Nedorubov Nikolai Konstantinovich. Three wars of the Cossack Nedorubov! Awards of the Russian Empire

When I learned about this amazing person, I decided to find information not only about him. After all, he had parents, a wife, children. And also the history of the appearance of the St. George crosses. In the entire history of their existence, there are only 2000 full St. George Knights. For comparison - Heroes Soviet Union over the years Patriotic War 11,739, and 2,672 full holders of the Order of Glory. A lot of information. And this is our story. Story? which you are proud of.Nedorubov Konstantin Iosifovich - full holder of St. George, Hero of the Soviet Union. In the history of our country, there were only three full Knights of St. George and at the same time Heroes of the Soviet Union: Marshal Budyonny, General Tyulenev and Captain Nedorubov.
In 1807, Emperor Alexander I received a proposal to establish some kind of award for soldiers and non-commissioned officers who distinguished themselves in the performance of combat missions. They say that this will help strengthen the courage of Russian soldiers, who, in the hope of receiving the coveted reward (which provides a monetary reward and a lifelong pension), will fight without sparing their lives. The Emperor considered this proposal quite reasonable, especially since news reached him about the Battle of Preussisch-Eylau, in which Russian soldiers showed miracles of courage and endurance. In those days, there was one big problem: a Russian soldier who was a serf could not be awarded the order, since the order emphasized the status of its owner and was, in fact, a knightly insignia. Nevertheless, the courage of the Russian soldier had to be somehow encouraged, so Russian Emperor introduced a special “insignia of the order,” which in the future became the St. George Soldier’s Cross.

Konstantin Nedorubov was born on the Rubezhny farm in May 1889, and announced his future exploits while still in the cradle. According to tradition, a bullet was placed in the cradle of newborn boys in Cossack families, observing the baby’s reaction. Kostya grabbed the bullet into his fist, after which the men said approvingly: “The good Cossack will grow up!” That's how he grew up. By the age of 18, even adult village residents were afraid of his two-meter height and pound fists.

The father of the full St. George Knight - Joseph - was physically very strong. It happened that he himself harnessed himself to a cart instead of a horse and pulled it onto the opposite side ravine that cut the Rubezhny farm in two: “... the horse must rest. She’ll have to plow in the morning.” In old Nedorubov's kuren there was no ceiling - a coffin was constantly suspended from the eaves of the roof - Joseph made them himself, saying that he did not trust this to anyone - they would do it badly, and it would be uncomfortable to lie in it. Joseph himself was buried in the fourth - he gave the first three to his friends for the funeral. Joseph was an avid fisherman and hunter. I swam on a kayak that I made with my own hands. This kayak became the cause of his death - the old Cossack, having capsized on it in an ice drift, did not want to lose the boat and pulled it to the shore, clinging to the chain with his teeth. After this he became ill, fell ill and died a few weeks later. Konstantin Iosifovich Nedorubov was the middle son in Joseph’s family. His elder brother Fedor participated in the First World War as a senior officer. He was awarded two St. George's crosses. At the front he was seriously wounded with a crushed right leg. He walked with a limp, using a crutch. He was shorter in stature than his brother Konstantin, but his physical strength was irrepressible. Fyodor had two sons: Konstantin and Alexander. Little is known about Nedorubov’s second brother Ivan. He died in the early 50s. last century. In 1911, Konstantin was called up for military service in the Russian imperial army, served in the 15th Cossack Regiment of the 1st Don Cossack Division of the 14th Army Corps.

Nedorubov himself always spoke about his exploits with humor. One day, Army Commander Samsonov called him, a regimental intelligence officer, and said: “Help, brother, there’s a bone stuck in my throat!”
The Cossack was confused and began to make excuses: I’m not a doctor, I don’t understand anything about this. The headquarters officers burst out laughing and explained: our troops are being hampered by the German battery - so it is a bone in the throat, no one can get close to it. They decided to send scouts led by Nedorubov. And the Cossacks did not disappoint - they approached the artillerymen, blew up their ammunition, and took the gun crew prisoner. For this feat, Konstantin Nedorubov received his first St. George Cross. He was awarded the first St. George Cross, 4th degree, for his heroism during one of the most difficult battles near the city of Tomashev. In August 1914, pursuing the retreating Austrians, despite hurricane artillery shelling, a group of Don Cossacks led by sergeant Nedorubov burst into the enemy battery and captured it along with servants and ammunition.
“Soldier George,” as he was popularly called, could only be received by the lower ranks of the Russian army, who showed selfless courage on the battlefield. Moreover, this award was not distributed at the request of the command; the soldiers themselves determined which of them was worthy of receiving the St. George Cross. According to the rules existing at that time, the St. George Cross had to be worn on a special St. George ribbon, which was threaded into the buttonhole. The first soldier who became a holder of the Order of St. George was non-commissioned officer Mitrokhin, who received it at the Battle of Friedland in 1807. Initially, the Cross of St. George did not have any degrees and was issued an unlimited number of times (this is in theory). In practice, the St. George Cross was awarded only once, and the next award was purely formal, although the soldier’s salary increased by a third. The undoubted advantage of a soldier awarded this distinction was the complete absence of corporal punishment, which was widely used at that time.
Konstantin Iosifovich received the second Cross of St. George in February 1915 for his feat during the battles for the city of Przemysl. On December 16, 1914, according to Nedorubov’s recollections, he, as part of a group of scouts, went to the rear of the Austrians. As a result of the shootout, Nedorubov’s comrades died, and he himself was forced to make his way to his people through the village. I went out to a huge house and heard Austrian speech there. He threw a grenade at the doorstep of the house. When the Austrians began to jump out of the building, Nedorubov realized that there were too many of them and used his wits. “I command loudly: “Right flank - go around!” The enemies are huddled together, standing scared. Then I rose from the ditch, waved my hat at them, shouted: “Forward!” We listened, let's go. So I brought them to my unit.” When counting the prisoners, it turned out that one Cossack captured 52 people! The commander who received the prisoners could not believe his eyes and asked one of the Austrian officers to answer how many people were in the team that captured them. In response, the Austrian raised one finger.
In 1844, a special St. George Cross was developed for soldiers who profess the Muslim faith. Instead of St. George, who is an Orthodox saint, a double-headed eagle was depicted on the cross. In 1856, the St. George Cross was divided into 4 degrees, while its degree was indicated on the cross.

Impartial statistics testify to how difficult it was to obtain the 1st degree St. George Cross. According to it, there were about 2,000 full holders of the Order of St. George throughout its history. In 1913, the award officially became known as the “St. George Cross”; in addition, the St. George Medal for bravery, which also has 4 degrees, appeared. Unlike the soldier's award, the St. George Medal could be awarded to civilians and military personnel in Peaceful time. After 1913, the St. George Cross began to be issued posthumously. In this case, the award was given to the relatives of the deceased and kept as a family heirloom.

