MAISTRENKO BORIS ALEXANDROVICH

MAISTRENKO BORIS ALEXANDROVICH
lieutenant, participant in World War II, Hero of the Soviet Union (March 24, 1945) 

   Boris Maistrenko was born on December 1, 1923 in the city of Novgorod-Seversky. He graduated from the 8^th grade of the school. He lived in Tashkent and worked in a factory. In August 1942, Maistrenko was drafted into the Red Army by the Stalin District Military Commissariat in Tashkent.
   In 1943 he graduated from the Kharkiv School of Tankers and from July of this year participated in World War II.
   Until June 1944, Lieutenant Boris Maistrenko was the commander of the T-34 tank in the 1^st Tank Battalion of the 152^nd Special Tank Brigade of the 8^th Army of the Leningrad Front. He fought valiantly in the battles of Karelia.
   In battle, he took command of the company and with his crew 3 enemy wooden firing points, 8 wooden ground firing points, 15 artillery pieces, 20 machine gun firing points and destroyed dozens of soldiers and officers. In early January 1945, Maistrenko was seriously injured and died on 15 January.
   By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of March 24, 1945, Lieutenant Boris Maistrenko was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (after death) “For courage and heroism in successfully breaking through enemy fortifications on the island of Karelia.”