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May 01, 2018

Veteran Lives

Veteran Lives
Tea Drinking Sasha Sokolova

Artist Sasha Sokolova has undertaken a personal, artistic and cultural project to document the daily life of Russia’s remaining war veterans, including that of her grandfather, who is also her mentor and teacher, through her paintings. 

Sokolova’s exhibition will be shown at the Pop Up Museum in Moscow during May 8-27, 2018. Russian Life readers can get a taste of it below. 

Yuri Mikhailovich Oparin

Born November 25, 1925, in Pyatigorsk. He fought on the front lines in the North Caucasus in 1943. At first he fought in an infantry unit, and then, after a short training, became a flamethrower operator. He participated in the defense of the North Caucasus, in the defense of Malaya Zemlya, in the liberation of Crimea, Dzhankoy, Simferopol and Sevastopol, in the storming of Sapun Mountain, and in the liberation of Romania, Austria, Germany, and Czechoslovakia. On Victory Day he was in Prague.

Oparin served in the army until 1947. Demobilized, he entered art school, and afterwards became a professional artist.

He was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, Second Degree; two Orders of Glory, Third Degree; medals “For the Defense of the Caucasus,” “For Victory over Germany,” “Veteran of Labor,” and many others.

Ninel V. Karpova

Born on February 26, 1925, in Kharkov. She graduated with a nursing degree in 1942 and was sent to the Volkhov Front. She took part in battles near Leningrad, fought on the Kursk-Belgorod Arc, fought to liberate Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Czechoslovakia, crossed the Dnieper, the Oder and other rivers, and stormed Berlin. During the war, Karpova herself evacuated from the battlefield more than ten wounded soldiers and provided them with life-saving medical assistance. On Victory Day she was in Prague.

After the war she worked as physical education teacher in kindergartens. She has long been actively engaged in patriotic education of Moscow youth.

She was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, Second Degree; Order of the Red Star; medals “For Combat Merits,” “For the Taking of Berlin,” “For the Liberation of Prague,” “For the Victory over Germany,” the designation “Excellent Medical Officer,” and many other honors. 

Ivan Stepanovich Martynushkin

Born on January 18, 1924, in the village of Poshchupovo, Ryazan Oblast. In 1942 he graduated from the Khabarovsk Machine Gun and Mortar School. Sent to the front in 1943. He served in the 1087th regiment of the 322nd Infantry Division, and was commander of the machine-gun platoon. He was among the Soviet soldiers who liberated the concentration camp at Auschwitz.

Awarded the Order of the Red Banner; Order of the Patriotic War, First and Second Degrees; Order of the Red Star, Order of the Badge of Honor; medals “For Victory over Germany,” the Zhukov Medal, and others.

Yuri Alexandrovich Baskakov

He was born on June 10, 1923, in the city of Kamenets-Podolsky, in the Khmelnitsky region of the Ukrainian SSR. He entered the war in 1941, as an artilleryman. He participated in the defense of Moscow, crossed the Dnieper, liberated Ukraine and Poland, fought in Germany, and also participated in the liberation of several fascist concentration camps. At the end of the war he was in Dresden. After the war he served for many years in the Soviet Army, retiring as a Guard Lieutenant Colonel.

He was awarded two Orders of the Patriotic War, Second Degree; the Order of the Red Star; medals “For Combat Merits,” “For the Defense of Moscow,” “For Victory over Germany,” and many others.

Klara Philippovna Ignatova

Born on July 14, 1926, in the Kuban. She joined the war in 1942 as a nurse in a front-line hospital in the Caucasus, and participated in the defense of the Caucasus in the 56th Army. She delivered the wounded from medical battalions to hospitals and provided them with first aid. 

After the war, Ignatova earned a history degree, then worked at the Tsentrnauchfilm Studio in various positions, including as director. For the last 20 years she has been active in the veterans movement, often visiting schools.

She was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, Second Degree, with medals “For the Defense of the Caucasus,” “For Victory over Germany,” and others.

 

Tags: photographywwiiveterans

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Painting Veterans

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Artist Sasha Sokolova has undertaken a personal, artistic and cultural project to document the daily life of Russia’s remaining war veterans.

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