Nedorubov was awarded the St. George Cross, 2nd degree, for the battles in the area of Balamutovka and Rzhavetsy. “... having passed through three rows of wire fences, they burst into the trenches and, after a fierce hand-to-hand fight, knocked out the Austrians, taking eight officers, about 600 lower ranks and three machine guns.” “His saber did not dry out from the blood,” recalled the farm Cossacks who served in the same regiment with Nedorubov. And fellow countrymen from the farm jokingly suggested that he change his last name - from “Nedorubov” to “Pererubov”.
He received the fourth - the golden "George" 1st degree for being captured with a group of Cossacks from the headquarters of the German division, along with the general and operational documents.
During the First World War, about 1,500,000 people received the Cross of St. George. Of particular note is the first St. George Knight of this war, Kozma Kryuchkov, who received his first cross for destruction in battle 11 German cavalrymen. By the way, before the end of the war this Cossack became a full Knight of St. George.
The famous Durova, or “cavalry maiden,” who served as the prototype for the heroine from the “Hussar Ballad,” was awarded the St. George Cross for saving the life of an officer; The Decembrists Muravyov-Apostol and Yakushkin also had St. George's crosses, which they received for military services in the battle of Borodino; General Miloradovich received this award from the hands of Emperor Alexander, who personally saw Miloradovich’s courage in the battle of Leipzig; In the photo, Dmitry Ivanovich Mitaki (1892 - 1953) - Full Knight of St. George (awarded by Emperor Nicholas II in the Church of “Peter and Paul” in Bendery (Moldova), military intelligence officer, 19 wounds. Not preserved in the Museum of the History of Moldova (now the Republic of Moldova) everything, duplicates of his awards and several old photographs, numbers of medals “For Bravery”: No. 166722, No. 707194.

to his left: with 4 crosses and 2 medals P. I. Krizhenovsky Kozma Kryuchkov, who was a full holder of the Order of St. George, became Russian hero in life. By the way, a Cossack died in 1919 at the hands of the Red Guards, defending the tsarist regime until the end of his life; Vasily Chapaev, who went over to the Red side, had 3 crosses and a St. George medal; Maria Bochkareva, who created the women's “death battalion,” also received this award. The memory of the St. George Cross was revived in 1943, when the Order of Glory was established. Nowadays everyone is familiar George Ribbon, with which people celebrating Victory Day decorate themselves. However, not everyone knows that although the ribbon symbolizes the Order of Glory, its roots go much deeper.
St. George Medal, 4th degree: “On April 4, 1916, together with Romanovsky Afanasy, having volunteered as hunters to conduct reconnaissance of the Austrian guards in order to remove one of the field guards at night, crawled along railway west of the village of Boyan, 150 steps from the Austrian wire fences, they discovered a landmine placed under the railway and decided to blow it up. When they began to carry out preliminary work, they were discovered by enemy artillery, which fired at them with heavy fire. When the landmine explosion failed, they discovered the explosive device and delivered it to their superior.”
Three years of war - four St. George's crosses and two St. George's medals. By 1916, Konstantin Nedorubov was a full Knight of St. George.
Nowadays.
The Russian military order of St. George and the sign "St. George's Cross" were restored in Russian Federation in 1992 by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation dated March 2, 1992 No. 2424-I “On state awards Russian Federation". 11 people were awarded.
During three and a half years of participation in battles, he was wounded several times. He was treated in hospitals in the cities of Kyiv, Kharkov and Sebryakovo (now Mikhailovka).
From October 1917 to July 1918, Konstantin Nedorubov was engaged in agriculture. But the war did not want to leave the brave Cossack alone. Before I had time to recover from the “German war,” the Civil War began.
At the beginning of the summer of 1918, he was mobilized into the White Don Army under General P.N. Krasnov, enlisted in the 18th Cossack Regiment. He took part in battles on the side of the white troops. In July 1918 he was captured and on August 1, 1918 enlisted in the Red Army. Appointed squadron commander of the 23rd Infantry Division, participant in the defense of Tsaritsyn. One day he was caught by a patrol - he was considered a counter-revolutionary. But when they looked at the inscription on the seized saber, they were stunned. On it was written “To the squadron commander Konstantin Nedorubov for unparalleled heroism and courage during the defense of Tsaritsyn.” And the signature is Budyonny. The hero was immediately released with an apology. At the beginning of 1919 he was captured again, this time by the whites, and again enlisted in the white units.
Since June 1919, again in the Red Army, squadron commander of the cavalry division named after M.F. Blinov in the 9th, 1st Cavalry and 2nd Cavalry armies. At one time in 1920, he temporarily served as commander of the 8th Taman Cavalry Regiment. Participant in hostilities on the Don, Kuban and Crimea. He was seriously wounded. In 1921 he was demobilized.
For the battles with Wrangel, Konstantin Iosifovich was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and red revolutionary trousers (somewhere a warehouse with red hussar riding breeches was discovered, which they decided to use “for the award ceremony”).
Nedorubov’s rich military biography also included participation in the liquidation of Father Makhno’s gang. He returned to his native farm and worked as an individual peasant. Since July 1929 - chairman of the Loginov collective farm in the Stalingrad region. Since March 1930 - Deputy Chairman of the Berezovsky District Executive Committee. Since January 1931 - controller in the inter-district Serebryakovsky branch of the Zagotzerno trust, Stalingrad region. Since April 1932 - foreman (according to some sources - chairman) of the collective farm on the Bobrov farm in the Berezovsky district.
In 1933, he “sat down” - being in the position of chairman of a collective farm, he was “convicted under Article 109 of the Criminal Code “for losing grain in the field.” (Hunger. For grain losses, imaginary and obvious, the authorities punished without hesitation.) Dark history. Sentence: 10 years in camps. I ended up in Volgolag, at the construction site of the Moscow-Volga canal. He worked there for almost three years and was released early. According to the official wording, “for shock work” (although they say that the writer Sholokhov, whom Nedorubov knew personally, greatly helped the Cossack here). However, at the construction site Nedorubov really worked “like a convict.” And not because they forced him, but because he couldn’t do anything halfway. After serving time, my license was not impaired.
Returning to his homeland, he continued to work as a storekeeper, foreman, head of a horse-and-mail station, and supply manager at a machine and tractor station.
By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Konstantin Iosifovich was not subject to conscription due to his age - whatever one may say, he was 52 years old. In October 1941, he volunteered to join the Cossack cavalry division that was being formed in the city of Uryupinsk, but was not accepted. Not even because of age, but because... a former White Guard, and he served time. And Nedorubov went to the 1st secretary of the Berezovsky district committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, Ivan Vladimirovich Shlyapkin. The old Cossack cried: “I’m not asking to go to the rear!..” Shlyapkin immediately called the head of the district NKVD: “Under my personal responsibility!” Accepted. As well as Nedorubov’s 17-year-old son Nikolai.

