Among the exhibits of the Central Museum of the Armed Forces, there are relics that are not only of historical value, but also of moral and spiritual significance. These relics occupy the first lines in the long list of the museum's rarities. These include the marble slabs of the Victory Hall, where the names of heroes who have been forever enlisted in the ranks of the Armed Forces are inscribed in gold. Behind these names lie the pride and glory of our nation, symbols of an era.

Unfortunately, the tradition of permanent enlistment was interrupted with the collapse of the Soviet Union and its Armed Forces.

The last Chechen war forced us to take a fresh look at our history and the experience of ideological and educational work in the army. ... In 1830, the Caucasian War had been ongoing for over a decade. Russian forces attempted to blockade the rebellious regions, but hundreds of Turkish boats transported essential supplies to the highlanders across the Black Sea. General I. F. Paskevich, the Viceroy of the Caucasus, decided to build a line of forts along the Black Sea coast to disrupt these supplies. He planned to complete this task within a year with a force of two and a half thousand soldiers and eight cannons. In fact, it took 34 years and thousands of lives. A chain of 17 forts was built along the wild coastline, stretching for 500 kilometers and forming the Black Sea coastline. The supply of the highlanders became difficult, and they periodically attempted to attack the Russian garrisons. In February 1840, the enemy launched a surprise attack on Fort Lazarev at night, killing almost the entire garrison in hand-to-hand combat. A few days later, the garrison of Fort Velyaminovskoye was similarly annihilated. The next fortification to be attacked was Mikhailovskoye, where the Tenginsky Regiment's companies were stationed. The garrison was expecting an attack and was in a state of constant alert. Admiral L.M. visited the fort. Serebryakov later wrote in his report: "I found the appearance of all four companies to be the most cheerful and warlike." The admiral ordered a traverse to be built from logs and barrels across the entire fortification, and when the enemy's attack intensified, they retreated behind the traverse and held on until the very end. If further resistance was impossible, they were instructed to blow up the powder magazine. On March 22, 1840, the enemy attacked the Mikhailovsky Fortification. As the defenders' strength began to wane, they retreated behind the traverse. The defense was led by Staff Captain Nikolai Konstantinovich Liko, a native of Balaklava and a Greek by birth. He was severely wounded, and seeing that the fortress was on the verge of collapse, he ordered the powder magazine to be blown up. Private soldier Arkhip Osipov volunteered to carry out the order. He grabbed a burning torch and rushed towards the magazine. Soon, a massive explosion rocked the fort, destroying it and killing many of the enemy soldiers who had entered. The attackers took several wounded Russian soldiers with them into the mountains, and later exchanged them for their own prisoners. It was then that the details of the March tragedy became known. The soldiers said that Osipov's last words to his comrades were a request to remember him. The defense of Mikhailovskoye was reported to Emperor Nicholas I. He was very impressed by the story of the courage of a simple soldier. Apparently, the desire to somehow fulfill Osipov's last request led the emperor to the idea of immortalizing his memory. On November 8, 1840, an order was issued to provide pensions to the families of the heroes who died during the defense of the Mikhailovsky Fortification. The order particularly emphasized the heroism of the soldier who blew up the cellar: "To immortalize the memory of Private Arkhip Osipov, who had no family, to preserve his name forever in the lists of the 1st Grenadier Company of the Tenginsky Regiment, considering him the first private, and at all roll calls, when this name is asked, the first private to answer should be: 'He died for the glory of Russian arms in the Mikhailovsky fortification.'" This order marked the beginning of the tradition of permanent enlistment in the Russian army and the associated military ritual.

Little is known about Osipov's life. He came from the serfs of Kamenka, Lipetsk District, Kiev Province. During his long service, he participated in wars with Persia and Turkey and was awarded medals.

One medal was found in the ruins of the fort and was carefully kept in the regimental chapel. A 15-meter-high cast-iron cross was erected at the site of the explosion, with the intention of

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The monument was clearly visible from passing ships. Sculptor F.I. Khodarkiewicz prepared a project for the monument, in which Osipov holds a flaming torch in one hand and supports the dying staff captain Liko with the other. An engraving of this project was included in many illustrated publications of the time. However, the monument was not built due to a lack of funds. It was not until 1881 that another monument was erected in Vladikavkaz using public donations, featuring a marble pyramid topped with a bronze eagle. Unfortunately, this monument has not survived. However, in honor of the hero, the village of Arkhipo-Osipovka, located on the site of the former Mikhailovsky fortification, was named after him.

