In Memory of Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Mirenkov

On 9 September 2022, from 10:00 to 11:00, the “Memory of Afghanistan” Charitable Foundation for Assistance to Internationalist Veterans, together with the Stalin Line Historical and Cultural Complex, the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Belarus, Minsk Gymnasium No. 18, visitors from the Czech Republic and distinguished guests, will hold a commemorative event at the grave of tanker and Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Stepanovich Mirenkov in Minsk’s Eastern Cemetery. The event will honour the tank crews of Ivan Stepanovich Mirenkov’s platoon and mark Tankers’ Day.
 
 
On 16 April 1945, near the Czech village of Starovičky, Ivan Mirenkov, commanding a platoon of three T-34-85 tanks, discerned the enemy’s plan and launched a flanking attack. It emerged that the Germans had nine tanks and self-propelled guns, with several anti-tank guns lying in ambush. Despite this, Mirenkov’s platoon skilfully used the fog to destroy six enemy vehicles. Ivan Mirenkov’s own tank knocked out three Panthers, one self-propelled gun and two guns. All three Soviet tanks were also knocked out, but their heroic action cleared the road of the enemy, allowing our tank brigade to capture the town of Hustopeče. A frontline correspondent even managed to photograph the Marder self-propelled gun and Panthers knocked out by Mirenkov.
 
 
Representatives of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Belarus, the management of the “Memory of Afghanistan” Foundation and the Stalin Line Historical and Cultural Complex, the “Soldiers of Victory” Club and a Czech delegation from the village of Starovičky are expected to attend and pay tribute to the hero. It was there that Mirenkov performed his heroic feat and where a memorial featuring T-34-85 No. 200 has been erected in his honour. On 10 September 2022, a Great Patriotic War battle reenactment dedicated to the heroic feat of Ivan Mirenkov’s tank crews is planned at Stalin Line.
 
Monument to Ivan Mirenkov in Starovičky
 
The hero’s granddaughter, Elena Olegovna Mirenkova, addresses the gathering
 
Alexander Mikhailovich Metla, Director of the “Memory of Afghanistan” Foundation, and Lieutenant General Mikhail Fyodorovich Kozlov, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus from 1997 to 2001
 
Vladimír Drbola, head of the Starovičky municipal administration, addresses the gathering. To his left are his colleagues Kateřina Pleskačová and Tomáš Dolák.
 
Radek Haršta, head of the “Starovičky” Military History Club, addresses the gathering
 
Radek not only keeps Mirenkov’s monument in good condition, but also works with his club to organise events commemorating the heroic deeds of the Soviet soldiers who liberated Moravia from German Nazism.
 
 
Thanks to Radek Haršta’s search efforts, Junior Sergeant Vasilisa Sergeyevna Pashchenko, who was killed during the liberation of Czechoslovakia in 1945, was posthumously awarded the title Hero of Russia by decree of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin on 16 August 2021.
 
Radek Haršta also received his modest award.
 
 
A report on the installation of a Czech plaque at Mirenkov’s grave in 2019 is available here: