Barkhudarov, Mais Shukur oglu

Mais Barkhudarov was born in the city of Kubatly of the Azerbaijan SSR . Since childhood, fond of wrestling. He was a student of fighter Aliyar Aliyev , who later participated in the Karabakh war and became the National Hero of Azerbaijan (posthumously). The events unfolding in those years in Karabakh brought Barkhudarov to the Jamshid Nakhchivansky Military Lyceum ^[1] .

During the years of study at the lyceum, Barkhudarova was influenced by the head of the lyceum, former Minister of Defense Lt.-Gen. Valeh Barshadly . In 1993, together with a group of cadets, Barkhudarov decided to voluntarily go to the front. Learning of this, Barshadly called the students to his place and dissuaded from this step, persuading them to continue their studies ^[1] .

In 1998, Senior Lieutenant Mais Barkhudarov was awarded the Order of the Azerbaijani Flag ^[2] . He personally handed the award to Barkhudarov the country's president Heydar Aliyev . In 2012, for special service in preserving the independence and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, for the difference in the performance of official duty and the tasks assigned to the military unit, Colonel Mais Barkhudarov was awarded the medal "For Fatherland" ^{[3] [4]} .

On the night of April 2, 2016, intensive hostilities began on the contact line of the Armenian-Azerbaijani forces in Nagorno-Karabakh . The cease-fire agreement was concluded only on April 5th. During the clashes, the corps commander , Colonel Mais Barhudarov, took part in taking Leletepe's height. With the outbreak of hostilities, he personally got into the tank and rushed into battle on the first line of attack. According to eyewitnesses, this gesture of the corps commander inspired the soldiers, forcing them to fight with special activity ^[5] . On April 19, in accordance with the presidential decree of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, a number of participants in the clashes were awarded "for their heroism and courage in defending the territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan" ^[6] . Colonel Mais Barkhudarov, for special courage during the fighting for the height of Leletepe, on the same day was ordered by the President of the country to the rank of Major General ^{[5] [7] [8]} . Barkhudarov became the first officer in the last 20 years to whom he was given the rank of general for direct participation in hostilities ^[9] .