The forts of the Black Sea line no longer exist. Where once there was a wild, deserted coast, where malaria, typhus, scurvy, and plague raged, beautiful resorts have now been built: Sochi, Adler, Lazarevskoye, and Tuapse. The people who vacation there have no idea how many sacrifices were made, how much blood and sweat was shed to secure this now prosperous land for Russia.

Arkhip Osipov was the only person in the 19th century to be honored with an eternal enlistment in the ranks of his unit. It was not until several decades later that such honors were reinstated. The reason for this was the discovery of a package containing five banners that had been saved during the Battle of Austerlitz, preserved during captivity, and returned to Russia. These banners were given to the regiments, and the officers who had saved them were permanently enlisted in their respective units. These were the sword belts of Ensigns M. Sheremetsky, N. Kokurin, S. Kublitsky, Ensign Gribovsky, and Non-Commissioned Officer S. Starichkov.

In 1906, the feat of Private Petrov, who had preserved the banner in captivity from the Swedes in 1808, was remembered. The hero was enlisted in the 26th Mogilev Infantry Regiment. At the same time, the participants of the Russo-Japanese War who had saved the battle flags were permanently enlisted: Captain Zhirnov, Staff Captain Ozhetsnevsky, Lieutenants Khondazhevsky and Shoke, Non-Commissioned Officers Grishanov, A. Rakitnikov, V. Nesterov, S. Smirnov, and A. Lobachev. In addition to those who had saved the flags, the soldier-intelligence officer V. Ryabov was also awarded a high honor. During the preparation for the Battle of Shahe, the Russian commanders desperately needed information about the enemy's troop positions. An ordinary soldier Vasily Ryabov volunteered to go into reconnaissance. He knew neither Chinese nor Japanese, but he was good at mimicry (imitation). With the help of gestures, facial expressions, and gait, he could copy the Chinese, which amused his comrades repeatedly. After changing into a Chinese robe, tying a braid to his head, the soldier went to the enemy's location. The Japanese had not figured out the Russian scout, and Ryabov was already returning to his own people. But suddenly a Japanese officer ordered him to water his horse. Ryabov obediently carried out the order, but something did not please the Japanese. He pulled Ryabov's braid, which broke off. The soldier was tried as a spy and sentenced to be shot. Soon, a Cossack patrol discovered a letter written in Russian, left in a prominent position near the road. The letter read: "Soldier Vasily Ryabov, 33 years old, from the 84th Infantry Regiment of Chembar, dressed as a Chinese peasant, was captured by our soldiers within the front line... After the case was reviewed in accordance with the established procedure, Ryabov was sentenced to death. The execution was carried out on September 17 by a volley of gunfire. Our army cannot but express its most sincere wish that the Russian army will bring up more such truly beautiful soldiers worthy of full respect. When asked if he wants to say something before his death, Ryabov said:; "I am ready to die for the faith, the tsar and the fatherland." When asked to send something to his homeland, he replied: "Thank you very much, tell me what happened..." and could not help crying. After praying and crossing himself in the four cardinal directions, he calmly took his place. The sympathy for this truly brave soldier reached its peak. The message was signed by a captain of the Japanese army. The hero's feat was not forgotten. In 1910, his remains were transported from Manchuria to his homeland, in the village of He was buried in Lebedevka, Penza Province, near a school that was named after him. His family received 1,000 rubles, and his children were enrolled in state-run educational institutions. The soldier was permanently enlisted in the regiment, as stated in the order, "for the benefit of future generations."

The last person to be permanently enlisted in the army before the revolution and the collapse of the old army was Private Semyon Novikov, who had saved Alexander Suvorov's life during the Russo-Turkish War in 1787. The great commander himself reported about this feat in a report: "The enemy's naval forces, which I had never seen better, pursued our troops with full spirit. I fought in the front lines. Stepan Novikov, a grenadier of the Shlisselburg Regiment, whose sword was already raised in my proximity, turned on his opponent, killed him with a bayonet, and shot another man..."In 1912, on the 125th anniversary of the Battle of Kinburn, an order was read out in all the regiments of the Russian army, which stated: "To immortalize the name of Grenadier Stepan Novikov by enlisting him in the 1st Company of the 15th Infantry Regiment of General Field Marshal Prince Anikita Repnin of Shlisselburg."

The names of these heroes were engraved on marble plaques in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, which was built as a monument to the soldiers who died in the war against Napoleon and was considered Russia's main military cathedral. By the beginning of 1917, the names of 17 individuals had been engraved in gold. However, in 1931, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was demolished.

