Popkov, Alexander Ivanovich

Alexander Ivanovich Popkov was born on March 18 ^[1] (March 5, according to the old style ) in 1913 in the village of Vitkulovo, Gorbatovsky district, Nizhny Novgorod province of the Russian Empire (now the village of Sosnovsky district, Nizhny Novgorod region of the Russian Federation ) in a working class family. Russian From an early age, he lived with his parents at the junction of the Venets of the Ardatovsky district of the Nizhny Novgorod province. After graduating from high school, he entered the Arzamas Construction School, after which in 1931 he worked as a locksmith apprentice at a sawmill, then as an assistant driver at the Luga station in the Leningrad Region .

A.I. Popkov was called up to the ranks of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army in 1935. He served in the cavalry unit in the Far East . After demobilization in 1937, Alexander Ivanovich decided to stay in the Amur region . He worked as the chairman of the village council in the Obluchensky district of the Jewish Autonomous Region . In 1939 he was called up for army training, after passing which he was awarded the rank of junior reserve political officer.

Once again, A.I. Popkov was called up for military service by the Obluchensky district military registration and enlistment office in June 1941. In the early years of World War II he served in the Far East. In 1944, Alexander Ivanovich graduated from the Saratov Tank School . Since August 1944, at the front, as a driver - mechanic of a self-propelled artillery installation ISU-152 . Since January 1945, Lieutenant A.I. Popkov served as senior driver and mechanic of the 262nd Guards Heavy Self-propelled Artillery Regiment of the 25th Tank Corps of the 3rd Guards Army . On the 1st Ukrainian Front, he participated in the Sandomierz-Silesian and Lower Silesian operations . He was especially distinguished during the liquidation of the German group ^[3] surrounded in the city of Glogau ^{[2 ]} .

During the Lower Silesian operation, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front bypassed the nodes of German resistance, leaving some of the troops for their blockade. After the front forces came out to Oder and before the attack on Berlin, the task arose of eliminating the enemy’s encircled enemy groups remaining behind. The Germans turned Glogau into a real fortress. The city along the perimeter was protected by powerful defensive structures. On the southeastern outskirts there were barracks, which were six large three-story buildings, the first floors and basements of which were turned into bunkers . Alongside the barracks, six-graft bunkers designed for all-round defense were also equipped. On the west side, bunkers were built right in the apartment buildings. From the east, the city was protected by a massive castle located on the eastern shore of the Oder. This castle covered a strategically important bridge across the river. Further on the island near the castle was a stone town, which covered the approaches to Glogau from the northeast. Barricades with anti-tank ditches were erected on the streets of the city, and each building was turned into a strong point. Many driveways in the city were mined. In such conditions, the mastery of the driver came to the fore. Skillfully maneuvering on the narrow streets of Glogau, the guards, Lieutenant A.I. Popkov, provided continuous fire support to the guns of the rifle units and assault groups. As a result, the ISU-152 crew, whose driver was Popkov, destroyed 19 large buildings that the enemy turned into powerful strongholds of their defense, destroyed 33 machine-gun points and up to 300 soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht.

On March 19, 1945, the commander of the 3rd Guards Army was tasked with breaking through the enemy’s defenses and destroying the bridge over the Oder, connecting Glogau Castle with the rest of the city’s defense system. Under the heavy mortar and grenade launcher fire of the guard, Lieutenant A.I. Popkov conducted his self-propelled gun through the whole city and brought it exactly to the target. After the bridge was destroyed, he drove the car along the Oder along the railway tracks towards the river station, but the self-propelled guns blew up on an anti-tank mine. The entire crew except the driver was disabled. Alexander Ivanovich tried to single-handedly grow a torn caterpillar of a self-propelled gun. When the work was almost finished, he was spotted by a group of German soldiers who opened fire on him from a machine gun. Hiding in a nearby steam locomotive, Popkov killed three Germans who discovered him with pistol shots. Until dark, Alexander Ivanovich hid in a firebox. At dusk, he left his shelter, and making sure that his comrades were dead, he decided to break through to his own. On the way, he came across two German soldiers and destroyed them in hand-to-hand combat, but he himself was seriously injured. Despite the injury, A. I. Popkov managed to get out of the encirclement. In serious condition, the infantrymen picked him up and took him to the hospital. Here Alexander Ivanovich met Victory Day. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 27, 1945, for the exemplary performance of command missions at the front of the battle against the German invaders and the courage and heroism of the guard shown to this, Lieutenant Popkov Alexander Ivanovich was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

After recovering, A.I. Popkov was fired and returned to his native places. Prior to retirement, he worked at the Kulebakinsky Metallurgical Plant . He lived in the city of Navashino, Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod) region. October 13, 1995, Alexander Ivanovich died. He was buried at the Lipensky cemetery of the city of Navashino.

• The Gold Star Medal (06/27/1945);
• Order of Lenin (06/27/1945);
• Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree (04/06/1985);
• medals.

• A bust of Hero of the Soviet Union A.I. Popkov is installed on the Heroes Alley in the urban-type village of Sosnovskoye, Nizhny Novgorod Region.
• A street in the village of Vitkulovo is named after the Hero of the Soviet Union A. I. Popkov.
• In 2015, his name was immortalized on a separate granite pylon of the Alley of Heroes in Victory Square in Birobidzhan ^[4] .

• Heroes of the Soviet Union: A Brief Biographical Dictionary / Prev. ed. collegium I. N. Shkadov . - M .: Military Publishing , 1988. - T. 2 / Love - Yashchuk /. - 863 s. - 100,000 copies. - ISBN 5-203-00536-2 .
• Tulnikov L.K., Basovich Ya. I. Heroes of the Soviet Union - Gorky. - 2nd ed., Revised. and add. - Gorky: Volga-Vyatka Book Publishing House, 1981.

• Public electronic document bank “The Feat of the People in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945” (unopened) . Date of treatment November 4, 2012. Archived March 13, 2012.

Submission to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and the decree of the USSR PVS on conferring the title (neopr.) . Date of treatment November 4, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.

Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree (information from the card awarded to the 40th anniversary of the Victory) (unopened) . Date of treatment November 4, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.

• Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR On conferring the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on officer, sergeant and rank and file of the Red Army. Pravda, June 29, 1945 (neopr.) . Date of treatment November 4, 2012.

• Popkov, Alexander Ivanovich (Russian) . Site " Heroes of the country ".
• Alexander Ivanovich Popkov at www.az-libr.ru (neopr.) . Date of treatment November 4, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.
• Popkov Alexander Ivanovich. Joint site of schools of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (Neopr.) . Date of treatment November 4, 2012.
• Popkov Alexander Ivanovich. City 28 (neopr.) . Date of treatment November 4, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.