SHOTS ON THE KIGACH RIVER
That summer evening a phone call rang out at the Sazdy outpost.
A member of the voluntary squad, Ivan Kolyagin, called. a resident of the village named after Dina Nurpeisova, not for the first year was a member of the cohort of caring, attentive and all-seeing inhabitants of the borderland.
So this time, being vigilant, he told about a suspicious man whom he met at the border river Kigach.
After 8 minutes, the «Alarm Group» consisting of Lieutenant Gibrat Muslim and Private Mikhail Rogov was already in place.
But, as it turned out, the unknown decided not to wait for the border guards, despite the remarks of I. Kolyaghin. He tried to hide in the bush.
But is it possible to hide from the border guards ?! The man was quickly and easily found.
The unknown person introduced himself as a citizen of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
He flatly refused to give a backpack for checking the contents. But he offered the lieutenant a certain amount and, as they say, «disperse with the world.»
After an unsuccessful attempt to bribe the border guards, the young man agreed to drive to the border outpost. But, approaching the door of the border «UAZ», at the most unexpected moment, the guy pounced on the officer, stabbing him twice with a knife, one of which was made to the right side of the lumbar zone, the second to the left shoulder.
Then he pounced on Kolyaghin and wounded him in the forearm.
A second later, two shots rang out one after the other, echoing loudly across the steppe. But Gibrat’s warning firing into the air had no effect on the stranger. The man jumped away from the vigilante and, with a formidable look, confidently headed towards the officer.
The border guard, without hesitation, pulled the trigger several more times. A wild scream was heard over the sound of another shot.
One bullet hit the man in the leg, the second in the stomach and went right through. But this did not stop the criminal. Shouting: «Allahu akbar!» he rushed to the border guard.
A struggle ensued. The officer, despite being seriously wounded, knocked the knife out of the man’s hands and twisted his arms. At that moment, Private M. Rogov ran up to Gibrat. Taking aim at the offender, he gave the lieutenant the opportunity to handcuff the offender.
Everything passed in a matter of seconds. Only thanks to the officer’s lightning-fast reaction, his hand-to-hand fighting skills, the unknown was detained.
Without waiting for the arrival of the outpost’s reserve, Mikhail Rogov put the bleeding Gibrat into the car and drove towards the village to provide him with medical assistance.
The detainee, who was lying motionless on the ground, remained to be guarded by Kolyaghin.
At this time, the Head of the frontier post, Senior Lieutenant F. Zairov, went to the scene. Having met Rogov’s car, the head of the frontier post, taking into account the condition of the wounded officer and the distance to the nearest medical facility, decided to leave for the territory of Russia to the settlement of Krasny Yar in the Astrakhan region.
Unhindered departure to the Russian Federation was authorized by the commander of the military unit, Lieutenant Colonel M. Kanabekov, who informed the Head of the Frontier Directorate of the FSB of Russia for the Republic of Kalmykia and the Astrakhan Region, Major General S. Maslov.
It is worth noting that at a simplified checkpoint, the Russian border guards, having learned about the incident, immediately let the car with the wounded officer pass. An ambulance also went to meet them.
At the regional hospital, Russian doctors did everything they could to rescue a Kazakh border guard. A group of doctors even left Astrakhan to help their colleagues. But the head of the surgical department, Eldar Toleghenov, without wasting precious time, independently operated on the wounded, thereby saving his life.
Lieutenant G. Muslim’s condition at that time was «consistently difficult.» He lost a lot of blood, in addition, the doctors had to remove his kidney.
At this time, a member of the volunteer squad Ivan Kolyaghin and a detained violator were assisted in the Kurmangazin central regional hospital.
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During the inspection, the border guards found a driver’s license, a magnetic compass, two hand-drawn maps of the area and a brochure with the text in Russian and Arabic in the criminal’s backpack.
As it turned out, the violator, a native of the Aktobe region, born in 1990, had an intention to cross the state border and through Russia to get to Syria, in order to join his religious adherents to participate in hostilities.
***
For skillful actions, border skills, courage and courage, Lieutenant G. Muslim and I. Kolyagin were awarded medals «For Contribution to National Security», Private M. Rogov - the medal «For Excellence in the Protection of the State Border.»
Implementing their military and civic duties to the end, steadfastly and reliably defending the state border, they entered their page in the annals of their native outpost and department.