Do not age old generals
I met the chairman of the board of the Dnipropetrovsk regional organization of veterans Stanislav Nikolaevich SHEVCHENKO on the eve of his 77 anniversary. Some numbers: Major General Shevchenko of the reserve 10 has been heading one of the most numerous veteran organizations in Ukraine for years: the Dnepropetrovsk veteran community brings together 750 thousand people. Companions re-elected him three times to this position. We talked with the “chief veteran of Dnipropetrovsk region” about his responsible and troublesome work and about the difficult army roads that we had to go through before taking a place in the official chairman’s office.
- Stanislav Nikolaevich! The phrase "general career" sounds tempting at all times. But in order to rise to this rank, you probably need to dream about service from childhood. What prompted you to become a soldier?
- It all started with the fact that my father was a military man. After the victory, in 1946, he served in Poland, served as the political commander of the battalion in the 6th tank regiment of the 90th division. From military equipment to the regiment were Tanks T-34 and self-propelled artillery mounts SAU-100 - on one of them my father served. At that time, my mother and I moved to him, and I practically grew up in a regiment, in an army setting.
I remember how meticulously I considered the design of the ACS-100, while still a boy, I climbed the car with interest. By the way, later, after graduating from the tank school, I also got to serve on this installation of the class of tank destroyers.
In general, our entire family is associated with the army or law enforcement agencies for special purposes. My spouse's father, Valentina Ivanovna, was also a military man. Our granddaughter graduated from the National Academy of the Security Service of Ukraine, the grandson - the Military Institute of Telecommunications and Informatization of the National Technical University "KPI".
— You had to serve literally from Moscow to the outskirts. How did relatives perceive the need to constantly relocate in connection with new appointments of the head of the family?
- Yes, I had to move a lot. Omsk, Moscow, parts in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, Transbaikalia, the Far East, Chernihiv ... And, finally, Dnepropetrovsk, where we live with 1984. My wife and I have been together for 56 years! And no problem about the move between us has never arisen. It is necessary to go - it means that we are going and going with the whole family.
- And in your service record - the execution of military duty in Afghanistan. As for other Soviet officers and soldiers who have gone through Afghan, this is an unforgettable biography page for you. What of her remember most?
- The operation to release our compatriots - civilian specialists who built a bakery in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif, in the north of the country, from the captivity of the Mujahideen turned out to be difficult - technically and morally. 16 people, returning from work on the bus, fell into the trap arranged by the bandits and fell through the ground. By order of our Ministry of Defense, an operational group was set up to search for the missing, which I had the chance to lead. The terrain there is difficult for an ignorant person: Afghan villages - villages - are located in deep gorges, movement is complicated due to mountain rivers, communications are absent. Winter hard Aviation due to bad weather.
Only a month after the abduction of specialists, we managed to find out in which village the prisoners were supposedly being held. I immediately decided to land a helicopter landing. As a result of the assault, 10 was rescued; the rest, unfortunately, were shot by the attacked militants (one was killed immediately after the abduction).
After this, the command entrusted me with developing and conducting an action of retaliation in order to defeat the gang of Zabibullo, the leader of the Mujahideen, who had organized the attack on the Soviet workers. And we took the place of deployment of bandits - the Marmol gorge, which from the very beginning of the Afghan campaign was considered impregnable for our troops. In this mountain fortress, the Mujahideen have equipped a serious camp: warehouses with a huge amount of ammunition, weapons and food, stolen Soviet cars - KamAZ, UAZ ...
There were also two prisons, one of which was terrifying: medieval torture chambers, not otherwise. From imprisonment they managed to free one officer of the Afghan army, who miraculously survived. The leader of the gang then managed to escape, but, according to intelligence, he later hit a Soviet mine. By the way, recently my comrades and I recalled that operation, because it ended exactly 30 years ago - 20 March 1983.
Social Security Strategy
- If I understand correctly, the veteran organization you are heading for consists not only of the Great Patriotic War who fought on the fronts, but also the same veterans of Afghanistan, and representatives of other respected categories of society. Otherwise, where does this figure come from - 750 thousand members?
- Of course, today the word "veteran" means not only "a participant in hostilities during the Great Patriotic War." Of course, we really respect such people. But the organization, besides them, includes war invalids; rear workers; labor veterans; military service veterans; juvenile prisoners of Nazi concentration camps; survived the siege of Leningrad; Chernobyl victims; Afghans and other local military conflicts. A regional organization consists of 1700 primary organizations.
