The Hero of the Russian Federation told about the feat of the crew of the Alyosha tank at the "Lesson of Courage" in the EAO

A delegation of veterans of the special military operation from the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) arrived in the Jewish Autonomous Region on Wednesday, May 28. During the visit, the commander of the tank company, Hero of Russia Rasim Baksikov told stories from the war zone, including about the feat of the crew of the T-80 Alyosha tank.

"In one battle, we destroyed up to a company of personnel, two tanks and six armored vehicles. This fight was captured on video. And as the cameraman said at the end of this video: "They'll get a Hero of Russia anyway," that's exactly what happened," he shared at a meeting with young people.

The veterans' trip took place within the framework of the federal project "Hello, Russia!", which was initiated by the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation branch with the support of the administration of the head of the DPR Denis Pushilin.

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In 2023, the tank crew discovered a column of eight units of Ukrainian equipment, having previously come under artillery fire from the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Zaporizhia direction. In the first minutes of the battle, the gunner-operator of the combat vehicle, Alexei Neustroev, destroyed two Ukrainian T-72B tanks. Over the next 30 minutes, the tankers eliminated the M113 armored personnel carrier and five American MaxxPro armored personnel carriers along with the troops.

On August 5 of the same year, former Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu presented the crew of the Alyosha tank to the title of Heroes of Russia. Later, Pushilin awarded the crew of the Alyosha tank with the stars of the Hero of the DPR. Gold stars were awarded to Senior Lieutenant Rasim Baksikov, Lieutenant Alexander Levakov and gunner-operator Alexei Neustroev. The division commander, Major General Igor Kuzmenkov, was awarded the title of Hero of the DPR.