Visiting the Veteran

The 94-year-old front-line soldier is the only living veteran of the Great Patriotic War in Zhelezinka district. During his working trip, Bulat Bakauov came to him and congratulated him on the upcoming holiday, giving flowers and gifts. Aksakal hospitably received the guest and told him how he met Victory Day in 1945.

“Then we had been already removed from the front, and I was in a military school in Astrakhan,” – recalls Kuzma Ivanovich. -“I remember that on May 9 we all slept, and the orderly shouted: “The Troop, get up!” We jumped, and it turned out that they had announced our victory. And we did fireworks, someone with the rifle, someone with the rocket launcher, and someone with other units beginning to shoot from the windows. After that, there was a demonstration in the city itself. I still remember all this.”

Kuzma Ivanovich Chuikin was born in Zhelezinka district. He was drafted into the army in 1942. After training in the military school in Semipalatinsk, he took part in the liberation of the Kalmyk steppes, Rostov, Kharkov and Donetsk oblasts. He also took part in individual combat operations as part of the 156th Special Brigade. Since 1944 he was the commander of the branch on the South-Western and Southern fronts. In 1945 he graduated from the Guryev Military School. He graduated from the military service in the rank of sergeant-major of the 395th separate training battalion in June 1946. He was wounded twice, bruised. He was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War II degree, the medal “For victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945”, as well as various jubilee awards. He brought up 4 children, has 10 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.