Olga Tonina. Evgenia Sergeevna Kostrikova (daughter of S.M. Kirov) - tank commander th companies . No photo available Unfortunately, about the daughter of S.M. Very little is known about Kirov (the same one who was killed on the orders of N.S. Khrushchev). Evgenia Sergeevna Kostrikova, daughter of S.M. Kirov, commander of a tank company during the Great Patriotic War - they say on most sites.There is also an excerpt from an interview with Alla Kirilina, a candidate of historical sciences who has been studying the life of Kirov since 1952: "- No, but he had an illegitimate daughter!In one of the archives I came across a document relating to the “Kazan” period of Kirov’s life. It followed from it that while studying in this city, Sergei Mironovich rented a corner from a woman with whom he had an intimate relationship. Soon after Kirov left, the owner of the apartment gave birth to a girl. This story was first unearthed by a group of filmmakers who wanted to make a film about Kirov. Then, during the war, a note was published: “On the tank named after Kirov, Kirov’s daughter” " although the girl did not bear her father's surname. I decided to check the information and asked a friend who had some connections in the KGB about it. She took the document to Liteiny, and I never saw it again." This is the basic information found on most Internet sites." There is also an excerpt from the documentary story by Vladimir Vozovikov and Vladimir Krokhmalyuk “The Soldier Believes in Immortality.” The story was written with the assistance of Alexander Pavlovich Ryazansky, the author of the book “In the Fire of Tank Battles,” which tells about the combat path of the 5th Guards Mechanized Zimovnikovsky Corps (This episode dates back to December 1943). Quote:" Orders Lenin and the Red Banner, medal" XX years of the Red Army" . After these words, General Skvortsov looked at me and, holding back a smile, delved into the combat report. Then he cheerfully slapped his palm on his knee, exclaiming: “Well done! Well done Krivopisha!.. Do you, Ivan Prokhorovich, - to Ermakov, - know the machine gunner Letuta?” - “No way.” - “It’s a pity!” Turning to me: “Were you also with Krivopisha?” - "Yes sir!" - “Well, you know, Ivan Prokhorovich, Schweik would try to be away from such a “sabantuy.” Then he came up to me and extended his hand: “Thank you for the good news. Go to the adjutant, you’ll wait there. You will be entrusted with a responsible task: to bring anti-tank forces at the position of the twelfth guards mechanized brigade. General Shabarov will provide details." I clearly (at least it seemed to me) turned around and left. With the permission of the adjutant, I called the operational duty officer of my brigade and reported that the package had been delivered. Then he asked if it was possible to feed my crew members. “I’ll give the command now,” the adjutant promised. About fifteen minutes later, the chief of staff of the corps, General Shabarov, came out, meticulously examined me and ordered me to go to the operations department. My acquaintance with the officers of the operational department passed quickly and Just. Apparently, this is because he took a kind of patronage over me Captain Ivashkin. In the past, he was a liaison officer for our brigade and maintained the kindest attitude towards her.Shaking hands with Captain Brager , senior lieutenants Usachev and Kostrikova , I felt that with this minutes I become their own person.Orders and medals remembered at Brager and Kostrikova. I was introduced to the deputy heads of the operational department Majors Moskvin, Gostev and Lupikov, who heatedly discussed some question. Ivashkin whispered:" Experienced operational workers" . However, this was evident from the awards and stripes for wounds. While I was waiting and receiving documents, Major General came to the department tank troops Shabarov, accompanied by a short, chubby major. Everyone stood up, but the general immediately motioned for them to sit down. " The chief of intelligence of the corps, Major Bogomaz,” he spoke, “briefly will inform you about the enemy and his intentions" . - Here it would be necessary to clarify the situation a little, which, apparently, was reported by Major Bogomaz, - again commented Major General Ryazansky. - By that time the corps reached the rear of the one hundred and sixth, one hundred and eighth and three hundred Twentieth Infantry Divisions of the Eleventh Army Corps Nazis defending the right bank of the Dnieper at the front Novogeorgievsk, Chigirin. To avoid their defeat the enemy at the Kryukov line, Glinsk began to roll up its defenses and hastily withdraw troops to the west, organizing a strong rear protection Units of the fifty-third approached Novogeorgievsk army. The rapid mastery of Chigirin, planned at the beginning, could lead to the cutting off and destruction of only part of the forces Eleventh Army Corps... When Bogomaz finished his report and answered questions, General asked:" Who wants to draw a conclusion based on the situation?" After a short there was a pause Kostrikova: " Let me? " I looked at this with interest blue-eyed blonde with earflaps pulled down to the back of his head. On her right cheek - deep scar. Later I found out that in the battle near Prokhorovka, where she was military paramedic of the 54th Guards Tank Regiment, a fragment of a mine seriously wounded in the face. She only recently returned to the building from Moscow hospital. As she spoke, she cut off each phrase. " Ivan Vasilievich! - This is for the general. - From the report of Major Bogomaz I I realized that our corps, and our neighbor from the fifty-third army, had seized the Eleventh Nazi Corps by the tail. - There was laughter. - Honor for our guards corps, frankly speaking, is small and unenviable. - The laughter stopped. - In my opinion, the fascists should be caught, excuse the face, but this can be done if we quickly go around them and will advance far west of Chigirin " . General Shabarov, holding back a smile, replied: " Evgenia Sergeevna , to me it seems that you managed to express the meaning of the obvious in a figurative form output. Think about it all " . Then he called the corpsman engineer Lieutenant Colonel Kimakovsky and me. Kimakovsky received task to personally check the readiness of the bridge in the ravine and let it pass through it has an anti-tank division and a Su-85 battery. I ordered it in an hour report to Captain Neverov, the division commander (indicated point on the map) and lead the column to the western outskirts of Ivankovtsy." Soon after these materials were published on the Internet, readers found another documentary excerpt dedicated to Evgenia Kostrikova. I am publishing it in full: Leonid Girsh"Semirechye - a look through the years": " Kirov's daughter. ...The enemy tried to break through to Prokhorovka at any cost. German tanks were burning in front of the height, and the motorized infantry, scattered by our fire, retreated in disorder. Suddenly, enemy vehicles crawled out from above the heights. Their sides were covered with machine gunners.And there were more German tanks. We retreated to our original positions, firing back. Nine tanks were burning on the field, the dead were lying everywhere, the wounded were groaning. And the orderlies, risking their