6 of the most incredible feats of Russian paratroopers who conquered the whole world
On the day of the 85 anniversary of the Airborne Forces, we recall the heroes of the Airborne Forces.
"The blue splashed, splashed, spilled on vests, on the berets." Blue berets, vests, parachutes and blue sky - these are all indispensable attributes of the fighters of the already elite troops - airborne.
August 2 celebrate Airborne Forces Day across Russia. This year, the airborne troops celebrate their 85 anniversary. In all cities of Russia on the day of the Airborne Forces will be held celebrations.
In Moscow, the main action will unfold in Gorky Park: concerts, exhibitions, field kitchen, meetings of former colleagues and, of course, military equipment of the landing. Festivities will begin with the divine liturgy in the temple of Elijah the Prophet at the headquarters of the Airborne Forces and laying a flower to the memorials.
On this day, thousands of men of different ages in blue berets, vests and turquoise flags will bathe in the fountains and remember army years with their colleagues, and we will remember the immortal feats of Russian paratroopers.
Battle of the Pskov paratroopers in the Argun gorge
Speaking about the exploits of the Russian assault, it is impossible not to recall the incredibly tragic and equally heroic battle Pskov paratroopers in the Argun Gorge in February Chechne.29 - March 1 2000 years 6 fighters-th company 2-104 Battalion-th Guards Airborne Regiment of the Pskov division fought a heavy battle with militants under the command of Khattab at the height of 776 near the town of Argun in the central part of Chechnya. Two and a half thousand militants were opposed by 90 paratroopers, 84 of whom heroically fell in battle. Six soldiers remained alive. A company blocked the way for Chechen militants who were trying to break from the Argun gorge to Dagestan. The information about the death of an entire company was kept secret for a long time.
One can only guess what military men had to endure in this terrible battle. The fighters undermined themselves, already wounded, they threw themselves at the militants, not wanting to surrender. “It’s better to die than to surrender,” said company soldiers.
This follows from the protocol notes: "When the ammunition ran out, the paratroopers went into hand-to-hand combat and undermined themselves with grenades in the crowd of militants."
One such example is Senior Lieutenant Alexei Vorobyev, who destroyed the field commander Idris. Vorobyov was shattered by broken mines, one bullet hit in the stomach, the other in the chest, but he fought to the last. It is known that when in the morning of March 2 the 1-I company broke through to a height, the body of the lieutenant was still warm.
Our guys paid a big price for the victory, but they managed to stop the enemy, who was never able to escape from the gorge. Only 2500 survived from 500 fighters
The 22 fighter company received the title of Hero of Russia, 21 of them - posthumously, the rest became holders of the Order of Courage.
Mozhaysky landing
An example of the greatest courage and valor of the Russian landing can serve as a feat of the Siberian soldiers who died in the 1941 year near Mozhaisk in an unequal battle with the fascist troops.
It was a cold winter of 1941. The Soviet pilot, who was conducting a reconnaissance flight, saw that a column of enemy armored vehicles was moving towards Moscow, and there were no detachments or anti-tank weapons on its way. The Soviet command decided to throw before tanks landing.
When the commander came to the landing company of Siberians, who were brought to the nearest airfield, they were offered to jump from the aircraft directly into the snow. And it was necessary to jump without parachutes on a low-level flight. It is noteworthy that this was not an order, but a request, but all military personnel took a step forward.
The German soldiers were unpleasantly surprised to see low-flying aircraft, and then panicked at all when one of them people in white fur coats fell one after another. And there was no end to this stream. When it seemed that the Germans had already destroyed everyone, new planes with new fighters appeared.
The author of the novel "The Prince's Island" Yuri Sergeyev describes these events. "Russians were not visible in the snow, they seemed to grow out of the ground itself: fearless, furious and holy in retaliation, irresistible by no weapons. The fight was boiling and gurgling on the highway. The Germans killed almost everyone and were already happy about the victory, seeing a new convoy of tanks and motorized infantry catching up with them, when again a wave of airplanes crawled out of the forest and a white waterfall of fresh soldiers poured out of them, hitting the enemy in the fall ...
German columns were destroyed, only a few armored cars and cars escaped from this hell and rushed back, bringing mortal horror and mystical fear of fearlessness, will and spirit of the Russian soldier. After it turned out that when falling into the snow, only twelve percent of the landing took place.
