.P. Zhukov in the pre-war years.

To trace the formation of the worldview of the Soviet patriot.

Study reviews about the pilot in the press (in journalism, memoirs, poetry).

Systematize information about the hero obtained in the museum of the Shukhobod Basic Secondary School.

Main part

Formation of the hero's personality

And there is a gnawing, consuming anxiety: will the unrecognized ones really go into oblivion?

T. Spivak

In the first days of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the whole country learned about the heroic feat of three pilots: Stepan Zdorovtsev, Pyotr Kharitonov and Mikhail Zhukov, who for the first time in the history of air combat rammed enemy aircraft and were the first in the Great Patriotic War to be awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

On July 10, 1941, the Pravda newspaper wrote:“These are the first order bearers of the Holy Patriotic War of the Soviet peoples against the bloody dogs of fascism. As soon as the telegraph and radio spread throughout the country the Decree on the first heroes of the Patriotic War, the names of the Heroes of the Soviet Union Stepan Zdorovtsev, Mikhail Zhukov, Pyotr Kharitonov became popular and loved... This is how ordinary Soviet people fight and win, knowing no fear in the fight, the proud sons of our winged people. They multiply their skill and courage and beat the enemy, mercilessly bringing down tons of steel on him, destroying him in the air."

A native of the Cherepovets region, fighter pilot M.P. Zhukov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on July 8, 1941, for ramming a fascist bomber in the skies of Leningrad.

Mikhail was born on November 10, 2017 in the village of Ruzhbovo, Vologda Region, into a large peasant family. Russian.

The museum collections of Cherepovets contain several photographs depicting the family of Hero of the Soviet Union Mikhail Zhukov. Here is his mother, Anna Matveevna, along with the still very young Misha and his older brother Semyon. The photo was taken in Yaroslavl, where Mikhail Zhukov worked for some time at a local tire factory.

In 1930 he graduated from a rural primary school in the village. Cover.

Then he studied at junior high school in the village. Abakanovo.

In 1931 he entered the Shukhobod vocational school, from which he graduated with honors in 1933. As a bonus, he was given all the instruments he had made during his internship.

In January 1934 he was sent to the Leningrad School of New Apprenticeship Builders.

Since September of the same year he worked as a mechanic at the Yaroslavl tire plant. At the same time, he studied at the FZU at the rubber-asbestos plant. After graduating from FZU, he received the 4th category (the highest for students) and went to work in the electrical shop of a tire factory.

Sunday at the construction of a rubber plant. 1929

In the fall of 1936, he was sent to the flying club on a Komsomol ticket.

Installed on the building that housed the Yaroslavl flying club

From a young age, Mikhail harbored in his heart the dream of becoming a pilot. It was a heroic time. Soviet people set unprecedented labor records, built factories, power plants and railways, mastered the sea and air...

Zhukov came to the Yaroslavl flying club. He studied diligently and looked closely at everything. When he made his first independent flight, the dream began to become reality, and Mikhail entered the Stalingrad Aviation School. He was awarded the rank of junior lieutenant.

In October 1940 he graduated from the Stalingrad Military Aviation School. At the school he mastered the R-5, UTI-4, I-16 aircraft.

I-16 fighter in flight

In the Red Army (Workers' and Peasants' Red Army) since November 1938

He took part in the Great Patriotic War from June 1941. He served as a pilot in the 3rd squadron of the 158th air defense fighter regiment. Participated in the defense of Leningrad.

"The Road of Life" in April 1942. Aviation covers the vehicles going to Leningrad (picture from the historical and literary narrative about the participation of Vologda residents in the formation and development of domestic aviation, about the heroism of Vologda pilots... T. Spivak)

On June 23, 1941 at 11:00 he made his first combat flight.

The first meeting with the enemy took place on June 23, the second day of the war. Zhukov was patrolling over the airfield. The river glittered below, and a long military column was moving across the bridge, heading towards the front.

And the enemy was already creeping up, hiding in the clouds. Mikhail Zhukov was high in the sky, but still managed to see a black shadow flashing below him - the fascist was flying towards the bridge with a load of bombs.

Zhukov threw his car at the enemy. The enemy plane is getting closer and closer. A swastika, similar to a spider, is already visible. And Mikhail’s hand fell on the trigger of the machine gun. The Junkers (German Ju-88 bomber) met Zhukov with a shower of tracer bullets, and a duel ensued. “Just don’t miss!” - thought Zhukov. After all, this was the first time he had seen the enemy so close. The metal casing was streaked with bullet holes. The enemy could not stand it, wavered, abruptly went into a dive, trying to escape pursuit. Thus began a tense combat routine for the young pilot.

They usually say: mastery comes with age. Mikhail Zhukov and his comrades did not have much time to master the science of winning. It was necessary to beat the enemy now, today. And, meeting in the air with Junkers and Heinkels, Zhukov looked closely at the habits of the fascist aces, studied their tactics, and looked for vulnerabilities. Already in the first days of the war, he knew that it was best to hit the Junkers from below, which the armored fascist was mortally afraid of...

On June 27, 1941, a fascist bomber was rammed by Zhukov’s colleague, junior lieutenant Kharitonov.

On June 28, 1941, another pilot of the 158th Fighter Aviation Regiment, junior lieutenant Zdorovtsev, carried out a ramming attack.

On June 29, 1941, Mikhail Zhukov was on duty at the airfield. At 5:40 a.m. twelve enemy bombers appeared over the airfield.”Ju-88”. As part of eight I-16 fighters under the command of Lieutenant V. Iozitsa, Zhukov flew out to intercept. The Junkers walked without cover: at that time they were too confident in their superiority, in their invulnerability in the air. After all, they were long and persistently drummed into it: “The Slavs will never understand anything in an air war - this is a weapon of powerful people, a German form of combat” [T. Spivak]

With a decisive attack, our fighters disrupted the formation of enemy aircraft. They began to randomly drop bombs and turn towards their territory. But one bomber decided to quietly break through to the airfield and drop bombs on it...

Mikhail Zhukov sent his car into one attack after another. But now all the ammunition has been used up. And then the brave pilot went to ram. He literally landed on an enemy bomber, but it dodged him, and Zhukov could not catch the fascist vulture, although Mikhail’s fighter was constantly hanging over the tail of the enemy aircraft. Just as Zhukov was about to hit the bomber with a propeller or plane, it was descending. A wave of a nearby explosion threw Zhukov's car up, but he continued to pursue the enemy. Flight commander Gorbachevsky was flying slightly ahead, and Lieutenant Fedorenko was on the left. Mikhail felt confident next to such friends.

A.I.Gorbachevsky IN AND. Fedorenko

Lake Pskov sparkled ahead. The German pilot descended almost to the water itself. Zhukov “crowded” him even more tightly. Moving away from a possible ram, the fascist completely pressed the car to the surface of the water and his plane buried its nose in the lake. Zhukov leveled his I-16 and returned to his airfield. This was his third combat mission.

At the airfield, Mikhail Petrovich said to his military friends:

- As for the ram, I think so, you shouldn’t be surprised. Technology is technology, and in war you must be able to fight hand-to-hand. Ramming is like hand-to-hand combat in the air.