On the eve of the Great Patriotic War, the revival of military traditions began. During the war, almost all of them were restored in the Red Army: the creation of the Guards, the establishment of military orders, the assignment of honorary titles to units, the introduction of epaulettes, the organization of victory salutes, and so on. In 1943, the highest honor for fallen soldiers was reinstated: the permanent enlistment in the unit's roster. The first person to be enlisted was likely chosen among those who had received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously during this time. The choice fell on Alexander Matrosov, who was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on June 19, 1943. He was a private, just like A. Osipov. He performed a very bright feat. In addition, the round orphan is "the son of the people. He died on February 27, 1943 (the date was slightly "shifted", timed to coincide with the Day of the Red Army-February 23). On September 8, 1943, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, I.V. Stalin, issued an order to permanently enlist Private A. Matrosov in the 254th Guards Rifle Regiment. In an editorial on the enrollment order, Pravda wrote:: "The order expresses one of the best traditions of the Russian Army, which is sacredly observed by the Red Army-this is the cult of soldiers who died on the battlefield." The order was read out in all parts of the Armed Forces, published in all central and military newspapers. Matrosov's name was recognized by the whole country. They began to talk about it in all Soviet schools, kindergartens, universities, in the army and in the navy. As a result, the hero's heroic deed took center stage, rather than the revival of an old military tradition.

A little later, the tradition of permanent enlistment in the ranks of the Soviet Army took root and became one of the highest military honors. For comparison, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded over 12,000 times, while only 412 people were permanently enlisted.

During the war years, in addition to Matrosov, only two other heroes were permanently enrolled in the unit's lists - D.N. Tyapin and B. C. Shalandin. Moreover, Dmitry Nikolaevich Tyapin is the only exception to the strict order. The tradition involves the perpetual enlistment in the ranks of only dead heroes. Tyapin was awarded this high honor in his lifetime. He was a collective farmer in the village of Anyutino, Mogilev region. In August 1941, not far from the village, a group of Soviet soldiers took the last battle with the Nazis. At night, Tyapin and two of his neighbors carried the bodies of the dead soldiers and buried them in the local cemetery. On the chest of one of the soldiers, Senior Political Officer A. Barbashev, he found the banner of the famous 24th Samara-Ulyanovsk Iron Division. The old soldier, who had fought in the Russo-Japanese and World Wars, knew the significance of the Battle Banner. He wrapped it in a sack, then in a tarp, and placed it on top of the bodies in the grave. In October 1943, the village was liberated, and Tyapin handed over the banner to the command. However, the Iron Division was disbanded in December 1941 due to the loss of the banner. In February 1942, the number "24" was assigned to another newly formed division. However, after the rescue of the banner, they decided to preserve the Iron Army's military traditions and handed over the banner, awards, and honorary titles.

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the famous formation of the new 24th Rifle Division, which fought heroically on the fronts from the beginning of 1942, And Dmitry Tyapin, by order of the People's Commissar of Defense I. V. Stalin, was enlisted in the lists of one of the Iron regiments in his lifetime. He was on all kinds of allowances, often came to the division and met with soldiers. The honorary soldier died in 1975 at the age of 96.

In the 1950s, many heroes were permanently added to the list. Most of them were heroes of the Great Patriotic War. Among them were six generals: A.A. Aslanov, V.N. Kashuba, G.P. Kravchenko, I.S. Polbin, G.I. Tkhor, and I.D. Chernyakhovsky, as well as three women: tank driver Maria Oktyabrskaya, medical assistants Galina Petrova and Maria Tsukanova. There was also a foreign citizen among the heroes. This is a Frenchman, the commander of a squadron of the Normandie-Niemen regiment, Senior Lieutenant Marcel Lefebvre. Since the spring of 1943, he has been involved in combat operations and has shot down 11 German aircraft. In May 1944, his plane was hit, but he did not abandon his burning aircraft and managed to reach an airfield, suffering severe burns. Lefebvre died from his injuries in a Moscow hospital in June 1944. He was posthumously enlisted in the Soviet aviation unit.

In the 1950s and 1960s, several participants in the pre-war events, such as the battles in Spain (G.M. Skleznev), Lake Hassan (I.A. Pozharsky), the Khalkhin Gol River (A.N. Moskovsky), and the Soviet-Finnish War (V.K. Bulavsky), were permanently enlisted. Two individuals were awarded this honor after the suppression of the Hungarian uprising in 1956 (Yu.V. Burmistrov and A.D. Solovyov). Private Yuri Burmistrov was guarding a communications center in Budapest. As he repelled rebel attacks with machine gun fire, he was cut off from his comrades. When the enemy approached, he detonated a grenade.