The rest took an unequal battle. "
Documentary evidence of this stories not. Many believe that it, for some reason, is still classified, and others consider it a beautiful legend about the paratroopers' feat. However, when skeptics asked about this story of a famous Soviet intelligence officer and paratrooper, record-holder in the number of parachute jumps of Ivan Starchak, he did not question the reality of this story. The fact is that he himself and his fighters also landed near Moscow to stop the motorized convoy of opponents.
October 5, 1941, our Soviet intelligence discovered a 25-kilometer German motorized convoy, which was in full swing along the Warsaw highway in the direction of Yukhnov. 200 tanks, 20 thousand infantry in vehicles accompanied aviation and artillery posed a mortal threat to Moscow, to which 198 kilometers remained. There were no Soviet troops on this path. Only in Podolsk there were two military schools: infantry and artillery.
In order to give them time to take up defense, a small airborne assault commander under the command of captain Starchak was dropped. Of the 430 people, only 80 were experienced paratroopers, another 200 - from front-line aircraft and 150 - the newly arrived replenishment of Komsomol members, and all without guns, machine guns and tanks.
The paratroopers took up defense on the Ugra River, mined and blew up the roadbed and bridges along the German route, setting up ambushes. There is a case in which one of the groups attacked an airfield captured by the Germans, burned two TB-3 planes, and a third took them to Moscow. He was led by paratrooper Peter Balashov, who had never operated such aircraft before. He landed safely in Moscow on his fifth attempt.
But the forces were not equal, reinforcements came to the Germans. Within three days, only 430 survived from 29 people, including Ivan Starchak. Later to the Soviet military came help. Almost everyone was killed, but they did not let the fascists break through to Moscow. All were presented to the Order of the Red Banner, and Starchak to the Order of Lenin. Budyonny, the front commander, called Starchak "a desperate commander."
Then Starchak repeatedly entered the battle in the years of the Great Patriotic War, was wounded several times, but survived.
When one of his British colleagues asked him why the Russians did not surrender even in the face of death, although this was sometimes easier, he replied:
"In your opinion, this is fanaticism, but in our opinion, love for the land on which you grew up and which you exalted with work. Love for a country where you are the complete master. And the fact that Soviet fighters fight for the Motherland to the last bullet, to the last drops of blood, we consider the highest military and civil valor. "
Later Starchak wrote an autobiographical novel "From Heaven to Battle," in which he spoke about these events. Starchak died in the 1981 year at the age of 76 years, leaving behind an immortal feat worthy of legends.
Better death than captivity
Another famous episode in the history of the Soviet and Russian troops is the battle in the Old City of Herat during the war in Afghanistan. When 11 July 1985, a Soviet armored carrier hit a mine, only four people survived, led by junior sergeant V. Shimansky. They occupied the perimeter defense and decided under no circumstances to surrender, while the enemy wanted to capture the Soviet soldiers.
Surrounded by soldiers took an unequal battle. They had already run out of ammunition, the enemy squeezed into a tight ring, and there was no reinforcement. Then, in order not to fall into the hands of enemies, the commander ordered the fighters to shoot themselves.
They gathered under the burning armored troop-carrier, embraced, said good-bye and then each fired a machine gun at himself. The last commander shot. When Soviet reinforcements arrived, the four soldiers killed were lying next to the armored personnel carrier, where the enemies had dragged them. The surprise of the Soviet soldiers was great when they saw that one of them was alive. The machine gunner Teplyuk four bullets passed a few centimeters above the heart. It was he who later told about the last minutes of the life of the heroic crew.
Death of the Maravara Company
The death of the so-called Maravarian company during the 21 war in Afghanistan on April 1985 of the year is another tragic and heroic episode in the history of the Russian landing force.
The 1-I company of the Soviet special forces under the command of Captain Tsebruka was encircled in the Maravara gorge in the province of Kunar and was destroyed by the enemy.
It is known that the company carried out a training exit to the village of Sangam, located at the beginning of the Maravari gorge. There was no enemy in the village, however, the Mujahideen were seen in the depths of the gorge. When the men of the company began to pursue the enemy, they were ambushed. The company was divided into four groups and began to delve into the gorge.
Dushmans, who saw the enemy, entered the rear of the 1-th company blocked the way for the fighters to Daridam, where the 2-th and 3-th company were stationed, they set up posts armed with large-caliber DShK machine guns. The forces were not equal, and the ammunition that the special forces took with them to the training exit was enough for only a few minutes of the battle.