- The absolute majority of these people are elderly, who donate strength and health for the benefit of the state. It is clear that first of all they are concerned about the social and domestic aspect of life - to buy medicines cheaper, heal, get financial assistance, get from local authorities to repair the road or house ... How does a veteran organization promote?
- Yes, social and legal protection is our main task. Two others - protecting the truth stories and nurturing the younger generation. If we talk about the first, I lobby these issues in the Dnipropetrovsk regional council as a deputy (second consecutive) of the convocation of the Party of Regions - the head of the deputy commission on veterans, disabled people and children of war. By the way, 1360 members of our organization are deputies of different levels in the Dnipropetrovsk region. After the previous election, those were 560.
It is very good that we are increasing our presence in government. Indeed, without close contact with the heads of the region, it would be very difficult to achieve the allocation of finance for veteran needs. Representatives of local authorities took part in past reporting and election conferences of veteran organizations: in district and city organizations — heads of district administrations and chairmen of district councils, mayors of cities; the then regional governor, then deputy prime minister Alexander Vilkul and the head of the regional council Yevgeny Udod participated in the conference of the regional organization.
- What social and legal protection initiatives are you proud of?
- I consider it worthy of attention, in particular, a charity event for the 65 anniversary of the Victory. Then the war invalids at the expense of the regional budget received certificates for the purchase of medicines: for 500 UAH. - invalids of the first group, according to 450 UAH. - disabled second. 11 800 disabled people are registered, and they have not received a single complaint about the poor quality of this program. And it was possible to allocate money as a result of an agreement with the then head of the regional council, Yuri Vilkul, thanks to his understanding of the veterans' problems.
In general, the leaders of Dnipropetrovsk, as a rule, meet us halfway. So, a year ago, in agreement with the head doctor of the regional hospital. Mechnikov Sergey Ryzhenko began regular counseling of veterans by specialists of the hospital on the road. It happens this way: a team of doctors of different profiles arrives in rural areas. The task of the head of the district veteran organization is to ensure that elderly patients come to the reception. Of course, consultations for them are free.
The problem of providing qualified medical care is especially acute in rural areas: the roads leave much to be desired, there is no transport, it is difficult to get an appointment with a doctor in rural areas. And then the doctors themselves come. If a person needs to be hospitalized for health reasons, so they do, if there is enough outpatient treatment, then he is prescribed. You know, when you attend these trips and veterans come to thank, you get so much joy!
And sometimes, to help people, and the cost of large is not required. The main thing - to choose the right strategy to solve the problem. For example, before I was constantly approached by visitors interested in the procedure for calculating pensions. I, as a member of the colleges of the regional departments of the Pension Fund and the Department of Labor and Social Protection, suggested that the relevant specialists should explain the newspaper Dnepr Evening and Zorya. And this had the effect - the number of appeals immediately decreased. It turns out that people just did not have enough information.
To remember
- Another your initiative is the mass restoration, restoration of monuments to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War. Is this also a long-term program?
- It will be calculated, I think, up to 2015. About 1,5 thousand monuments to fallen soldiers have been erected on the territory of the region. Many have fallen into disrepair, decayed. And who and at whose expense will they be restored? The budgets of district and village councils are modest, and support from the regional budget is needed. Therefore, from the treasury allocated 10,5 mln. on the restoration of monuments in rural areas. Our initiative is unique - I have not heard that in other regions of Ukraine embody a similar program. For example, a memorial was recently reopened in Verkhnodniprovsk, where 10 thousands of soldiers and officers are buried.
In addition, together with activists of search organizations we are making efforts to pay tribute to the dead soldiers who have not yet been buried in human terms. Today, more than a thousand and a half people have been buried, whose ashes were found during prospecting work in the places where the fiercest battles took place: Verkhnedneprovsky, Solonyansky, and Sophia districts.
There are amazing stories. So, in the territory of Sinelnikovo, search engines discovered the ashes of a front-line soldier, whose father was a famous Kazakh akyn Dzhambul Dzhabayev. The family of the deceased knew nothing about his fate. Employees of the Embassy of Kazakhstan contributed to the installation of the monument, and in the local school opened a museum dedicated to the battle and its heroes.
