Osatyuk, Dmitry Ivanovich

Dmitry Osatyuk was born on November 8, 1917 in the village of Mogilnoye (now - the Gayvoronsky district of the Kirovograd region of Ukraine ). After graduating from a cooperative college, he worked on a collective farm . In 1939, Osatyuk was called up for service in the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army . In 1941, he graduated from the Syzran Tank School. Since June of that year - on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. By January 1943, Lieutenant Dmitry Osatyuk commanded a tank company of the 549th tank battalion of the 61st tank brigade of the 67th army of the Leningrad Front . He distinguished himself during the breaking of the siege of Leningrad ^[1] .

On January 12, 1943, Osatyuk’s company crossed the Neva and, passing through the swamps, reached the approaches to the Sinyavinsky Heights . Large forces of the enemy infantry with the support of three heavy tanks counterattacked the position of his company. At the height of the battle, the Osatyuk T-60 tank was cut off from the main forces. The driver Ivan Makarenkov , skillfully maneuvering, carried along all three tanks directly to the position of the artillery battery, which shot them. Returning to the company, Osatyuk and Makarenkov defeated the German infantry, driven into a pit, trying to entrench themselves. On January 18, 1943, Osatyuk’s company was among the first to meet with units of the 372nd Infantry Division of the 2nd Shock Army of the Volkhov Front, which marked a breakthrough in the blockade of Leningrad. On January 21, Osatyuk’s tank was hit in battle, Osatyuk managed to save Makarenkov, who was seriously wounded, from the tank and delivered to his own, and then continue to fight on another tank ^[1] .

By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of February 10, 1943, for “exemplary performance of command missions at the front of the battle against the German invaders and shown courage and heroism”, Lieutenant Dmitry Osatyuk was awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Golden Star medal " Under the number 559 ^[1] .

On February 13, 1943, Osatyuk was seriously wounded in battle, after which he was in the hospital for a long time. He didn’t return to the front anymore; he served in a training tank regiment. After the war he continued his service in the Soviet Army. In 1947, Osatyuk graduated from the Higher Officer Armored School. Since 1959 he was the Kirovograd city military commissar. In 1971, with the rank of colonel, he was transferred to the reserve. He lived in Kirovograd . He died on May 25, 1999, was buried in the Pantheon of Eternal Glory in Kirovograd (now Kropyvnytskyi) ^[1] .

He was also awarded the orders of the Patriotic War of the 1st and 2nd degree, the Order of the Red Star and a number of medals ^[1] .

• 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 .
• Burov A.V. Your Heroes, Leningrad. 2nd ed., Ext. L .: Lenizdat, 1970.
• Tankers in the battles for their homeland. Moscow 1985.