Memories of M. Zhukov

Aviation Major General Pokryshev recalls: “I remember those days well... Our regiment was then based not far from Pskov. It was a difficult time. As soon as one group of fascist planes flew away, another appeared. You can imagine the tension of the situation if, for example, on June twenty-eighth the pilots of our regiment participated in twenty group air battles. So these days you could see all sorts of tricks. And not provided for by the charters either. Like a battering ram, for example...

Mikhail Zhukov acted with the same courage and determination as his comrades Stepan Zdorovtsev and Pyotr Kharitonov. Just like them, when the ammunition ran out, he rushed at the enemy to ram his plane, and that is why his actions deserved such high praise. This is equivalent to throwing at the embrasure of a pillbox. It happened that the heroes remained alive, but this did not make their feat any less significant. ».

Air Chief Marshal Novikov recalls: “Mikhail Zhukov pursued his enemy... and overtook him only over Lake Pskov... The bomber crashed into the water .

The exploits of the Leningrad pilots showed that even our youth, which had not yet been fired upon, not only did not flinch before an experienced enemy, but in the very first days of the war began to beat him. This meant that the moral factor was and remained our faithful ally.

A day or two after the ramming attacks of Zdorovtsev and Zhukov, I reported to the commander of the Northern Front troops, M.M. Popov and A.A. Zhdanov (member of the Military Council of the front) about three fellow soldiers and proposed to nominate them for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

On the same day, only a little later, Zhdanov called Moscow in my presence and reported to I.V. Stalin about the heroes of Leningrad. Stalin supported our idea of ​​rewarding distinguished pilots. No documents about this were preserved in the archives; they simply did not exist. Zhdanov’s conversation with Stalin and a telegram to Headquarters replaced the usual award sheets ».

In a documentary essay by Valentin Vikulov entitled “One of the First,” published in the Kommunist newspaper in 1975, an excerpt from a letter from the head of the archives of the USSR Ministry of Defense Korenyak is given:« On June 29, 1941, the regiment's pilots repelled numerous attempts by enemy aircraft to attack the Retuppe station and the city of Pskov. On this day, junior lieutenant Zhukov especially distinguished himself in air battles. Having no ammunition, he pursued the enemy bomber, simulated attacks and pressed until he drove it into Lake Pskov » .

07/08/41, junior lieutenant Mikhail Petrovich Zhukov was awarded the rankHero of the Soviet Union. He was awarded a medal " Golden Star» No. 542 .

Fellow soldiers congratulate M.P. Zhukov with awarding him the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. July 1941.

The battle was hot that July morning. Tired and excited, Mikhail Zhukov smoothly landed his plane and taxied almost to the very forest where the combat vehicles were hiding. “I’ll go straight to the lake. I need to take a swim and relieve myself of fatigue,” the pilot thought and quickly got out of the cockpit. But his comrades were running across the field towards him, and the junior lieutenant lingered near the plane. And the friends, shouting something joyfully, ran up to Zhukov and began to rock him. When he finally set foot on the ground, his friends congratulated Mikhail:

- With the awarding of the title of Hero...

- The Decree was broadcast on the radio...

- Congratulations! We are proud...

The comrades sincerely and wholeheartedly shook the pilot’s hand. The cars of Zdorovtsev and Kharitonov appeared on the horizon.

- All three of you have been awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union,” said flight commander Gorbachevsky and, following the others, ran to the planes taxiing to the parking lot.

Zhukov saw how the pilots grabbed Zdorovtsev and Kharitonov in their arms and began to pump them too...

Mikhail wanted to be alone. He did not go to the lake, but sat on the edge of the airfield and thought. I thought about how I wanted to have wings to soar above the earth, and, proud and happy, I received these wings. And he remembered his entire short, twenty-four-year life...

Zdorovtsev, Kharitonov, Zhukov!

The whole country embraces you!

And everyone from grandfathers to grandchildren,

They repeat native names.

Let the ranks of heroes multiply,

Let in our stormy days

Everyone fights like these three,

And they win like them!

The poet Alexander Prokofiev, the author of the words of the famous song “Comrade”, also dedicated his poems to Zhukov’s feat:

Wherever the enemy meets on the way

And no matter what he does,

Don't let me leave, don't let me leave -

This is the military law.

The second law was given by the country,

Like the first one, it's good:

Repay the enemy in full for everything,

Break and destroy!

And Zhukov on his military journey

I knew these laws

Overtook the enemy, did not let him escape -

And drove it into the lake!

Leningrad military journalist A.V. Burov interviewed the hero. He found the pilot at his "hawk", who had just returned from a combat mission. Brown eyes, black hair, dark, courageous face. Broad-shouldered, stately. The pilot said:

Our old mother is alone now. Brothers Alexander and Pavel are in the Active Army. Afanasy and Ivan have experience of the civil war and also fight the enemy. Little brothers Semyon and Timofey, of course, do not sit at home - they are both of military age. It turns out there are six, I am the seventh. And the eighth, Evdokia, is a nurse.

Having learned that her son had been awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union, the pilot’s 64-year-old mother, a collective farmer from the distant Cherepovets village of Ruzhbovo, Anna Matveevna Zhukova, wrote on the pages of “Red Star”:

"...Dear and beloved Misha! I give you an order: continue to smash the fascist dogs just as fearlessly and courageously... And I say to other sons: my dear, beloved, defend every inch of Soviet land, fight the damned enemy to the last drop of blood! .."

About him, or rather about them, because from that time on their names became inseparable, not only were they written, not only broadcast on the radio. They were talked about in regiments and squadrons. They discussed, argued, tried on their feat for themselves...

The fascists also did not remain silent about the battering rams. They declared this method of destroying the enemy a “barbaric” method of warfare, a method of the “doomed.” Apparently, they needed these statements in order to justify their own fear of the ram. The history of the Great Patriotic War does not know a single case in which a German pilot deliberately and purposefully carried out a ramming attack. Moreover, faced with such an incomprehensible phenomenon as a ram, German pilots subsequently tried to avoid approaching our fighters at a distance of less than one hundred meters. The reasons for such enemy behavior in air combat were reflected upon years after the war by Chief Marshal of Aviation, twice Hero of the Soviet Union A.A. Novikov. "I think,” he wrote, “that the reason here is not the lack of fighting qualities of the enemy. The matter is much more subtle. Hitler's pilots, especially their old, well-trained cadres, were not timid. And at important targets, such as Leningrad or Moscow, the fascist German command did not throw yellow-throated chicks, but seasoned and experienced pilots, confident in themselves and in their technology. But courage is different from courage... »

Needless to say, the courage of the fascists was the courage of professional killers. They destroyed their enemy in order to gain dominance, and therefore the main thing for them was the preservation of their own lives. Soviet soldiers defended their land, their fathers and children in that war. For the sake of destroying the conquerors, they were ready to sacrifice their lives.

Ramming in the sky as a type of manifestation of heroism and selflessness is a purely Russian phenomenon [T. Spivak].

Well-deserved award

The 39th Fighter Aviation Division, in which Mikhail Zhukov served, guarded the approaches to Leningrad, the “Road of Life” through the Shlisselburg Bay of Lake Ladoga, and the Volkhov Hydroelectric Power Station, the only power plant that supplied Leningrad with electricity. They escorted transport planes that delivered ammunition, medicine, and food to the city, and brought back the wounded, children, and the elderly. They escorted attack aircraft, covered ports and other important facilities, and fought fierce battles with enemy aircraft.

