Kostin, Nikolai Fedorovich

Children and teens

Born in 1923 in the village of Berezki ^[1] in a peasant family. His father, who participated in the organization of the collective farm movement, soon moved to Leningrad and settled there at the Metallist plant. In 1931, his whole family moved to him, until that time remaining in the village. Living in Leningrad, Nikolai studied at school and literally just before the start of the war he managed to work at the factory.

During the war years

Since 1941, as part of a small group of Leningraders, Kostin for some time dug trenches and trenches in Kingisepp district of the Leningrad region , then fought in the militia of the Moscow region near Leningrad . Having volunteered in October 1941 to the Red Army , he served for some time in the aircraft repair base of the 13th Air Army.

Since 1942, Kostin fought as an artilleryman in the 92nd Infantry Division of the Leningrad Front , first as a gunner, then as commander of a captured artillery gun. As such, he participated in the defense of Pulkovo Heights and battles on the Karelian Isthmus .

After graduating from accelerated officer courses in early 1944 , Kostin was appointed an officer in a separate communications battalion of the famous 30th Guards Rifle Corps , which was part of the 2nd Shock Army under the command of I. I. Fedyuninsky . As part of this compound, he took direct part in the battles for the liberation of Narva in February and July-August 1944 .

Then he liberated other Estonian cities, and was soon transferred to the 56th Pushkin Rifle Division, which at that time was conducting military operations west of Riga . In its composition, Kostin participated in the battles near Tukums, until he received a serious wound in the leg in January 1945 . Later, in September 1945, he participated in the war with Japan.

Post-War Service

After the war ended, Kostin continued to serve in the Far East for about eight years. In 1953 he was sent to study at the V.I. Lenin Military-Political Academy, but after a month and a half was rejected by hearing. Later he continued to serve as part of the Leningrad Military District on the Kurgalsky Peninsula and in some other places. He retired to the reserve in 1961 with the rank of major and the post of deputy commander of the missile division, stationed in the city of Guards, Kaliningrad region . Later he was awarded the rank of lieutenant colonel.

In Narva

Arriving after the demobilization in 1962 in the Estonian city of Narva , Kostin spent more than 20 years, until 1982 , worked as a senior merchandiser and mechanical engineer in the trade department, participated in the activities of the consumer protection society. In 1965 he graduated from the Narva Polytechnic.

Community Activities

From the beginning of his arrival in Narva, Kostin was engaged in social activities, in particular - military-patriotic education of youth. He was a lecturer in the city organization of the Knowledge Society, and also, through the assistance committee of the city military registration and enlistment office, he lectured on the development of rocket technology in front of reserve officers. Since 1975, he headed the section of military-patriotic education in the Council of Veterans. From 1995 to 2006, he worked as deputy chairman of the Narva City Veterans Union.

The theme of the battles to liberate Narva in 1944, Kostin, who took a direct part in them (the 30th Guards Corps, in which he fought, in his opinion - was one of the main participants in the liberation of Narva), began to be interested in from the beginning of his arrival in the city in 1962 year .

Later, Kostin repeatedly said in the press that according to the calculations of Army General I.I. Fedyuninsky , in the battles near Narva, the losses of the 2nd Shock Army amounted to 67 thousand dead soldiers. In addition, it must be borne in mind that another 8th and 59th armies, the 13th air army and some units of the Baltic Fleet fought here.

Initially, Kostin dealt with the theme of fighting on the Narva bridgehead with school youth, while collecting material on these battles. Later, having met with the director of the Narva Museum, a certified historian Yevgeny Krivosheev , joining forces, he continued to collect materials even more intensely, publishing them on the pages of the newspapers Youth of Estonia and the Narva Worker.

Later, in 1982 , at the request of the participants in the liberation of the city, who came to the anniversaries of the liberation of Narva, Kostin, together with Krivosheev, began work on the book. If its co-author Krivosheev met with famous military leaders, participants and eyewitnesses of those events, then Kostin worked more in the Public Library and the Central Museum of the Soviet Army, analyzing materials related to the battles for Narva.

The book of Kostin and Krovosheev "The Battle of Narva" was published in July 1984 - to the 40th anniversary of the liberation of the city from fascism. To the great pleasure of the authors, their work was highly appreciated by both historians and ordinary residents of the city. The book was published in a print run of 9 thousand copies.

Nikolai Kostin was also quite intensely, until the last years, engaged in work among search engines, taking part in the reburial of soldiers who died on the Narva bridgehead in 1944 . In particular, he advised search engines and journalists in 2002 , when the remains of more than 40 dead participants of the Merekyul landing were found.

• Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree
• 3 orders of the Red Star
• Medals "For courage" , "For military merit" , "For the defense of Leningrad" and others.

• Krivosheev E.P., Kostin N.F. Battle of Narva, February-September 1944. - Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1984. - 159 p. - 9000 copies.

• Ida O. Narva, these are the faces of your sons and daughters. - Narva, 2004 .-- S. 39-45.
• // Narva newspaper. - 1999. - August 12. - S. 8.

• Memoirs of N. F. Kostin on the site “I Remember”
• Nikolai Kostin on the bombing of Narva in March 1944 (inaccessible link)
• N. Kostin on the found remains in 2001