Tseev, Eduard Kushukovich

The early years

Born on August 4, 1966 in Maykop in a working class family. By nationality - Adyghe . He graduated from the 8th grade of the 22nd Maykopsky secondary school (now gymnasium), bearing the name of the 10th Guards Cossack Cavalry of the Kuban-Slutsk Red Banner Orders of the Suvorov, Kutuzov and Bogdan of the Khmelnitsky Division , in 1985 - the Maykop Agricultural College. In 1989 he graduated from the Maykop United Technical School (now the Maykop OTSh DOSAAF of Russia), the Regional Branch of DOSAAF of Russia of the Republic of Adygea . He worked as a tractor driver.

Army Service

In the Soviet Army since October 23, 1985 . In 1990 he graduated from the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School named after the Lenin Komsomol. He served in the Airborne Troops as platoon commander, deputy commander and company commander, deputy battalion commander. He participated in special missions in Abkhazia , Dagestan and the counter-terrorism operation in Chechnya.

On August 7, 1999, over 500 militants led by Shamil Basayev and Khattab invaded Dagestan . Having disarmed the policemen along the way and seized the mountain villages of Ansalta , Rakhat , Shadrota without any resistance, they intended to advance to the district center of Botlikhu .

Having received information about the concentration of Chechen fighters along the Dagestan border in the Botlikh direction, by order of the command of the 3rd Parachute Airborne Battalion of the Guard Major S.V. Kostin, at 5.30 a.m. on August 5, he left Kaspiysk as part of a military maneuver group and, having completed 200 - a kilometer-long difficult march on mountain roads in inclement weather, and having overcome 4 passes and 88 serpentines, by the evening of August 7 went up to Botlikhu , gaining a foothold on its southwestern outskirts and thereby forestalling militants for 12 hours. The militants did not dare to engage in battle with the paratroopers.

On August 11, 1999, Major S.V. Kostin received an order at the head of the assault group (three assault groups were created on the basis of the battalion, each of which had its own mission) as part of the 1st parachute company of captain D. Sergeyev, reconnaissance and engineering -sapper platoons, AGS-17 (“Flame”) calculations and mortars to take possession of the Donkey’s ear dominant over the area, gain a foothold on it and ensure the correction of attacks of our aircraft and artillery fire on the positions of militants in the villages of Ansalta , Rakhot , Shadrot. The deputy commander of the battalion of the guard, Major E. K. Tseev, with a platoon of paratroopers, remained in reserve, being ready to come to the aid of the assault group.

The assault group under the cover of darkness stealthily advanced to the height and at 5 o'clock in the morning on August 12 began its assault. As it turned out, about 200 fighters defended the height. Finding paratroopers, they opened a fierce fire. The advancement of the paratroopers was further complicated by the fact that on the eve of a two-hour rainfall, significantly complicating the conditions for the rise. But, despite all the difficulties, the paratroopers reached the summit and at 9 o'clock in the morning with a decisive attack they knocked out the militants from their positions. The militants counterattacked and a fierce battle ensued. Being under heavy fire of mortars, grenade launchers and sniper groups, the paratrooper guards repelled six violent counterattacks, often turning into hand-to-hand fights. The enemy suffered losses, retreated, but, pulling up additional forces, continued attempts to drive federal troops from above. Losses in the personnel and the ending ammunition made the position of the defenders of height critical.

Feat

At 11.30 a.m. , the castle’s battalion of the Major Major E. K. Tseev received an order at the head of the reserve to fly by helicopter to the Donkey’s Ear area . Major E.K. Tseev landed at the foot of the heights and immediately led his warriors into battle. Having broken through the battle formations of the militants, he joined the main forces of the assault group just at the moment when the militants launched their next attack. The appearance of Major E. K. Tseyev with reinforcements and ammunition raised morale among the paratroopers and they continued to fight with even greater fury. As a result of direct landmines entering the trench, where the command post of the group was located, the battalion commander Major S.V. Kostin was killed. Then Tseev took command of the detachment upon himself.

At 13 hours 10 minutes, reinforcing sniper, mortar and grenade launcher fire, the militants launched their next attack, coming from the flanks . After assessing the situation and giving the order to repulse the attack, E. K. Tseev himself, with a group of fighters who made up the reserve, secretly bypassed the militants from the left flank and, after waiting for a convenient moment, rushed to the attack, opening hurricane fire and throwing grenades at them. Caught by surprise, the militants could not resist and rolled back, leaving 9 destroyed grenade launchers, one sniper and an artillery gunner on the battlefield. During the battle, Eduard Kushukovich Tseev was shell-shocked, but did not retire and continued to lead the group’s battle.

Soon, having come to their senses, the militants again rushed into another attack. Showing exceptional courage and bravery, E. K. Tseev was constantly in the battle formations of units, appearing where it was most dangerous and difficult. As before, having not achieved their goal, the militants were forced to roll back, but continued to try to master the height. At critical moments of the battle, E. K. Tseev brought forth artillery fire close to the positions where the bandits were leaking. Artillerymen and mortar launchers with precise salvos covered the targets indicated by them and cut off the militants, forcing them to retreat.

During the repulsion of one of these attacks, at 14.30, Major E. K. Tseev received an order to leave the altitude and retreat to a previously prepared line, which was located at a distance of 800-1000 meters from the height. The departure of E.K. Tseev began at the moment when the militants, having received a rebuff, rolled back to their original positions. Skillfully maneuvering and holding back the onslaught of the militants who rushed to pursue, he not only led the assault group into the specified area without casualties, but also carried out all the dead and wounded, who were 7 and 22, respectively, while Eduard Kushukovich himself carried battalion commander S.V. Kostin . As a result of the battle, more than a hundred militants were killed, but the losses of the guards were also high, amounting to 25 people killed and 115 wounded.

For this feat, shown on Mount Donkey’s Ear , the commander of the 3rd Parachute Airborne Battalion of the Guard, Major S. V. Kostin (posthumously) and his deputy guard, Major E. K. Tseev, were awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation ^[2] . Many guardsmen also received state awards.

After the army

In November 2000, for health reasons, E. K. Tseyev was transferred to the reserve with the rank of major. Lives and works in Maykop . Spends a lot of work on preparing for the service of young recruiting and military-patriotic work of youth.

• Gold Star Medal ^[2]
• Order "For personal courage"
• Medal of the Order for Merit to the Fatherland, 2nd Class (January 6, 1999)
• Medal "For Distinction in Military Service" 3rd degree (September 1997)
• Honorary award - the medal "Hero of Russia Sergey Kostin" ^[3]

• H.I.Sijah . Heroes of Russia from Adygea. - Maykop : OJSC Polygraph-South, 2011. −116 p. ISBN 978-5-7992-0668-0

• Heroes of the Russian Federation - Ts
• List of Heroes of the Russian Federation (Adygea)
• List of Heroes of the Russian Federation (Krasnodar Territory)
• Tseev E.K.
• Event-based artwork - Dagestan dossier

• Anton Bocharov. Tseev, Eduard Kushukovich (Russian) . Site " Heroes of the country ".