NOBODY AND NOTHING... “WE WILL STAND TO THE DEATH”

 Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

From the V Kontakte page of THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR

three hours ago · from Sergey Veter

NOBODY AND NOTHING......

“WE WILL STAND TO THE DEATH”

In memory of those who defended Moscow in all directions

The situation in the main strategic direction, to the west of Moscow, was expressed by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief in his radiogram,sent on October 8, 1941 to the surrounded troops, but essentially nowhere, as follows: “...There is no one and nothing to defend Moscow. I repeat: there is no one and nothing.”

The Red Army in this direction ceased to exist. She was - and she is not! Moscow was left without protection. It would seem that’s it! Catastrophe! Twice in Russian history of the 17th - 19th centuries, foreign hordes visited Moscow. But these, as they say, were flowers. Moscow was revived again and again, and its shrines were preserved. Now, according to Hitler's directive, Moscow and its population had to be wiped off the face of the earth - flooded. Fortunately (for the Germans, of course), German engineers participated in the creation of the Moscow “Big Volga” Hydraulic System in the 30s. They may have suggested this sacramental thought to the Fuhrer.

And now Moscow stands on the brink of destruction. It would have been enough for the 41st Motorized Corps from Reinhardt’s Third Tank Group, which was not busy blocking the Soviet troops surrounded in the “cauldron,” to move along the Volokolamsk Highway to Moscow, and it would have entered it. Even before the liquidation of the “cauldron”, this corps captured Sychevka on October 10th. From there, in principle, there were two ways: one - to Staritsa and then through Zubtsov to Kalinin. the other - to Pogoreloye Gorodishche, Shakhovskaya, Volokolamsk and Moscow.

Let's imagine this scenario for a moment. From Sychevka the Germans moved to Pogoreloe Gorodishche, then through Shakhovskaya they reached Volokolamsk. The unfinished Volokolamsk Fortified Region (UR) was at that time still, essentially, under the control of the Moscow Military District. On October 10, the order to create the 5th Army, intended to fill the Mozhaisk defense line, was still being prepared. General Rokossovsky had just, on October 9, been flown out from near Gzhatsk. His headquarters, that is, the headquarters left in the encirclement of the 16th Army, continued to emerge from the encirclement, and he only emerged from the encirclement on October 12th. For three days Rokossovsky was an army commander without a headquarters. On the 13th, after the headquarters of the 16th Army left the encirclement, Zhukov assigned the Volokolamsk UR to the 16th Army. And only on the 14th the formation of the new 16th Army began. In Volokolamsk, the 316th Infantry Division, arriving here from the Northwestern Front, was unloading from its trains. She fully arrived in Volokolamsk on October 12th. And she still had to urgently equip at least field fortifications in the unfinished fortified area. And there was no 16th Army here yet - it had to be created anew.

The German 41st Motorized Corps is a corps with tank and motorized divisions moving in front.

And he, quite possibly, could unexpectedly appear in Moscow in a day or two. The commander of the Moscow Military District, General Artemyev, sent an infantry school regiment, a battalion of the 108th reserve regiment, and two batteries of anti-aircraft guns to the Volokolamsk UR. He had nothing else. Could they have been a serious obstacle to the German motorized corps? In Moscow, German tanks could appear as unexpectedly as they appeared in Yukhnov and Vyazma. Further, the German corps could act according to circumstances. Could get a foothold on the highway. And two days later, having completed the liquidation of the “cauldron”, more reinforcements would arrive - tanks, first from the 6th, 7th tank divisions of the 3rd tank group, and then from the 2nd, 5th, 10th. 11th. divisions. Well, I don’t even want to imagine what’s next. But the disaster did not happen!

There was such a case in our history. In October 1812, Napoleonic hordes settled in Moscow. When there was no longer anything to plunder in the capital, they remembered the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Napoleon instructed his chief of staff, Marshal Berthier, to send a detachment there. There were no Russian troops at the Lavra. On October 1 (!) the detachment of Colonel Duke de Montemar moved towards the Lavra. Twice the French went to capture the monastery - and did not reach it. The first time we walked about 10 miles and got lost. We returned to Moscow. Napoleon was very unhappy. A week later we were on our way again. But such a thick fog fell that nothing could be seen two steps away. The further we walked, the thicker the fog became. The fog stayed all day and the next. This time Napoleon, only with sarcasm, spoke about the Russian climate. That was the end of the matter.

And now the German motorized corps did not go to Moscow, it went to Kalinin and there got stuck in battles with Vatutin’s operational group and with the 133rd Siberian Rifle Division of General Shevtsov. On October 7th the first snow fell and there were continuous rains and snow. For the attackers, bad weather became a serious obstacle, but it played into the hands of the defenders. It was no longer possible to bypass the pillboxes and bunkers covering the intersections. They had to be taken by attacking head-on. Therefore, the battle for Moscow became a battle not over the entire space, but, basically, for every crossroads on the way to it. The German tricks with detours have come to an end. Next was the Mednovsko-Maryinsky “cauldron” near Kalinin, and after 2 months Kalinin again became Soviet...

Then there was General Panfilov’s division and there were no tanks for the final assault on Moscow...

Werner von Haupt wrote in his memoirs: “Here the Germans encountered fanatical resistance from the new Siberian divisions, which did not want to take a single step back. The Russians were not afraid of tanks with crosses on the towers, they attacked them with close combat and cleared the road only with the dead. Here on the Volokolamsk Highway in the Borodino region - on the battlefield where Emperor Napoleon met his fate 130 years earlier, the 32nd Siberian and 316th Rifle Divisions of the Red Army fought to the death, until the last soldier. We have practically no tanks left for the final push on Moscow.”

On the buckles of German soldiers at all times it was written: GOTT MIT UNS - God is with us. What is noteworthy is the soldiers, not the officers. What was allowed to them by God (not the one to whom they prayed) - they received. But God didn’t allow them to go to Moscow!

German aviation activity decreased sharply due to bad weather. The maneuver capabilities of the ground forces were reduced to a minimum due to the muddy mess that the fields and roads had turned into. The confrontation between the troops went, as they say, head-on, at certain key points on paved roads. The attack on Moscow could now basically continue only in three directions: Volokolamsk, Minsk, Kaluga highways. The forward line of the Mozhaisk defense line blocked them at key points - Volokolamsk, Mozhaisk, Maloyaroslavets. Then, after the capture of Maloyaroslavets, another direction was opened for the offensive - through Narofominsk. Freed from blocking the “cauldron,” the German troops could no longer advance as quickly as before. Now, from the point of view of strategy, everything was decided by time and reserves. And Germany had practically no reserves.

