Autumn 2026 marks the 85th anniversary of Operation Benedict. This little-known episode tells of the cooperation between Soviet and British airmen in the struggle against Nazi Germany. During…
On 21 April 1985, a special forces company commanded by Captain Nikolai Tsebruk was ambushed in the Maravar Gorge. A year earlier, the Soviet leadership had decided to…
Following the defeat of France in 1940, its pilots found themselves serving the collaborationist regime in southern France, which fought on Hitler’s side. But some of them…
Dmitry Lavrinenko was the Soviet Union’s leading tank ace. As both commander and gunner of a T-34, he knocked out 52 German tanks in two months of fighting! And…
At the age of 24, Grigory Naidin became the first Soviet tank ace of the Great Patriotic War. On 23 June 1941, the second day of the war, near the Lithuanian village of Rudiškės…
A tanker who has knocked out five or more tanks is considered a tank ace. The most successful Soviet tank ace was Dmitry Lavrinenko, who was credited with 52 tanks. Among the Germans…
Dayan Bayanovich Murzin, a Tatar, was born on 20 January 1921 into a family with six sons and a daughter. From an early age, the head of the family taught his sons to ride…
On 27 February 1943, Alexander Matrosov used his body to block the embrasure of a German earth-and-timber firing position. For this feat, he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet…
In wartime, even the truest words about military duty must be proved through deeds, and often through acts of heroism. Thus, on 21 April 1982, the deputy company commander for political affairs…
What makes this story unusual is that its hero performed the defining deed of his life after he had already been awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. Mikhail Pavlovich Agibalov received this honour…
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