09/03/1941 Zhukov won another victory - he shot down a multi-purpose twin-engine aircraft Me-110.

On 10/22/41, about thirty enemy ships with an infantry landing went to Ladoga in order to capture the island with a surprise attack. Suho, located in the southeastern part of the lake and held by a small garrison of Soviet soldiers. By capturing the island, the enemy intended to cut off Ladoga communications and thereby disrupt Leningrad's connection with the eastern regions of the country.

Having received a radio message about an enemy landing, the command of the Leningrad Front scrambled several squadrons of attack aircraft. The actions of the attack aircraft were covered by fighters.

For half an hour, the attack aircraft ironed out the fascist infantry and bombed enemy ships. Seventeen self-propelled ships and barges were on fire. More than twenty enemy aircraft were shot down in the air battle.

In this battle, Lieutenant Zhukov shot down one enemy fighter personally, and the second in the group. And, in addition, he made four attacks to attack enemy ships and infantry.

On December 3, 1941, near Cape Osinovets, he shot down two enemy aircraft. And in total, on this day, over the “Road of Life,” pilots of the 158th Fighter Aviation Regiment shot down 8 enemy aircraft.

For excellent actions during the defeat of the Finnish landing force on Lake Ladoga, Lieutenant Zhukov was awardedOrder of the Red Banner .

At the beginning of May 1942, Mikhail Zhukov had a chance to visit Yaroslavl. He met with friends and spoke at a regional meeting of all-training fighters. The hero called on young patriots to strengthen their assistance to the front, acquire military knowledge, and devote all their strength to the cause of victory.

Returning to the regiment, he continued his combat work.

In a photograph from 1942, Zhukov with the Hero Star on his jacket, surrounded by Vologda party and Komsomol workers. This is one of the last pictures. At the beginning of the 43rd, sad news will come to the Vologda region.

06.26.42 Zhukov took part in repelling a massive raid on the Volkhov hydroelectric power station.

56 Ju-88 bombers, covered by 9 Me-109 and 3 Me-110 fighters, launched a massive raid on Volkhovstroy, trying to destroy the main energy base of Leningrad. Sergei Litavrin, Mikhail Zhukov, Ilya Shishkan, Grigory Medvedev, Yuri Golovach, Pyotr Shestakov, Panteley Vysotsky, Ivan Plekhanov, Alexander Kanin, Grigory Bogomazov flew out to meet the fascist armada. They cut through all nine enemies, shot down 13 fascist planes, and did not lose a single car or pilot! The battle lasted 1 hour 10 minutes!

The pilots were already landing when they received a new order from the air division commander:

18 Junkers-88 aircraft are heading to Volkhovstroy. Attack them!

There was almost no ammunition, but the pilots carried out this order - the Nazis did not go to the hydroelectric station. Our pilots simulated attacks, frightened the enemies with the ghost of a ram, and dispersed them!..

In the book of Yaroslavl writers “Stalin’s Tribe” it is written: “The life of Mikhail Zhukov - usual life young man Stalin era. The Zhukov family is a wonderful family of Soviet patriots. Seven brothers and one sister from the family of Cherepovets peasant Pyotr Ermolaevich Zhukov are at the front, fighting a cruel, insidious enemy. A true family of Russian “heroes”.

In a combat description dated December 31, 1943, the commander of the 2nd air squadron, Captain Drevyatnikov, wrote to Mikhail Zhukov: “During the war, he carried out 259 combat sorties, of which 50 were to escort bombers, 5 attack aircraft, 167 to cover his troops, airfields and facilities. He took part in 47 air battles, in which he shot down 3 bombers personally and in a group, an Me-109 fighter and a bomber. In air battles he showed himself to be courageous, decisive, with a high sense of mutual assistance.”

01/12/43In the morning, at the very beginning of the breakthrough of the blockade of Leningrad, the flight commander of the same regiment (13th Air Army, Leningrad Front) Senior Lieutenant M.P. Zhukov, consisting of 4 fighters, covered the advancing ground forces in the Mga - Upper Dubrovka area. Above the village of Moskovskaya Dubrovka, the group entered into battle with 9 German fighters. At the height of the battle, his Kittyhawk's gas tank was hit by an enemy shell. An almost burnt-out fighter crashed into a snowy field...

In total, Senior Lieutenant Zhukov made 263 combat missions, conducted 66 air battles, shot down 9 aircraft personally and 5 in a group.

01/20/43 He was awarded for courage and heroismOrder of the Patriotic War, 1st degree posthumously .

Memorable places

The courageous image of Mikhail Zhukov will never be erased in the memory of Yaroslavl residents. A street in Yaroslavl was named after him in 1948. The hero is forever included in the list of workers of the Order of Lenin and October revolution Yaroslavl Tire Plant and the Plant's Book of Honor. A memorial plaque was installed on the building of GPTU-7, where M.P. Zhukov studied, and in 1974 a bronze bust of the hero was erected in the school park. A bust of the Hero was also installed at school No. 3, whose Komsomol organization bore his name for many years.

The memory of M.P. Zhukov is also immortalized in his homeland: in the village of Abakanovo, the village of Shukhobod, in school No. 14 in the city of Cherepovets, whose pioneer squad was awarded his name.

We managed to contact the Shukhobod secondary school, whose students have been collecting materials about their legendary fellow countryman for many years. The school has created a museum that houses unique documents, including correspondence between school students and M. Zhukov’s sister, memories of his friends and classmates, a certificate from the Ministry of Defense about awards and assigned ranks, and a death notice. This is the most valuable material that can serve as the basis for our next research work. The significance of such work is undeniable, because the name of the hero should be known to the younger generation, his life and feat are an example of selfless service to his people. It is also necessary to take into account the fact that the latest publications in the regional press dedicated to Mikhail Zhukov date back to February 1974 (article “Brave Falcon”) and 1975 (correspondence of 1941).

Museum of Military Glory. Shukhobod school

Conclusion

The Great Patriotic War is moving further and further away from us, but it is not diminishing in memory; on the contrary, the greatness of this woeful era is growing. Our memory of the Great Patriotic War becomes more and more significant over the years: time allows us to see the results of the feat more deeply and broadly Soviet people in the battle against fascism. The Great Patriotic War was the most difficult test for our country. A test of everything: man, technology, economics, science, the Armed Forces, for which history has allocated 1418 days and nights. And there was not a single “easy” day among them. Therefore, the exploits of Soviet soldiers performed during the Great Patriotic War will never be forgotten.

Son of his Motherland!

Hero and patriot!

As in your courage,

Character and strength

Naturally and simply appears

National dignity of Russia!

Vladimir Soloviev

List of sources used

Spivak T.O. Winged courage. Publishing house "Grifon", Vologda, 2007, - p. 224, illus.

Archive of the Museum of Military Glory of the Municipal Educational Institution "Shukhobod Basic Educational School"

In preparing the research work, materials from the funds were used: Patriotic Internet project "Heroes of the Country", .

Application

Correspondence with the hero's sister

Severe trials befell the ancient Russian city, which wrote new bright pages in its centuries-old history during the Great Patriotic War.