Back on October 5, when the Headquarters finally realized that it was near Moscow that things were taking on threatening proportions, it gave the order to transfer troops to Moscow from the Far Eastern Front and the Transcaucasian Military District.

Paul Karel in his book “Eastern Front” cites the following characteristic episode for the actions of German troops near Moscow in new conditions: “... the commander of the 1st division of the 229th artillery regiment was seriously concerned about the pace of advance of his unit. division, was driven beyond belief, and the horses had difficulty dragging the guns through this endless mess of mud... the captain ordered his men to turn off... in order to get onto the highway... The artillerymen reached the highway... (but) in the section from Gzhatsk to Mozhaisk they were stuck from 2000 to 3000 units of various equipment. Seeing such a sad picture, the artillerymen of the 197th Infantry Division with all haste tried to return back - straight into the mud. The speed of their advance, equal to 45 kilometers per day in the summer, now often dropped to one and a half kilometers and never exceeded five kilometers per day.When night fell, exhausted from battles, exhausted from marches, covered with dirt and lice, hungry and deathly tired, they huddled around the stoves in miserable peasant huts in small villages. On the street, the horses ate the withered frozen straw from the roofs. Inside, the soldiers were drying their uniforms, and if one of them asked: “Does anyone know where we are?”, he received a soldier’s direct and rude answer: “In the very ass of Mother Europe!..”; In the morning they again walked east, day after day, forward, all the time forward behind the motorized divisions to Moscow..."

In the meantime, we will stand here to the death.....

Weekly Summary of Combat Operations for July 28th, 2023

 From: Chernarus Coastal Operations Group

Subject: Weekly Summary of Combat Operations, from July 21st 2023, to July 27th 2023  Inclusive.

Message begins:

The tempo of combat operations continued at a reduced pace.

Chernarus Defense, Naval and air forces have engaged in four operations in three regions.

1) OP2307-21-1 Parts of 1st Bn, Chernarus 17th Separate Mechanized Cavalry Regiment launched a major mobile offensive combat operation entailing three locations in Leskovets, Prevalna, Gorna Luka and Stakesvit.

Prevalna was a late evening ground assault from the south. Commander encountered Russian naval infantry special forces and other militia. Command located the two civilian criminal command operatives and eliminated them.

Commander also was tasked with locating an execution site, sited north of town where a number of unarmed civilians had been gunned down,  and the bus they were rising in immolated.

As evening fell, the task force began it attack on Gorna Luka from the southeast, again encountering Russian naval infantry special forces and Wagner operators.  The firefight was so heavy, commander was forced back.

In the second attack, again commander encountered more enemy militia and Wagner operators. Commands squad walked into a 180 degree crossfire, and was very nearly wiped out.

A third attack probe was begun this time with reinforcements. The attack was pure payback as command squad cleared Gorna Kula despite already being ordered to the next objective at Stakesvit.

In Stakesvit, as command squad was maneuvering from the southeast, commander was forced to attack direct north as enemy patrols around the town exchanged gunfire.  Commander probed his squad into the village.

Air Support 2 had  spent several attack runs softening up the enemy defensive zone, so the attack went very quickly. The town was secured. Rather than wait for the inevitable enemy counterattack commander returned to base.

Infantry casualties were nearly catastrophic with command squad being wiped out. Losses included one T-55 tank and both gunships.

Field counts of enemy losses included six technicals and one BTR-80A.

2) OP2307-21-3A Task force from 1st Bn, Chernarus 13th Separate Mountain Motorized Rifle Brigade was ordered to attack and clear the village of Gross Steinum in Werferlingen.

Separatist forces had setup a base in town, and had deployed a number of supply trucks, including ammunition.  One of the tasks assigned to the task force commander was the elimination of two civilian criminal command operatives.

The tactical plan was for 2nd squad and 3rd squad to attack from the east, along with Scout 1 and Tank 2, as command squad attacked from the southeast.

An enemy T-34 tank caught Scout 1, destroying it before it was destroyed in turn by Tank 2.

The task force quickly penetrated the separatists' defensive zone. The town fell quickly. Commander found the dead body of a female civilian criminal operative, and stripped her of intelligence materials.

After destroying the supply trucks, and under some pressure by incoming enemy reinforcements, the task force retreated back east.

Casualties were mild with Scout 1 being destroyed.  Field counts of enemy losses included one T-34 tank and one technical.

3) OP2307-21-3B 13th Brigade operations staff issued a warning order to 1st Bn task force that separatist mobile forces were planning to move south through Ahmtorf, to forstall a friendly shifting of forces further to the west.

In town, the task force was attacked by several enemy rifle units, which attempted to penetrate the task froce's defensive perimeter. Those attacks were defeated using small arms fire and artillery.

More enemy infantry from the north attacked 2nd and 3rd squads destroying their BTRs, forcing them to retreat south to Rennau.

Command squad held a crossroads in town long enough for the two rifle squads to make their escape. Ultimately the mission was successful.

Losses were moderate with 2nd and 3rd squad losing two each, and their BTRs.

Field counts of enemy losses included one T-34, one BTR-80A and one BRDM.

4) OP2307-21-6 A task group composed of elements of 1st Bn, Chernarus 4th Separate Light Mountain Rifle Brigade marched on Msta in Chernarus with orders to prevent an enemy takeover of the town.

While on the way to Msta, commander received word that 1st Army Corps target acquisition battery apparently had located and defeated enemy artillery.

Most of the task force's infantry element deployed in town, save for 4th squad, which deployed on the southwestern edge of town. Attacks began from the north by Spanish speaking militia.

Infantry attacks from unidentified infantry, as well as from Russian militia continued from the northeast and from the north. At one point command squad was forced to march south of town to engage and defeat enemy forces.A

Air Support 1 gunship took a strong hand in the fighting engaging enemy infantry and vehicles. Its actions help stabilized the situation at Msta, but ultimately it was shot down. 

Losses were high with 2nd squad losing three, 3rd squad losing six and 4th squad losing three. Reinforcing squad 2 lost seven, while Reinforcing squad 1lost two.

Field counts of enemy losses included four technicals, one BRDM and one MRAP.

Weekly Summary of Combat Operations for July 21st, 2023

From: Chernarus Coastal Operations Group

Subject: Weekly Summary of Combat Operations, from July 14th 2023, to July 20th 2023  Inclusive.

Message begins:

The tempo of combat operations continued at a reduced pace.

Chernarus Defense, Naval and air forces have engaged in four operations in three regions.

1) OP2307-14-1st Bn, Chernarus 19th Separate Mechanized Cavalry Regiment launched a multivector combat operation in Chernarus against enemy separatist affiliated forces.

In Nadezhdino, the task force fought off several attacks from Russian militia, Wagner and Russian special forces operators, as they tried to close in from the north, northeast and northwest.