own lives every minute, dragged them away from the battlefield. Until late in the evening, tank engines hummed incessantly, tracks rumbled and clanged. On the huge field, fires of tanks and armored vehicles burned here and there. The evening sky was clouded with smoke and dust. The setting sun could not break through the military clouds. And how clear and transparent the day began, how clear and soft blue the sky of Kursk was! At night - a new order: to press the Germans to the Northern Donets. Colonel Goldberg was appointed commander of the lead detachment. The lead detachment includes tank companies, motorized infantry, an anti-tank battery... I, a liaison officer, am still in the 55th regiment and, together with the lead detachment, I am entering the southern outskirts of Avdeevka. Surprise! Along the bottom of the ravine, German tanks are approaching us. A little over a dozen... The thirty-four company and the anti-tank battery instantly turned around and took up combat positions. The machine gunners jumped off the tank armor and lay down side by side with a platoon of anti-tank rifles. We waited until the Germans came closer, took aim and set half of the tanks on fire, the rest turned back. However, other cars soon appeared. It became obvious that the enemy was bringing the main forces into the battle. Both the colonel and I shouted into the microphone, calling the brigade headquarters, but to no avail - the radio communication did not work. It was clear that the brigade behind the lead detachment was fighting with the enemy who had broken through, cutting off German tank wedges in our battle formations. But we, cut off, found ourselves in a catastrophic situation. “Listen, junior lieutenant,” said the lieutenant colonel, “quickly run to the brigade commander, report that we are fighting, but we won’t hold out without air support, and let them throw up shells, there aren’t enough left.” And we're running out of fuel... Come on! I turned to go to my car. “Wait a minute,” the detachment commander stopped me. - Look! - and handed me binoculars. I looked through binoculars and felt a chill: about three kilometers from our OP, a large enemy column was gathering dust across the field. I immediately jumped into the car. My driver was Vasily Stepanovich Zakharchenko, an experienced driver, father of two children, a leisurely, thorough and invariably calm person. He handled the car like no one else, and it obeyed him wonderfully. “Vasily Stepanovich,” I said, “let’s go at full speed to the brigade command post.” The brigade command post was located four to five kilometers from our battle formations. - Don’t worry, commander, I know the way! - Zakharchenko reassured me. Vasily Stepanovich simply called me “commander” - that’s all. Of course, there was no reason for me to worry: my driver had a full supply of gasoline and ammunition. There is water, and food, and the car - even now for an exhibition, everything in it is so arranged and adjusted. The field road was completely crushed, pitted with craters, cluttered with overturned, mutilated armored personnel carriers and burning trucks. I had to look for a workaround. I knew that nearby, on the right flank, the guards of the 11th Brigade were fighting. The battle did not stop for a moment. It seemed as if his scorching breath was hitting my face. In addition to anxiety and fear for the fate of the vanguard, I was mentally pained that I could not help my former comrades in any way. I really wanted them to survive and not die. But what could I, a communications officer rushing in a car to the brigade command post, do, what could I change? My soul was miserable and gloomy. Suddenly - I didn’t have time to think of anything - the armored car jerked sharply to the right. I fell out of the seat and hit my head painfully on a box of grenades. - Comrade commander, are you a little hurt? - the driver's voice was heard. - I’ll open the door right away, wait... I got out, rubbed my bruised forehead and froze in fear, seeing a huge deep crater on the left. Get there at the same full speed that you were rushing at. Without clearing the road, we would not be alive. I looked around. There is not a single whole building around. We seem to be at some kind of field camp. There are about twenty wounded people lying right on the ground. Their faces were covered in blood and soot, their tunics were burnt. They are literally shoved into an ambulance, because there is not enough space, and they want to take more away from the battlefield. A short, slender woman, tightly belted with an officer's leather belt, ran up to me. Military paramedic, as one could tell from my insignia. Stern gray eyes seemed to be screaming for help. - Comrade junior lieutenant, where are you from? I explained. - Listen, do you have water? - Eat. - Share, and quickly. Everything that was available was distributed to the wounded. Here I am sending it. There are no more cars, but there are many wounded, some of them so seriously injured that they urgently need to operate. I listened with sympathy while Zakharchenko pulled out a canister of water and handed it to the orderlies who approached. “Evgenia Sergeevna Kostrikova, military paramedic of the 54th tank regiment,” my interlocutor said, grinning at the fact that she had finally decided to introduce herself. We shook hands, and I continued to think about how else I could help. - Yes, we have bandages, crackers, stew. “Thank you, dear,” Evgenia Sergeevna said cordially and simply, “I’ll take the bandages, of course, but keep the stew and crackers for yourself.” My wounded have no time now. You will pass through the rear of the brigade. Look into the medical battalion, tell the captain to send at least two or three airborne vehicles. Explain to him better where I am. Well, happy, brotherly thanks! Maybe. See you... I fulfilled the military paramedic’s request exactly, and the captain of the medical service told me that I met the daughter of Sergei Mironovich Kirov on the battlefield. As you know, his real name was Kostrikov. On the way back I didn’t find Evgenia Sergeevna. She was seriously wounded by a shell fragment. The brave military paramedic was sent to a field hospital. However, E. S. Kostrikova’s assumption did come true. We have met more than once on military roads. There, on the Kursk Bulge, Evgenia Sergeevna saved the lives of twenty-seven tankers. Some were carried out of burning cars. Awarded the Order of the Red Star, after the hospital she returned to the corps, and as part of the formation she went through the entire combat path, right up to the days of May 1945, when the guards celebrated Victory Day in Czechoslovakia." That's basically all for now! It's a pity... Literature used: V.S. Vozovikov, V.G. Krokhmalyuk. Lilac willows Dokum. stories, essays. - M.: DOSAAF, 1983. - 304
Original taken from raganaskekis in Tanker Evgenia Kostrikova
During the Great Patriotic War, women not only sat behind the levers of tanks, but also occupied command positions in tank forces. One of the tank officers was Evgenia Kostrikova. Evgenia Sergeevna Kostrikova - Soviet officer, guard captain, participant in the Great Patriotic War. Evgenia Kostrikova was the daughter of the famous Soviet political and statesman Sergei Mironovich Kirov (real name Kostrikov).
