Prokhorenko, Nikolai Stepanovich

Nikolai Stepanovich Prokhorenko was born on December 8, 1921 in a village of a peasant family in the village of Stramilovka in the Spas-Demensky district of the Kaluga province of the RSFSR (now the village of Kuybyshevsky district of the Kaluga region of the Russian Federation). Russian He graduated from two elementary school classes in his native village. He completed his seven-year education in Moscow , where the Prokhorenko family moved in 1932. Since childhood, Nikolai Stepanovich dreamed of becoming a military man, so after graduating from an incomplete secondary school in 1937, he entered the 2nd Moscow Special Artillery School, which was located in Chertolsky Lane . Since October 1940, N. S. Prokhorenko is a cadet at the Odessa Artillery School named after M.V. Frunze . With the outbreak of World War II, Nikolai Stepanovich, along with the school, was evacuated to the Urals in the city of Sukhoi Log , where he completed his military education.

In battles with the Nazi invaders, Lieutenant N. S. Prokhorenko from February 1942 on the Bryansk Front as commander of a fire platoon of the 287th artillery regiment of the 143rd rifle division of the 13th army . He was baptized in defensive battles near Livny . Nikolai Stepanovich quickly proved himself to be a competent and strong-willed commander, and by the summer of 1942 he already held the position of deputy commander of the 3rd battery. He distinguished himself during the Voronezh-Voroshilovgrad defensive operation . On June 29, 1942, the enemy with large forces attacked the positions of the 635th Infantry Regiment, trying to go on the flank of his defensive orders. From the observation post of the 3rd battery, the attack was not visible, and the gunners could not help their infantry. Grabbing the telephone, Lieutenant Prokhorenko rushed to the battlefield, and taking a position directly on the front edge of the regiment's defense, adjusted the fire of his battery. Thanks to skillful actions and personal courage of Nikolai Stepanovich, up to 200 enemy soldiers and officers were destroyed by artillery fire. The line of defense of the regiment was withheld. By early August 1942, Nikolai Stepanovich took command of a battery of howitzers of the 287th artillery regiment, and in the fall he was promoted to senior lieutenant.

From the borders held near Livny in January 1943, units of the 13th Army went on the offensive during the Voronezh-Kastornensky operation . Senior Lieutenant N.S. Prokhorenko provided the guns and wheels of his battery to promote the rifle units of the 143rd Infantry Division, participated in the encirclement and liquidation of units of the 2nd Wehrmacht army in the area of ​​the village of Kastornaya . In March 1943, the 13th Army was transferred to the Central Front and began preparations for the Battle of Kursk . By the summer of 1943, as one of the most competent and experienced commanders, N. S. Prokhorenko was promoted to captain and appointed to the post of commander of the 1st division of the 287th artillery regiment. In a fierce battle on the northern front of the Kursk Bulge, the 143rd Infantry Division held defenses in the Maloarkhangelsky district of the Oryol region west of Maloarkhangelsk . The division of captain Prokhorenko distinguished himself during the Oryol operation in the battles for the Maloarkhangelsk railway station. In an effort to stop the advance of Soviet troops to Kromy , on July 15, 1943, the German command threw a tank reserve into battle on the offensive site of the 143rd Infantry Division. When repelling the enemy’s counterattack, Nikolai Stepanovich put forward the 2nd battery to an open position, and personally commanding it, knocked out two tanks, forcing the rest to retreat. To pave the way for their armored vehicles, the Germans dragged a 75-mm gun to a height of 251.9 and opened fire on the battery, but the artillerymen Prokhorenko in response salvo disabled his calculation. The gun itself was later captured by rifle units in good condition. Increasing pressure, the enemy on July 16-17, 1943 made four attempts to break through in the direction of the village of Buzuluk , but the artillerymen and infantrymen of the division firmly held the line. At the critical moment of the battle, Captain Prokhorenko moved forward in front of the first line of his rifle divisions and adjusted the fire of his division on the radio, practically causing artillery fire on himself. As a result of the coordinated actions of the division and the dedication of its commander, up to 100 enemy soldiers and officers were destroyed and the fire of the artillery battery was suppressed. Nikolai Stepanovich was wounded in the leg, but did not leave the battle until the enemy counterattack was repulsed. In total, from July 15 to July 17, 1943, the division of Captain Prokhorenko knocked out two tanks, destroyed 12 machine gun points, 4 anti-tank guns, 2 75 mm cannons and up to 300 Wehrmacht troops, and also suppressed the fire of 4 artillery and 3 mortar batteries, 18 machine guns and 2 anti-tank guns.

