"There was an understanding that the brother was there, he had to be pulled out"
Guard Senior Lieutenant Yuri Zhulanov, who was wounded twice, led his unit out of the encirclement. Lieutenant Denis Raspopov carried the driver out of the burning tank, and then continued the battle. Corporal Artyom Petrov and his comrades held an important position for two weeks in complete encirclement. The country's highest award, the title of Hero of Russia, is awarded to fighters who have shown special courage, bravery and bravery. There are stories behind the entries in their award lists when people have to summon all their willpower and stand up no matter what. Izvestia talked with the Heroes of Russia and found out how they felt in their first battles and why they decided to devote their lives to serving the Fatherland.
"The guards, hearing the commanding voice, ran away"
In one of the attacks, the unit in which Corporal Artyom Petrov served was surrounded. Our guys captured an important stronghold, but the enemy did everything to take it back. Frontal attacks did not lead to anything, then the enemy began to take positions in a ring. In the very first clashes, the commander of the unit was wounded — he was treated and put in a dugout, and Artyom took command.
"We spread out into points and began to repel attacks," he recalls. — The order was clear: "Hold on."
Hero of the Russian Federation, Corporal Artyom Petrov
Our soldiers spent 14 days in the encirclement. First of all, they ran out of water and food, then their ammunition began to run out.
"We started making sallies to the dead enemy soldiers," he says. — We collected weapons, ammunition, grenades, water, food. We even managed to find a walkie-talkie and use it. And they continued to hold their position.
At some point, the enemy sent a mercenary unit to destroy the base with our guys.
"We guessed from their appearance that their stripes were different, then we heard the speech," Artyom recalls.
Artyom Petrov
The foreigners didn't show anything special, he says, they could only jump in. It was more difficult with ordinary SS men. When repelling one of the attacks, our fighters had to come together with them in hand-to-hand combat.
— Everything went into action: bayonets, sapper blades. We fought back," he says.
After that, the enemy dropped an audio speaker from a copter near our positions and began broadcasting.
— They played a recording: "Russians, surrender! You are surrounded, and no help will come to you. Surrendering is the only way to save your life!" No one, of course, thought about surrendering, they became angrier," recalls Artyom.
The day before the order to leave, Artyom was wounded.
"We started to drive them away with fire," he recalls. "I wounded one." I wanted to make a shot from a grenade launcher, but the enemy "bird" hit me before (a fragmentation grenade launcher shot. — Ed.) she threw it off and "messed it up." Then she came back eight more times, she wanted to finish it off, but nothing came of it.
At the very end, a Ukrainian soldier jumped into their broken trench. He said that he was forcibly mobilized, given a machine gun, and told to go "to that forest to fight." At the first opportunity, he crawled over to ours.
We went out at night. Before that, our artillery spent four hours processing the surroundings of opornik. They managed to get through to their own people only on the third attempt. The captured Ukrainian was also brought out unharmed. There were six of our soldiers in total, including the wounded commander.
Artyom Petrov
The guys met later and recalled those days.
"We were even joking,— Artyom smiles. — We remembered how during the shelling, when everything was mixed up, two Ukrainian soldiers poked into a hole covered with logs to the commander. He shouted at them: "Everything is occupied!" The guards, hearing the commanding voice, ran away.
All the fighters who have held the base continue their service. Artyom is in the Leningrad region, a combat training instructor. He has a wife, Kristina, and two sons, Dmitry and Grigory.
"Nothing existed around me"
There are shots on the Internet where our stormtroopers destroy enemy strongholds with TM-62 anti-tank mines. You can see how a man runs under fire, holding a pancake mine in front of him, falls, gets up. He runs to the right building or dugout, throws a mine there and begins to withdraw. At this time, an explosion is heard, the house collapses, and smoke covers the entire screen — our fighter is not visible, and I only think about one thing: "Let nothing happen to him!"
There is an entry in the award list of the Hero of Russia, deputy platoon commander Senior Sergeant Alexander Kovalenko: "In one of the tactical areas during the assault operations, Alexander stealthily approached a strong point and threw a tank mine, destroying up to 10 enemy people."
Hero of the Russian Federation Senior Sergeant Alexander Kovalenko
When asked to tell us how it all happened, Alexander did not answer anything, just looked into his eyes. After that, it became clear that it was better not to ask questions about that attack, and we changed the subject.
Then, when we got to know each other a little bit better, he told us the details of that fight.
— Do you know about tunnel thinking? - he asked.
— Yes, I heard.
— That's how it was then. I only knew the task and saw the goal to reach. Nothing existed around me, I didn't hear the shooting. I remember that I went ahead.
"And then?"
— You know, sometimes you wake up, you remember that you had an important dream, but there was nothing left in your head. I honestly tried to remember everything, forced myself. But only isolated moments surfaced, like photos or short snippets of video. The ground is under your feet, a mine in your hands, a target, and nothing else. And you won't understand in what order to arrange all these fragments.