In July 1942, after the breakthrough German troops near Kharkov, all the way from Voronezh to Rostov-on-Don, a “weak link” was formed. It was clear that it was necessary at all costs to restrain the advance of the German armies to the Caucasus, to the coveted Baku oil. It was decided to stop the enemy at the village of Kushchevskaya Krasnodar region.

The Kuban Cavalry Corps, which included the Don Cossack Division, was thrown towards the Germans. There were no other regular units on this section of the front at that time. The unfired militias were opposed by selected German units, intoxicated by the successes of the first months of the war. There, near Kushchevskaya, the Cossacks fought bone-to-bone with the Germans, forcing them into hand-to-hand combat at every opportunity. The Germans, however, did not like hand-to-hand combat, but the Cossacks, on the contrary, loved it. This was their element. “Well, where else can we celebrate Christ with the Hans, except in close combat?” - they joked. Periodically (unfortunately, not very often) fate gave them such an opportunity, and then the battle site was littered with hundreds of corpses in gray overcoats...
Near Kushchevskaya, the Donets and Kubans held the defense for two days. In the end, the Germans' nerves burst and, with the support of artillery and aviation, they decided to launch a psychic attack. This was a strategic mistake. The Cossacks brought them within grenade throw distance and met them with heavy fire. Father and son Nedorubov were nearby: the elder was spraying the attackers with a machine gun, the younger was sending one grenade after another into the German line.

It’s not without reason that they say that bullets fear the brave - despite the fact that the air was buzzing with bullets, not a single one of them touched the shooters. And the entire space in front of the embankment was strewn with corpses in gray overcoats. But the Germans were determined to go to the end. In the end, skillfully maneuvering, they were able to get around the Cossacks on both sides, squeezing them into their “trademark” pincers. Having assessed the situation, Nedorubov once again stepped towards death. “Cossacks, forward for the Motherland, for Stalin, for the free Don!” - the lieutenant’s battle cry tore the villagers, who were flattened by bullets, from the ground. “The underdog and his son again went to seek his death, and we flew after him,” surviving colleagues recalled about that famous battle near Kushchevskaya. “Because it was a shame to leave him alone...”

The militia fought to the death. The sons followed the example of their fathers, who looked up to the commander. They believed him, respected his combat experience and endurance. Years later, in his letter to the head of the “Battle of Stalingrad” department of the State Defense Museum I. M. Loginov, Nedorubov, describing the battle near Kushchevskaya, noted that when he had to repel superior enemy forces on the right flank of the squadron, he was with a machine gun, and The son used hand grenades “to fight an unequal three-hour battle in close proximity to the Nazis.” Konstantin Nedorubov many times stood up to his full height on the railway line and shot the Nazis at point-blank range. “In three wars, I have never had to shoot an enemy. I myself could hear my bullets clicking on Hitler’s heads.”
In that battle, together with their son, they destroyed more than 72 Germans. The fourth cavalry squadron rushed hand-to-hand and destroyed more than 200 German soldiers and officers.
“If we hadn’t covered the flank, it would have been difficult for our neighbor,” recalled Konstantin Iosifovich. - And so we gave him the opportunity to retreat without losses... How my boys stood! And Kolka’s son showed himself to be a great man that day. I didn't drift away. Only after this fight did I think that I would never see him again. During the frantic mortar attack, Nikolai Nedorubov was seriously wounded in both legs, arms and other parts of the body. He lay in the forest for about three days. Women were passing not far from the forest plantation, and they heard a groan. In the dark, the women carried the seriously wounded young Cossack to the village of Kushchevskaya, and sheltered him for many weeks.
“Cossack conscientiousness” cost the Germans dearly at that time - in that battle the Donets crushed over 200 German soldiers and officers. Plans for the squadron's encirclement were mixed with dust. The commander of the group, General Field Marshal Wilhelm List, received an encrypted radiogram signed by the Fuhrer himself: “Another Kushchevka will be repeated, you will not learn to fight, you will march in a penal company through the Caucasus Mountains, period.”
"We hallucinated the Cossacks..."
This is exactly what one of the German infantrymen, who survived the battle near Maratuki, wrote in his letter home, where Nedorubov’s Don forces finally got to the desired hand-to-hand combat and, as a result, as at Kushchevskaya, slaughtered over two hundred German soldiers and officers in close combat. For the squadron, this figure became a trademark. “We can’t lower the bar lower,” the Cossacks joked, “so why aren’t we Stakhanovites?”
“Nedorubovtsy” took part in raids on the enemy in the area of the Pobeda and Biryuchiy farms, fought in the area of the village of Kurinskaya... According to the Germans who survived the horse attacks, “it was as if a demon had possessed these centaurs.”
The Don and Kuban people used all the numerous tricks that were accumulated by their ancestors in previous wars and were carefully passed on from generation to generation. When the lava fell on the enemy, there was a prolonged wolf howl in the air - this is how the villagers intimidated the enemy from afar. Already within the line of sight, they were engaged in vaulting - they spun in their saddles, often hanging from them, pretending to be killed, and a few meters from the enemy they suddenly came to life and broke into the enemy’s position, slashing right and left and creating a bloody heap there.
In any fight, Nedorubov himself, contrary to all canons military science, was the first to get into trouble. In one battle, he managed, in official military parlance, “using the folds of the terrain to secretly get close to three enemy machine gun and two mortar nests and extinguish them with hand grenades.” During this, the Cossack was wounded, but did not leave the battlefield. As a result, the height, studded with enemy firing points, sowing fire and death around them, was taken with minimal losses. According to the most conservative estimates, Nedorubov himself personally destroyed more than 70 soldiers and officers during these battles.
The battles in the south of Russia did not pass without a trace for the guard of Lieutenant K.I. Nedorubova. Only in the terrible battles near Kushchevskaya he received eight bullet wounds. Then there were two more wounds. After the third, difficult one, at the end of 1942, the conclusion of the medical commission turned out to be inexorable: “Unfit for military service.”
During the period of hostilities for accomplished feats Nedorubov was awarded two Orders of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner and various medals. On October 26, 1943, by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council, Knight of St. George Konstantin Nedorubov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. “Our Konstantin Iosifovich related the Red Star to the Cross of St. George,” the village residents joked about this. Despite the fact that during his lifetime he became a living legend, Cossack Nedorubov never acquired any special benefits or assets for himself and his family in peaceful life. But on all holidays he regularly put on the Golden Star of the Hero along with four St. George Crosses.
The sub-horuner of the 1st Don Cossack Division, Nedorubov, with his attitude towards awards, proved that power and the Motherland are completely different things. He did not understand why it was impossible to wear royal awards received for victories over a foreign enemy. About the “crosses” he said: “I walked in this form at the Victory Parade in the front row. And at the reception, Comrade Stalin himself shook hands and thanked him for his participation in two wars.”