In the aggressive plans of Nazi Germany, Leningrad occupied a special place, for the capture of which Army Group North was intended. It was faced with the task of striking from East Prussia in the direction of Daugavpils, Ostrov, Pskov and, after a short time, capturing Leningrad. In total, 42 enemy divisions with a total number of 725 thousand soldiers and officers, armed with tanks, aircraft, and guns - more than 30% of the forces and means intended for the invasion of the Soviet Union - operated in the Leningrad direction.

Hitler's Germany, having treacherously attacked the USSR, sought to inflict as heavy damage on it as possible, seize the initiative and end the war in its favor as soon as possible. But the plan for a “lightning war” began to collapse from the very first days of Hitler’s invasion. Despite the unequal conditions and difficult circumstances, soviet soldiers boldly and decisively entered into battle with superior enemy forces and stubbornly defended every inch of land in fierce battles. The enemy encountered stubborn resistance in the Siauliai-Liepaja and Vilnius directions, where Soviet soldiers sought to detain him in the first days of the war. However, the enemy’s advantage in manpower and equipment was so great that they could not stop his advance deeper into Soviet territory through courage and self-sacrifice alone.

After leaving the Baltic states, Pskov became the first major Russian city who took the enemy's blow. The Nazi command gave it a special place, calling it “the key to the front doors of Leningrad”: after Pskov, on the way to Leningrad there was no longer such a large settlement and an important railway junction as the ancient city was.

Following the events that unfolded in the North-Western theater of military operations, the People's Commissariat of Defense on June 26, 1941 demanded that the Pskov-Ostrovsky fortified line along the old state border be put on alert. Its defensive structures were mothballed or dismantled after the annexation of the Baltic States in 1940. Construction work began here on June 28. They employed 9,500 military builders and 25,000 mobilized residents of Pskov and surrounding areas every day. Construction defensive lines was a huge school of courage for the Pskovites, a test of their fortitude. Participants in the work were subjected to almost continuous bombing and machine-gun fire from Nazi aircraft.

The construction of defensive facilities, as well as the flow of trains with military cargo, and the troop locations were covered by Soviet pilots based at the Pskov airfield of the 39th Fighter Air Division. In those days, its pilots were among the first to carry out aerial rams in the Pskov sky. On June 28, this feat was accomplished by junior lieutenants P.T. Kharitonov and S.I. Zdorovtsev, and on June 29 by junior lieutenant M.P. Zhukov. The uniqueness of these rams was that all the pilots managed to save their combat vehicles and returned to the airfield. On July 8, 1941, the first decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was signed during the war years, awarding these three pilots the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

M.P. Zhukov died in 1943 near Nevskaya Dubrovka, defending Leningrad, and P.T. Kharitonov managed to see the Victory over Nazi Germany. With the assistance of the Defense Committee of the State Duma and with funds raised in Moscow and Pskov, a monument to these Heroes and the first Decree was built and opened on July 22, 2005 in Kresty - in front of the Pskov military airfield. The exploits of P.T. Kharitonov, S.I. Zdorovtsev and M.P. Zhukov became an example for many other pilots. Soon after them, an air ram in the sky near Pskov was carried out by N.Ya. Totmin, who was also awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

The aviators were the first to take on the enemy's attack near Pskov. From June 30, 1941, front-line ground reserves began to concentrate on the line of defense in the Pskov-Ostrovsky fortified area, which entered into battle with the enemy from the beginning of July. Particularly fierce battles, full of examples of courage and heroism, unfolded on July 3-6. The enemy lost up to 140 tanks, a lot of other equipment and manpower. Soviet pilots During the fighting, they made 74 combat missions, dropping hundreds of bombs on the enemy. On July 4, pilot L.V. Mikhailov shot down two enemy planes in one of the battles, and sent his damaged vehicle into an enemy tank column. This was one of the first feats of this kind during the war. For him, L.V. Mikhailov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on July 22, 1941. Among the commanders who led the troops in these battles were the commander of the 27th Army N.E. Berzarin, the future first military commandant of Berlin, and the commander of the 28th tank division I.D. Chernyakhovsky, future army general, commander of the 3rd Belorussian Front. Soldiers of the 9th Pskov border detachment of the NKVD, led by senior political instructor D.T. Dyadishchev, who died on July 3, 1941, also took part in the battles.

The fighting on the Pskov-Ostrovsky line delayed the enemy’s advance for a while, but the incomplete construction of the fortifications and the enemy’s superiority in forces forced the soldiers of the North-Western Front to retreat again. However, with stubborn defense they again sought to stop the enemy’s advance directly to Pskov. Not far from the city, on July 7, 1941, one of the first major tank battles in the history of the war took place, in which about 100 tanks took part on the Soviet side, and at least 250 on the enemy side. The enemy suffered significant damage: he lost several dozen tanks and armored vehicles . Several more vehicles were destroyed in the immediate vicinity of Pskov, near the Cheryokha River.

In 1974, during the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the liberation of Pskov, the remains of an unknown soldier who fell on the battlefield on July 9, 1941 near the village of Batkovichi, not far from Pskov, on the Velikaya River, were reburied on the city’s Victory Square. Probably, the soldier was left to cover fire for his retreating comrades (that’s why he had no documents). And when this courageous warrior, having fulfilled his duty to the end, was preparing to swim across the river, enemy bullets overtook him. He died from severe wounds in the hands of the villagers, who buried the soldier here, on the banks of the Velikaya River. Now on his grave in Pskov there is a monument with the inscription “Your feat is immortal” and the Eternal Flame, lit from the Eternal Flame on the Field of Mars in Leningrad, is burning.

It is impossible not to note the role in the defense of the city of the first volunteer formations of Pskov residents - fighter battalions, local air defense detachments, guarding the most important objects, extinguishing fires that broke out in the city after enemy air raids, fighting against saboteurs and enemy landings. The staff of the Pskov railway junction worked hard to ensure the evacuation of property and valuable cargo. Only in the period from July 3 to July 8, 1941 from the city to eastern regions countries (Volga region, Urals, Siberia), 1,457 wagons of cargo were exported (values ​​of the State Bank, equipment of industrial enterprises, cultural values and etc.). Trains were often formed under bomb attacks from enemy aircraft, on destroyed tracks.

As the threat of the capture of Pskov increased, the Soviet command, trying to once again delay the enemy, decided to blow up all bridges across the Velikaya and its tributaries. By July 8, all road bridges covering the approaches to the city were blown up. Only the railway bridge was preserved, which was guarded by a group of seven sappers of the 50th road battalion of the 1st mechanized corps under the leadership of junior lieutenant S.G. Baykov.