In Mogilievka, the task force began its attack on enemy forces holding the town, finding and eliminating the two criminal command operatives who were conducting the operations for the separatists.

After the town was cleared of enemy forces, friendly forces took up positions on the northern edge of town, fighting off repeated counterattacks, including from Wagner operators.

In Pusta, command squad launched its attack from the northwest, moving to the center of the enemy's defensive zone. The task force commander was killed in the attack.

The task force, after clearing the town, held off numerous enemy attacks until the commander called for a retreat, via the coastal highway.

Losses were light. Command squad lost three including the task force commander. One BRDM was destroyed. A downed SU-25 pilot was recovered by a gunship.

Field counts of enemy losses included three technicals,  three BMPs, and one MI-8 gunship.

2) OP2307-14-3A A task force from 3rd Bn, Chernarus 13th Separate Mountain Motorized Rifle Brigade was ordered to attack and clear the town of Wallbeck in Werferlingen.

The tactical plan for the attack was for Scout 1, Tank 2 and 3rd Squad to advance north taking the main highway, holding off enemy counterattacks, as Command squad and 2nd squad crossed the bridge into Wallbeck.

Commander quickly found the location of the two criminal operatives, eliminating the female element and seizing intel material from her dead body. The commander was killed.

As an enemy technical kept the town under observation, command squad advanced to the northwest, finding and seizing a number of stolen documents left by local friendly agents.

After seizing the documents, commander began to retreat from town due south because the route across the river was under heavy enemy fire.

Losses were high with Tank 2 being destroyed. Command squad lost three, 2nd squad lost three and 3rd squad lost four.

Field counts of enemy losses included one T-55 tank and one enemy MRAP.

3) OP2307-14-3B 13th Mountain Motorized Rifle Brigade recon staff determined that separatist mobile forces were attempting a feint well to the west as a real advance was taking place a Eisenrode in Werferlingen.

A task force from 3rd Bn, was charged with intercepting the enemy attack. The tactical setup was  for the heavy armor to deploy to the west, while infantry, supported by Scout 1 held the east.

Command squad held a position in the center of Eisenrode, as enemy rifle attacks took place just cross the river. Unfortunately, counterbattery fire destroyed our artillery before it could be brought into action.

The enemy attempted several heavy armor atacks, only to be stopped by task force heavy armor. Much of the infantry attacks hit the eastern deployment, which fought them off.

Losses were zero.

Field counts of enemy losses included two T-34s, one T-55, one BTR-80A, and one BRDM scout car.

4) OP2307-14-6 west Chernarus Parts of 2nd Bn, Chernarus 4th Separate Light Mountain Rifle Brigade were ordered to attack and clear the separatist held town of Pushtoshka in Chernarus.

Because of the terrain and the necessity of avoiding enemy general support artillery fire, all four rifle squads composing the task force  maneuvered and attacked from the southwest.

Task force commander ordered artillery attacks on supply trucks, which the enemy parked northwest of the city, and against an enemy technical, destroying the vehicles as the task force closed and cleared the town.

Commander located and eliminated a female minder, part of the enemy criminal command group, stripping her of critical documents and a cell phone.  Brigade command cancelled the operation and ordered a new attack.

The new objective was an open area about one kilometer north of Vybor, about two kilometers north of Pushtoshka. There, a number of enemy forces had deployed. Brigade operations staff wanted that group reduced in size.

After several artillery attacks, the infantry element of the task force moved into the area. Command squad launched an assault on the position of an enemy Humvee, eventually destroying it with RPG fire.

Casualties were heavy. Command squad lost two, while 2nd squad was wiped out. A reinforcing squad was wiped out as well, along with its BMP carrier. A second BMP experienced mechanical problems, and would not move.

3rd squad lost five while 4th squad lost six.  Field counts of enemy losses included two Humvees and two technicals. 

Weekly Summary of Combat Operations for July 24th

 From: Chernarus Coastal Operations Group

Subject: Weekly Summary of Combat Operations, from June 30rd 2023, to July 6th 2023  Inclusive.

Message begins:

The tempo of combat operations continued at a reduced pace.

Chernarus Defense, Naval and air forces have engaged in four operations in five regions.

1) OP2306-30-1 st Bn, Chernarus 17th Separate Mechanized Cavalry Regiment launched a wide area combat operation in Leskovets, with orders to intercept enemy forces in three separate locales.

In Salash, the task force deployed along a straight line and fought off infantry attacks from Russian militia, Russian specops and Wagner operators. Enemy vehicle attacks were destroyed as well, including a gunship.

In Granichak, Scout 2 encountered enemy covering forces. Russian militia attacked from the east, while Wagner operators attacked from the north. Spanish speaking troops also attacked along with another a Wagner operated gunship.

In Krachimir,  the task force held off attacks from the north and northwest, consisting of  Russian militia and unknown troops. An enemy BTR-80A was destroyed as it attempted to position itself for an attack.

Losses were moderate with command squad losing four including the commander, one Scout Car and one MI-24 gunship. The other gunship recovered a downed SU-25 pilot.

Field counts of enemy losses included seven BRDMs, three BTR-80As, three MI-8 gunships, two technicals and one T-34 tank.

2) OP2306-30-3  A task force composed of elements of 1st Bn, Chernarus 13th Separate Mountain Motorized Rifle Brigade marched on Barmke with orders t0 defend the town against an enemy attack.

In the initial going enemy counterbattery units destroyed the artillery battery assigned 1st Bn.  The task force deployed at the  northern edge of the town to await the enemy attack.

Unknown enemy rifles attacked from the northwest and the  northeast, followed by an enemy scout car. All attacks were driven back. 

Two more rifle attacks took place this time identified as Spanish speaking militia and Wagner operators, followed by an incursion by an enemy BTR-80A.

More attacks took place from the north including from T-55s and T-72s, which were stopped before driving much deeper into the defensive cordon.

Losses were very light with command squad losing one.

Field counts of enemy losses included  three T-55s, two T-34s, two T-72s, and BRDM and one BTR-80A.

3) OP2306-30-6B Part of 2nd Bn, Chernarus 4th Separate Light Mountain Rifle Brigade was called upon to attack and clear the hamlet of Sosnovka in Chernarus.

Commander split his task force into three parts with the eastern group consisting of 3rd squad and 4th squad attacking to the west, while the western group, composed of command squad and 2nd squad attacked from the west.

The scout cars were positioned on the road south, and initially fought a firefight against enemy patrols.  

Counterbattery units from Chernarus 1st Army Corps engaged and reduced the effectiveness of enemy defensive artillery fire, as the four rifle squads attacked and converged on the town.

The penetration into the enemy's defensive zone went very quickly. Commander located and eliminated an enemy civilian command operative, stripping her of documents and a cellphone on her person.