On October 15, 1967, a participant in three wars, Don Cossack Nedorubov became part of a torch-bearing group of three veterans and lit the fire of Eternal Glory at the monument-ensemble to heroes Battle of Stalingrad on the Mamayev Kurgan of the hero city of Volgograd. Nedorubov died on December 11, 1978. He was buried in the village of Berezovskaya. In September 2007, in Volgograd, in the memorial historical museum, a monument to the famous hero of the Don, full Knight of St. George, Hero of the Soviet Union K.I. Nedorubov. On February 2, 2011, a ceremony was held in the Yuzhny village of the hero city of Volgograd grand opening new state educational institution“Volgograd Cadet (Cossack) Corps named after Hero of the Soviet Union K.I. Nedorubova."
Konstantin Iosifovich’s wife, Varvara Fedorovna (nee Nosaeva), was the daughter of a front-line friend, Joseph Nedorubov. They served in the same squadron in the south of Russia, which the Turks had always coveted. In one of the battles, Fyodor Nosaev was wounded, his horse was killed under him, and about a dozen Turks surrounded him and were going to capture him. Joseph broke through to Fedor, chopped up the Turks, picked up his comrade on the horse's croup and rode off to his own.
After this, Joseph and Fyodor became blood brothers, and to consolidate this union, Fyodor proposed marrying the children. At first, Joseph refused because he was poor (the Nosaevs were one of the wealthiest in the area). But Fyodor insisted on his own - he took on all the expenses for the wedding, gave his daughter a rich dowry and even allocated part of his land plot for the young people. The wedding took place before Konstantin left for active service.
Varvara Fedorovna was a brave and decisive woman. In 1917, she traveled across Russia, with many stops, to visit her husband at the front. They lived together happily ever after.
Children and grandchildren. Konstantin Iosifovich and Varvara Fedorovna Nedorubov had four children:
Nina. She died of scarlet fever at the age of 22. She was married and lived in the Khokhly farm. After her there was a son, George, who mature age died in a car accident.
Georgy. Born in 1918. He was disabled since childhood, so he did not serve in the army. After graduating from seven classes of school in 1938, he was sent to study in Stalingrad, where he graduated from the FZO communications school. After graduating, he worked as a long-distance station supervisor at the Berezovsky communications office, and later as a station supervisor at the Berezovsky radio broadcasting center. In July 1948, he went to work at the Berezovsky district forestry enterprise as a forester. But he did not work in this position for long and already in July 1949 he returned to his previous place of work. He was awarded the medal “For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.”
Was married. Had three children - Nina (candidate of physical and mathematical sciences, senior lecturer at Volgograd pedagogical institute), Valentina (worked as a doctor at the Svetloyarsk regional hospital, now works at the Sergievsk district hospital in the Danilovsky district, does a lot of work to preserve the memory of her grandfather, often meets with journalists and young people) and Tatyana (worked in Volgograd and in the village of Berezovskaya, currently at pensions).
Died July 13, 2004. He was buried in the village of Berezovskaya.
Maria. Born in 1920. Upon completion of eighth grade high school in 1939 she entered the FZO school at the Stalingrad Tractor Plant (STZ) with a degree in electrician.
She worked in the foundry shop of the plant as an electric control panel operator until November 1941. On November 28, 1941, she was sentenced by the Traktorozavodsky Court for absenteeism to four months in prison. The imprisonment took place in the camps of the Red October plant - from November 1941 to June 1942. From June 1942 to September 1943 she was mobilized to the Bolshevik collective farm for agricultural work.
In September 1943, Maria Nedorubova accepted the position of clerk in the Berezovsky district police department (registry office department), where she worked until April 1944. Later she worked in the correctional labor department at the Berezovsky district police department.
She died in November 1992. She left behind her children - Lidiya Alekseevna Bakulina (worked as a pharmacist in a pharmacy, currently retired) and Alexey Alekseevich Bakulin (lives in Volgograd, works as an auto mechanic).
Nikolai. Born in 1924. Favorite of Konstantin Iosifovich. He completed nine grades of high school - from the tenth grade he volunteered for the front under the command of his father. In August 1942, he was seriously wounded in the battles for the village of Kushchevskaya ( Krasnodar region). In July 1943 he was demobilized due to injury and in August returned to the village of Berezovskaya.
Awarded the Order of the Red Star, medals “For the Defense of the Caucasus”, “For Victory over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.” Another award found the hero after the war - in 1985 he was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree.
From February 1944 to October 1945 he worked as a military instructor at the Berezovsky secondary school.
From October 1945 to July 1950 he studied at Saratov state institute mechanization Agriculture. After graduating from the institute, he was awarded the qualification of a mechanical engineer.
He worked first in the Gornobalykleysky district of the Stalingrad region (Lipovskaya forest protection station), then in the Berezovsky forest protection belt (Berezovsky district of the Stalingrad region).
From 1954 to 1958, Nikolai Iosifovich Nedorubov was the director of the Malodelskaya LZS of the Frolovsky district, from 1958 to 1961 - the director of the Malodelskaya repair and technical station, from 1961 to 1964 - the director of the Malodelsky state farm, in 1964 he was appointed deputy head of the Frolovsky production plant collective farm and state farm management of agriculture of the Volgograd region, in 1965 - appointed head of the agricultural production department of the Surovikinsky district of the Volgograd region, in 1970 he became the chief state inspector for the purchase of agricultural products in the Surovikinsky district (he held this post until his death - until the winter of 1987).
In 1962 he was awarded the Small Silver Medal of VDNKh and a valuable prize, in 1968, 1973 and 1976 - the Order of the Badge of Honor (he had three in total!).
Was married. Had no children.
Great-grandchildren. Valentin Georgievich and Svetlana Grigorievna Nedorubov have four children: Dmitry, Oleg, Alexey and Andrey.
Andrey served in hot spots in Russia during the second Chechen campaign - as part of an intelligence group. He was awarded the Zhukov medal and a personalized watch.

, Volgograd region, RSFSR, USSR

Affiliation

Russian empire Russian empire
USSR USSR

Type of army Years of service Rank

: Incorrect or missing image

Battles/wars Awards and prizes

Awards Russian Empire:

Konstantin Iosifovich Nedorubov(May 21 - December 13) - Hero of the Soviet Union, full Knight of St. George, squadron commander, guard captain, Cossack.

Biography

Konstantin Iosifovich Nedorubov was born into a Don Cossack family in the Rubezhny farmstead (now part of the Lovyagin farmstead, Danilovsky district, Volgograd region). Graduated from primary school.