During assault operations, much depends on training and command, explains Alexander.
"I thank the command of the Sarmat assault battalion, and this is sincere," he says. — All my successes, and the fact that I basically survived, are due to competent command.
Alexander Kovalenko
Alexander explains that the main thing at the front is not to lose concentration, it's a matter of life and death. Drones cause a lot of trouble.
"The most important thing is to keep the UAV in sight at all times," he says. — And you can start from his actions yourself. In any case, do not be afraid, do not run. Panic will kill you. Observe and destroy.
There are many fierce battles behind Alexander's back. In one of them, he knocked out two enemy tanks, destroyed up to 20 soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. At the same time, he destroyed an armored personnel carrier, dispersed the troops with precise fire and threw an anti—tank mine into the car.
There was another memorable fight. In it, he saved an evacuation group by distracting an enemy FPV drone. Left alone with the UAV, he won the duel.
Alexander volunteered for his service.
— I served in the army. Why did he have to stay away? Should not. I am a defender of the Fatherland," he briefly tells about his choice.
Now Alexander continues to serve in the Russian Armed Forces. He has a family, parents.
"There should be a badge and a cross on the chest"
Lieutenant Denis Raspopov signed a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry on January 19, 2023.
— It was interesting to test yourself in combat conditions. I slowly came to the conclusion that I needed to sign a contract," recalls Denis.
In March, he was already in the SVO zone, joined a tank battalion. In May, his unit gradually began to be involved in combat — tankers fired from closed positions, made reconnaissance trips. His first combat vehicle is the T-72B3M tank.
"You trust your car completely," he says. — Many people give names to their cars and write them on board, but this was not practiced in our country. Many people knew our car as the Silent tank and without inscriptions — this is my call sign.
Hero of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant Denis Raspopov
In September 2023, serious fighting began in the Svatovo area.
— The Ukrainian Armed Forces broke through the defenses, captured a stronghold. Our battalion was sent there," Denis recalls. — They not only worked there from closed positions, but also rolled out on direct fire. They recaptured everything in a month. For these battles he received the medal "For Bravery".
Active work has begun. Tankers more than once went to the forest belts occupied by the enemy in order to support the stormtroopers with direct fire. That's where the first tank was lost, blown up by a mine.
Denis received the Hero of Russia for his battles, including the capture of an important base.
"We were the first to go, followed by armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles with attack aircraft," he recalls. — We had to approach the landing site and shoot it with a cannon, followed by stormtroopers who had to clean it up. We went out to the support area and started shooting it methodically, but at the last forest belt, our cannon started rotating, something jammed. I had to turn everything off and fire manually. Despite this, they worked effectively: the enemy's ammunition exploded more than once in the forest belt.
Denis's tank was hit by an ATGM during the withdrawal — it landed in the side, the driver was injured.
"We worked it out quickly,— Denis says. — The gunner took the turret and cannon aside to evacuate the mechanic. They pulled him out, moved away, provided assistance, and returned to the fight.
We ask you what were the most pleasant moments on the front line.
"It's nice when people come back from a task," he says.
Denis also had his own signs. They don't usually like to talk about them.
— I knew that I should have a badge and a cross on my chest before the fight. The thermocup is to lie on the tower next to me. I believed that if I had these things in place, everything would be fine," he said.
Denis continues to serve in the Russian Armed Forces.
"I decided to deceive the enemy"
Lieutenant Colonel Mikhail Seliverstov holds the position of Chief of Staff of the motorized rifle regiment. He decided to become a professional soldier during his military service and entered the Novosibirsk Higher Combined Arms Command School. After graduation, a standard officer's career began.
Hero of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant Colonel Mikhail Seliverstov
He met the beginning of his career as an assistant to the chief of intelligence of the division. He often remembers one of the first fights in 2022. Our soldiers had to storm the enemy's fortified area, but they didn't have much strength.
"I decided to deceive the enemy,— Mikhail said. — We were separated by 300-400 m, we could shout at each other. Before starting the fight, I started giving commands with my voice. He screamed: "The first company is advancing from the right flank, the second company is advancing from the left flank, and the third is in the center!" They opened fire with everything they had: flamethrowers, grenade launchers, and a heavy machine gun. Then we went ahead. The opponent was silent. When we went down to their trenches, there was no one there. They dropped all their belongings and walked away. And there were only 10-15 of us.
Mikhail received his first Order of Courage for the battle in the Gusarovka area in March 2022. The enemy suddenly moved to the flank of the Russian units. The officer took over the controls. The battle lasted about four hours.
— In general, they transferred control to me — both artillery and aviation, — he says. — One of our tanks was out of communication, we had to run out, gesture with our hands, direct. As a result, we worked well," Mikhail recalls.
In June 2022, the officer was wounded. He returned after treatment, but just five days later he was injured again.