At the same time, a detachment was quickly formed in Asadabad, which went to the aid of an ambush company. The detachment reinforced by armored vehicles could not quickly cross the river and had to go around it, which took extra time. Three kilometers on the map turned into 23 on the land of Afghanistan stuffed with mines. Of the entire armored group in the direction of the Maravar, only one car broke through. This did not help the 1-th company, but saved the 2-th and 3-th company, which fought off the attacks of the Mujahideen.
In the second half of the day, 21, when the joint company and the armored group entered the Maravari gorge, the surviving fighters walked towards them, leading out and carrying out wounded comrades. They talked about the terrible massacre of enraged enemies with furious repulsions over the rest of the battlefield: they had their stomachs ripped up, their eyes were pierced, they burned alive.
The bodies of the dead soldiers were collected for two days. Many had to be identified by tricks and details of clothing. Some bodies had to be carried along with wicker couches on which the soldiers were tortured. In a battle in the Maravari Gorge, a Soviet soldier was killed 31.
12-hour battle 9-th company
The feat of domestic paratroopers, immortalized not only by history, but also by cinema, was the battle of the 9 Company of the 345 Guards separate parachute regiment for the dominant height of 3234 in the city of Khost during the war in Afghanistan.
A company of paratroopers as part of 39 man entered the battle, trying to keep 7 January 1988 of the year from the Mujahideen 200. The enemy (according to various data 400-XNUMX people) intended to bring down the guard from the dominant height and open access to the road Gardez-Host.
The enemy opened fire on the positions of Soviet troops from recoilless guns, mortars, small arms and grenade launchers. Just a day before three in the morning, the Mujahideen launched 12 attacks, the last of which was critical. The enemy managed to get as close as possible, but at this time, the reconnaissance platoon of the 9 th paratroop battalion, which delivered the ammunition, broke through to help the 3 company. This decided the outcome of the battle, the Mujahideen, suffering serious losses, began to retreat. As a result of the twelve-hour battle to capture the height failed.
9 soldiers were killed in the 6 Company, 28 were injured.
This story formed the basis of the famous film by Fyodor Bondarchuk "9 Company", which tells about the valor of Soviet soldiers.
Vyazemsky operation of the Soviet landing
Every year in Russia they recall the feat of Soviet paratroopers. Among them, the so-called Vyazemsky airborne operation. This is a Red Army operation on the landing of German troops in the rear of the Rzhev-Vyazma offensive, which was carried out from January 18 to February 28 1942, in order to assist the forces of the Kalinin and Western fronts surrounded by a part of the forces of the German Army Group Center.
No one conducted airborne operations of such magnitude during the Great Patriotic War. To this end, a VNYMX airborne corps, numbering more than 4 thousand people, was parachuted under Vyazma. The corps commander, Major-General A.F. Levashov.
January 27 advanced landing assault force commanded by Captain M.Ya. Karnaukhova was thrown behind the front line on dozens of aircraft. Then for the next six days the 8-I airborne brigade with a total of about 2100 people was parachuted into the rear of the enemy.
However, the overall situation at the front for the Soviet troops was difficult. Part of the landed paratroopers merged with the operating units, and the landing of the remaining fighters was postponed.
A few weeks later the 4 th battalion of the 8 th airborne brigade, as well as units of the 9 th and 214 th brigade, landed in the enemy's rear. In total, in January-February 1942 of the year, over Smolensk land was parachuted over 10 thousand people, 320 mortars, 541 machine gun, 300 anti-tank guns. All this happened with an acute shortage of transport aircraft, in difficult climatic and weather conditions, with strong opposition from the enemy.
Unfortunately, to solve the tasks assigned to the paratroopers, and failed, because the enemy was very strong.
Fighters 4 th airborne corps, which had only light weapons and a minimum of food, ammunition, had to fight in the rear of the enemy for a long five months.
After the war, the former Hitlerite officer A. Gové in the book "Attention, parachutists!" I was forced to admit: “The Russian paratroopers landed for many days kept the forest in their hands and, lying at 38-degree frost on the pine branches laid right on the snow, fought off all German attacks that were improvised at first. Only with the support of those arriving from Vyazma German self-propelled guns and dive bombers managed to free the road from the Russians. "
These are just a few examples of the feats of Russian and Soviet paratroopers, which not only cause pride among compatriots, but also the respect of enemies who bow to the courage of "these Russian in vests."
- Elena Manikhina
- http://ren.tv/novosti/2015-08-02/6-samyh-neveroyatnyh-podvigov-russkih-desantnikov-pokorivshih-ves-mir
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