In 1911 he entered the military service Cossack in the 15th Don Cossack Regiment of the 14th Army Corps of General Brusilov, the city of Tomashev, territory of the Kingdom of Poland, Russian Empire. A participant in the First World War, he served on the South-Western and Romanian fronts. During the war he became a full Knight of St. George.

The first St. George Cross, 4th degree, was awarded for heroism during one of the most difficult battles near the city of Tomashev. In August 1914, pursuing the retreating Austrians, despite hurricane artillery shelling, a group of Don Cossacks led by sergeant Nedorubov burst into the enemy battery and captured it along with servants and ammunition.
Konstantin Iosifovich received the second Cross of St. George in February 1915 for his feat during the battles for the city of Przemysl. On December 16, 1914, he was awarded for the resourcefulness and heroism he showed during reconnaissance, for single-handedly capturing 52 Austrians.
Nedorubov received the third St. George Cross for distinction in battles in June 1916 during the famous Brusilov breakthrough, where he showed courage and bravery.
He received the fourth - gold "George" 1st degree for being captured with a group of Cossacks from the headquarters of the German division, along with the general and operational documents.
In addition to four crosses, Konstantin Nedorubov was also awarded two St. George medals for military courage. He graduated from the war with the rank of sergeant.

Subsequently, Konstantin Nedorubov, as part of the 5th Guards Don Cossack Cavalry Corps, liberated Ukraine. After being seriously wounded in December 1943, he was demobilized with the rank of captain.

After the war, he lived and worked in the village of Berezovskaya, Danilovsky district, Volgograd region.

Awards

Soviet state awards:

Medal "Gold Star" No. 1302 of the Hero of the Soviet Union (October 26, 1943)
two Orders of Lenin (October 26, 1943, ???)
Order of the Red Banner (6 September 1942)
medals, including:
- medal "For victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945"

State awards of the Russian Empire:

Memory

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Notes

Literature

Bondarenko A. S., Borodin A. M. (group leader), Loginov I. M., Merinova L. N., Naumenko T. N., Novikov L. N., Smirnov P. N. A Cossack went to war // Heroes of Volgograd / Literary adaptation by V. I. Efimova, V. I. Psurtseva, V. R. Slobozhanina, V. S. Smagorinsky; introduction by A. S. Chuyanov. - Volgograd: Nizhne-Volzhskoe book publishing house, 1967. - P. 248--251. - 471 p. - 25,000 copies.

Documentary film

Film company "Rodina". Russia. 2011.

Links

Website "Heroes of the Country".

An excerpt characterizing Nedorubov, Konstantin Iosifovich

Bilibin gathered the skin above his eyebrows and thought with a smile on his lips.
“Vous ne me prenez pas en taken aback, vous savez,” he said. - Comme veritable ami j"ai pense et repense a votre affaire. Voyez vous. Si vous epousez le prince (it was a young man)," he bent his finger, "vous perdez pour toujours la chance d"epouser l"autre, et puis vous mecontentez la cour. vous epousant, [You will not take me by surprise, you know. Like a true friend, I have been thinking about your matter for a long time. You see: if you marry a prince, then you will forever lose the opportunity to be the wife of another, and in addition, the court will be dissatisfied. (You know, after all, kinship is involved here.) And if you marry the old count, then you will make happiness last days him, and then... it will no longer be humiliating for the prince to marry the widow of a nobleman.] - and Bilibin loosened his skin.
– Voila un veritable ami! - said the beaming Helen, once again touching Bilibip’s sleeve with her hand. – Mais c"est que j"aime l"un et l"autre, je ne voudrais pas leur faire de chagrin. Je donnerais ma vie pour leur bonheur a tous deux, [Here is a true friend! But I love both of them and I wouldn’t want to upset anyone. For the happiness of both, I would be ready to sacrifice my life.] - she said.
Bilibin shrugged his shoulders, expressing that even he could no longer help such grief.
“Une maitresse femme! Voila ce qui s"appelle poser carrement la question. Elle voudrait epouser tous les trois a la fois", ["Well done woman! That's what is called firmly asking the question. She would like to be the wife of all three at the same time."] - thought Bilibin.
- But tell me, how will your husband look at this matter? - he said, due to the strength of his reputation, not afraid to undermine himself with such a naive question. – Will he agree?
- Ah! “Il m"aime tant! - said Helen, who for some reason thought that Pierre loved her too. - Il fera tout pour moi. [Ah! he loves me so much! He is ready for anything for me.]
Bilibin picked up the skin to represent the mot being prepared.
“Meme le divorce, [Even for a divorce.],” he said.
Helen laughed.
Among the people who allowed themselves to doubt the legality of the marriage being undertaken was Helen’s mother, Princess Kuragina. She was constantly tormented by envy of her daughter, and now, when the object of envy was closest to the princess’s heart, she could not come to terms with this thought. She consulted with a Russian priest about the extent to which divorce and marriage was possible while her husband was alive, and the priest told her that this was impossible, and, to her joy, pointed her to the Gospel text, which (it seemed to the priest) directly rejected the possibility of marriage from a living husband.
Armed with these arguments, which seemed irrefutable to her, the princess went to see her daughter early in the morning, in order to find her alone.
After listening to her mother's objections, Helen smiled meekly and mockingly.
“But it’s directly said: whoever marries a divorced wife...” said the old princess.
- Ah, maman, ne dites pas de betises. Vous ne comprenez rien. Dans ma position j"ai des devoirs, [Ah, mamma, don’t talk nonsense. You don’t understand anything. My position has responsibilities.] - Helen spoke, translating the conversation into French from Russian, in which she always seemed to have some kind of ambiguity in her case.
- But, my friend...
– Ah, maman, comment est ce que vous ne comprenez pas que le Saint Pere, qui a le droit de donner des dispenses... [Ah, mamma, how don’t you understand that the Holy Father, who has the power of absolution...]
At this time, the lady companion who lived with Helen came in to report to her that His Highness was in the hall and wanted to see her.
- Non, dites lui que je ne veux pas le voir, que je suis furieuse contre lui, parce qu"il m"a manque parole. [No, tell him that I don’t want to see him, that I’m furious against him because he didn’t keep his word to me.]
“Comtesse a tout peche misericorde, [Countess, mercy for every sin.],” said a young blond man with a long face and nose as he entered.
The old princess stood up respectfully and sat down. The young man who entered did not pay attention to her. The princess nodded her head to her daughter and floated towards the door.
“No, she’s right,” thought the old princess, all her convictions were destroyed before the appearance of His Highness. - She is right; but how is it that we didn’t know this in our irrevocable youth? And it was so simple,” the old princess thought as she got into the carriage.

