The granddaughter of a WWII veteran told about his feat during the defense of Sevastopol

Masha, the granddaughter of Artyom Matveevich Kutoyants, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, wrote a letter to her grandfather 40 years ago describing his military career. On April 16, her father handed over the document to Izvestia after he saw an interview with his uncle Albert Hakobjanian at the Izvestia "Great Victory" virtual museum.

According to the girl, Artyom Matveyevich met the war in Sevastopol. At that time, as a graduate of the naval academy, he was interning on the destroyer Merciless. During his watch on the bridge, in the early morning of June 22, 1941, Kutoyants was awakened by explosions.

The cadets were evacuated from Sevastopol to complete their studies, but in October, Artyom Matveyevich's entire graduation returned to the city. Leading a platoon of Marines, he took the first battle in the Sapun Mountain area. During the autumn, the young commander was concussed four times.

"In January [1942], in one of the most fierce battles, grandfather (he was already commanding a rifle company at that time) He was seriously wounded in the leg by an explosive bullet. For his heroism in this battle, he was awarded the first military Order of the Red Star," Masha writes.

In the hospital, Kutoyants had to learn to walk again. However, this did not prevent Artyom Matveyevich from returning to service and reaching Berlin as part of the Dnieper military flotilla, earning the medal "For Military Merit". Subsequently, he remained to serve in the German capital until 1947.

After the war, the hero served in the Navy until 1961, when he retired as a captain of the second rank, receiving the second Order of the Red Star for impeccable service. In addition, the veteran earned another award for his work in peaceful life — the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.

"[On Victory Day] we will look at a photograph of graduates of the seafarer, where we immediately recognize our handsome 24-year-old grandfather, the only survivor of the entire graduation. Me and [my sister] Katya, let's sing him his favorite song "Katyusha", hug our hero tightly and tell him: "Live long, grandfather, thank you, dear!" the hero's granddaughter concludes her letter.

The last blow: how Soviet troops took Berlin

80 years ago, the final battle of World War II began in Europe

Earlier, on April 13, WWII veteran Anatoly Parubin told Izvestia about the capture of Vienna by the Red Army in 1945. According to him, the Germans blew up almost all the bridges across the Danube in the city, but the Soviet soldiers managed to clear the last remaining crossing.