Original taken from karvio c War does not have a woman's face. Tank driver Evgenia Kostrikova
During the war, she successively held the positions of military paramedic of the 79th separate tank regiment from the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps, then tank commander, tank platoon and company commander.
Ekaterina Kostrikova was born in 1921 in Vladikavkaz. She is the daughter of S. M. Kirov, who at that time served as a member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the 11th Army of the Red Army. This army went to Baku in the spring of 1920 to establish Soviet power there. It was here that Kostrikov met the woman who became his first wife. However, the marriage was short-lived; soon his beloved fell ill and died. In 1926, Sergei Kirov was elected first secretary of the Leningrad Gubernia Committee (regional committee), as well as the city party committee. In this post, he was constantly busy with party and government affairs. His second wife, Maria Lvovna Marcus (1885-1945), did not accept little Zhenya into the family; as a result, the girl was sent to an orphanage. Thus, after the murder of Sergei Kirov in 1934, little Evgenia was left completely alone. She graduated from a boarding school at one of the “special purpose” orphanages that were established by the USSR government for “children of war” from Spain. In 1938, she was able to enter the Moscow Higher Technical School. Bauman. Among the girl’s close friends were Timur Frunze, the Mikoyan brothers (who were studying to become pilots during these years), as well as the Spaniard Ruben Ibarruri, who studied at the Moscow Infantry School. Supreme Council of the RSFSR. In those years, Evgenia Kostrikova, like most of her peers, dreamed of military exploits. Unfortunately for many, fate gave her generation such a chance.
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, having an incomplete higher education behind her, Evgenia Kostrikova completed a three-month course for nurses and then volunteered to go to the front. The newly minted nurse was sent to a medical platoon of a separate tank battalion, which took part in the battles on the Western Front during the Battle of Moscow. It was near Moscow that the countdown of kilometers of front-line roads began for her. In October 1942, the tank battalion allocated part of its personnel, including all medical personnel, to staff the 79th separate tank regiment. Evgeniya Kostrikova, who was qualified as a nurse and had incomplete higher education, became a military paramedic of this regiment, which corresponded to the rank of lieutenant in army units. In December 1942, the 79th Tank Regiment as part of the Southern Front took part in the Battle of Stalingrad. A month later, this unit was renamed the 54th Guards Tank Regiment of the 5th Guards Zimnikovsky Mechanized Corps from the 2nd Guards Army. In the brutal battles for Stalingrad, when, according to the Soviet Marshal V.I. Chuikov, it seemed impossible to even raise a hand above the ground, military paramedic Evgenia Kostrikova managed to provide first aid to wounded soldiers right on the battlefield, and also carried them to a safe place under dense enemy fire, showing real courage. After the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, the 54th Guards Tank Regiment, as part of the Voronezh and Steppe fronts, took a direct part in the Battle of Kursk. Leonid Yuzefovich Girsh is a retired colonel, a participant in the famous tank battle that took place near Prokhorovka, and after the war, who became a writer and poet, then met Evgenia Kostrikova. The liaison officer of the 55th Guards Regiment, junior lieutenant Girsch, who was slightly wounded in battle, was provided with medical care by Kostrikova, who promptly sent him to the 46th medical battalion.
It is known for certain that as a military paramedic of the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps, E. S. Kostrikova was able to save the lives of 27 tankers, only during the fighting from July 12 to July 25, 1943. At the same time, Zhenya herself was wounded by a fragment of a German shell, which hit her right cheek. For her exploits, she was presented with the Order of the Red Star. After completing treatment in the hospital, in the fall of 1943 she returned to her native mechanized corps, but no longer as a military paramedic. After her wound and completion of treatment at the end of 1943, Guard Senior Lieutenant Evgenia Kostrikova was sent to the operational department of the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps. Information about this is contained in the memoirs “In the Fire of Tank Battles,” which were written by the former head of the operations department, General A. V. Ryazansky. However, Zhenya did not like the staff work. From the available front-line reports, she knew that enough women were already serving in the armored forces. Many of them managed to distinguish themselves in the battles on the Kursk Bulge, during the liberation of Orel from the Nazis, the fame of brave women tankers thundered on all fronts. Evgenia decided to become one of them, rather than remain at headquarters. With the direct support of the head of the operational department of the corps, then Colonel Ryazansky, Evgenia began to apply for her direction to undergo training at the Kazan Tank School. Why was Kazan chosen? The thing is that even before the war, Alexander Pavlovich Ryazansky, from 1937 to 1941, served in the Kazan armored training course for improving technical personnel. Initially as a commander of a tank battalion, and then as a teacher of tactics.
