KOVTUN PAVEL MAKSIMOVICH

KOVTUN PAVEL MAKSIMOVICH
lieutenant,  participant in Soviet-Finnish and World War II, Hero of the Soviet Union (January 15, 1944)

He was born on March 18, 1913 (31) in the village of Miropoliye (now Krasnopolsky District, Sumy Region, Ukraine). He finished from the 5th grade of school and the 2^nd year of the agricultural school and worked on a collective farm. In the Red Army from November 1932. In 1933 he graduated from the regimental school.

In July 1935, he went on a long vacation and served in a forced labor camp, military service in the Arkhangelsk region.

In September 1939 he graduated from the 2nd Leningrad Artillery School. He fought in the Soviet-Finnish war and was seriously wounded. Released in September 1940. In September 1942 he was again drafted into the army. He has been in World War II since October of that year.

Until September 1943, he commanded the 7th Battery Platoon of the 61st Army of the Central Front, the 415th Rifle Division, and the 686th Artillery Regiment.

He fought valiantly in the Battle of the Dnieper. On September 28, 1943, as part of an advanced group, he crossed the Dnieper River in the village of Zmey, Repkinsky district, Chernihiv region of the Ukrainian SSR, and took an active part in the battles to capture and hold the platsdarm on the west coast. The group repulses 8 counter-attacks by the Germans.

By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of January 15,1944, Lieutenant Pavel Maksimovich Kovtun was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union “For exemplary performance of the command’s combat missions, courage and heroism in the fight against the Nazi invaders on the front”.

In May 1946 he was released from the reserve with the rank of lieutenant. He lived in Tashkent and worked in a local shoe factory.

He died on March 29, 1980 and was buried in the Alley of Heroes of the Military Cemetery in Tashkent.