Rusakov, Vasily Alexandrovich

Born on February 23, 1925 in the village of Klyasovo (now the Kimrsky District, Tver Region ) in a peasant family, he graduated from elementary school in the village of Spirovo , worked on a collective farm . In 1943 he joined the Komsomol ^[1] .

In January 1943 he was drafted into the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army by the Kimra District Military Commissariat ^{[1] [2]} , and in September of the same year he was sent to the front ^[3] .

He had the rank of corporal guard, fought in the 234th guards “Black Sea” Rifle Regiment of the 76th Guards Rifle Division of the 61st Army of the Central Front ^[1] .

In September 1943, during the crossing of the Dnieper , the 2nd company of the 234th Guards Rifle Regiment crossed the Snov River and reached the line between the villages of Tovstoles and Khalyavin, where it dug in and took up defense. The company’s arrows were preparing to attack a strong point near the village of Halyavin, so that with his capture he would cross the Chernigov - Gomel highway and cut off the retreat routes of the enemy from Chernigov. At some point, the Germans launched an attack on Soviet positions. It was decided to skip the tanks, and cut off and destroy the infantry. When the tanks passed through the trenches, the guards threw grenades behind them, and one of them Vasily Rusakov managed to set fire to, while the German infantry were shot from machine guns ^[1] .

Six days after the liberation of Chernigov, the 2nd company was the first to approach the Dnieper in the vicinity of the village of Stanetskoye. The soldiers were given the honor of being the first to force the river and seize a bridgehead on the right bank. A group of reconnaissance paratroopers was created, which included a submachine gunner Rusakov and 8 other soldiers of the 2nd company (group commander Sergeant Kurmanov , submachine gunners Golodonov , Genderus , Matyuk , Zaulin , Safronov , machine gunners - Bolodurin , Maslyakov ) ^[1] .

At dawn on September 28, 1943, the group moved to the right side of the Dnieper in the vicinity of the village of Mysy ( Repkinsky district , Chernihiv region , Ukrainian SSR ) with an easel machine gun and attacked the enemy’s anti-tank gun with grenades, after which it engaged in hand-to-hand combat with German soldiers. The bridgehead was vitally necessary for organizing the crossing of the 234th regiment. Rusakov personally destroyed several dozen enemy soldiers ^[1] . In a battle that lasted all day, Bolodurin, Kurmano, Maslyakov died, according to some sources, Rusakov himself ^[1] (these data are not confirmed in award documents for Rusakov dated October 1943 ^[2] ).

October 1, 1943 was wounded. On October 4, 1943, the commander of the 234th Infantry Regiment of the Guard, Lt. Col. Pavlovsky, introduced Rusakov to the rank of Hero of the Soviet Union ^[2] .

Rusakov died in subsequent battles in December 1943 ^{[3] [4]} . The Kimry District Military Commissariat also received evidence that Rusakov was missing ^{[5] [6]} .

By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of January 15, 1944, for courage and heroism shown during the mission to capture and hold the bridgehead , Rusakov was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union . The same decree awarded the title to Kurmanov, Golodonov, Genderus, Matyuk, Zaulin, Safronov, Bolodurin and Maslyakov ^[1] .

Rusakov had an older brother - Mikhail. Vasily’s mother, Alexandra Mitrofanovna, continued to live in Klyasovo after the war ^[6] .

• Hero of the Soviet Union (decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of January 15, 1944 , the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal ; posthumous ) ^[1] .

• Rusakov’s name is street in the city of Kimry ^[1] .
• Rusakov’s name was given to a secondary school in the village of Neklyudovo, Kimry District, in May 2010, a memorial plaque in memory of him was inaugurated on the school building ^{[7] [6] [8]} .
• In the village of Nikolo-Yam of the Kimrsky district, located near the village of Klyasovo, a monument was erected to local soldiers who died during the Great Patriotic War. Among others, the name of Rusakov is carved on the monument ^[7] .
• In the village of Klyasovo, Kimrsky District, in 2015, a memorial plaque was erected on the spot where the house where Rusakov was born was installed ^[9] .

• Rusakov Vasily Alexandrovich // 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 .
• Rusakov Vasily Aleksandrovich // Dolgov I.A. Golden Stars of Kalininians / lit. Record A.F. Rostapov. - 3rd ed., Revised. - M .: Moscow worker ( Kalinin branch), 1983. - T. 1. - S. 304. - 399 p. - 20,000 copies.
• Korkunov V. I. Names in the History of the Kimry Territory: Heroes of the Soviet Union, Full Knights of the Order of Glory // Pages of the Kimry History. The second book: local history essays / V.I. Korkunov, V.V. Korkunov. - Tver: Marina, 2010 .-- S. 226–235. - 344 p. - ISBN 978-5-903728-26-8 .
• Rusakov, Vasily Alexandrovich // He was going to the boy at that time ...: Komsomol heroes in battles for Soviet Ukraine during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. / autostat V.N. Nemyaty et al. - Kiev: Young, 1985. - 367 p.
• Heroes of the Soviet Union and Knights of the Order of Glory of the city of Kimra and the Kimra region // Book of memory. The city of Kimry and the Kimry district. - Kimry, 2015. - S. 3-9. - 408 p.

Rusakov, Vasily Alexandrovich (Russian) . Site " Heroes of the country ".