In these anxious moments, when the enemy tried to break into the city on the shoulders of retreating Soviet soldiers, the sappers-demolitionists performed a heroic feat. The bridge was already mined, but retreating soldiers of the 41st Rifle Corps were crossing it. In the event of an immediate explosion of the bridge, a significant part of them would have remained on the left bank of the Velikaya River and would inevitably have been captured, so they delayed the explosion until the last minute. Finally, at about 4 p.m., the order to explode was received. But at this time, the sappers saw that a Soviet artillery division was fighting its way to the bridge. Baikov decided to let him through and then blow up the bridge. The artillerymen crossed (all this happened under enemy artillery fire), but after them German tanks and motorcycles rushed to the bridge. The matter was decided in seconds. An attempt to blow up the bridge using a blasting machine failed (the electrical wires were broken). Then the sappers, together with the commander, rushed to the bridge and used grenades as detonators. The bridge, along with the enemy vehicles that burst onto it, collapsed into the water. For this feat, S.G. Baykov was the first among the soldiers of engineering units to be posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of March 16, 1942), all other soldiers were awarded the Order of Lenin. One of the city streets is named after Baikov. For a long time, all the fighters of his group were considered killed in the explosion, as was the commander. However, the fate of four of them turned out to be happy: they survived that memorable day, continued to fight the enemy, and after the end of the war they returned to the Pskov region and received the well-deserved awards that had long been awaiting them.

The sapper soldiers repeated the feat that was accomplished not far from this place by the commander of the 2nd company of the 4th mine demolition division, A.A. Chetsulin, during the civil war, when the interventionists and White Guards were rushing to Petrograd in the spring of 1919. To delay them, the miners destroyed the railway bridge, and in the meantime enemy armored cars entered the Olginsky Bridge. The miners assigned to blow up the bridge did not manage to do it in time. Then the company commander rushed to the bridge and blew it up. The hero died, but the bridge he destroyed stopped the advance of the interventionists for three days and allowed Red Army units to organize defense on the rear lines.

The explosion of bridges in 1941 also did not allow the enemy to immediately break into Pskov. The stubborn defense of the city delayed its advance for another day, which allowed the command to gain some time, so precious in that difficult time. Then the enemy bypassed Pskov from the east and its tank formations rushed to Luga. Soviet troops, under the threat of encirclement on July 9, 1941, were forced to leave the city.

The defense of the Pskov-Ostrovsky fortified line and Pskov itself was an important link in the battle for Leningrad on the distant approaches to it and contributed to the disruption of the Nazis’ plans to quickly capture it. Ensuring the withdrawal of the main forces of the 27th Army after leaving Pskov, soldiers of the 111th Infantry Division fought bravely to the north. The division commander, Colonel I.M. Ivanov, at the head of one of the divisions, organized the defense in locality Maramorka near Pskov on Leningradskoye Highway. Soon German machine gunners on motorcycles appeared, and Soviet soldiers opened fire on them. The motorcyclists began to retreat, but motorized infantry came to their aid. A fierce fight ensued. Enemy attacks followed one after another, they were supported from the air by aviation, then German tanks approached the battlefield. They opened fire on the soldiers, who fought an unequal battle with the enemy until the last opportunity. The surviving small group of fighters led by the division commander, firing back, tried to retreat to the forest. But enemy fire destroyed one warrior after another, one of the last to be killed was Colonel I.M. Ivanov. Now there is a monument near the village with the inscription: “Here are buried the commander of the 111th Infantry Division, Colonel Ivan Mikhailovich Ivanov, and 40 soldiers, sergeants and officers who died in battles with the Nazi invaders in July 1941.”

The border guards also continued to fight the enemy. In total, up to 180 people died on the approaches to Pskov and to the north; A monument was erected to them in the village of Ludoni.

Despite the retreat from Pskov and the losses suffered by the Soviet troops, they did not allow Army Group North to defeat them in the northwestern theater of operations. Moreover, with stubborn defense they stopped the fascists on the distant approaches to Leningrad. On July 19, 1941, Hitler’s command had to give the order to Army Group North to stop the attack on Leningrad, go on the defensive, put its troops in order, regroup them, and only then resume the offensive. This time was used by Soviet troops to organize better defense at the Luga and then at the Pulkovo line. Ultimately, the plan to capture Leningrad was thwarted. In its defense at the distant approaches, the battles near Pskov were also important.

But ancient Pskov found itself occupied by the Nazi invaders for three whole years, fully experiencing all the hardships of the “new order”, the main means of which was mass, unlimited terror. Pskov has become a truly long-suffering city. He was one of the first Russian cities to be occupied, and one of the last to be liberated, having survived the longest Nazi occupation compared to others. In addition, the occupation regime was the most difficult here, since during all these years the city was the closest front-line rear, the permanent base for the deployment of Nazi troops.

Through bloody terror, violence, robberies, and ideological indoctrination of the population, the Nazis hoped to break the will of the Pskov residents to resist. However, already in the summer of 1941, various forms of popular resistance began to unfold in the city and its environs, becoming more widespread and active. In this regard, the Pskovites were in many ways the first in Leningrad region(Pskov at that time was part of the Leningrad region), developing and testing in practice the most appropriate types of resistance and methods of organizing them. Thus, already at the end of July 1941, three partisan detachments with a total number of 120 people began to operate near Pskov. They were commanded by the head of the military department of the Pskov city committee of the CPSU (b) I.A. Tarabanov, the head of the city police department V.N. Shubnikov and the border guard commander A.G. Kazantsev. They were one of the first partisan detachments in the Leningrad region and in the occupied territory of the RSFSR as a whole. Subsequently, the partisan movement expanded so much that east of Pskov in September 1941, the first Partisan Region in the history of the Great Patriotic War was formed - a territory liberated from the Nazi invaders, in which Soviet power was restored - a kind of “partisan republic” surrounded by enemy encirclement. The area of ​​the region was 9600 square meters. km; in peacetime there were about 400 villages on its territory. Having existed for a year, the region showed its power partisan movement, the strength of the people who rose to defend the Motherland. Directly in Pskov, already in August 1941, the activities of underground organizations and groups began, led by the Pskov underground city committee and district committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. They were the first in the Leningrad region, as well as in the occupied territory in general, to come to the conclusion that it was necessary to concentrate and unite the efforts of relatively small underground forces to solve the main problems. In November 1941, the Pskov interdistrict underground party center was formed, leading the struggle of the population in Pskov and in three adjacent districts.

It was led by the secretary of the Pskov City Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) A.V. Gushchin. This was the very first inter-district center of underground struggle in the occupied territory of the RSFSR, with which underground organizations and groups of Pskov were associated, led by patriots A.M. Yakovleva, A.I. Rubtsova, S.G. Nikiforov, M.G. Semenov, L.S. Akulov, I.A. Ekimov and others. They operated in a locomotive depot, a power plant, a hospital and other places. Young Pskovites who were not united in groups, for example, students of school No. 1, brothers Anatoly and Valery Molotkov, also joined in the tense and full of mortal danger of the struggle.

The interdistrict underground party center operated for a year and ceased to exist after the death of its main leaders. His experience was taken into account later in other areas. In October 1942, in order to strengthen underground work behind enemy lines, the Leningrad Regional Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, following the example of the Pskovites and finding their experience in organizing underground struggle most appropriate, decided to create 11 inter-district underground centers in the occupied territory of the region, including Pskov, went down in history as the center of the “second formation”. It was headed by the secretary of the Pskov City Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) V.F. Mikhailov; the center led the underground struggle in Pskov and four neighboring regions. The center carried out work to recreate underground organizations and groups, disrupt the activities of the occupiers, sabotage and intelligence activities. The most important thing was

obtaining information about the construction of the Panther defensive line, which provided an invaluable service to the Soviet troops during the attack on Pskov in 1944. Hitler's command also intended to launch V-2 missiles to Leningrad, which had already been delivered to the Pskov area. But the timely information about this transmitted by the Pskov underground to the Leningrad headquarters of the partisan movement allowed Soviet aviation to launch a preemptive strike and destroy the installations of Hitler’s troops. This was another “contribution” of the Pskovites to the heroic defense of Leningrad. The heroic struggle of the Pskovites did not stop until the liberation of the city. Their determination to fight the enemy to the end was well expressed in his song by the Pskov partisan poet I.V. Vinogradov: “We would sooner die than kneel, but we would win sooner than die!”

