Kostenko, Ivan Alekseevich

Born on August 27, 1913 in the village of Kalnibolotskaya, now Novopokrovsky district, Krasnodar Territory, in a Cossack family. Russian. In 1925 he graduated from grade 3 of elementary school. He worked in the household, then as a machine operator in the Kalnibolotsky machine and tractor station. ^[2]

In the Red Army

In the Red Army - from May 27, 1940. From the first days of the war - in the army. He fought on the Leningrad, Volkhov, North-West, 2nd and 1st Baltic and 3rd Belorussian fronts. He took part in the defense of Leningrad and the breakthrough of its blockade, Madona , Riga, Memel and East Prussian offensive operations ^[2] .

At the front

He served as gun commander in February 1942 in a separate artillery division of the 33rd Rifle Brigade. During the battles in the area of ​​the village of Sinyavino (now Kirovsky district of the Leningrad region), I.A. Kostenko’s gun hit the tank, destroyed 3 dugouts, destroyed 2 mortars, an anti-tank gun, 7 machine guns and before the enemy’s manpower platoon. In February 1943, the brigade was redeployed to the area of ​​the city of Staraya Russa, Leningrad Region (from July 5, 1944 - the Novgorod Region). Here, artillerymen destroyed 2 dugouts during offensive battles, destroyed 3 easel machine guns with calculations, and about 25 enemy soldiers ^[2] . By order of the brigade commander I. Kostenko, he was awarded the medal “For Courage”. ^[3] In October 1943, units of the 33rd Separate Rifle Brigade were assigned to form the 319th Rifle Division. I.A. Kostenko continued his service as a gun commander in the 560th artillery regiment of this division. During the offensive battles north of the city of Novosokolniki in the Pskov Region and when counterattacking the enemy’s counterattacks, his calculation destroyed the howitzer, cannon, 3 easel and 5 light machine guns, 4 carts and up to 30 enemy soldiers. On June 22, 1944, under heavy enemy fire, A.I. Kostenko replaced the wounded gunner and with accurate fire destroyed the machine gun with the calculation, ensuring the advance of the rifle division ^[2] . By order of the division commander I.A. Kostenko was awarded the Order of the Red Star. ^[four]

Feat

During the advance of July 17, 1944, units of the 319th Infantry Division reached the Saryanka River in the vicinity of the Osveya village (now an urban village in the Verkhnedvinsky District of the Vitebsk Region, Belarus), where they were suspended by organized enemy fire. The calculation of I.A. Kostenko under artillery and mortar shelling advanced to an open firing position and opened fire on the enemy. The precision fire of the gunners suppressed the fire of two mortars, 2 easel and 1 light machine gun of the enemy were destroyed, which made it possible for our units to force the river. In the course of further battles, the gunners destroyed an artillery gun, a car, 3 wagons with military equipment, 5 machine guns and up to 30 enemy soldiers. The regiment commander I.A. Kostenko was presented for awarding the Order of the Red Star ^[2] . By order of the commander of the 319th Infantry Division dated August 10, 1944, Senior Sergeant Kostenko Ivan Alekseevich was awarded the Order of Glory of the 3rd degree ^[5] .

During the fighting on the Zemland Peninsula on March 3, 1945, the enemy infantry, with the support of tanks in the area of ​​the village of Neukuren (now the city of Pionersky in the Kaliningrad Region) broke through the battle formations of our rifle units and entered the artillery firing area. I.A. Kostenko quickly assessed the situation and gave a command to reckon on the opening of fire. Gunners under enemy fire courageously continued to carry out the task. They destroyed 2 tanks with their fire and destroyed up to 30 enemy soldiers. I.A. Kostenko was wounded, but continued to command the gun until the enemy was completely repelled. He was presented by the regiment commander to be awarded the Order of the Red Banner ^[2] . By order of the commander of the 43rd Army dated March 21, 1945, Senior Sergeant Kostenko Ivan Alekseevich was awarded the Order of Glory of the 2nd degree ^[6] .

In the period from April 8 to 13, 1945, west of the city of Königsberg (now Kaliningrad ), the gun of I.A. Kostenko, while in battle formations of the advancing rifle units, supported them with fire. During the period of fighting, the gunners destroyed the bunker, crushed the mortar battery, destroyed 3 firing points, more than 30 enemy soldiers and three were captured. On April 14, the calculation of I.A. Kostenko was singled out as part of the landing assault group. The gun was towed by a self-propelled artillery installation, and the calculation moved on its armor. During the battles, the calculation of I. Kostenko destroyed three 75-mm guns and captured two enemy machine guns ^[2] . By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 29, 1945, for the exemplary performance of command missions at the front of the battle against the German invaders and the courage shown in this, Senior Sergeant Kostenko Ivan Alekseevich was awarded the Order of Glory of the 1st degree ^[7] .

After the army

In 1946, the foreman I.A. Kostenko was demobilized. He returned to his native village. He worked on a collective farm. He died on March 18, 1980. ^[2] He was awarded the orders of the Red Star (07/17/1944), Glory of the 1st (06/29/1945), 2nd (03/21/1945) and 3rd (08/10/1944) degrees, medals, including "For Courage" "(06/18/1943).

A stone stele with a bust of Ivan Alekseevich Kostenko was installed on the alley of Military Glory in the village of Novopokrovskaya. His name is listed on the memorial in the square named after G.K. Zhukov in the city of Krasnodar. About the exploits of Ivan Alekseevich written in the books "Soldier Glory." A memorial plaque was installed on the house where he lived. On his grave is a monument from the Russian Ministry of Defense ^[17] .

• List of Full Knights of the Order of Glory
• List of full Knights of the Order of Glory (Krasnodar Territory)
• List of Heroes of the Soviet Union (Krasnodar Territory)

• Cavaliers of the Order of Glory of three degrees: A Brief Biographical Dictionary / Prev. ed. collegium D. S. Sukhorukov. - M: Military Publishing House, 2000 .-- 703 p. - ISBN 5-203-01883-9 .
• Kuban-cavaliers of the three orders of Glory - Krasnodar. 1995
• Roshchin I.I. Soldier Glory. Book 7. M, 1988

Oleg Kozhuhar. Kostenko, Ivan Alekseevich (Russian) . Site " Heroes of the country ".

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• Full Knights of the Order of Glory: A Brief Biographical Dictionary. I. Kostenko. On the website of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
• Kostenko I.A.