Having defeated the Nazi troops on the Kursk Bulge, the Red Army almost without a pause began the Battle of the Dnieper . Acting as part of the 60th Army , units of the 143rd Infantry Division during the Chernihiv-Pripyat operation liberated the regions of Sumy and Chernihiv regions and reached the Dnieper . On September 29, 1943, the 1st artillery division of the 287th artillery regiment reliably covered the crossing of rifle units near the village of Old Glybov ^[3] and after them crossed to the right bank of the Dnieper. Having crossed the Dnieper and Pripyat interfluve, parts of the division crossed the Pripyat near the village of Greblya ^[4] and occupied a small bridgehead in the interfluve of Pripyat and Teterev . Having pulled out large forces of infantry, tanks and artillery to eliminate the bridgehead, the enemy was able to suppress the rifle units on October 6, 1943. As a result, the observation post at which Captain N. S. Prokhorenko was with a small group of fighters was cut off.The NP was located in a very good place, and Nikolai Stepanovich adjusted the fire of his division to the last possible opportunity, and only when the Germans took it into a tight ring did he attack the signalmen and scouts who were with him and escaped from the encirclement.

The enemy increased pressure by throwing tanks, self-propelled artillery and aircraft into battle. On October 9, 1943, a fierce battle broke out near the village of Laputki. Captain Prokhorenko pulled all the guns that remained at his disposal to a height of 118.4, from which the battle formations of the enemy rushing to the crossing were well shot. With dense fire, the gunners forced the waves of German attacks to roll back. Several times the Germans attacked the heights with large infantry forces, but each time they received a rebuff. When the enemy nevertheless managed to get close to the positions of the division, captain N. S. Prokhorenko led the calculations in a counterattack. In a fierce hand-to-hand fight, the enemy was thrown back, but Nikolai Stepanovich was seriously wounded in the stomach and leg. He remained on top and continued to command the division until the counterattack was repelled. In the 223rd medical battalion of the 132nd Rifle Division, Captain Prokhorenko was brought unconscious, and on October 10, 1943, he died from his wounds.

During the Battle of the Dnieper, the 1st Division of the 287th Artillery Regiment of the 143rd Rifle Division under the command of Captain N.S. Prokhorenko went with battles more than 300 kilometers and inflicted significant damage on the enemy. During the period from September 4 to October 9, 1943, artillery men Prokhorenko destroyed 1 artillery and 2 mortar batteries of the enemy, 1 anti-aircraft gun, 6 anti-tank guns, 18 machine guns, shot down the plane. The fire of the division suppressed 7 artillery and 11 mortar enemy batteries, 28 machine-gun points. Losses of the enemy in manpower amounted to 600 soldiers and officers. For the exemplary performance of the combat missions of the command on the front of the struggle against the German invaders and the courage and heroism shown by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 3, 1944, Captain Prokhorenko Nikolai Stepanovich was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. Initially, N. S. Prokhorenko was buried in the village of the Wolf Mountains ^[5] at the location of the medical battalion. Later, due to the filling of the Kiev reservoir, his remains were reburied in the village of Strakholesie, Ivankovsky district, Kiev region of Ukraine .

• Medal "Golden Star" (06/03/1944, posthumous);
• Order of Lenin (06/03/1944, posthumously);
• Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd degree (08/20/1943);
• Order of the Red Star (07/31/1942).

• The name of the Hero of the Soviet Union N. S. Prokhorenko is immortalized on the Heroes Avenue in the city of Chernobyl ^[6] .
• The bust of the Hero of the Soviet Union N.S. Prokhorenko is installed in the premises of the Museum of Military and Labor Glory of the 2nd artillery special school in Moscow.
• A street in the village of Betlitsa, Kuibyshevsky District, Kaluga Region, is named after the Hero of the Soviet Union N.S. Prokhorenko.

• 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 .
• Heroes of the fiery years: essays about Muscovites - Heroes of the Soviet Union: In 10 books. / Editorial: A.M. Sinitsyn (ed.) and others. - M .: Moscow Worker, 1983. - T. 6. - S. 290-295. - 670 s.
• Polenkov K.A., Romanova T.V., Khromienkov N.A. Kaluzhane - Heroes of the Soviet Union, Heroes of Russia. - 2nd ed., Ext. and reslave. - Kaluga: Golden Alley, 2000 .-- S. 311-313. - 478 p. - ISBN 5-7111-0320-2 .

• Public electronic document bank “The Feat of the People in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945” (neopr.) . Date of treatment June 8, 2013. 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 June 8, 2013. Archived June 9, 2013.

Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd degree (award sheet and order for awarding) (neopr.) . Date of treatment June 8, 2013. Archived June 9, 2013.

Order of the Red Star (award sheet and award order) (neopr.) . Date of treatment June 8, 2013. Archived June 9, 2013.

• The generalized database “Memorial” (neopr.) . Date of treatment June 8, 2013. Archived May 10, 2012.

TsAMO, f. 58, op. A-71693, d.979 (neopr.) .

TsAMO, f. 58, op. 18002, d. 433 (neopr.) .

TsAMO, f. 33, op. 11458, d. 253 (neopr.) .

• Vorobyov V. Prokhorenko, Nikolai Stepanovich (Russian) . Site " Heroes of the country ". Date of treatment September 15, 2017. Archived June 9, 2013.
• Prokhorenko Nikolay Stepanovich at www.az-libr.ru (neopr.) . Date of treatment June 8, 2013. Archived June 9, 2013.