At the beginning of August, Helen's matter was completely determined, and she wrote a letter to her husband (who loved her very much, as she thought) in which she informed him of her intention to marry NN and that she had joined the one true religion and that she asks him to complete all the formalities necessary for divorce, which the bearer of this letter will convey to him.
“Sur ce je prie Dieu, mon ami, de vous avoir sous sa sainte et puissante garde. Votre amie Helene.”
[“Then I pray to God that you, my friend, will be under his holy, strong protection. Your friend Elena"]
This letter was brought to Pierre's house while he was on the Borodino field.

The second time, already at the end of the Battle of Borodino, having escaped from Raevsky’s battery, Pierre with crowds of soldiers headed along the ravine to Knyazkov, reached the dressing station and, seeing blood and hearing screams and groans, hastily moved on, getting mixed up in the crowds of soldiers.
One thing that Pierre now wanted with all the strength of his soul was to quickly get out of those terrible impressions in which he lived that day, return to normal living conditions and fall asleep peacefully in his room on his bed. Only under ordinary conditions of life did he feel that he would be able to understand himself and all that he had seen and experienced. But these ordinary living conditions were nowhere to be found.
Although cannonballs and bullets did not whistle here along the road along which he walked, on all sides there was the same thing that was there on the battlefield. There were the same suffering, exhausted and sometimes strangely indifferent faces, the same blood, the same soldiers' greatcoats, the same sounds of shooting, although distant, but still terrifying; In addition, it was stuffy and dusty.
Having walked about three miles along the big Mozhaisk road, Pierre sat down on the edge of it.
Dusk fell on the ground, and the roar of the guns died down. Pierre, leaning on his arm, lay down and lay there for a long time, looking at the shadows moving past him in the darkness. It constantly seemed to him that a cannonball was flying at him with a terrible whistle; he shuddered and stood up. He didn't remember how long he had been here. In the middle of the night, three soldiers, having brought branches, placed themselves next to him and began to make a fire.
The soldiers, looking sideways at Pierre, lit a fire, put a pot on it, crumbled crackers into it and put lard in it. The pleasant smell of edible and fatty food merged with the smell of smoke. Pierre stood up and sighed. The soldiers (there were three of them) ate, not paying attention to Pierre, and talked among themselves.
- What kind of person will you be? - one of the soldiers suddenly turned to Pierre, obviously, by this question meaning what Pierre was thinking, namely: if you want something, we will give it to you, just tell me, are you an honest person?
- I? me?.. - said Pierre, feeling the need to belittle his social position as much as possible in order to be closer and more understandable to the soldiers. “I am truly a militia officer, only my squad is not here; I came to the battle and lost my own.
- Look! - said one of the soldiers.
The other soldier shook his head.
- Well, eat the mess if you want! - said the first and gave Pierre, licking it, a wooden spoon.
Pierre sat down by the fire and began to eat the mess, the food that was in the pot and which seemed to him the most delicious of all the foods that he had ever eaten. While he greedily bent over the pot, picking up large spoons, chewing one after another and his face was visible in the light of the fire, the soldiers silently looked at him.
-Where do you want it? You tell me! – one of them asked again.
– I’m going to Mozhaisk.
- Are you now a master?
- Yes.
- What’s your name?
- Pyotr Kirillovich.
- Well, Pyotr Kirillovich, let’s go, we’ll take you. In complete darkness, the soldiers, together with Pierre, went to Mozhaisk.
The roosters were already crowing when they reached Mozhaisk and began to climb the steep city mountain. Pierre walked along with the soldiers, completely forgetting that his inn was below the mountain and that he had already passed it. He would not have remembered this (he was in such a state of loss) if his guard, who went to look for him around the city and returned back to his inn, had not encountered him halfway up the mountain. The bereitor recognized Pierre by his hat, which was turning white in the darkness.
“Your Excellency,” he said, “we are already desperate.” Why are you walking? Where are you going, please?

Cossack Konstantin Nedorubov was a full Knight of St. George, received a personalized saber from Budyonny, and became a Hero of the Soviet Union even before the 1945 Victory Parade. He wore his Gold Hero Star along with the “royal” crosses.

Khutor Rubezhny

Konstantin Iosifovich Nedorubov was born on May 21, 1889. His place of birth is the Rubezhny village of the Berezovskaya village of the Ust-Medveditsky district of the Don Army region (today it is the Danilovsky district of the Volgograd region).

The village of Berezovskaya was indicative. It was home to 2,524 people and included 426 households. There was a justice of the peace, a parochial school, medical centers, and two factories: a tannery and a brick factory. There was even a telegraph and a savings bank.

Konstantin Nedorubov received elementary education at the parochial school, learned to read and write, count, and listened to lessons on the Law of God. Otherwise, he received a traditional Cossack education: from childhood he rode horseback and knew how to handle weapons. This science was more useful to him in life than school lessons.

"Full bow"

Konstantin Nedorubov was called up for service in January 1911 and ended up in the 6th hundred of the 15th cavalry regiment of the 1st Don Cossack division. His regiment was quartered in Tomashov, Lublin province. By the beginning of World War I, Nedorubov was a junior sergeant and commanded half a platoon of regimental reconnaissance officers.

The 25-year-old Cossack earned his first George a month after the start of the war - Nedorubov, together with his Don scouts, broke into the location of a German battery, captured prisoners and six guns.

The second George “touched the chest” of the Cossack in February 1915. While performing a solo reconnaissance near Przemysl, the constable came across a small farm where he found the Austrians sleeping. Nedorubov decided not to delay, waiting for reinforcements, threw a grenade into the yard and began to imitate a desperate battle with his voice and shots. From German language he’s nothing but “Hyunda hoh!” I didn’t know, but this was enough for the Austrians. Sleepy, they began to leave their houses with their hands raised. So Nedorubov brought them along the winter road to the regiment’s location. There were 52 soldiers and one chief lieutenant captured.

Cossack Nedorubov received the third George “for unparalleled courage and courage” during the Brusilov breakthrough.

Then Nedorubov was mistakenly awarded another St. George 3rd degree, but then in the corresponding order for the 3rd Cavalry Corps, his last name and the entry opposite it “St. George Cross 3rd degree No. 40288” were crossed out, “No. 7799 2” was written above them th degree" and the link: "See. Corps order No. 73 1916.”

Finally, Konstantin Nedorubov became a full Knight of St. George when, together with his Cossack scouts, he captured the headquarters of a German division, obtained important documents and captured a German infantry general - its commander.
In addition to the St. George Crosses, Konstantin Nedorubov was also awarded two St. George medals for courage during the First World War. He ended this war with the rank of sub-sergeant.

White-red commander

Cossack Nedorubov did not have to live long without war, but in the Civil War he did not join either the Whites or the Reds until the summer of 1918. On June 1, he nevertheless joined the 18th Cossack regiment of Ataman Pyotr Krasnov along with other Cossacks of the village.

