Hero of Russia Startsev called the Victory in the Second World War a great miracle
The participants of the Great Patriotic War (WWII) performed a feat comparable to a miracle. This belief was shared with Izvestia on May 9 by Maxim Startsev, commander of the machine-gun platoon, Hero of Russia, on Victory Day.
"Our grandfathers performed a great miracle — they threw back the fascists and defeated them. This is a great feat," he said.
A resident of the Tambov region worked as a mechanic and began participating in a special military operation (SVO) in 2022, and then participated in the battles between Svatovo and Kremenna. In 2025, Startsev was awarded the title of Hero of Russia and awarded the Gold Star medal.
Between December 2024 and January 2025, Maxim and his partner captured and cleared 27 strongholds in the Krasnolimansk area, destroyed three infantry fighting vehicles and up to 50 enemy personnel, and captured three soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). Maxim admitted that he did not expect to be promoted to a high rank and was just doing his job.
"We were the very first to go, figure out where the fire was coming from, adjust our mortars. We were clearing trenches, dugouts, and moving forward. Then we created a good foothold for our assault groups. <...> We made sure that in the future the offensive was very well planned, that is, a number of certain strategic settlements were taken," Startsev explained.
He noted that the main thing in a war zone is not to panic. Startsev will soon return to the front and continue his work as an instructor, training new recruits.
Hero of Russia Roman Apalkov told Izvestia on May 9 how, commanding a reconnaissance platoon, he fought with enemy saboteurs in the special operation zone (SVO). According to him, the task was to clear the road and meet the convoy.
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