- Speaking in schools, you communicate a lot with students. What do today's children know about war? After it, so many years have passed, and now the story is being interpreted differently.
- It all depends primarily on the family. If the child receives the necessary information at home, if he is told about the heroes of the war, he will have an idea about them. And to know, of course, you need - at least about those whose names are immortalized in the city where you live. I once asked eighth-graders: “Guys! In Dnepropetrovsk, there is Volodya Dubinin Street, the park to them. Volodya Dubinin. Tell me, who is this? ”In response - silent. And then a girl, a fourth-grade student who attended the lesson: “I know!” Is pulling her hand. She told about the young intelligence officer as much as I would have told. It turned out that the grandmother introduced her to the biography of the pioneer hero.
Family is family, but our organization also works in this direction. In order to interest the children, in the newspaper “Veteran of Pridniprovya” (annexed to the regional newspaper “Zorya”) a competition was announced for the best student article about the participants of the war - fighters, heroes of the rear living near us. For the holiday 9 May summed up and awarded the authors of the best works. The status of the competition is proved by the fact that the diplomas were presented to the winners by the head of the regional council Yevgeny Udod.
In addition, at the initiative of the organization, they conducted a review of school museums dedicated to the recent history of specific localities of the region. Some schools have very good museums, where the theme of the Great Patriotic War occupies a significant place. What is remarkable, the students themselves lead the excursions on them. We encouraged the best guides with books.
After all, it is necessary to teach a new generation of patriotism from an early age.
- Stanislav Nikolaevich! The phrase "general career" sounds tempting at all times. But in order to rise to this rank, you probably need to dream about service from childhood. What prompted you to become a soldier?
- It all started with the fact that my father was a military man. After the victory, in 1946, he served in Poland, served as the political commander of the battalion in the 6th tank regiment of the 90th division. From military equipment to the regiment were Tanks T-34 and self-propelled artillery mounts SAU-100 - on one of them my father served. At that time, my mother and I moved to him, and I practically grew up in a regiment, in an army setting.
I remember how meticulously I considered the design of the ACS-100, while still a boy, I climbed the car with interest. By the way, later, after graduating from the tank school, I also got to serve on this installation of the class of tank destroyers.
In general, our entire family is associated with the army or law enforcement agencies for special purposes. My spouse's father, Valentina Ivanovna, was also a military man. Our granddaughter graduated from the National Academy of the Security Service of Ukraine, the grandson - the Military Institute of Telecommunications and Informatization of the National Technical University "KPI".
2000 Help
The future major general, Stanislav Shevchenko, was born 26 in March 1936 in the town of Buturlinovka, Voronezh Region. in the family of a military man. He connected his life with the army in 1954, having entered the Kharkov Guards Tank School. Then, while serving in the Armed Forces of the USSR, he studied further: in 1968, he graduated from the Military Academy of Armored Forces. Malinovsky (now - as part of the Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation), at 1976, the Military Academy of the General Staff, both in Moscow.
Passed all the command positions. In 1982 — 1983 He was appointed first deputy chief of staff of the 40 Army of Soviet troops in Afghanistan. After that, he served as deputy chief of staff of the 6 Guards Tank Army.
During the liquidation of the consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, he worked as chief of staff of the operational group of the Kiev Military District, being in the disaster zone from May 2 to June 13 1986 in June. In 1991, he retired.
He was awarded the Order of the Red Star, "For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" III degree, "For Merit" III degree, etc.
He is married and has two daughters.
The future major general, Stanislav Shevchenko, was born 26 in March 1936 in the town of Buturlinovka, Voronezh Region. in the family of a military man. He connected his life with the army in 1954, having entered the Kharkov Guards Tank School. Then, while serving in the Armed Forces of the USSR, he studied further: in 1968, he graduated from the Military Academy of Armored Forces. Malinovsky (now - as part of the Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation), at 1976, the Military Academy of the General Staff, both in Moscow.
Passed all the command positions. In 1982 — 1983 He was appointed first deputy chief of staff of the 40 Army of Soviet troops in Afghanistan. After that, he served as deputy chief of staff of the 6 Guards Tank Army.
During the liquidation of the consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, he worked as chief of staff of the operational group of the Kiev Military District, being in the disaster zone from May 2 to June 13 1986 in June. In 1991, he retired.