However, the war “for the whites” did not last long for Nedorubov. Already on July 12, he was captured, but was not shot.

On the contrary, he went over to the side of the Bolsheviks and became a squadron commander in the cavalry division of Mikhail Blinov, where other Cossacks who went over to the Red side fought side by side with him.

The Blinovsky Cavalry Division proved itself in the most difficult sectors of the front. For the famous defense of Tsaritsyn, Budyonny personally presented Nedorubov with a personalized saber. For the battles with Wrangel, the Cossack was awarded red revolutionary trousers, although he was nominated for the Order of the Red Banner, but did not receive it because of his too heroic biography in the tsarist army. Nedorubov was wounded in the Civil Service and wounded by a machine gun in the Crimea. The Cossack carried the bullet stuck in his lung for the rest of his life.

Prisoner of Dmitlag

After the Civil War, Konstantin Nedorubov held positions “on the ground”; in April 1932 he became a foreman of a collective farm in the Bobrov farm.

He didn’t have a peaceful life here either. In the fall of 1933, he was convicted under Article 109 “for losing grain in the field.” Nedorubov and his assistant Vasily Sutchev came under attack. They were accused not only of stealing grain, but also of damaging agricultural equipment, and were sentenced to 10 years in labor camps.

In Dmitrovlag, at the construction of the Moscow-Volga canal, Nedorubov and Sutchev worked as best they could, and they knew how to do it well, and they couldn’t do otherwise. The construction was completed ahead of schedule on July 15, 1937. Nikolai Yezhov accepted the job personally. Frontline workers received an amnesty.

After the camp, Konstantin Nedorubov worked as the head of a horse-drawn postal station, and just before the war, he worked as a supply manager at a machine testing station.

“I know how to fight them!”

When the Great Patriotic War began, Nedorubov was 52 years old; due to his age, he was not subject to conscription. But the Cossack hero could not stay at home.

When the consolidated Don Cavalry Cossack Division began to form in the Stalingrad region, the NKVD rejected Nedorubov’s candidacy - they remembered both his services in the tsarist army and his criminal record.

Then the Cossack went to the First Secretary of the Berezovsky District Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, Ivan Shlyapkin, and said: “I’m not asking for a cow, but I want to shed blood for my homeland! Young people die in thousands because they are inexperienced! “I won four St. George’s Crosses in the war with the Germans, I know how to fight them.”

Ivan Shlyapkin insisted that Nedorubov be taken into the militia. Under personal responsibility. At that time this was a very bold step.

"Spellbound"

In mid-July, the Cossack regiment, in which Nedorubov’s hundred fought, repelled German attempts to cross the Kagalnik River in the Peshkovo area for four days. After this, the Cossacks drove the enemy out of the villages of Zadonsky and Aleksandrovka, destroying one and a half hundred Germans.

Nedorubov particularly distinguished himself in the famous. His award sheet states: “Having been surrounded near the village of Kushchevskaya, with machine gun fire and hand grenades, together with his son he destroyed up to 70 fascist soldiers and officers.”

For the battles in the area of the village of Kushchevskaya on October 26, 1943, by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Konstantin Iosifovich Nedorubov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

In this battle, the son of Konstantin Nedorubov Nikolai received 13 wounds during mortar shelling and lay covered with earth for three days. Quite by accident, residents of the village stumbled upon him, burying the Cossacks in mass graves. Cossack women Matryona Tushkanova and Serafima Sapelnyak carried Nikolai into the hut at night, washed and bandaged his wounds and left. Konstantin Nedorubov learned much later that his son remained alive, but now he fought with redoubled courage for his son.

Then, returning to his native village, he learned that he had been awarded the Hero Star and that his son Nikolai was alive.

Of course, he did not stay at home. He returned to the front and in May 1943 took command of the squadron of the 41st Guards Regiment of the 11th Guards Cavalry Division of the 5th Guards Don Cossack Corps.

He fought in Ukraine and Moldova, Romania and Hungary. In December 1944, in the Carpathians, already with the rank of guard captain, Konstantin Iosifovich Nedorubov was wounded again. This time he was finally commissioned.

On his 80th birthday, the authorities gave the old Cossack a house, he was the first in the village to have a television, but the role of the “honoured” Konstantin Nedorubov was burdensome, he continued to lead a simple lifestyle, chopped wood himself, ran a household with his family, and continued to exercise until the end of his life with a heavy poker, wielding it like a pike.

The Cossack died in December 1978, six months before his 90th birthday. Besides Nikolai, he left behind a son, Georgiy, and a daughter, Maria.

This monument was erected to the Cossack Konstantin Nedorubov not at his grave; it was erected to him in the hero city of Volgograd. And the Cossack rightfully has a monument there - Konstantin Iosifovich Nedorubov is a unique person.

Veteran of three wars - World War I, Civil War and Great Patriotic War. The only hereditary Don Cossack in Russia who had highest awards both Tsarist and Soviet Russia.

Konstantin Nedorubov met the 1st World War Nedorubov as a scout of the 15th Cossack regiment. He rose from an ordinary Cossack intelligence officer to the head of a reconnaissance group.

He fought well. Once he single-handedly captured 52 Austrian soldiers led by an officer. However, the Austrians could also be understood - a two-meter tall Cossack, with slanting fathoms in his shoulders, a saber in one hand, a grenade in the other, and grinning terribly. A monster, not a man!

There were other feats. For which he was awarded four St. George's crosses (a full "St. George's bow") and was promoted to sub-knight.

During the Civil War, this did not work out with awards, although he had the opportunity to fight for both the Whites and the Reds. Both there and there, twice.

Yes, he didn’t have any orders for this war, but he was awarded red revolutionary trousers.

In 1920 with military service in the Red Army he chose to leave - when he woke up, he fought! Although among the Reds he rose to the rank of commander of the 8th Taman Cavalry Regiment (by the way, the then unknown Semyon Timoshenko began riding in his regiment). But eight scars on the body, like the bullet stuck forever in the chest, did not improve health. But he retained his “georgies”, despite the new government, which greatly disliked royal awards.

In 1933, he “sat down” - being in the position of chairman of a collective farm, he was “convicted under Article 109 of the Criminal Code “for losing grain in the field.” (Hunger. For grain losses, imaginary and obvious, the authorities punished without hesitation.) Dark history.

Sentence: 10 years in camps. I ended up in Volgolag, at the construction site of the Moscow-Volga canal. He worked there for almost three years and was released early. According to the official wording, “for shock work” (although they say that the writer Sholokhov, whom Nedorubov knew personally, greatly helped the Cossack here). However, at the construction site Nedorubov really worked “like a convict.” And not because they forced him, but because he couldn’t do anything halfway.
After serving time, my license was not impaired.