As a result of the rapid offensive of Soviet troops in January-February 1944 to the south of Leningrad and west of Novgorod, a significant part of the regions of the Pskov Territory was liberated from the invaders. By the end of February, Soviet units reached the approaches to Pskov. Just as in 1941 the Nazis called it “the key to the front doors of Leningrad,” so now it had the most important strategic importance for them, representing the “gate to the Baltic states.” Therefore, in October 1942, the occupiers began construction of the Panther Line, which continued until 1944. “Panther” was part of the “Eastern Wall”, which ran from the Baltic to the Black Sea. After the southern part of this “wall,” codenamed “Wotan,” which ran along the Dnieper, collapsed under the blows of the Red Army in the fall of 1943, Hitler’s command placed high hopes on its northern part, called “Panther.” Deeply echeloned, equipped with dugouts, pillboxes, tanks and guns buried in the ground, barbed wire, anti-tank hedgehogs and gouges, the Panther was supposed to disrupt the advance of the Soviet troops and tightly close the road to the Baltic states. Pskov was surrounded by powerful defensive lines, the last of which ran along the outskirts of the city. The key to the Nazi defense was the Vaulin Mountains, where a whole system of points was created that provided observation of the actions of Soviet troops to a depth of 15 kilometers. The command of Army Group North considered this line of fortifications impregnable.

At the end of February 1944, Soviet troops tried to immediately break through it, but the attempts were unsuccessful. The Nazis put up especially strong resistance north of Pskov - near the Vaulin Mountains, and south of the city - near the Stremutka and Cherskaya stations. These battles were marked by numerous examples of the heroism of Soviet soldiers.

For example, on March 17, 1944, in one of the battles north of Pskov, Private I.S. Korovin closed the embrasure of an enemy bunker with his body and, at the cost of his life, enabled the unit to complete a combat mission. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of March 24, 1945, he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. However, the strong fatigue of the soldiers after a continuous two-month offensive from the walls of Leningrad, fierce enemy resistance, and the approaching spring, which made it difficult for aviation, had an effect. After several unsuccessful attempts at assault, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command decided to suspend the offensive and go on the defensive. On April 18, 1944, the 3rd Baltic Front was formed under the command of Army General I.I. Maslennikov, whose soldiers spent three whole months preparing for the upcoming assault on the Panther fortifications. Combat planning was underway at the headquarters, special training was carried out with the soldiers, armored and mechanized troops were engaged in the restoration of equipment, and pilots were transferring cargo. The Military Council of the 42nd Army issued a special leaflet “Let's liberate Pskov from the fascist yoke” with an appeal to soldiers and officers. “Glorious warriors of our army! - it said. - ...You are on the approaches to the large administrative center of the Leningrad region, an important railway junction - the city of Pskov. Before you is an ancient Russian city, glorified by its centuries-old heroic struggle against the German invaders. Our ancestors, the Pskovites and Novgorodians, led by Alexander Nevsky, defeated the German dog knights on Lake Peipus in 1242. This “Battle on the Ice” forever glorified the power of Russian weapons. Our fathers and older brothers in 1918 near Narva and Pskov completely defeated selected German troops and thereby wrote the first greatest page in history military glory of the young Red Army..."

The offensive resumed on July 17, 1944 and began with a breakthrough of the Panther line south of Pskov. The significance of this event was so great that a salute was given in Moscow in honor of the soldiers of the 3rd Baltic Front who made the breakthrough. This Panther breakthrough meant the beginning of the Pskov-Ostrovskaya offensive operation, during which Pskov was also liberated. The main attack on the city was delivered by the 128th and 376th Infantry Divisions (commanded by Generals D.A. Lukyanov and N.A. Polyakov), which were part of the 42nd Army (commanded by General V.P. Sviridov) of the 3rd Baltic front. Together with them, the formations and units assigned to them - engineering, artillery, sapper and others - acted. The attack was supported by pilots of the 14th Air Army under General I.P. Zhuravlev. The regiments of the 128th Infantry Division attacked Pskov directly and then fought on its streets: the 741st (commander Lieutenant Colonel G.I. Churganov), the 374th (commander Major K.A. Shestak), the 533rd ( commander Lieutenant Colonel N.M. Panin), and from the 376th Infantry Division - the 1250th Regiment (commander Lieutenant Colonel A.I. Glushkov). “Pskov was turned by the enemy into a powerful center of resistance,” reported the commander of the 128th Infantry Division D.A. Lukyanov to the front command. - Machine gun points are installed in the buildings, bunkers and pillboxes are equipped in the foundations of houses. The streets and most of the houses are mined, land mines are installed at intersections...” During the offensive, Red Army soldiers and unit officers showed massive heroism, performing many feats. Thus, scouts V. Zhukov and R. Shaloboda, throwing grenades at the so-called “Klishovsky pillbox,” silenced it and ensured the advancement of the battalion; company commander of the 122nd tank brigade, Lieutenant N. Lugovtsev, destroying with fire and tracks manpower and enemy equipment, paved the way for the infantry; blocking enemy firing points, the company of Lieutenant I. Yadryshnikov broke through the enemy’s defenses, and the battalions of N. Korotaev and V.N. Miroshnichenko captured strong points; Private of the 42nd separate assault engineer battalion N.V. Nikitchenko, under enemy fire, mined the direction in front of the enemy's front line, and during a counterattack of tanks with two anti-tank mines, he rushed under the tank and blew it up. For this feat, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of March 24, 1945, he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

On the afternoon of July 22, 1944, the regiments of the 128th Infantry Division with the units attached to it liberated the central part of Pskov in battle and reached the Velikaya River along its entire length within the city limits. At the same time, the 376th Infantry Division attacked from the north. Having destroyed bridges and crossing facilities, the enemy expected to stay for some time on a wide and deep water line, but on the same day the crossing of the Velikaya River began. At dawn on July 23, 1944, Pskov was completely cleared of Nazi invaders.

By order Supreme Commander-in-Chief units and formations that particularly distinguished themselves during the liberation of the city were given the honorary name “Pskov”: the 128th and 376th rifle divisions, the 52nd Guards separate heavy cannon artillery division, the 122nd mortar and 631st anti-aircraft artillery regiments , 38th separate motorized pontoon-bridge battalion, 85th separate communications regiment. The names of these units and formations were carved on a special stele installed on 23 July Street (so named in memory of the day of the liberation of Pskov). A number of units and their commanders were awarded orders, all soldiers of the 42nd Army were thanked for the capture of Pskov, and a salute was given in Moscow on July 23. In total, 4,244 soldiers and commanders were awarded orders and medals for the liberation of Pskov. The order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief also emphasized the significance of the victory at Pskov for the further course of hostilities: “The troops of the 3rd Baltic Front today, July 23, stormed the city and the large railway junction of Pskov - a powerful stronghold of the German defense, covering the routes to the southern regions of Estonia ...". After breaking the German defense near Pskov, Soviet troops were able to attack the Baltic states.