Initially, Evgenia Kostrikova was refused in every possible way, stating that a tank driver is not a woman’s profession. Someone told her that “armor doesn’t like the weak,” someone that “it’s hard for guys on a tank.” As a result, I even had to personally contact Marshal of the Soviet Union K.E. Voroshilov, whom Kostrikova was able to convince that she had already sat down at the controls of a formidable combat vehicle in her regiment more than once and would be able to master a tank no worse than any man. Veterans who graduated from the Kazan Tank School recalled that its chief, Major General of Tank Forces V.I. Zhivlyuk, was initially very surprised when a young woman arrived to study with him, albeit with the rank of senior lieutenant. Then he dropped the phrase: “Yes, it’s like a woman on a ship.” However, the attitude towards the girl gradually changed, especially when later the order of the commander of the armored and mechanized forces of the Red Army came to the school to award Evgenia Kostrikova with the medal “For the Defense of Stalingrad”. While studying in Kazan, Evgenia Kostrikova, along with other male cadets, mastered driving and shooting from a tank at the training ground, and also studied the tactical and technical characteristics of military equipment and weapons, studied the material part in the park, on simulators and in classrooms. Even after lights out, she continued to cram instructions and manuals on armored service. The seemingly fragile girl steadfastly endured all the hardships of training, especially heavy physical activity. Only in order to manage the levers of the tank well, real masculine strength was required. For example, squeezing one of the two side clutch levers required a force of 15 kg, and squeezing the main clutch pedal required 25 kg. Here Zhenya was helped by the hardening that she received as a nurse and military paramedic, when on the front line she had to carry dozens of wounded soldiers and commanders from the battlefield.
Evgenia Kostrikova graduated with honors from the accelerated courses at the Kazan Tank School and returned to her native 5th Guards Mechanized Corps, but as a commander of the T-34 tank. According to some information, she managed to take part in the battles for the liberation of the city of Kirovograd, which took place in January 1944. In total, during the years of the Great Patriotic War, about 20 women were able to become tank crews, but there were only 3 who graduated from the tank school. And only Evgenia Sergeevna Kostrikova, after graduating from the school, commanded a tank platoon, and at the end of the war, a tank company. As part of her native corps, Kostrikova took part in the battles to cross the Oder and Neisse, and by April 30, 1945 she reached the southeastern outskirts of the German capital. From Berlin, its tanks were advanced to Czechoslovakia on May 5 to liberate Prague. It was in Czechoslovakia that Guard Captain Evgenia Kostrikova completed her combat career. After the end of the war, the brave woman, who had gone through a glorious battle path on an equal basis with men, returned home, becoming an ordinary housewife. She lived for another 30 years in the field of victory, dying in 1975. Guard captain of tank forces Evgenia Sergeevna Kostrikova was buried in Moscow at the famous Vagankovskoye cemetery. Evgenia Kostrikova was a holder of two Orders of the Red Star, the Order of the Red Banner, the Order of the Patriotic War, I and II degrees, as well as the medals “For Courage” and “For the Defense of Stalingrad.” All awards were received by the brave woman during the Great Patriotic War.
During the Great Patriotic War, women not only sat behind the levers of tanks, but also occupied command positions in tank forces. One of the tank officers was Evgenia Kostrikova. Evgenia Sergeevna Kostrikova - Soviet officer, guard captain, participant in the Great Patriotic War. Evgenia Kostrikova was the daughter of the famous Soviet political and statesman Sergei Mironovich Kirov (real name Kostrikov).
During the war, she successively held the positions of military paramedic of the 79th separate tank regiment from the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps, then tank commander, tank platoon and company commander.
Ekaterina Kostrikova was born in 1921 in Vladikavkaz. She is the daughter of S. M. Kirov, who at that time served as a member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the 11th Army of the Red Army. This army went to Baku in the spring of 1920 to establish Soviet power there. It was here that Kostrikov met the woman who became his first wife. However, the marriage was short-lived; soon his beloved fell ill and died. In 1926, Sergei Kirov was elected first secretary of the Leningrad Gubernia Committee (regional committee), as well as the city party committee. In this post, he was constantly busy with party and government affairs. His second wife, Maria Lvovna Marcus (1885-1945), did not accept little Zhenya into the family; as a result, the girl was sent to an orphanage. Thus, after the murder of Sergei Kirov in 1934, little Evgenia was left completely alone. She graduated from a boarding school at one of the “special purpose” orphanages that were established by the USSR government for “children of war” from Spain. In 1938, she was able to enter the Moscow Higher Technical School. Bauman. Among the girl’s close friends were representatives of the party elite Timur Frunze, the Mikoyan brothers (who were studying to be pilots during these years), as well as the Spaniard Ruben Ibarruri, who studied at the Moscow Infantry School. Supreme Council of the RSFSR. In those years, Evgenia Kostrikova, like most of her peers, dreamed of military exploits. Unfortunately for many, fate gave her generation such a chance.