One other task, the elimination of Russian speaking civilian contractors, which enemy civilian commanders sometimes use for their dirty work, was completed just before the orders to retreat were issued.

Losses were moderate with each squad losing one, except for 4th squad which lost seven.

Field counts of enemy losses included one SUV, and two technicals.

4) OP2306-30-6C A second attack and clear operation was ordered for a task force from 2nd Bn, Chernarus 4th Separate Light Mountain Rifle Brigade for the location of Pushtoshka in Chernarus.

Separatist civilian commanders brought a mortar battery with them, which made this operation particularly urgent. 

The tactical plan was for all four rifle squads to advance from the southwest, to avoid advancing across the open fields in the east. The plan also included the two BRDM scout cars to move and cover the eastern side of town.

On the attack, command squad began to attack the mortar position with artillery as they advance in parallel with 3rd and 4th squad.  In trying to clear a shooter defending a residence on the west side. The commander killed.

3rd squad became overall tactical commander and continued to advance into the defensive cordon.  Command located and destroyed the two civilian criminal command operatives, seizing critical intelligence materials.

The order to retreat came shortly after. Commander, in trying to destroy a disabled enemy technical was killed in the resulting explosion. Command then fell to 4th squad.

2nd squad command entered town trying to find a seize the intelligence material.  Unable to find the body of the killed commander, commander detained a female civilian present, and transported her back to base.

Losses were near catastrophic. 4th squad was wiped out, as was command squad. 3rd squad lost two, while 2nd squad lost four

Field counts of enemy losses included four technicals.

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Nikolay Vatutin. Front Grandmaster

From topwar.ru

Kiev City Council voted to rename General Vatutin Avenue. From now on, it will be Roman Shukhevych Avenue. Instead of the commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front, who liberated Kyiv from the Nazis, today's Kyiv salutes the commander of the so-called insurgent army.

In 1945, one could hardly imagine that the time would come when the people of Kiev would want to revise the results of the Great Patriotic War, turn the history of the 20th century on its head, and the winners would become “persona non grata” for them, and war criminals would become heroes. Not everyone in Ukraine agrees with the ideology of "crooked mirrors". However, today the ball is ruled by those for whom Nikolai Fedorovich Vatutin is not a hero, the Red Army is not a liberator, and our common Soviet past is only an object of hatred ...

How did Vatutin differ from other generals of the Red Army of his generation? According to the roots, according to the initial biography, everything is standard. He is from the middle peasants, from the rural majority. The future front commander was born into a large peasant family in the village of Chepukhino (now Vatutino!) in the Belgorod Region. The main battles of the Civil War did without him. Vatutin was drafted into the Red Army in the spring of 1920, at the age of eighteen. He served in Lugansk and Kharkov, participated in the hostilities against the Makhnovists. He joined the party, continued his education at the Poltava Infantry School. He liked the army way of life, he decided to become a professional military man, a commander, and by 1937 he graduated, as expected, from two academies. He distinguished himself in 1939, when an operation was being developed to occupy Western Ukraine. That operation and modern Ukraine owes its western borders.

In February 1941, General Vatutin was appointed First Deputy Chief of the General Staff Georgy Zhukov. Further - as in the song:

Where are these guys beardless,

With whom in the forty-first year

Somewhere under Staraya Russa

We froze on ice.

With whom in the heat and in the cold

We walked stubbornly forward.

Our military youth is

the North-Western Front.

He became chief of staff of the Northwestern Front, which held back the advance of the Nazis in Pskov and Novgorod. These were the months of the most bitter lessons of the war. Vatutin developed a reputation as a competent and hard-working staff general. But in July 1942, he was unexpectedly appointed commander of the Voronezh, and then - the South-Western Front - and he did not disappoint. The Southwestern Front played an important role in the Stalingrad operation. A commander capable of commanding a front was seen in Vatutin by Alexander Vasilevsky.

Vatutin's talent as a commander was especially evident in the development of the Kursk strategic defensive operation. He developed a multi-level plan for deliberate defense - to bleed the enemy on pre-prepared defensive lines and at the same time prepare the conditions for a subsequent counteroffensive on Kharkov. This large-scale and risky task was successfully solved. As a result, the exhausted enemy could not withstand the counterattack of the Soviet armies. Since that time, the strategic initiative in the war has finally passed into the hands of the Red Army. And Vatutin is undoubtedly involved in this glorious turning point.

It so happened that the troops under the command of Vatutin on different fronts defeated the German armies several times, led by Field Marshal Erich Manstein. In a tense confrontation, Army Group South was unable to hold back the advance of the 1st Ukrainian Front of the Red Army. 

In the early morning of November 6, 1943, General Vatutin entered liberated Kyiv. The city lay in ruins, but Vatutin had no doubt: “We will rebuild!”. In Kyiv, the enemy was no longer in charge. But after that autumn, Vatutin's troops had to suffer defeats and retreat. Although the three offensive operations of Zhytomyr-Berdychiv, Rivne-Lutsk and the brilliant Korsun-Shevchenkovskaya (then Manstein managed to arrange Cannes!) created Vatutin's reputation as a "general from victory." His role in the liberation of Soviet Ukraine can hardly be overestimated.

And he was mortally wounded on “Kasyanov Day”, February 29, 1944, a leap year ... Smershevites overlooked the crazy attack of the sabotage hundred of the UPA. At the entrance to the village of Milyatin, Ostrozhsky district, Rivne region, the general’s car was fired at, Vatutin was seriously wounded in the leg. For the enemies, it was an unexpected stroke of luck, a happy coincidence. This happens in war.

The best surgeons led by the famous Nikolai Burdenko fought for Vatutin's life. He kept repeating: “I’ll be bored in a hospital bed for three weeks, and then I’ll come to the front. On crutches, but I'll get there! Penicillin did not help (contrary to the recollections of Nikita Khrushchev, it was still used), and amputation of the leg did not help either.

On April 15, 1944, Army General Vatutin died in a Kiev hospital. He was buried in the Ukrainian capital, in the Mariinsky park. Both Kyiv and Moscow paid their last respects to the commander with 24 artillery volleys. Already in January 1948, a majestic monument by the sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich stood over the general's grave. There is an inscription in Ukrainian on the pedestal. 

The people loved and revered Vatutin, because he honestly shared the fate of a soldier with millions of fallen soldiers. In addition, two of his brothers, Athanasius and Fedor, died at the front. Such an ordinary, heroic and woeful fate of a peasant family. But all of them not only died, but died for the Victory.

Even in his youth, he earned the respectful nickname of Psychologist. And after the capture of Kyiv, both enemies and comrades-in-arms called him the Grandmaster. Thoughtful, prone to analytical work, the general cannot be called otherwise. This inquisitive nugget became a real army thinker. Khrushchev in his memoirs recalled such a feature of Vatutin: “Almost a non-drinker!”. And also - not giving himself concessions, not knowing fatigue and mood swings.

Vasilevsky recalled his student as follows: “General Vatutin deservedly earned himself general recognition and popular love. His name - the name of an outstanding master of driving troops, an ardent patriot of the Fatherland, a communist, a favorite of soldiers - is forever associated with our victories at Stalingrad and Kursk, during the crossing of the Dnieper and the liberation of Kiev, in Right-Bank Ukraine.

Vatutin's legacy is the property of military academies and history textbooks. And the preservation of the memory of the hero is a matter of honor for posterity.

Author:

Arseny ZAMOSTYANOV

Stanislav Tarasov about Heydar Aliyev and royal power and intelligence in Transcaucasia

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

Interview of the historian, editor-in-chief of IA REGNUM Stanislav Tarasov

Modest Kolerov: Dear Stanislav Nikolaevich! I know that you were born in Soviet Azerbaijan, in Kirovabad, the former city of Ganja, now Ganja again, in 1953. I also remember that your grandfather was a royal official. And he was saved from absolutely real repressions in Soviet Azerbaijan with the help of his old acquaintance, the famous Stalinist Prosecutor General Vyshinsky - such an interesting detail. And this tsarist official, an officer, was a Pole. Vyshinsky was also a Pole. In 1975 you graduated from the Faculty of History of the Azerbaijan State University. You graduated from the eastern department of the Faculty of History, studied, in particular, with the future President of Azerbaijan, Elchibey...

Stanislav Tarasov: Yes, we found a certain time, the first time before his arrest he gave a course of lectures.

Modest Kolerov: In 1975, you graduated from the university and entered full-time graduate school at my native history department of Moscow State University, where I studied later. It is clear that you were politely sent to Moscow so that you would not create competition there, in Baku. Did you defend your Ph.D. thesis on the participation of the Bolsheviks in party building in Azerbaijan?

Stanislav Tarasov: It was called, I can name the topic now - the fight against the nationalist counter-revolution in the Transcaucasus and the Middle East in 1918-1921 . And we studied the formation of nationalist parties, movements, and so on, how Musavat, Ittihad, Dashnaktsutyun were formed, what kind of relations they had with the Georgian Mensheviks and all the ins and outs. And what we found in the course of these studies is that we just, frankly, fell into absolute depression, because a completely different picture emerged.

Modest Kolerov: What?

Stanislav Tarasov: I studied for five years at the national university. Unlike other universities, it was a specialized university that singled out national history and gave it paramount importance. Near and Middle East, Ottoman Empire and so on. And after the university we had a clear conviction, an idea of ​​the historical development, the history of this region.

Modest Kolerov: What are the main conclusions from this dissertation?

Stanislav Tarasov: Firstly, the main conclusion was that the tsarist administration of the period of Vorontsov-Dashkov, the governor, after the bloody events of 1905, which were in Transcaucasia, when the Dashnaks practically took control of all Transcaucasia, base centers, even Baku, a decision was made on the special status of the governorship with the prospect of entering the Griboyedov project. Griboyedov's project - at one time, when Griboedov was a diplomat, even before Persia, was to create a Transcaucasian Russian company according to the version of the Russian-American company with the granting of an autonomous status of a protectorate type within Russia.

Modest Kolerov: And what limits was the empire ready to attach to the Russian Transcaucasus to create this protectorate?

Stanislav Tarasov: This is where the Vorontsov-Dashkov project took shape. The Vorontsov-Dashkov project included the following: The Transcaucasian Democratic Republic is the first project, the United States of Transcaucasia. And, by the way, tsarist military intelligence was connected here. The position was very simple: we did not digest the Caucasus, preparations were underway for the First World War, we will not hold the Caucasus, we have no resources, the Caucasus must be given a special status, it is desirable that it be loyal and be under protectorate control. Hence the question arose: what to do with the titular nations? Armenians, Georgians, Transcaucasian Tatars, as the Azerbaijanis were then called. Of all three ethnic groups, the Armenians turned out to be the most politically advanced, the Dashnaktsutyun party was the first political party established in Russia in 1890. It was, by the way, a party of a foreign type. It was not fixed as a Russian party. The only party that had a program of its state building, independence and so on. But the center of state building for her was Western Armenia.

Modest Kolerov: Western Armenia, then part of the Ottoman Empire.

Stanislav Tarasov: Quite right. Hence, by the way, all this struggle, the lawsuit that went on with the Armenians. It is known that, for example, the property of the Armenian Church was arrested. Why? Because it was a special policy, the Young Turks, with whom we also actively worked. Why? Because an interesting thing happened, there was a development, as the future was seen: the Transcaucasian United States or three state formations. For the first time, the political term "Azerbaijan" was used by the tsarist military intelligence in 1911. Subsequently, this term was used as the state name of the Musavat party. The Musavat party is a product of the tsarist military intelligence, it was supposed to build statehood. And for the Dashnaktsutyun party, the center of Armenianism is Western Armenia, the territory of Ottoman Turkey. Now the question arose what about the Georgians? 

Because the Georgians had nationalist parties of the federalist type, then Menshevik deviations, and so on. The Mensheviks did not position themselves autonomously as separatists, they were part of the Russian social democracy, and then their leaders, as you know, headed the Petrograd Soviet. They did not push themselves away from Russia. Nicholas II granted Vorontsov-Dashkov the status of his plenipotentiary governor, the status of almost the supreme ruler. Its own intelligence, its own counterintelligence, its own army, its own bureaucracy. It got to the point that in Transcaucasia Vorontsov-Dashkov received the right to confer general ranks. By the way, Armenian militants received general ranks in Transcaucasia. They did not go through the register of imperial general ranks - general ranks in Russia were assigned by the emperor, and these did not pass through the Russian register. They were not Russian generals. But they wore, got uniforms and so forth.

Modest Kolerov: Were they Russian Transcaucasian generals?

Stanislav Tarasov: Russian Transcaucasian generals. This is a special status. There was a special policy, hence special relations with Persia, special relations with Turkey.

Modest Kolerov: So they wanted to annex part of the Ottoman Empire to Russia or not?

Stanislav Tarasov: The Dashnaks were the main opponent and at the same time the main partner of the tsarist administration. The Dashnaktsutyun party had two bureaus, Eastern and Western. The eastern one was in Tiflis, the western one was in Geneva and partly in Paris. Their task was as follows: these were to use the resources of the Russian Empire, and those were to use the resources of the West. 

