Alexander Mikhailovich Kuznetsov (1922 – April 2022) was a The Great Patriotic War, a Hero of the Soviet Union, and a resident of Nizhny Novgorod. He lived to the age of one hundred and until the end of his life remained one of the last Nizhny Novgorod combat veterans to have been awarded the USSR's highest military honor.[1]

Military Service

When the war broke out in 1941, Kuznetsov was 19 years old. He was born on 19 June 1922 in the selo of Rasstigino, Gorokhovetsky District, Vladimir Region, into a peasant family. In 1927 he moved with his parents to the settlement of Chornoramanka in Balakhna District. He completed secondary school in June 1941 and was drafted into the Red Army in July of that year by the Balakhna District Military Enlistment Office.[2] At the front he commanded an anti-tank gun company.[1] For his combat merits he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. On 11 September 1943, Kuznetsov was among the first to cross the Desna River near the village of Obolonye in Chernigov Region, took part in repelling a tank counterattack, and personally knocked out 3 tanks; on 25 September, during the crossing of the Pripyat River near the village of Koshevka, his company repelled an attack by 6 enemy tanks, and he personally knocked out 2 of them with anti-tank grenades. The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was conferred on him by a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated 16 October 1943, for the successful crossing of the Dnieper north of Kyiv and the consolidation of a bridgehead on its western bank.[2] Kuznetsov's name is inscribed in the Hall of Glory at the Museum of Victory on Poklonnaya Gora in Moscow.[1]

Post-War Life

After demobilization, Kuznetsov devoted himself to agriculture. In March 1944 he was seriously wounded and shell-shocked in fighting near Ternopol; he was treated at a hospital in Saratov and in 1945 was discharged to the reserve in the rank of captain on medical grounds. In 1949 he graduated from the State Agricultural Academy, after which he worked as senior agronomist at a machine and tractor station in the Mordovian ASSR. From 1952 to 1954 he was a postgraduate student at the same institute and defended his dissertation for the degree of Candidate of Economic Sciences.[2] He worked on a collective farm and later at the department of the agricultural institute. From 1954 he spent four years heading the Iskra collective farm in Kstovsky District of Gorky Region, and from 1958 he worked as a lecturer and associate professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the Gorky Agricultural Institute. In 2004 he was awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast.[2] He lived in Nizhny Novgorod at 146 Gorky Street. Those who knew him remarked on his friendliness and modesty: according to Oleg Pakhomov, head of the veterans' organization of the Gorkovskiy microdistrict, the Hero never made a show of his exploits.[1] In 2021, the head of Nizhny Novgorod, Shalabayev Yuri, personally congratulated him on the upcoming Victory Day.[1]

Legacy

Alexander Mikhailovich Kuznetsov died in Nizhny Novgorod in April 2022. He passed away on 15 April 2022 and was buried at Mar'ina Roscha Cemetery. A commemorative plaque in honor of the Hero has been installed at the Nizhny Novgorod State Agricultural Academy, and a bust was erected in the village of Fominki, Gorokhovetsky District, Vladimir Region.[2] Shortly thereafter, a graffiti portrait of the Hero was unveiled on Sovetskaya Street.[1] On 6 May 2025, on the eve of the 80th anniversary of Victory, a commemorative plaque was installed on the building at 146 Gorky Street, where he had lived. The ceremony was attended by city leadership, representatives of veterans' and volunteer organizations, Kuznetsov's relatives, pupils of Sanatorium Boarding School No. 5, and local residents. State Duma deputy Vladislav Yegorov spoke on behalf of the legislative assembly, and Oleg Pakhomov on behalf of the veterans' community.[1]

Sources

  1. Vremya N — A commemorative plaque honoring Hero of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov was unveiled in Nizhny Novgorod (archive)
  2. warheroes.ru — Kuznetsov Alexander Mikhailovich — Alexander Mikhailovich Kuznetsov was born on 19 June 1922 in the selo of Rasstigino, Gorokhovetsky District, Vladimir Region, into a peasant family. In 1927… (archive)
  3. mapy.com