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, having an incomplete higher education behind her, Evgenia Kostrikova completed a three-month course for nurses and then volunteered to go to the front. The newly minted nurse was sent to a medical platoon of a separate tank battalion, which took part in the battles on the Western Front during the Battle of Moscow. It was near Moscow that the countdown of kilometers of front-line roads began for her.In October 1942, the tank battalion allocated part of its personnel, including all medical personnel, to staff the 79th separate tank regiment. Evgeniya Kostrikova, who was qualified as a nurse and had incomplete higher education, became a military paramedic of this regiment, which corresponded to the rank of lieutenant in army units. In December 1942, the 79th Tank Regiment as part of the Southern Front took part in the Battle of Stalingrad. A month later, this unit was renamed the 54th Guards Tank Regiment of the 5th Guards Zimnikovsky Mechanized Corps from the 2nd Guards Army. In the brutal battles for Stalingrad, when, according to the Soviet Marshal V.I. Chuikov, it seemed impossible to even raise a hand above the ground, military paramedic Evgenia Kostrikova managed to provide first aid to wounded soldiers right on the battlefield, and also carried them to a safe place under dense enemy fire, showing real courage. After the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, the 54th Guards Tank Regiment, as part of the Voronezh and Steppe fronts, took a direct part in the Battle of Kursk. Leonid Yuzefovich Girsh is a retired colonel, a participant in the famous tank battle that took place near Prokhorovka, and after the war, who became a writer and poet, then met Evgenia Kostrikova. The liaison officer of the 55th Guards Regiment, junior lieutenant Girsch, who was slightly wounded in battle, was provided with medical care by Kostrikova, who promptly sent him to the 46th medical battalion.
It is known for certain that as a military paramedic of the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps, E. S. Kostrikova was able to save the lives of 27 tankers, only during the fighting from July 12 to July 25, 1943. At the same time, Zhenya herself was wounded by a fragment of a German shell, which hit her right cheek. For her exploits, she was presented with the Order of the Red Star. After completing treatment in the hospital, in the fall of 1943 she returned to her native mechanized corps, but no longer as a military paramedic. After her wound and completion of treatment at the end of 1943, Guard Senior Lieutenant Evgenia Kostrikova was sent to the operational department of the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps. Information about this is contained in the memoirs “In the Fire of Tank Battles,” which were written by the former head of the operations department, General A. V. Ryazansky. However, Zhenya did not like the staff work. From the available front-line reports, she knew that enough women were already serving in the armored forces. Many of them managed to distinguish themselves in the battles on the Kursk Bulge, during the liberation of Orel from the Nazis, the fame of brave women tankers thundered on all fronts. Evgenia decided to become one of them, rather than remain at headquarters. With the direct support of the head of the operational department of the corps, then Colonel Ryazansky, Evgenia began to apply for her direction to undergo training at the Kazan Tank School. Why was Kazan chosen? The thing is that even before the war, Alexander Pavlovich Ryazansky, from 1937 to 1941, served in the Kazan armored training course for improving technical personnel. Initially as a commander of a tank battalion, and then as a teacher of tactics.
Initially, Evgenia Kostrikova was refused in every possible way, stating that a tank driver is not a woman’s profession. Someone told her that “armor doesn’t like the weak,” someone that “it’s hard for guys on a tank.” As a result, I even had to personally contact Marshal of the Soviet Union K.E. Voroshilov, whom Kostrikova was able to convince that she had already sat down at the controls of a formidable combat vehicle in her regiment more than once and would be able to master a tank no worse than any man. Veterans who graduated from the Kazan Tank School recalled that its chief, Major General of Tank Forces V.I. Zhivlyuk, was initially very surprised when a young woman arrived to study with him, albeit with the rank of senior lieutenant. Then he dropped the phrase: “Yes, it’s like a woman on a ship.” However, the attitude towards the girl gradually changed, especially when later the order of the commander of the armored and mechanized forces of the Red Army came to the school to award Evgenia Kostrikova with the medal “For the Defense of Stalingrad”. While studying in Kazan, Evgenia Kostrikova, along with other male cadets, mastered driving and shooting from a tank at the training ground, and also studied the tactical and technical characteristics of military equipment and weapons, studied the material part in the park, on simulators and in classrooms. Even after lights out, she continued to cram instructions and manuals on armored service. The seemingly fragile girl steadfastly endured all the hardships of training, especially heavy physical activity. Only in order to manage the levers of the tank well, real masculine strength was required. For example, squeezing one of the two side clutch levers required a force of 15 kg, and squeezing the main clutch pedal required 25 kg. Here Zhenya was helped by the hardening that she received as a nurse and military paramedic, when on the front line she had to carry dozens of wounded soldiers and commanders from the battlefield.
Evgenia Kostrikova graduated with honors from the accelerated courses at the Kazan Tank School and returned to her native 5th Guards Mechanized Corps, but as a commander of the T-34 tank. According to some information, she managed to take part in the battles for the liberation of the city of Kirovograd, which took place in January 1944. In total, during the years of the Great Patriotic War, about 20 women were able to become tank crews, but there were only 3 who graduated from the tank school. And only Evgenia Sergeevna Kostrikova, after graduating from the school, commanded a tank platoon, and at the end of the war, a tank company. As part of her native corps, Kostrikova took part in the battles to cross the Oder and Neisse, and by April 30, 1945 she reached the southeastern outskirts of the German capital. From Berlin, its tanks were advanced to Czechoslovakia on May 5 to liberate Prague. It was in Czechoslovakia that Guard Captain Evgenia Kostrikova completed her combat career. After the end of the war, the brave woman, who had gone through a glorious battle path on an equal basis with men, returned home, becoming an ordinary housewife. She lived for another 30 years in the field of victory, dying in 1975. Guard captain of tank forces Evgenia Sergeevna Kostrikova was buried in Moscow at the famous Vagankovskoye cemetery. Evgenia Kostrikova was a holder of two Orders of the Red Star, the Order of the Red Banner, the Order of the Patriotic War, I and II degrees, as well as the medals “For Courage” and “For the Defense of Stalingrad.” All awards were received by the brave woman during the Great Patriotic War.
