Bakir Dursun oglu Mustafayev (Azerbaijani: Bəkir Dursun oğlu Mustafayev; 11 February 1898 – 10 December 1978) was an Azerbaijani soldier who served in the Red Army during World War II. Holding the rank of

Red Army man Red Army man () was the lowest military rank in the Red Army of the Soviet Union from 1918 to 1946. On 30 November 1917, after the October Revolution, the Military Revolutionary Committee cancelled all "officer and class ranks" in keeping with th ...

he was decorated as a

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...

. Mustafayev was awarded the title for his actions during the Kerch–Eltigen Operation. During the operation, Mustafayev reportedly killed 40 German soldiers. For his actions, Mustafayev was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 16 May 1944. He was discharged after the war and lived in Samarqand District.

Early life and interwar years

Mustafayev was born on 11 February 1898 in the village of Glazar in what is now

Akhaltsikhe Municipality Akhaltsikhe ( ka, ახალციხის მუნიციპალიტეტი, ''Akhaltsikhis munitsip’alit’et’i'') ) is a municipality in Georgia's southern region of Samtskhe-Javakheti. Covering an area of . As of 2021 it had a ...

to a peasant family. He worked in agriculture and was chairman of a

collective farm Collective farming and communal farming are various types of, "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member ...

World War II

Mustafayev was drafted into the Red Army in August 1941. He fought in combat from March 1942, fighting in the

Battle of the Caucasus The Battle of the Caucasus is a name given to a series of Axis and Soviet operations in the Caucasus area on the Eastern Front of World War II. On 25 July 1942, German troops captured Rostov-on-Don, Russia, opening the Caucasus region of t ...

. Mustafayev became a rifleman in the 5th Rifle Company of the 55th Guards Rifle Division's 164th Guards Rifle Regiment. In fall 1943, he participated in the Kerch-Eltigen Operation. He crossed the strait with the first group of the regiment. On 3 November, during the battle for Height 102 northeast of

Kerch Kerch ( uk, Керч; russian: Керчь, ; Old East Slavic: Кърчевъ; Ancient Greek: , ''Pantikápaion''; Medieval Greek: ''Bosporos''; crh, , ; tr, Kerç) is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of t ...

, heavy fire stopped the advance. Mustafayev crawled to a bunker on a height and threw grenades, reportedly killing five German soldiers. His unit then reportedly captured the height. In a battle in a trench, Mustafayev reportedly killed four more German soldiers, captured a machine gun and opened fire on German troops. Mustafayev reportedly hoisted a red flag on Height 102. He was wounded, but reportedly did not leave the battlefield. During the fighting on the Kerch Peninsula, Mustafayev reportedly killed 40 German soldiers. He was evacuated the next day. On 16 May 1944, he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union and the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...

.Hero of the Soviet Union citation, available online a
pamyat-naroda.ru
/ref> In 1944, Mustafayev joined the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

. He fought in the

Crimean Offensive The Crimean offensive (8 April – 12 May 1944), known in German sources as the Battle of the Crimea, was a series of offensives by the Red Army directed at the German-held Crimea. The Red Army's 4th Ukrainian Front engaged the German 17th Army ...

Postwar

After the end of the war, Mustafayev was discharged. He lived and worked in the village of Kaynama in Samarqand District. He died on 10 December 1978. A street in Kaynama was named after Mustafayev. In April 2008, his Gold Star and other documents were sold in an online auction.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mustafayev, Bakir 1898 births 1978 deaths Soviet military personnel of World War II People of World War II from Georgia (country) Heroes of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Order of Lenin Communist Party of the Soviet Union members People from Tiflis Governorate