This happened during a tense battle, when the enemy threw tanks against a unit of about 30 people. Our military did not have artillery support, they fought back with standard weapons.
— We were almost in a semicircle, we had to retreat a little in small groups to our comrades who supported us. At that moment, I received a second wound. There was heavy artillery fire, shrapnel, my head was very badly shaken, I was evacuated," says the soldier.
In 2023, he received the second Order of Courage, and in 2024, the third.
That year, he carried out tasks to protect the state border in the Belgorod region, repelled attacks by sabotage groups consisting of foreign mercenaries. The enemy was defeated.
The commander of the group personally presented Mikhail with the medal "For Bravery" right on the battlefield. While completing the task, the officer was wounded again.
— The situation in the Belgorod region is tense right now. Basically, the enemy uses UAVs, works on the civilian population and infrastructure. He's trying to intimidate the civilian population," the officer says.
The lieutenant colonel's family is waiting for him at home: his wife, two daughters, mother, and sister.
— We're coming on vacation. There's not enough time. Children grow up very quickly. Once every six months, if you come, the difference is already significant," says Mikhail.
"We need to get people out"
Guard Senior Lieutenant Yuri Zhulanov serves as the commander of a rifle company of a separate motorized rifle brigade. He has been in the army since 2017, was conscripted, and then signed a contract. He proved himself well, and he was transferred to the intelligence unit.
— My dream was to become a scout. It's a youthful dream, you know. When all the brave guys serve, when they are shown in films, you admire. And I somehow caught fire and followed the military path," says Yuri.
He joined the special operation in March 2022 with the rank of sergeant. He remembers his first fight well. It was near Avdiivka, which at that time was controlled by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. He had a combat vehicle under his command, from which he personally fired. They went on the assault.
— The most memorable is the first battle, when there is no special understanding of the combat situation. I was firing, I came under a tough encounter from the enemy. I helped many guys who were cut off from our main forces, evacuated them," Yuri recalls that day.
Hero of the Russian Federation Senior Lieutenant Yuri Zhulanov
Time after time, their combat vehicle drove to the most dangerous places to take out the infantrymen.
— Yes, there was a certain fear, there were some minor doubts. But it all disappeared very quickly, because the wounded were shouting into the radio station.: "Help me!" There was no panic. We initially served together with many guys and were friends. There was an understanding that my brother was there, and we had to get him out," says Yuri.
After that, there were many more fights, and he was promoted to lieutenant. In June 2023, Yuri's unit found itself in the direction of the main attack of the Ukrainian counteroffensive. At dawn on June 5, the shelling began. The enemy threw large forces against the Russian fighters. Units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine wedged into the rear of the Russian troops and began to surround them.
— When the connection is more or less settled, the battalion commander tells me: "You're already deep behind enemy lines." That the other companies had already started to withdraw, but we were still standing and holding our positions. The boys' lives depended on me. There was an understanding that they would be surrounded now. I decided that I needed to feel out the paths and get out," the officer recalls that battle.
In one of the clashes, Yuri was shot.
— The guys started asking me, "Commander, what should I do?" The enemy got in touch and offered to surrender. I didn't react to that, I didn't talk to them. I decided that I had to get people out," says Yuri.
In one of the infantry fighting vehicles, Yuri evacuated himself — on armor. Already while driving along the street of the settlement, which was under Russian control, a shell exploded next to the car. Everyone on the armor was hit by shrapnel, and he himself was seriously injured.
When the officer was evacuated, the head of the hospital bent over him and said: "You're going to talk to the Supreme now." Yuri was at a loss. But it turned out that the president had actually called him.
— After a certain time, I pick up the phone, the secretary connects with Vladimir Vladimirovich. Then I just believed that it was real. And so, picking up the phone, I introduced myself, as expected, and Vladimir Vladimirovich greeted me. It was only in conversation with him that he learned that they had completed the task, stopped the enemy, for which he was awarded the title of Hero of Russia and the extraordinary rank of senior lieutenant. The Supreme asked about my condition, whether everything was in order, and whether I had received full medical care. He said parting words," the officer recalls that day.
Russian President Vladimir Putin at the ceremony of awarding state awards to servicemen of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation at the A.A. Vishnevsky Hospital of the Russian Ministry of Defense, where participants in the special operation are being treated. In the center is the commander of a rifle platoon, Yuri Zhulanov, who received the Hero of Russia star.
Then he was admitted to the capital's Vishnevsky Hospital. There he met the guys he took out.
— Vladimir Vladimirovich awarded us at the hospital. Me and my guys. The boys get the Order of Courage, and I get the Star," Yuri said.
His wife Marina, daughter Valeria, baby Bogdan, who recently turned four months old, sister, brother, and mother are waiting for him at home. Now he performs tasks at the point of permanent deployment, he is often at home.
We were working on the material: Vladimir Matveev, Bogdan Stepovoy, Roman Kretsul, Yulia Leonova
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