Thus, in the battles for Pskov, Soviet soldiers increased the glory of the city, won in hundreds of battles and sieges of previous eras.

“Soviet troops captured the city of Pskov by storm,” the Pravda newspaper wrote in an editorial on July 24, 1944, emphasizing the continuity of the feat of the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War and the military achievements of their ancestors. - Honor and glory to the valiant troops of the Third Baltic Front! They had the good fortune to liberate one of the oldest cities in Russia, whose name resurrects in the memory of the Russian people the most glorious pages of its history.

Since ancient times, Pskov has stood as an unshakable outpost of Rus' on its western border. Pskov is memorable to enemies. Armored bandits of German dog-knights were crushed more than once against its stone walls. In fierce battles on the Pskov land, the power of the Livonian Order was cut down to the roots. Pskov regiments, tested in military art, participated in historical battles, in which the united forces of the Slavic peoples dealt the final blow to the Teutonic conquerors - the predecessors of German imperialism.

The old glory of Pskov echoes the new. In the historical battles near Pskov, the Red Army was born in 1918.

And again, as of old, as 26 years ago, near Pskov, the occupiers learned the power of Russian weapons, they learned the anger of the Russian people. But never before have they been beaten as they are now... A wonderful city, the guardian of Russian culture, is again in the family of native cities!”

Over its centuries-old history, Pskov had to participate in 120 wars and withstand 30 sieges, but still the most heroic and tragic moments of its history will forever remain associated with the Great Patriotic War.

Speaking about them, one cannot help but recall the participation of the Pskov residents themselves in achieving Victory in this bloody war. Only in the first days of the war, preceding the abandonment of the city, over 15 thousand Pskovites joined the ranks of the defenders of the Fatherland, hundreds of them joined the active army after the liberation of the city, many of them took part in various forms of anti-fascist resistance. More than 4 thousand natives of Pskov fell on the battlefields, went missing, or became victims of fascist terror. Five Pskov residents became Heroes of the Soviet Union. Two of them - A.V. Timofeev and G.G. Skvortsov - received this title for participation in the war with Finland, M.T. Petrov and V.N. Peshkov - for the heroism shown during the crossing of the Vistula in July 1944, Pilot V.M. Kharitonov, who flew 175 combat missions, also became a hero. Pskovich V.I. Korshunov for heroism shown on the territory of Latvia and in street battles in Berlin, became a full holder of the Order of Glory, A.I. Volkov in the battle near Pulkovo in January 1944 closed the embrasure of an enemy bunker with his body, for which on October 5 In 1944 he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Sergeant M.P. Minin, who was one of the fighters in the banner group of Captain V.N. Makov, hoisted the Red Banner on the roof of Hitler’s Reichstag on April 30, 1945. Separate pages are associated with Pskov military service some outstanding commanders of the Great Patriotic War. In 1925-1930, F.I. Tolbukhin, the future Marshal of the Soviet Union, commander of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, served as chief of staff of the 56th Moscow Rifle Division in Pskov. Another famous Marshal, twice Hero of the Soviet Union K.K. Rokossovsky in 1936-1937 commanded the 5th Cavalry Corps, stationed in Pskov and its environs, and was the head of the Pskov garrison.

Pskov after liberation presented a terrible picture of destruction (total damage to the city in prices post-war years was calculated in the amount of 1.5 billion rubles). Its inhabitants had to accomplish a new heroic feat, this time a labor feat - a feat of revival, in no way inferior in importance to a military one. The country's leadership understood well the role of Pskov in the history of the country and Russian culture, and provided the Pskov residents with enormous assistance and support in the restoration of the city. In accordance with the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of August 23, 1944, Pskov became the center of the newly formed region; On January 5, 1945, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR adopted the Resolution “On measures to restore the economy of the city of Pskov and the Pskov region,” and on November 1, 1945, by the Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, Pskov was included in the 15 oldest cities in the country that were subject to priority restoration. All these measures contributed to the growth of Pskov as a political, administrative, economic and cultural center and contributed to its speedy revival.

During the Great Patriotic War

In the first days of the war, Pskov residents performed several heroic deeds. Pilots Stepan Zdorovtsev, Pyotr Kharitonov and Mikhail Zhukov, based at the Pskov airfield, during air battles on June 28-30, 1941, having used up their ammunition so as not to let fascist planes through to Leningrad, skillfully rammed them, preserving their combat vehicles. For the first time in the history of the Great Patriotic War, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of July 8, 1941, they were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. With the assistance of the Defense Committee of the State Duma and with funds collected in Moscow and Pskov, a monument to these Heroes and the first Decree was erected on the highway in front of the Pskov military airfield. It was opened in the year of the 60th anniversary of the Victory, during the city days on July 22, 2005.

The first Hero of the Soviet Union in the sapper troops was junior lieutenant Semyon Baykov, who served in Pskov. On July 8, 1941, when the wire for the electric explosion of the railway bridge across the Velikaya in Pskov was torn, he rushed to the supports of the bridge and, at the cost of his life, blew it up in full view of the approaching fascists. One of the city streets was named after him in 1986.

Fierce battles with advancing German troops took place in early July 1941, 50 km south of the city. Partisan detachments immediately appeared near Pskov, and already in August 1941 the Partisan Region was created, which the Nazis were unable to destroy until the end of hostilities. Clandestine anti-fascist groups operated in the city and there were safe houses for partisans operating near Pskov. An outstanding page in the history of the war was the food train delivered in March 1942 across the front line from the Partisan region to besieged Leningrad.

Considering the strategic position of Pskov on the approaches to the Baltic states, the Nazis built a multi-kilometer Panther defensive line around the city and its environs. It was not possible to break through it immediately, and fierce fighting continued from February to July 1944. Pskov was the last city Russian Federation liberated from German occupation. The day of liberation of the city, July 23, became the main holiday of the Pskov residents.

The destruction in the city was so great that even during the war, on January 5, 1945, a resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR was adopted “On measures to restore the economy of Pskov and the Pskov region.” Then, on November 1, 1945, the USSR government included Pskov among 15 ancient Russian cities subject to priority restoration, and on November 20 of the same year, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR adopted a resolution on the preservation of ancient monuments.

Despite all the difficulties, Pskov quickly recovered. At the same time, the monuments to the military glory of ancient Pskov were revived.

Pskov, Leningradskoe highway

Memorial Badge to the pilots - the first Heroes of the Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War - S.I. Zdorovtsev, P.T. Kharitonov, M.P. Zhukov. was opened on July 22, 2005 in the year of the 60th anniversary of the Victory. Defending Pskov, they went to ram, sacrificing their lives for the Motherland. They hardly expected to survive the battle, but they managed to defeat death by landing their planes.

Military monument

By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of July 8, 1941, they were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. During the war years, this was the first Decree on conferring a high rank.