Tactically behave differently, and the strategy is a great Armenia. The task was as follows - to drag the Eastern Bureau to the Russian side, and the Western Bureau had to work differently. By the way, this marked the tragedy of the Armenians, because, nevertheless, the Eastern Bureau decided that it was independent, made contacts with the Young Turks, with Enver Pasha, Nazim Pasha, they financed the Dashnak party. And the Dashnaks contributed to the introduction of the Russian version of Pan-Turkism. Hence another conclusion:

Modest Kolerov: Modeled after Austria-Hungary...

Stanislav Tarasov: A multinational empire where the Turks are numerically in the majority, but there are enclaves: strong Armenian, Greek, Jewish enclaves, and so on. The Turks are in second place, there is no dominant Turkish ideology, the Turkish language is not the state language, in the Ottoman Empire the leadership is French-speaking, Francophile. How to destroy this empire? 

You need to take the leading ethnic group and say: build a nation state. This means that other ethnic groups begin to vibrate. This doctrine is subtle, elegant, and was practiced in two centers: in St. Petersburg, at the university, by officers of the General Staff with oriental scholars, and in Kazan. And this ideology was introduced into Turkey. Gasprinsky, Akchura - these are all its products. They worked out the so-called Russian Slavic unity in order to to weaken the Ottoman Empire and to create pseudo-state formations on the fragments of the Ottoman Empire. And all publications of the Pan-Turkic type in the Ottoman Empire, from 1908 to 1914, were financed by the tsarist government. St. Petersburg scientists published a monograph "Young Turks in the Service of the Reaction", or something like that, where they first cited the documents that I used.

Modest Kolerov: Was your dissertation finally closed?

Stanislav Tarasov: Yes.

Modest Kolerov: And it remains closed, and, accordingly, those archival materials that you used have not actually been put into wide circulation?

Stanislav Tarasov: Not included.

Modest Kolerov: And what are these archives? Military-historical archive?

Stanislav Tarasov: No, the military-historical archive is legal. I referred to it.

Modest Kolerov: What about illegal ones?

Stanislav Tarasov: There was a special fund of Vorontsov-Dashkov in the military-historical archive, it still exists, and there is only a special permit.

Modest Kolerov: Good. And what remains classified from your sources? Archive names?

Stanislav Tarasov: There are no names. They are designated by abbreviations: P2832 ...

Modest Kolerov: These are funds. And in what archive?

Stanislav Tarasov: Funds, yes. Mostly in Podolsk.

Modest Kolerov: Is this the archive of the Ministry of Defense?

Stanislav Tarasov: Yes, mostly there.

Modest Kolerov: Are these agent funds?

Stanislav Tarasov: Yes, these are closed-end funds. When I used the documents, I say to Professor Stishov: “Mikhail Ivanovich, well, where can I use this?”

Modest Kolerov: Did he supervise your work in graduate school?

Stanislav Tarasov: Yes, Stishov Mikhail Ivanovich. And he says: Tarasov, look, if you decide to go to the West and refer to these documents, you will be declared crazy, because these funds do not exist.

Modest Kolerov: Are there any other important conclusions from your dissertation, which remained closed? Did the Bolsheviks, following in the footsteps of Vorontsov-Dashkov, also accept these developments of Russian military intelligence?

Stanislav Tarasov: The question of the Sovietization of the Transcaucasus is also unwritten facts. Lenin recognized and demanded the Sovietization of Azerbaijan, but with the provision of attributes of an independent state. Because oil was needed and resources. As for Georgia and Armenia, Lenin was against Sovietization, and he believed that the Georgian Mensheviks should be generally left alone as one of the experimental reserves of Menshevik-type social democracy and through them, since the Second International, as is known, condemned the Bolsheviks, go to the International and achieve, for the International to unblock Soviet Russia. He gave Georgia to the West. 

As for Armenia, Dashnak Armenia, the Dashnaks came to power, they maintained relations with Denikin, naturally, they entered into problems, entered into conflict. They were guided by the West, it was a purely pro-Western party. And Lenin believed that they should leave. And when the draft of the Sevres Treaty of 1920 arose, in general, Lenin was not against it. But what happens at the top of the Central Committee? Stalin, corresponding with Ordzhonikidze, declares: “Sergo, if we are left without territory (Transcaucasia), Lev Davidovich will throw us out, as the party does not need us as theoreticians. 

But Lev Davidovich has no territory - he has an apparatus, a historical role - and we have a territory. Lev Davidovich was informed about this ... He had good intelligence, tsarist military intelligence, he used it very much. But Lev Davidovich has no territory - he has an apparatus, a historical role - and we have a territory. Lev Davidovich was informed about this ... He had good intelligence, tsarist military intelligence, he used it very much. But Lev Davidovich has no territory - he has an apparatus, a historical role - and we have a territory. Lev Davidovich was informed about this ... He had good intelligence, tsarist military intelligence, he used it very much.

Modest Kolerov: So, in the fight against Trotsky, Stalin decided to keep the Transcaucasus as his territory for the future struggle.

Stanislav Tarasov: Yes, they carried out the sovietization of Transcaucasia. And moreover, they took advantage - this moment is still mysterious - an alliance with Atatürk, a project to create a socialist Turan ...

Modest Kolerov: Yes, this is the Trotskyist Red East.

Stanislav Tarasov: But the fact is that the Turan project was worked out by the tsarist military intelligence. Moreover, the task was to work out the project of pan-Turkism in their own interests. I already have this document, where the Russian resident writes: "The 20 million Turks living in the Russian Empire are the material with which we can conquer the East." That is, turn pan-Turkism towards Russia.

Modest Kolerov: Has it been published, this document?Stanislav Tarasov: It has not been published.

Modest Kolerov: So, maybe we will publish it?

Stanislav Tarasov: Yes, I have it, issued, link. The idea was that Russia, as a Turkic state with 20 million Turks, could become the leader of the Turkic world. And by the way, this project was supported by Vorontsov-Dashkov. Pay attention, after Sovietization: Soviet Socialist Republic of Armenia - Armenians live, official status; Georgia, Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic - Georgians live. But until 1932, in the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, the ethnos was the Turks. Why did Stalin refuse the ethnonym "Azerbaijanis" up to this point? Why was the common Turkic grammar practiced? Why was a common Turkic history written? Because we hatched a project until 1932 on the creation of a single Turkic state. And what type of Turkic state? Ottoman Empire, Turks, Azerbaijan joins, leader, and on the southern underbelly - these are Iranian Azerbaijanis. Here, please, the Vorontsov-Dashkov project ...

Modest Kolerov: Well, the Bolshevik project of creating a red Turan.

Stanislav Tarasov: There was a question, if you think logically, how did Stalin behave further? 1920s–1930s: Red Kurdistan project on the territory of Karabakh. After World War II: The Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan. See what experiments are being carried out on the territory of Iran. Then in 1946, territorial claims against Turkey, then a furious controversy broke out between the Central Committees of the Communist Parties of Armenia and Georgia, a commission of academician Javakhishvili was created, which specially traveled to the territory of Eastern Anatolia, where they described the remains of Christian monuments ...

Modest Kolerov: But they left in 1917.

Stanislav Tarasov: There were several expeditions.

Modest Kolerov: The first Georgian expedition to Turkey was back in 1916, under our occupation, and then in 1917.

Stanislav Tarasov: Yes, they did. The Georgians wrote that it was a Georgian monument, the Armenians otherwise. The question is this: this region was in an uncertain geopolitical state. The borders along the Araks, up to the collapse of the Soviet Union, were never considered stable from the point of view of military logic. Never.

Modest Kolerov: Yes, when you underwent military training at the military department at the Azerbaijan State University, did you study this issue with your teachers?

Stanislav Tarasov: They simply trained translators, political workers, propaganda workers from us, we even had impromptu classes when some colonel, the future commandant of Istanbul, spoke. Everyone told us how to conduct it, what kind of agitation, how to conduct interrogations - an ordinary military department, there was nothing special here.

Modest Kolerov: About the dissertation. So, the Bolshevik factor in the formation of national political parties in Transcaucasia. Can we say that the Bolsheviks were, if not the main customers, then the main beneficiaries of this party building or not?

Stanislav Tarasov: Yes, they actually became them. But here the question was: howthey became? They began to repeat, step on the same rake as the tsarist administration. Sovietization took place, formally, legally, but only Russification did not take place. And without the Russification of the region, there were no carriers of this so-called revolutionary ideology, because the national intelligentsia or the national element that joined the Communist Party, to the last, before the collapse of the Soviet Union, they used Soviet power in their own interests. They never considered that they would live forever in the Soviet Union. I, a former student of Azerbaijan University, who attended a course of outstanding professors, heard how we were openly told in the 1970s about the impending collapse of the USSR. 

We argued with the Armenians about the history of Caucasian Albania, we were taken out on buses to see these monuments, we traveled from Karabakh to all of Transcaucasia, all the ruins. We knew that the upcoming struggle between Azerbaijan and Armenia was an ideological struggle. At the level of Soviet historiography, separate monographs were published in Azerbaijan and Armenia, where the controversy was on individual monuments. We understood that the problem between Azerbaijan and Armenia would end in a war. The professor told us: we will even sacrifice Karabakh if ​​we get the opportunity to unite with Iran, Iranian Azerbaijanis, and Turkey. And then, he said, we will strangle the Armenians. if we get the opportunity to unite with Iran, Iranian Azerbaijanis, Turkey. And then, he said, we will strangle the Armenians. if we get the opportunity to unite with Iran, Iranian Azerbaijanis, Turkey. And then, he said, we will strangle the Armenians.

Modest Kolerov: I remember from your stories how Heydar Aliyev, whom you knew personally, told you before or after the collapse of the USSR…

Stanislav Tarasov: Before the collapse.

Modest Kolerov: Yes, in the last years before the collapse of the USSR, he expressed to you the idea of ​​uniting Azerbaijan with Turkey so that Azerbaijan would lead this association.

Stanislav Tarasov: Who is Heydar Aliyev? I can now say more frankly that the fact that I ended up in foreign broadcasting of the USSR after graduate school is a division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, you can’t just get in from the street - it was a pure accident, I was placed there by the Andropov family, chairman of the KGB of the USSR. I was offered to become a teacher at the Higher School of Intelligence. But I found out that you won’t write under your last name there, you won’t be allowed to leave. I came across specialists of the general level who brilliantly mastered all this material.

Modest Kolerov: But were they all closed too?

Stanislav Tarasov: Yes. There was nothing new for them, and when I talked to them, they did not interrogate me, they understood what I wanted to say, I understood what they were thinking.

Modest Kolerov: And so you went to work after graduate school for foreign broadcasting.

Stanislav Tarasov: Yes, to the Turkish department. Came, a young Ph.D. And what is foreign broadcasting, the Near and Middle East? Four hundred people: former employees of special services, trade missions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, legal and illegal immigrants, and so on and so forth. It doesn't smell like journalism. They were unique, they knew countries, regions so well…

Modest Kolerov: You worked from 1978 to…

Stanislav Tarasov: Until 1983. They are such connoisseurs: Afghanistan… Later I came across when I was already in Afghanistan, if it wasn’t for them, I could have made such mistakes there… They had such knowledge of the country that you can’t subtract anywhere, in any documents. Knowledge of psychology, stories ... But they have everything in the past. They looked at me like I was some kind of prodigy. "What are you going to do here?" spoke. And when the main edition of the international life of Central Television was created, in 1985 ...

Modest Kolerov: You went there.

Stanislav Tarasov: I was invited there. The elite gathered there, the strongest world-class journalists, this is the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company. What was the strength of foreign broadcasting? The materials with which we appeared on the air, they could not be printed in Pravda, Izvestia - these were completely different materials. I performed under my own name. We were known in the Middle East, there was even a provocation against me. In July, I published an article, “The CIA in Turkey,” or something, the Milliyet newspaper ... Two weeks later, the permanent representative calls me ...

Modest Kolerov: Did the Milliet newspaper respond to this?

Stanislav Tarasov: Then we found out that this was a provocation from Moscow. Two weeks later, the ambassador's encryption, then the Milliet newspaper arrives by special mail, and my editor-in-chief is summoned. And I have an Armenian editor-in-chief, a specialist in the Kurds: “Listen, what have you done? Did you write about Turkey, about the CIA?” I say I wrote. He: "give me the text." And we have three copies. I give him a text, he: I can’t understand anything, but what is special here? The recording is being listened to - there are no distortions, the text that was translated was heard on the air. And "Milliet" writes: "Tarasov, close to the ruling circles of the Kremlin, a well-known observer, claims that 60% of the members of the Turkish government are agents of the CIA."

Modest Kolerov: Did they just attribute this formula to you?

Stanislav Tarasov: The Ambassador gave a code, I was suspended from the air for two weeks. For two weeks my fate was being decided. What's the matter, they can't prove anything. Then I was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and at that time Eduard Amvrosievich Shevardnadze was the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and for the first time I ran into him as a Minister. He told me: "Is that you?"

Modest Kolerov: Disgusted?

Stanislav Tarasov: No, he is. He has a manner like this: “is that you”? I say yes". And there are still his assistants. And he: "what are you writing"? I say: "I write correctly." And I already know that I have broadcast there confirmed that this is a provocation. And he told me: "Yes, go, you will be thanked." I went, I’m waiting for gratitude, they don’t let me on the air for another week, then Eduard Amvrosievich says: “You haven’t written something for a long time, come on, write.” Then it turned out that we had a man recruited by the Turkish special services. For some reason they did not like me, and they decided to set me up in this way through the Milliet newspaper. There were such cases. And this edition of international life had a special status, it served the International Department.

