On the eve of the most important day for our country – the Victory Day – MSHEU students share family stories about their relatives who heroically defended their homeland.
Ksenia Zolozhkova, 1st year student of the Faculty of Sociology and Journalism:
“My great-grandfather Semyon Mikhailovich Shatov was born on February 21, 1923 in the village of Shapkino, Bryansk region. On conscription in 1943, he appeared in Bryansk. At first I was in a reconnaissance company. Later he fought as a tankman, was the commander of the gun. He took part in the storming of Konigsberg. He was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War II degree in 1985.
He told his daughter, my grandmother, that when they were fighting in the Baltic States, he and a friend saved a woman with a small child. Returning from reconnaissance, we heard a child crying coming from the trench. Coming closer, we saw a woman there with a crying baby in her arms. They helped her get out of there and took her to a safe place.”
Ulyana Grebenshchikova, 3rd year student of the Faculty of Foreign Languages:
“My great–grandfather on my mother’s side, Boris Sergeyevich Mikhailyuk, born in 1924, was drafted into the Azerbaijan SSR in 1942 and reached Berlin. He was wounded three times – in 1942, 1943 and 1944. He also participated in the Civil War, the subsequent fighting to defend the USSR and in the Great Patriotic War from 1942 in the North Caucasus and from December 1943 on the Czech front. He was the commander of a platoon of anti-tank rifles of the 1st battalion of the 288th Infantry Regiment of Stalingrad, and also served in the 714th Rifle Regiment of the 395th Rifle Division, the 288th rifle regiment of the 181st Rifle Division. He was presented to the Order of the Red Star.
Anna Petrenko, 1st year student of the Faculty of Law:
“My great–grandfather – Pyotr Stepanovich Petrenko, born in 1921, with the rank of senior sergeant of the Guards, served in the Red Army since 1940. Born in the Ukrainian SSR, Voroshilovgrad region, Popasnyansky district.
He went through three wars: the Finnish, the Great Patriotic War, reached Berlin, and when he was going home with a victory, the train was turned around and his great-grandfather was taken to the Japanese war. So for him, the war ended on September 2. He also had brothers who died in a tank battle near Prokhorovka, Kursk region. Their names were Viktor and Grigory Petrenko. Pyotr Stepanovich had three awards: the Order of the Patriotic War II degree, the medal “For Courage”, the Order of the Red Star.
Great–grandfather on the other side – Leonid Vasilyevich Bryntsev, born in 1923, with the rank of corporal, specialist of field cable lines, senior telephone operator, served in the Red Army since 1943, passed from Orel to Prague. He was born in the Kursk region, Besedinsky district, the village of Shumakovo. He has two awards: the medal “For Military Merit”, the medal “For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945″.
For him, the most emotional memory of the front-line times was the crossing of the Dnieper. Behind him was a peaceful, deserted shore, where life continued to flow, but on the shore where he was heading, war reigned: explosions, the death of comrades and machine-gun fire. And he swore that he would do everything to protect his children and all future generations from that nightmare.”