During the Great Patriotic War, women not only sat behind the levers of tanks, but also occupied command positions in tank forces. One of the tank officers was Evgenia Kostrikova. Evgenia Sergeevna Kostrikova - Soviet officer, guard captain, participant in the Great Patriotic War. Evgenia Kostrikova was the daughter of the famous Soviet political and statesman Sergei Mironovich Kirov (real name Kostrikov).
During the war, she successively held the positions of military paramedic of the 79th separate tank regiment from the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps, then tank commander, tank platoon and company commander.
Ekaterina Kostrikova was born in 1921 in Vladikavkaz. She is the daughter of S. M. Kirov, who at that time served as a member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the 11th Army of the Red Army. This army went to Baku in the spring of 1920 to establish Soviet power there. It was here that Kostrikov met the woman who became his first wife. However, the marriage was short-lived; soon his beloved fell ill and died. In 1926, Sergei Kirov was elected first secretary of the Leningrad Gubernia Committee (regional committee), as well as the city party committee. In this post, he was constantly busy with party and government affairs. His second wife, Maria Lvovna Marcus (1885-1945), did not accept little Zhenya into the family; as a result, the girl was sent to an orphanage. Thus, after the murder of Sergei Kirov in 1934, little Evgenia was left completely alone. She graduated from a boarding school at one of the “special purpose” orphanages that were established by the USSR government for “children of war” from Spain. In 1938, she was able to enter the Moscow Higher Technical School. Bauman. Among the girl’s close friends were Timur Frunze, the Mikoyan brothers (who were studying to become pilots during these years), as well as the Spaniard Ruben Ibarruri, who studied at the Moscow Infantry School. Supreme Council of the RSFSR. In those years, Evgenia Kostrikova, like most of her peers, dreamed of military exploits. Unfortunately for many, fate gave her generation such a chance.
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, having an incomplete higher education behind her, Evgenia Kostrikova completed a three-month course for nurses and then volunteered to go to the front. The newly minted nurse was sent to a medical platoon of a separate tank battalion, which took part in the battles on the Western Front during the Battle of Moscow. It was near Moscow that the countdown of kilometers of front-line roads began for her. In October 1942, the tank battalion allocated part of its personnel, including all medical personnel, to staff the 79th separate tank regiment. Evgeniya Kostrikova, who was qualified as a nurse and had incomplete higher education, became a military paramedic of this regiment, which corresponded to the rank of lieutenant in army units. In December 1942, the 79th Tank Regiment as part of the Southern Front took part in the Battle of Stalingrad. A month later, this unit was renamed the 54th Guards Tank Regiment of the 5th Guards Zimnikovsky Mechanized Corps from the 2nd Guards Army. In the brutal battles for Stalingrad, when, according to the Soviet Marshal V.I. Chuikov, it seemed impossible to even raise a hand above the ground, military paramedic Evgenia Kostrikova managed to provide first aid to wounded soldiers right on the battlefield, and also carried them to a safe place under dense enemy fire, showing real courage. After the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, the 54th Guards Tank Regiment, as part of the Voronezh and Steppe fronts, took a direct part in the Battle of Kursk. Leonid Yuzefovich Girsh is a retired colonel, a participant in the famous tank battle that took place near Prokhorovka, and after the war, who became a writer and poet, then met Evgenia Kostrikova. The liaison officer of the 55th Guards Regiment, junior lieutenant Girsch, who was slightly wounded in battle, was provided with medical care by Kostrikova, who promptly sent him to the 46th medical battalion.
It is known for certain that as a military paramedic of the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps, E. S. Kostrikova was able to save the lives of 27 tankers, only during the fighting from July 12 to July 25, 1943. At the same time, Zhenya herself was wounded by a fragment of a German shell, which hit her right cheek. For her exploits, she was presented with the Order of the Red Star. After completing treatment in the hospital, in the fall of 1943 she returned to her native mechanized corps, but no longer as a military paramedic. After her wound and completion of treatment at the end of 1943, Guard Senior Lieutenant Evgenia Kostrikova was sent to the operational department of the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps. Information about this is contained in the memoirs “In the Fire of Tank Battles,” which were written by the former head of the operations department, General A. V. Ryazansky. However, Zhenya did not like the staff work. From the available front-line reports, she knew that enough women were already serving in the armored forces. Many of them managed to distinguish themselves in the battles on the Kursk Bulge, during the liberation of Orel from the Nazis, the fame of brave women tankers thundered on all fronts. Evgenia decided to become one of them, rather than remain at headquarters. With the direct support of the head of the operational department of the corps, then Colonel Ryazansky, Evgenia began to apply for her direction to undergo training at the Kazan Tank School. Why was Kazan chosen? The thing is that even before the war, Alexander Pavlovich Ryazansky, from 1937 to 1941, served in the Kazan armored training course for improving technical personnel. Initially as a commander of a tank battalion, and then as a teacher of tactics.