He was awarded the Order of the Red Star, "For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" III degree, "For Merit" III degree, etc.
He is married and has two daughters.
— You had to serve literally from Moscow to the outskirts. How did relatives perceive the need to constantly relocate in connection with new appointments of the head of the family?
- Yes, I had to move a lot. Omsk, Moscow, parts in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, Transbaikalia, the Far East, Chernihiv ... And, finally, Dnepropetrovsk, where we live with 1984. My wife and I have been together for 56 years! And no problem about the move between us has never arisen. It is necessary to go - it means that we are going and going with the whole family.
- And in your service record - the execution of military duty in Afghanistan. As for other Soviet officers and soldiers who have gone through Afghan, this is an unforgettable biography page for you. What of her remember most?
- The operation to release our compatriots - civilian specialists who built a bakery in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif, in the north of the country, from the captivity of the Mujahideen turned out to be difficult - technically and morally. 16 people, returning from work on the bus, fell into the trap arranged by the bandits and fell through the ground. By order of our Ministry of Defense, an operational group was set up to search for the missing, which I had the chance to lead. The terrain there is difficult for an ignorant person: Afghan villages - villages - are located in deep gorges, movement is complicated due to mountain rivers, communications are absent. Winter hard Aviation due to bad weather.
Only a month after the abduction of specialists, we managed to find out in which village the prisoners were supposedly being held. I immediately decided to land a helicopter landing. As a result of the assault, 10 was rescued; the rest, unfortunately, were shot by the attacked militants (one was killed immediately after the abduction).
After this, the command entrusted me with developing and conducting an action of retaliation in order to defeat the gang of Zabibullo, the leader of the Mujahideen, who had organized the attack on the Soviet workers. And we took the place of deployment of bandits - the Marmol gorge, which from the very beginning of the Afghan campaign was considered impregnable for our troops. In this mountain fortress, the Mujahideen have equipped a serious camp: warehouses with a huge amount of ammunition, weapons and food, stolen Soviet cars - KamAZ, UAZ ...
There were also two prisons, one of which was terrifying: medieval torture chambers, not otherwise. From imprisonment they managed to free one officer of the Afghan army, who miraculously survived. The leader of the gang then managed to escape, but, according to intelligence, he later hit a Soviet mine. By the way, recently my comrades and I recalled that operation, because it ended exactly 30 years ago - 20 March 1983.
Social Security Strategy
- If I understand correctly, the veteran organization you are heading for consists not only of the Great Patriotic War who fought on the fronts, but also the same veterans of Afghanistan, and representatives of other respected categories of society. Otherwise, where does this figure come from - 750 thousand members?
- Of course, today the word "veteran" means not only "a participant in hostilities during the Great Patriotic War." Of course, we really respect such people. But the organization, besides them, includes war invalids; rear workers; labor veterans; military service veterans; juvenile prisoners of Nazi concentration camps; survived the siege of Leningrad; Chernobyl victims; Afghans and other local military conflicts. A regional organization consists of 1700 primary organizations.
- The absolute majority of these people are elderly, who donate strength and health for the benefit of the state. It is clear that first of all they are concerned about the social and domestic aspect of life - to buy medicines cheaper, heal, get financial assistance, get from local authorities to repair the road or house ... How does a veteran organization promote?
- Yes, social and legal protection is our main task. Two others - protecting the truth stories and nurturing the younger generation. If we talk about the first, I lobby these issues in the Dnipropetrovsk regional council as a deputy (second consecutive) of the convocation of the Party of Regions - the head of the deputy commission on veterans, disabled people and children of war. By the way, 1360 members of our organization are deputies of different levels in the Dnipropetrovsk region. After the previous election, those were 560.
It is very good that we are increasing our presence in government. Indeed, without close contact with the heads of the region, it would be very difficult to achieve the allocation of finance for veteran needs. Representatives of local authorities took part in past reporting and election conferences of veteran organizations: in district and city organizations — heads of district administrations and chairmen of district councils, mayors of cities; the then regional governor, then deputy prime minister Alexander Vilkul and the head of the regional council Yevgeny Udod participated in the conference of the regional organization.
- What social and legal protection initiatives are you proud of?