After fighting the Chinese in the Far East in March 1969, Vladimir Orekhov, a Soviet Army machine gunner and junior sergeant, was commissioned.

Not only combatants were honored. Among the heroes are cosmonaut G. T. Dobrovolsky, who died in the descent vehicle when returning to Earth in the summer of 1971, pilot Amet Khan Sultan, who shot down 30 aircraft during the war and died in 1971 while testing a new machine, parachute tester P. I. Dolgov, who made 1409 jumps and died in 1962 while jumping from a balloon from a height of 25,600 m, two pilots shot down by ramming American reconnaissance planes that violated the border of the USSR (B. A. Obraztsov-1951, G. N. Eliseev-1973).

The honorary line is completed by the warriors - heroes of the Afghan war. There are 11 of them: V.A. Alexandrov, V.K. Gainutdinov, A.I. Demakov, V.V. Zadorozhny, A.V. Koryavin, A.A. Melnikov, A.G. Mironenko, A.Ya. Oparin, K.G. Pavlyukov, N.P. Chepik, N.A. Shornikov. Let's tell you about the heroic deed of Senior Lieutenant Konstantin Pavlyukov, a pilot. In January 1987, while taking off from the Baghram base, his Su-25 attack aircraft was shot down over the Charikar Valley by a Stinger missile. The pilot ejected. Using a captured Komar radio transmitter, the rebels diverted the search helicopters to another location and rushed to the pilot's aid. Pavlyukov landed badly, on a tree, but managed to free himself from the parachute, get down to the ground, and lie down behind an old karagach. As it turned out later, the plane was shot down by a group of Fattah, a field commander. In the group was our agent, planted in the ranks of the dushmans. From him and learned the details of the battle. Fattah through a megaphone offered the pilot to surrender, but in response there were shots. The leader ordered to take the pilot alive, hoping to get for him in Pakistan a large sum. Pavlyukov had an assault rifle with 4 magazines, a pistol with 2 clips, and 4 grenades. The battle lasted 40 minutes. When Soviet helicopters appeared over the area, the leader ordered them to deal with the downed pilot. They began to fire at him with a grenade launcher. Apparently, Pavlyukov was severely wounded and lost consciousness. Assuming that he was dead, Fattah pulled out a dagger and rushed forward. Suddenly, the pilot turned his face upward and pulled the grenade's ring with his teeth. An explosion followed, and three Afghans were killed, including their leader, who had his carotid artery severed by a fragment. In total, the insurgents lost about 20 men killed and wounded during the battle, which was almost the entire squad. The next day, at dawn, the paratroopers, led by Lieutenant Colonel V.A. Vostrotin, approached the village of Abdibai and used a loudspeaker to demand that the elders hand over the pilot, either alive or dead. The ultimatum had an effect. Soon, the villagers brought out a body wrapped in a tarp. Pavlyukov had more than two hundred bullet and knife wounds.

The next day, the soldiers saw off their comrade-in-arms. Many Afghans, residents of Bagram, pilots, and technicians came to pay their respects to the man who met his final hour with such dignity. The coffin was carried by hand and, accompanied by a gun salute, was loaded onto a black tulip plane for transportation back to his home in Barnaul.

Since 1965, when the Central Museum of the Armed Forces of the USSR received a new building, the names of the heroes of the Soviet Army who were forever enlisted in the ranks have been engraved in gold on the marble slabs of the Victory Hall. The first name is that of Alexander Matrosov, followed by that of Dmitry Tyapin... Over the years, the list has been constantly updated. Unfortunately, it still does not include the names of the heroes of the old Russian army.

It should be noted that the tradition of permanent enlistment also exists in the border and internal troops. In these units, heroes were added to the lists of units by orders issued not by the Minister of Defense, but by the Commander of the Border Troops or the Minister of Internal Affairs.

It has been 160 years since the heroic deed of Arkhip Osipov and the establishment of a glorious tradition in the Russian army to forever honor the memory of fallen comrades-in-arms. The Soviet Union collapsed, and many regiments were disbanded, leaving a portion of military schools in the new states. As a result, many heroes lost their final symbolic resting place on earth. However, I believe that time will pass, and future generations will remember all the heroes, revive the military traditions, and the names of the fallen will once again be heard at evening roll calls. Because there is no greater feat than giving your life for your country.

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