By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Konstantin Iosifovich was not subject to conscription due to his age - whatever one may say, he was 52 years old.
In October 1941, he volunteered to join the Cossack cavalry division that was being formed in the city of Uryupinsk, but was not accepted. Not even because of age, but because of p.c. a former White Guard, and he served time.

And Nedorubov went to the 1st secretary of the Berezovsky district committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, Ivan Vladimirovich Shlyapkin. The old Cossack cried: “I’m not asking to go to the rear!..” Shlyapkin immediately called the head of the district NKVD: “Under my personal responsibility!”
Accepted. As well as Nedorubov’s 17-year-old son Nikolai.

And the third war began for the Cossacks. War is terrible. The most terrible of all three in which he participated.
Since July 1942 in battles. And the most terrible battles were near and around the village of Kushchevskaya. They were chopped to the bone! Here both ours and the Germans did not even become brutal, but became mad. The 15th, 12th and 116th Don Cossack divisions against the 198th infantry, 1st and 4th mountain rifle divisions of the Wehrmacht, reinforced with everything possible. (They say that there were even some Italians and Romanians there, however, German historians deny this.) No one wanted to give in!

The fortitude of some was supported by their native land, some kind of inner rage and centuries-old military traditions, the fortitude of others was supported by a firm belief in themselves as ubermenshey, excellent combat training and technical superiority. On August 2-3, Kushchevskaya changed hands three times.

It was all there in those battles - the most brutal mortar and artillery shelling, hand-to-hand combat, successful horse attacks on machine guns, and point-blank shooting, when a 70-cartridge PPSh disk was fired in one burst in the chain of the attacking enemy (and not a single bullet missed the target ), and throwing grenades at tanks.

In one of the nominations for the award it is written that in July-August 1942, Nedorubov personally destroyed over 70 enemy soldiers and officers in battles (confirming the old rule that “an old lion is still a lion”), but in reality he killed much more ( as Nedorubov himself said: “I killed 70 in just one day of fighting near Kushchevskaya”).

By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated October 25, 1943, for the exemplary performance of combat missions of the command on the front of the fight against the Nazi invaders and the courage and heroism of the guard, Lieutenant Konstantin Iosifovich Nedorubov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and medal " Golden Star"(No. 1302). In addition, he was awarded two Orders of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner, and medals.

After being seriously wounded in the Carpathians, in December 1943, Hero of the Soviet Union Guard Captain Nedorubov was declared non-combatant and was dismissed from the ranks of the Red Army. He returned home to the village of Berezovskaya, Danilovsky district, Stalingrad region. Worked a lot.

Until the end of his life he wore his “St. George” along with the star of the Hero of the Soviet Union.

The name of Konstantin Iosifovich Nedorubov was assigned to the Volgograd Cossack Cadet Corps.

Konstantin Iosifovich Nedorubov lived a long and heroic life. He is one of three people V Russian history, who are simultaneously holders of both the highest military awards of the Russian Empire and the USSR. Two military commanders became Knights of St. George of all degrees and heroes of the Soviet Union - Marshal Budyonny and General Tyulenev, and an ordinary Cossack captain Nedorubov.

Konstantin Nedorubov was born in 1889 on the Rubezhny farm (Volgograd region). He is of Cossack origin - from a family of hereditary Don Cossacks. He spent his youthful years on a farm, leading ordinary life young Cossack. He received a primary education, only three grades. Later, many biographers of Nedorubov drew attention to the amazing similarity of his fate with the hero greatest novel M. Sholokhov by Grigory Melekhov.

At the age of 22, Konstantin was called up to serve in the Don Cossack regiment in the corps of General Brusilov. The regiment was stationed near Warsaw. This is where Nedorubova was found by the First World War. The Cossack showed courage on the verge of insolence, taking an active part in the battles on the South-West and Romanian fronts. As the leader of a reconnaissance team, he made numerous forays, capturing enemy soldiers, and once even the Austrian headquarters. The result of such heroic activity was the awarding of the Cossack, who by the end of the war had the low rank of sergeant, with all four degrees of the Cross of St. George and two medals of St. George.

A serious injury in 1917 put Nedorubov out of action. After long-term treatment in Kharkov, Kyiv, Tsaritsyn, Konstantin Nedorubov was faced with the question of where to move next - the civil war was flaring up. The following year he participates in battles in the army of General Krasnov on the side of the Whites. In the summer he is captured by the Reds and goes to serve in the Red Army. Six months later, history repeats itself - Nedorubov is captured by the Whites, pardoned because of his previous merits, and again fights on the side of the Whites. In the summer of 1919, Konstantin Iosifovich was again in the ranks of the Red Army. He becomes the commander of a cavalry squadron, bravely fights in the Kuban, Don and Crimean peninsula.

After finishing Civil War, Nedorubov returns to peaceful life in his native village. At first, an ordinary individual owner, later he was appointed deputy chairman of the collective farm, controller and foreman on various collective farms. The unwinding flywheel of repression affected Konstantin Nedorubov immediately. In 1933 for abuse job responsibilities(allowed the peasants to keep the leftover grain), he was sentenced to 10 years in the camps. Three years passed by hard work on the construction of the Moscow-Volga canal. Early release.

Nedorubov during the Great Patriotic War

In 1941, K.I. Nedorubov is not subject to mobilization due to his age, but he does not remain on the sidelines. In the fall of 1941, he signed up as a volunteer to defend his homeland. He takes his 16-year-old son with him. Nedorubov becomes the commander of a Cossack squadron of volunteers, and in the summer of 1942 his detachment takes part in fierce battles on the North Caucasus Front. Once again, almost 30 years later, Konstantin Iosifovich’s squadron distinguishes itself with daring and successful attacks on the enemy. By personal example, he rouses his fighters to attack, rushing into hand-to-hand combat. Personally destroys hundreds of enemies.

For unparalleled courage and heroism in October 1943, Konstantin Iosifovich Nedorubov was given the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. At the same time, a serious wound put the already middle-aged hero out of action. After treatment in the Caucasus, he was sent to the reserve. Having already become a living legend, Nedorubov took part in the Victory Parade. Moreover, he proudly wore all his awards: both from Tsarist times and Soviet ones. About his St. George Crosses, he later repeated to everyone who was interested: “I walked in the front row at the Victory Parade like this. And at the reception, Comrade Stalin himself shook hands and thanked him for his participation in two wars.” IN post-war period Nedorubov held various party positions and was elected as a deputy of the district council.

In 1967, K.I. Nedorubov, among 3 veterans, lights a torch Eternal flame at the memorial to the heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad on Mamayev Kurgan. Konstantin Iosifovich spent the rest of his life in the village of Berezovskaya, Volgograd region, and this is where his grave is now located. He died shortly before his 90th birthday, in 1978.

Biographies and exploits of Heroes of the Soviet Union and holders of Soviet orders: