Grigory Naidin

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, tank commander Naidin, who also served as the gunner, set up an ambush overlooking a road running through marshland near the Lithuanian village of Rudiškės. When 12 German tanks appeared, Grigory struck the first and last tanks in their sides. Naidin’s loader was a tank crewman named Kopytov. The remaining ten tanks did not attempt to leave the road and enter the marsh, so Grigory destroyed them as well. 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, tank commander Naidin, who also served as the gunner, set up an ambush overlooking a road running through marshland near the Lithuanian village of Rudiškės. When 12 German tanks appeared, Grigory struck the first and last tanks in their sides. Naidin’s loader was a tank crewman named Kopytov. The remaining ten tanks did not attempt to leave the road and enter the marsh, so Grigory destroyed them as well. Another enemy column followed the first. Realising that they could not pass that way, the German troops turned onto another road. Knowing where it would take them, Naidin quickly changed position. From his new ambush, he knocked out another three tanks. For knocking out 15 enemy tanks in a single day, Grigory Nikolayevich Naidin was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.