Initially, Evgenia Kostrikova was refused in every possible way, stating that a tank driver is not a woman’s profession. Someone told her that “armor doesn’t like the weak,” someone that “it’s hard for guys on a tank.” As a result, I even had to personally contact Marshal of the Soviet Union K.E. Voroshilov, whom Kostrikova was able to convince that she had already sat down at the controls of a formidable combat vehicle in her regiment more than once and would be able to master a tank no worse than any man. Veterans who graduated from the Kazan Tank School recalled that its chief, Major General of Tank Forces V.I. Zhivlyuk, was initially very surprised when a young woman arrived to study with him, albeit with the rank of senior lieutenant. Then he dropped the phrase: “Yes, it’s like a woman on a ship.” However, the attitude towards the girl gradually changed, especially when later the order of the commander of the armored and mechanized forces of the Red Army came to the school to award Evgenia Kostrikova with the medal “For the Defense of Stalingrad”. While studying in Kazan, Evgenia Kostrikova, along with other male cadets, mastered driving and shooting from a tank at the training ground, and also studied the tactical and technical characteristics of military equipment and weapons, studied the material part in the park, on simulators and in classrooms. Even after lights out, she continued to cram instructions and manuals on armored service. The seemingly fragile girl steadfastly endured all the hardships of training, especially heavy physical activity. Only in order to manage the levers of the tank well, real masculine strength was required. For example, squeezing one of the two side clutch levers required a force of 15 kg, and squeezing the main clutch pedal required 25 kg. Here Zhenya was helped by the hardening that she received as a nurse and military paramedic, when on the front line she had to carry dozens of wounded soldiers and commanders from the battlefield.
Evgenia Kostrikova graduated with honors from the accelerated courses at the Kazan Tank School and returned to her native 5th Guards Mechanized Corps, but as a commander of the T-34 tank. According to some information, she managed to take part in the battles for the liberation of the city of Kirovograd, which took place in January 1944. In total, during the years of the Great Patriotic War, about 20 women were able to become tank crews, but there were only 3 who graduated from the tank school. And only Evgenia Sergeevna Kostrikova, after graduating from the school, commanded a tank platoon, and at the end of the war, a tank company. As part of her native corps, Kostrikova took part in the battles to cross the Oder and Neisse, and by April 30, 1945 she reached the southeastern outskirts of the German capital. From Berlin, its tanks were advanced to Czechoslovakia on May 5 to liberate Prague. It was in Czechoslovakia that Guard Captain Evgenia Kostrikova completed her combat career. After the end of the war, the brave woman, who had gone through a glorious battle path on an equal basis with men, returned home, becoming an ordinary housewife. She lived for another 30 years in the field of victory, dying in 1975. Guard captain of tank forces Evgenia Sergeevna Kostrikova was buried in Moscow at the famous Vagankovskoye cemetery. Evgenia Kostrikova was a holder of two Orders of the Red Star, the Order of the Red Banner, the Order of the Patriotic War, I and II degrees, as well as the medals “For Courage” and “For the Defense of Stalingrad.” All awards were received by the brave woman during the Great Patriotic War.
During the Great Patriotic War, women not only sat behind the levers of tanks, but also occupied command positions in tank forces. One of the tank officers was Evgenia Kostrikova. Evgenia Sergeevna Kostrikova - Soviet officer, guard captain, participant in the Great Patriotic War. Evgenia Kostrikova was the daughter of the famous Soviet political and statesman Sergei Mironovich Kirov (real name Kostrikov).
During the war, she successively held the positions of military paramedic of the 79th separate tank regiment from the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps, then tank commander, tank platoon and company commander.
Ekaterina Kostrikova was born in 1921 in Vladikavkaz. She is the daughter of S. M. Kirov, who at that time served as a member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the 11th Army of the Red Army. This army went to Baku in the spring of 1920 to establish Soviet power there. It was here that Kostrikov met the woman who became his first wife. However, the marriage was short-lived; soon his beloved fell ill and died. In 1926, Sergei Kirov was elected first secretary of the Leningrad Gubernia Committee (regional committee), as well as the city party committee. In this post, he was constantly busy with party and government affairs. His second wife, Maria Lvovna Marcus (1885-1945), did not accept little Zhenya into the family; as a result, the girl was sent to an orphanage. Thus, after the murder of Sergei Kirov in 1934, little Evgenia was left completely alone. She graduated from a boarding school at one of the “special purpose” orphanages that were established by the USSR government for “children of war” from Spain. In 1938, she was able to enter the Moscow Higher Technical School. Bauman. Among the girl’s close friends were representatives of the party elite Timur Frunze, the Mikoyan brothers (who were studying to be pilots during these years), as well as the Spaniard Ruben Ibarruri, who studied at the Moscow Infantry School. Supreme Council of the RSFSR. In those years, Evgenia Kostrikova, like most of her peers, dreamed of military exploits. Unfortunately for many, fate gave her generation such a chance.
