Berbetov, Ivan Petrovich

Ivan Berbetov was born on June 7, 1923 in the village of Novodonetskaya (now the Vyselkovsky district of the Krasnodar Territory ) into a peasant family. He studied at the Rybinsk Aviation College .

In 1941 he was called up for service in the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army by the Rybinsk District Military Commissariat . In 1942 he graduated from the Pushkin Tank School . Since October of that year - on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. He participated in the battles on the Western , Bryansk , Southern , 1st Ukrainian and 1st Belorussian fronts . He was twice seriously wounded in battles. He took part in the second Rzhev-Sychev operation , Donbass , Melitopol operations ^[1] .

Twice excelled during the liberation of the Ukrainian SSR . During the battles in the Stalin and Zaporizhzhya regions, he destroyed 6 wagons, 2 cars, 1 guns, about 50 enemy soldiers and officers with his crew, and was awarded the Order of the Red Star . In the village of Danilo-Ivanovka, Melitopol District, Zaporizhzhya Region, Berbetov, together with his platoon, repelled three German counterattacks. Maneuvering in the rear and on the flanks of the enemy, Berbetov destroyed with his tank 2 guns, 2 mortars , 25 infantrymen. Despite the malfunction of the tank, he did not leave the battlefield and continued to destroy the enemy troops. He was awarded the second Order of the Red Star ^[1] .

By July 1944, Senior Lieutenant Ivan Berbetov commanded a platoon of the 20th Tank Brigade of the 11th Tank Corps of the 8th Guards Army of the 1st Belorussian Front. He distinguished himself especially during the component part of the Belarussian offensive operation of 1944 - the Lublin-Brest operation ^[1] .

Being reconnaissance on the outskirts of the Western Bug , Berbetov’s tank platoon destroyed two German artillery batteries and was the first to cross the river west of the city of Lyuboml, Volyn Region, Ukrainian SSR. The platoon captured and held the bridgehead , repelling five enemy counterattacks, which contributed to the successful crossing of the Western Bug by other Soviet units. In the area of ​​the city of Parczew of the Lublin Voivodeship of Poland , conducting reconnaissance, destroyed the artillery battery, and also revealed the whereabouts of enemy forces and fire weapons and captured prisoners. Berbetov’s platoon cut the Brest - Siedlce railroad and highway during the battles for Radzyn Podlaski and Lukow , causing serious damage to German troops in manpower and equipment ^[1] .

By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of March 24, 1945, for “courage and heroism shown during the liberation of Poland,” Senior Lieutenant Ivan Berbetov was awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal number 7189 ^[1] .

After the war, Berbetov continued to serve in the Soviet Army. In 1949, he graduated from the Military Academy of Armored and Mechanized Forces. In 1979 - 1981 he was the head of the military department of the State Institute of Physical Culture named after Lesgaft in Leningrad . In 1981, the rank of colonel was sacked. He lived in St. Petersburg , died on January 19, 2007, and was buried in the Serafimovsky cemetery ^[1] .

• Heroes of the Soviet Union: A Brief Biographical Dictionary / Prev. ed. collegium I. N. Shkadov . - M .: Military Publishing , 1987.- T. 1 / Abaev - Lyubichev /. - 911 p. - 100,000 copies. - ISBN comp., Reg. RCP No. 87-95382.
• Vorobyov V.P., Efimov N.V. Heroes of the Soviet Union. Reference book - SPb. : Agraf +, 2010.