- I consider it worthy of attention, in particular, a charity event for the 65 anniversary of the Victory. Then the war invalids at the expense of the regional budget received certificates for the purchase of medicines: for 500 UAH. - invalids of the first group, according to 450 UAH. - disabled second. 11 800 disabled people are registered, and they have not received a single complaint about the poor quality of this program. And it was possible to allocate money as a result of an agreement with the then head of the regional council, Yuri Vilkul, thanks to his understanding of the veterans' problems.
In general, the leaders of Dnipropetrovsk, as a rule, meet us halfway. So, a year ago, in agreement with the head doctor of the regional hospital. Mechnikov Sergey Ryzhenko began regular counseling of veterans by specialists of the hospital on the road. It happens this way: a team of doctors of different profiles arrives in rural areas. The task of the head of the district veteran organization is to ensure that elderly patients come to the reception. Of course, consultations for them are free.
The problem of providing qualified medical care is especially acute in rural areas: the roads leave much to be desired, there is no transport, it is difficult to get an appointment with a doctor in rural areas. And then the doctors themselves come. If a person needs to be hospitalized for health reasons, so they do, if there is enough outpatient treatment, then he is prescribed. You know, when you attend these trips and veterans come to thank, you get so much joy!
And sometimes, to help people, and the cost of large is not required. The main thing - to choose the right strategy to solve the problem. For example, before I was constantly approached by visitors interested in the procedure for calculating pensions. I, as a member of the colleges of the regional departments of the Pension Fund and the Department of Labor and Social Protection, suggested that the relevant specialists should explain the newspaper Dnepr Evening and Zorya. And this had the effect - the number of appeals immediately decreased. It turns out that people just did not have enough information.
To remember
- Another your initiative is the mass restoration, restoration of monuments to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War. Is this also a long-term program?
- It will be calculated, I think, up to 2015. About 1,5 thousand monuments to fallen soldiers have been erected on the territory of the region. Many have fallen into disrepair, decayed. And who and at whose expense will they be restored? The budgets of district and village councils are modest, and support from the regional budget is needed. Therefore, from the treasury allocated 10,5 mln. on the restoration of monuments in rural areas. Our initiative is unique - I have not heard that in other regions of Ukraine embody a similar program. For example, a memorial was recently reopened in Verkhnodniprovsk, where 10 thousands of soldiers and officers are buried.
In addition, together with activists of search organizations we are making efforts to pay tribute to the dead soldiers who have not yet been buried in human terms. Today, more than a thousand and a half people have been buried, whose ashes were found during prospecting work in the places where the fiercest battles took place: Verkhnedneprovsky, Solonyansky, and Sophia districts.
There are amazing stories. So, in the territory of Sinelnikovo, search engines discovered the ashes of a front-line soldier, whose father was a famous Kazakh akyn Dzhambul Dzhabayev. The family of the deceased knew nothing about his fate. Employees of the Embassy of Kazakhstan contributed to the installation of the monument, and in the local school opened a museum dedicated to the battle and its heroes.
- Speaking in schools, you communicate a lot with students. What do today's children know about war? After it, so many years have passed, and now the story is being interpreted differently.
- It all depends primarily on the family. If the child receives the necessary information at home, if he is told about the heroes of the war, he will have an idea about them. And to know, of course, you need - at least about those whose names are immortalized in the city where you live. I once asked eighth-graders: “Guys! In Dnepropetrovsk, there is Volodya Dubinin Street, the park to them. Volodya Dubinin. Tell me, who is this? ”In response - silent. And then a girl, a fourth-grade student who attended the lesson: “I know!” Is pulling her hand. She told about the young intelligence officer as much as I would have told. It turned out that the grandmother introduced her to the biography of the pioneer hero.
Family is family, but our organization also works in this direction. In order to interest the children, in the newspaper “Veteran of Pridniprovya” (annexed to the regional newspaper “Zorya”) a competition was announced for the best student article about the participants of the war - fighters, heroes of the rear living near us. For the holiday 9 May summed up and awarded the authors of the best works. The status of the competition is proved by the fact that the diplomas were presented to the winners by the head of the regional council Yevgeny Udod.
In addition, at the initiative of the organization, they conducted a review of school museums dedicated to the recent history of specific localities of the region. Some schools have very good museums, where the theme of the Great Patriotic War occupies a significant place. What is remarkable, the students themselves lead the excursions on them. We encouraged the best guides with books.
After all, it is necessary to teach a new generation of patriotism from an early age.
Information