Modest Kolerov: International Department of the Central Committee of the CPSU.

Stanislav Tarasov: We caused a lot of dissatisfaction on television, because there was the program "Time", there was Leonid Petrovich Kravchenko, who headed the television. All international topics were removed from under it and transferred to the Central Committee. He hated us. He ruined us, ripped off everything. There were constant problems. And here all the intelligence officers, counterintelligence officers, well-known observers and so on gathered. We were in sight. The second point: we had a correspondent network, we were all traveling. I came to work and did not know where I would end up in the evening: in Korea, in Iran, or where. There was perestroika, there was a need - television eats like a dragon, we need materials, our own picture. And the battle for your picture was leading. Western TV channels imposed a picture on us, we used it in rare cases, we had to give our own picture. And its own picture is an operator. Correspondents - 60 correspondents.

Modest Kolerov: Seconded from the special services.

Stanislav Tarasov: Yes, they were limited in scope.

Modest Kolerov: And they are not about this, they are about something else.

Stanislav Tarasov: Quite right. And we are in the Warsaw Pact, and in the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, and in the NATO Council. I have been to Belgium twice. NATO Council, I was in his building twice, we interviewed there. We went out all the time, we had to give a picture. And the correspondents ... The correspondent of the State Radio and Television in Warsaw says: "Why send Tarasov, I could do it myself." And the curator replies: “no, you didn’t manage it, let ours go.” And we had problems with the corset. I remember that I flew to Belgium, for the first time in a foreign country, with equipment, two engineers, an operator. We were supposed to be met by a local Soviet correspondent, but he did not. And it appeared only when we made the first report from Charleroi, made a rebroadcast of the NATO competitions, and it went on the Vremya program. And he wanted to break us.

Modest Kolerov: Yes.

Stanislav Tarasov: And we were especially status, and we had to communicate and so on. Here's how I got into the machine...

Modest Kolerov: Apparatus of the Central Committee.

Stanislav Tarasov: Then the apparatus of the Central Committee, first ... At one fine moment, they call to Staraya Square. Let's go, instructions, generals say. And we are on normal terms, Brutents...

Modest Kolerov: Karen Brutents, Deputy Head of the International Department of the Central Committee.

Stanislav Tarasov: Yes, and Gorbachev's assistant Georgy Nersesovich Shakhnazarov. They are friends, Baku people. Brutents, himself a physician by education, is a native of Baku. And this Caucasian, Karabakh. And they hold on, and here I am. And we are talking about Azerbaijan, about Karabakh and so on. With Brutents, we developed a variant of sympathy, a certain trust. I want to tell you how I was sent to Afghanistan to make a film about the politics of national reconciliation. And there the situation was bad.

Modest Kolerov: What year was that?

Stanislav Tarasov: 1988. We went with the director, traveled all over Afghanistan. And there is such a nuance. There are women in veils. Girls in a veil of one color, before marriage of another, a matchmaker in this and so on. And there is nothing under the burqa. And when the wind blows there, they are like naked. And our operator Grigoryan Serezha filmed like this, and close-ups.

Modest Kolerov: Erotica.

Stanislav Tarasov: And our task was to show that the situation is bad. In the text, Karen Nersesovich claimed it, everything is written normally. You said once, you are silent twice, music, wind. Then a close-up - a face. And the picture led the viewer to one thing, and my voice-over said something completely different. And when it went on air on Sunday, I come on Monday, I look, the boss says to me: Karen Nersesovich called me, he said, “I will arrange for this Tarasov” ...

Modest Kolerov: In 1987, Gorbachev removed Aliyev from the post of first deputy chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers. Aliyev, a member of the Politburo, oversaw relations with Eastern countries, with Arab countries. But Gorbachev removed it, and this caused a powerful movement for the secession of Karabakh - they thought that the allied "roof" over Azerbaijan was leaky.

Stanislav Tarasov: I will tell you what I know about Heydar Aliyev. I treat him with great sympathy, because if it were not for his quota on the basis of nationality for admission to the university, I would not have entered Baku University. I got into the national quota: 15 people, six of them must be Russians, and among the Russians there are competitions, benefits, and so on. Aliyev introduced this, because there was an outflow of Russians and Armenians from Azerbaijan, and he decided to stop: the Russians are brothers. And I was appointed headman of the group, secretary of the Komsomol organization of the faculty, went to the king, an excellent student. Moreover, I was lucky that I was a Lenin scholarship holder, the only one at the faculty. My father died tragically when I was in my second year. Scholarship - 40 rubles. Mother alone, work to be done...

Modest Kolerov: Was the Lenin scholarship 100 rubles?

Stanislav Tarasov: Yes, 100 rubles, a lot of money. While my father helped me, I felt calm, but here ... My middle sister is also a student, the youngest was at school, her mother was a telephone operator ...

Modest Kolerov: Did you receive 80 rubles?

Stanislav Tarasov: Well, yes. Naturally, there was a question for me: to switch from full-time to part-time or evening studies in order to work. And I had to study perfectly in order to get a Lenin scholarship. And I passed all the subjects on the top five. Therefore, I am grateful to Heydar Aliyev in this respect.

Modest Kolerov: Did his daughter study with you?

Stanislav Tarasov: Yes, I studied at our class. The question is the following. It so happened that the Andropov family, when they told me that this was a friend of the Andropov family…

Modest Kolerov: Who, Aliev?

Stanislav Tarasov: Yes, Aliyev is a friend of Yuri Vladimirovich's family. And I want to say that this is a real Bolshevik, he spoke about internationalism, fought against corruption. Baku was international. There are two very conflicting issues here. What happened to Karabakh, why did the Karabakh party play against Aliyev? Aliyev was running for promotion. Two people who were nominated: Aliyev and Nazarbayev. Third in the echelon was Shevardnadze. 

Shevardnadze then, under Gorbachev, became the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Gorbachev snarled Aliyev, allegedly for some business. Aliyev was supposed to head the government under Andropov, and he had a plan ready to reform and preserve the USSR. I am one hundred percent sure, knowing Aliyev, his power, that he was highly respected in Moscow by the special services. He was a unique person in the sense that even being in Baku,

Modest Kolerov: I personally remember how, in a narrow but official circle, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia in 2008-2018 Edward Nalbandian literally proudly recalled how he accompanied the First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Government Heydar Aliyev on one of his trips to Arab countries...

To be continued

September 9, 2022

Modest Kolerov