Ilya Timofeyevich Osipov (

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

: Илья Тимофеевич Осипов; 1922 – January 1944) was a Tatar

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

soldier and posthumous

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 ...

. Osipov was awarded the title for his work with pontoon bridges during the

Battle of the Dnieper The Battle of the Dnieper was a military campaign that took place in 1943 in Ukraine on the Eastern Front of World War II. One of the largest operations of the war, it involved almost 4,000,000 troops at a time stretched on a front. Over four ...

, but went missing in January 1944.

Early life

Osipov was born in 1922 in Sarykovo village in Altai Governorate to a peasant family. He graduated from five grades in Tayna village in Krasnogorsky District. After his parents died, he lived with his older sister in Turochak village. Osipov graduated from eighth grade in the Gorno-Altaisk National School. He worked as a lumberjack on the Lebyazhinskom

State Farm State Farm Insurance is a large group of mutual insurance companies throughout the United States with corporate headquarters in Bloomington, Illinois. Overview State Farm is the largest property and casualty insurance provider, and the la ...

World War II

In December 1941, Osipov was drafted into the Red Army. He fought in combat from September 1942. Osipov became a pontonier in the 134th Separate Motorized Pontoon-Bridge Battalion. The battalion became part of the

6th Pontoon Bridge Brigade 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second smalles ...

of the

40th Army The 40th Army (, ''40-ya obshchevoyskovaya armiya'', "40th Combined Arms Army") of the Soviet Ground Forces was an army-level command that participated in World War II from 1941 to 1945 and was reformed specifically for the Soviet–Afghan War fro ...

in March 1943. In August, he fought in the Belgorod-Khar'kov Offensive Operation. On 27 August, the battalion was involved in the crossing of the

Vorskla River The Vorskla (; ) is a river that runs from Belgorod Oblast in Russia southwards into northeastern Ukraine, where it joins the Dnieper. It has a length of , and a basin area of .Lower Dnieper Offensive The Battle of the Dnieper was a military campaign that took place in 1943 in Ukraine on the Eastern Front of World War II. One of the largest operations of the war, it involved almost 4,000,000 troops at a time stretched on a front. Over four ...

. It was necessary to build a pontoon bridge to enable heavy tanks to cross the river in the

Akhtyrka Okhtyrka ( uk, Охти́рка, ) is a city located in the Sumy Oblast (province) of Ukraine. It is administratively incorporated as a city of oblast significance. The city has also served as the administrative center of the smaller Okhtyrka R ...

-Detgorodok area. Osipov reportedly spent ten hours in the water constructing the bridge, despite German bombing raids. Between 28 and 29 August, Osipov reportedly led a group of soldiers in the area of Zhuravne and Buymerovka in installing bridge supports in the water. For these actions, Osipov was recommended by his battalion commander for the

Order of the Red Star The Order of the Red Star (russian: Орден Красной Звезды, Orden Krasnoy Zvezdy) was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 193 ...

, but this was downgraded to the Medal "For Courage", which Osipov received on 11 September.Hero of the Soviet Union citation, available online a
pamyatnaroda.mil.ru
/ref> The 40th Army continued its advance and reached the

Dnieper } The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...

by late September. On 25 September, Osipov and a group of soldiers built a jetty under enemy fire to ferry tanks and artillery across the river near the village of Balyko-Shchuchynka in

Kaharlyk Raion Kaharlyk Raion () was a raion (district) in Kyiv Oblast of Ukraine. Its administrative center was the city of Kaharlyk. The raion was abolished on 18 July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of ...

. Osipov reportedly was first to start constructing the jetty and set the underwater base of jetty while working for more than 2.5 hours. On 29 September, he reportedly spent 3 hours in the water helping to salvage a ferry that had been sunk by German fire. He was awarded the

for his actions on 5 October. Afterwards, Osipov reportedly made 15 trips a day to reinforce the bridgehead on the Dnieper. Osipov continued to fight with his unit. On 10 January 1944, Osipov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin. However, he was reported missing sometime during the month,Irretrievable loss report, available online a
pamyatnaroda.mil.ru
/ref> probably during the

Battle of the Korsun–Cherkassy Pocket A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osipov, Ilya Timofeyevich 1922 births 1940s missing person cases 1944 deaths Heroes of the Soviet Union Missing in action of World War II People from Altai Krai Recipients of the Medal "For Courage" (Russia) Recipients of the Order of Lenin Soviet military personnel killed in World War II Tatar people

Early life

World War II

See also

References