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, having an incomplete higher education behind her, Evgenia Kostrikova completed a three-month course for nurses and then volunteered to go to the front. The newly minted nurse was sent to a medical platoon of a separate tank battalion, which took part in the battles on the Western Front during the Battle of Moscow. It was near Moscow that the countdown of kilometers of front-line roads began for her.In October 1942, the tank battalion allocated part of its personnel, including all medical personnel, to staff the 79th separate tank regiment. Evgeniya Kostrikova, who was qualified as a nurse and had incomplete higher education, became a military paramedic of this regiment, which corresponded to the rank of lieutenant in army units. In December 1942, the 79th Tank Regiment as part of the Southern Front took part in the Battle of Stalingrad. A month later, this unit was renamed the 54th Guards Tank Regiment of the 5th Guards Zimnikovsky Mechanized Corps from the 2nd Guards Army. In the brutal battles for Stalingrad, when, according to the Soviet Marshal V.I. Chuikov, it seemed impossible to even raise a hand above the ground, military paramedic Evgenia Kostrikova managed to provide first aid to wounded soldiers right on the battlefield, and also carried them to a safe place under dense enemy fire, showing real courage. After the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, the 54th Guards Tank Regiment, as part of the Voronezh and Steppe fronts, took a direct part in the Battle of Kursk. Leonid Yuzefovich Girsh is a retired colonel, a participant in the famous tank battle that took place near Prokhorovka, and after the war, who became a writer and poet, then met Evgenia Kostrikova. The liaison officer of the 55th Guards Regiment, junior lieutenant Girsch, who was slightly wounded in battle, was provided with medical care by Kostrikova, who promptly sent him to the 46th medical battalion.
It is known for certain that as a military paramedic of the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps, E. S. Kostrikova was able to save the lives of 27 tankers, only during the fighting from July 12 to July 25, 1943. At the same time, Zhenya herself was wounded by a fragment of a German shell, which hit her right cheek. For her exploits, she was presented with the Order of the Red Star. After completing treatment in the hospital, in the fall of 1943 she returned to her native mechanized corps, but no longer as a military paramedic. After her wound and completion of treatment at the end of 1943, Guard Senior Lieutenant Evgenia Kostrikova was sent to the operational department of the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps. Information about this is contained in the memoirs “In the Fire of Tank Battles,” which were written by the former head of the operations department, General A. V. Ryazansky. However, Zhenya did not like the staff work. From the available front-line reports, she knew that enough women were already serving in the armored forces. Many of them managed to distinguish themselves in the battles on the Kursk Bulge, during the liberation of Orel from the Nazis, the fame of brave women tankers thundered on all fronts. Evgenia decided to become one of them, rather than remain at headquarters. With the direct support of the head of the operational department of the corps, then Colonel Ryazansky, Evgenia began to apply for her direction to undergo training at the Kazan Tank School. Why was Kazan chosen? The thing is that even before the war, Alexander Pavlovich Ryazansky, from 1937 to 1941, served in the Kazan armored training course for improving technical personnel. Initially as a commander of a tank battalion, and then as a teacher of tactics.
Initially, Evgenia Kostrikova was refused in every possible way, stating that a tank driver is not a woman’s profession. Someone told her that “armor doesn’t like the weak,” someone that “it’s hard for guys on a tank.” As a result, I even had to personally contact Marshal of the Soviet Union K.E. Voroshilov, whom Kostrikova was able to convince that she had already sat down at the controls of a formidable combat vehicle in her regiment more than once and would be able to master a tank no worse than any man. Veterans who graduated from the Kazan Tank School recalled that its chief, Major General of Tank Forces V.I. Zhivlyuk, was initially very surprised when a young woman arrived to study with him, albeit with the rank of senior lieutenant. Then he dropped the phrase: “Yes, it’s like a woman on a ship.” However, the attitude towards the girl gradually changed, especially when later the order of the commander of the armored and mechanized forces of the Red Army came to the school to award Evgenia Kostrikova with the medal “For the Defense of Stalingrad”. While studying in Kazan, Evgenia Kostrikova, along with other male cadets, mastered driving and shooting from a tank at the training ground, and also studied the tactical and technical characteristics of military equipment and weapons, studied the material part in the park, on simulators and in classrooms. Even after lights out, she continued to cram instructions and manuals on armored service. The seemingly fragile girl steadfastly endured all the hardships of training, especially heavy physical activity. Only in order to manage the levers of the tank well, real masculine strength was required. For example, squeezing one of the two side clutch levers required a force of 15 kg, and squeezing the main clutch pedal required 25 kg. Here Zhenya was helped by the hardening that she received as a nurse and military paramedic, when on the front line she had to carry dozens of wounded soldiers and commanders from the battlefield.
Evgenia Kostrikova graduated with honors from the accelerated courses at the Kazan Tank School and returned to her native 5th Guards Mechanized Corps, but as a commander of the T-34 tank. According to some information, she managed to take part in the battles for the liberation of the city of Kirovograd, which took place in January 1944. In total, during the years of the Great Patriotic War, about 20 women were able to become tank crews, but there were only 3 who graduated from the tank school. And only Evgenia Sergeevna Kostrikova, after graduating from the school, commanded a tank platoon, and at the end of the war, a tank company. As part of her native corps, Kostrikova took part in the battles to cross the Oder and Neisse, and by April 30, 1945 she reached the southeastern outskirts of the German capital. From Berlin, its tanks were advanced to Czechoslovakia on May 5 to liberate Prague. It was in Czechoslovakia that Guard Captain Evgenia Kostrikova completed her combat career. After the end of the war, the brave woman, who had gone through a glorious battle path on an equal basis with men, returned home, becoming an ordinary housewife. She lived for another 30 years in the field of victory, dying in 1975. Guard captain of tank forces Evgenia Sergeevna Kostrikova was buried in Moscow at the famous Vagankovskoye cemetery. Evgenia Kostrikova was a holder of two Orders of the Red Star, the Order of the Red Banner, the Order of the Patriotic War, I and II degrees, as well as the medals “For Courage” and “For the Defense of Stalingrad.” All awards were received by the brave woman during the Great Patriotic War.