Heroes of the Soviet Union. Memorial Sign to Pilots on a modern map

Funds for the construction of the memorial sign were collected by students educational institutions Western administrative district Moscow and residents of Pskov and the region. The monument was installed on the international highway St. Petersburg-Kyiv (Kresty district).

Left memorial plaque. Right plaque

Born on December 24, 1916 in the Zolotarevka farm, now Semikarakorsky district of the Rostov region, in a peasant family. Russian. Member of the Komsomol, candidate member of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks).

In 1929, his family moved to the village of Konstantinovskaya, Rostov region, where Stepan continued to study. In 1933 he graduated from 9 classes and in the same year he entered and graduated from a tractor-mechanical school (now PU-91 bears his name, there is a memorial plaque on the building, and a bust of the hero is installed in the school yard).

After the family moved to the city of Astrakhan, he got a job in a ship repair shop. Soon Zdorovtsev passed the exams to become a longboat mechanic and went to work first at the Chapaevsky fishery, and then as a longboat mechanic at OSVOD. He worked as an instructor for the Lower Volga Committee of the River Workers Trade Union and at the same time studied at the Astrakhan Aero Club.

In the Red Army since 1938. He graduated from the Stalingrad Military Aviation School in October 1940 and was sent to serve in the 158th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Leningrad Military District.

Participant of the Great Patriotic War from its first day. Flight commander of the 158th Fighter Aviation Regiment (39th Fighter Aviation Division, Northern Front) - S.I. Zdorovtsev. distinguished himself by covering the air approaches to Leningrad in the Pskov region as part of the regiment.

On June 28, 1941, in an air battle with three enemy bombers, having used up its ammunition, it shot down a German Junkers-88 aircraft with a ramming attack, while saving its own.

For this feat, on July 8, 1941, he received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. On July 9, 1941, fellow soldiers congratulated the Hero on this high rank. After the ceremonial formation, junior lieutenant Zdorovtsev flew out for reconnaissance. On the way back in the Pskov area, he met a group of enemy fighters and engaged them in battle. The forces turned out to be too unequal, and Zdorovtsev died in this battle.

Born on December 16, 1916 in the village of Knyazhevo, now Morshansky district of the Tambov region, in a peasant family. Russian. Secondary education. After completing pedagogical courses, he worked as a teacher at school No. 12 in the city of Ulan-Ude.

He studied at the Ulan-Ude flying club, opened on February 4, 1934. In the Red Army since 1938. Graduated from the Bataysk Military Aviation School of Pilots in 1940.

Participant of the Great Patriotic War since June 1941. Pilot of the 158th Fighter Aviation Regiment (39th Fighter Aviation Division, Northern Front), candidate member of the CPSU, junior lieutenant Kharitonov, on June 28, 1941, in an air battle over Leningrad, having used up all ammunition, for the first time during the defense of Leningrad he used an air ram, cutting off the rudder with a propeller enemy aircraft altitude. Member of the CPSU(b)/CPSU since 1942.

After the war he continued to serve in the Air Force. In 1953 he graduated from the Air Force Academy. Since 1955, Kharitonov has been a colonel in the reserve. Lived in Donetsk. He worked at the headquarters of the city's Civil Defense. Died on February 1, 1987, buried in Donetsk.

Hero of the Soviet Union was born on October 10, 1917 in the village of Ruzhbovo, Cherepovets district, Novgorod province, into a peasant family.

In 1933 he graduated from a rural school and the Shukhobod vocational school. Then he enlisted in Leningrad and studied at a construction apprenticeship school in roofing and tinsmithing.

In September 1934, at the invitation of his older brother, he came to Yaroslavl, graduated from the FZU at the Yaroslavl Rubber and Asbestos Plant and began working as an electrician at a tire factory. He was an active Komsomol member: a pioneer leader in elementary school, a member of the Light Cavalry, and an agitator for the first elections of deputies to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

After graduating from the Yaroslavl Aero Club, Mikhail Zhukov was selected by a commission and sent by the district military registration and enlistment office to the 7th Military Pilot School named after the Stalingrad Red Banner Proletariat. In May 1941, junior lieutenant Zhukov was appointed pilot of the 158th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the 39th Fighter Aviation Division.

Union Mikhail Petrovich Zhukov

Mikhail Zhukov made his first combat flight on the second day of the war. In the air we met a German Yu-88 bomber. The German pilot did not accept the air battle, turned around and flew away from Mikhail’s patrol zone.

On June 24, 1941, M. Zhukov blocked the flight of a fascist reconnaissance officer, who, having failed to complete the task of aerial photography of the area, turned around and went into the clouds. He opened the battle account on the fourth flight, shooting down a Junkers.

On June 29, 1941, in an air battle over Lake Pskov, Mikhail Petrovich used up all his ammunition and, not wanting to miss the enemy, dive-bombed a German bomber into the lake. He himself returned unharmed to his home airfield.

On July 8, 1941, the first decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War was published on the radio and in newspapers on awarding the title of Hero of the Soviet Union to the pilots of the 158th Fighter Aviation Regiment S.I. Zdorovtsev, P.T. Kharitonov and M.P. Zhukov.

The 39th Fighter Aviation Division, in which Mikhail Zhukov served, guarded the approaches to Leningrad, the “Road of Life” across the Shlisselburg Bay of Lake Ladoga, and the Volkhov Hydroelectric Power Station, the only power plant that supplied Leningrad with electricity. The pilots especially carefully guarded the “Road of Life,” along which the city was supplied with food, ammunition and military equipment, the redeployment of troops and the evacuation of Leningraders exhausted from hunger.

In the book of Yaroslavl writers “Stalin's Tribe” it is written: “The life of Mikhail Zhukov is the ordinary life of a young man of the Stalin era. The Zhukov family is a wonderful family of Soviet patriots. Seven brothers and one sister from the family of Cherepovets peasant Pyotr Ermolaevich Zhukov are at the front, fighting a cruel, insidious enemy. A true family of Russian “heroes.”

In a combat description of Mikhail Zhukov dated December 31, 1943, the commander of the 2nd air squadron, Captain Drevyatnikov, wrote:

“During the war, he carried out 259 combat sorties, of which 50 were to escort bombers, 5 attack aircraft, 167 to cover his troops, airfields and facilities. He took part in 47 air battles, in which he shot down 3 bombers personally and in a group, an Me-109 fighter and a bomber. In air battles he showed himself to be courageous, decisive, with a high sense of mutual assistance.”

On January 12, 1943, formations of the 67th Army of the Leningrad Front and the 2nd Shock Army of the Volkhov Front launched Operation Iskra to break the blockade of Leningrad in order to restore land communications connecting the city with the country.

Supported by Air Force, Artillery and Air Force aircraft Baltic Fleet, the 67th and 2nd armies launched counter strikes against enemy troops on a narrow ledge between Shlisselburg and Sinyavino. On January 18, front troops met in the area of ​​workers’ settlements No. 1 and No. 5. The January “Iskra” burned a hole in the enemy siege 8-11 kilometers wide and broke the blockade ring.

On the day the operation began, Mikhail flew out on his last 263rd combat mission. Four fighters, led by Senior Lieutenant Zhukov, covered our ground forces in the Nevskaya Dubrovka area. Nine enemy fighters entered the battle. Mikhail Zhukov's plane was shot down and fell into enemy territory.