Kukarin, Evgeny Viktorovich

Born June 16, 1954 in the Rostov Region. Russian.

After graduating from high school, he entered the Blagoveshchensk Military Tank Command School . After graduation, he served in the Far Eastern Military District and the Southern Group of Forces (Hungary). He commanded a tank platoon and company, was chief of staff, and then commander of a tank battalion. In 1990 he graduated from the Military Academy of Armored Forces . Since 1990, he is a teacher at the military department of the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys .

In 1994-1996 he took part in the first Chechen war .

Since August 1999, Colonel Kukarin has been in Dagestan as chief of staff of the Internal Troops group of the Ministry of Internal Affairs as part of the United Group of Russian Forces in the North Caucasus. In December 1999 he was appointed commander of the troops of the Vostok group of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (33rd Special Forces Brigade and 674th Regiment of Internal Troops), formed to storm Grozny . The city was surrounded by troops in order to avoid attempts to break the militants from Grozny into the mountains (and such attempts were made - on December 28, the gang tried to break out of the encirclement, but was ambushed and fled back, losing up to 40 fighters killed). On December 31, 1999, the headquarters of the Russian troops conducted a fraudulent operation on the radio under the code name "New Year", simulating the concentration of forces from the eastern direction before the attack on the city. The militants pulled large forces to the site of the alleged "breakthrough", and their heaped up standing detachments came under massive fire from Russian artillery. By February 6, the resistance was broken, and later it was Kukarin who raised the Russian flag over the liberated Grozny ^[1] .

After the New Year, the Vostok group went on the offensive with the goal of liberating the Sunzhensky district of Grozny. On January 17, the headquarters of the group received a new task - to crush the largest resistance center of the militants in the area of ​​the Minutka Square . The task was carried out successfully - from January 27 to February 1, 2000 10 strongholds of militants, 12 bunkers, 3 armored personnel carriers were destroyed, 3 warehouses, 3 anti-aircraft installations, 1 gun, 4 mortars, 2 automatic easel grenade launchers were captured ^[2] .

By the decree of the President of the Russian Federation of February 29, 2000, for the courage shown in the battles and the skillful leadership of the troops in the fight against terrorist groups in the North Caucasus, Colonel Yevgeny Viktorovich Kukarin was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation with the Golden Star medal.

In 2011, he was the deputy commander of the Special Forces Detachment (OMSN) "Lynx" ^[3] . E. V. Kukarin continues to serve as head of the special police department of the Criminal Police Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. Included in the Club of Heroes of the Eastern Administrative District of Moscow ^{[4] [5]} .

He was awarded the Order "For Military Merit", medals of Suvorov, "For Military Merit" and others ^[6] .

• Stars of Courage, M. 2004