"Good afternoon! I am writing to a distant native land. Greetings to you, dear father, mother, sister, aunt, and nephews from your son and brother-in-law veteran Valentine. I write hurriedly, under the whistle of German bullets and exploding shells and bombs, under the hum, noise and groan of wounded comrades.

First, I inform you that I entered the battle on the 22nd at 8 o'clock in the morning, and the battle began at 4 o'clock, and, thus, we managed to take the full brunt of the initial blow of the German fascists. Despite this, we left in perfect order until June 24...

On the 25th, we, with my gun and squad, had to repel the onslaught of tanks, where we destroyed about 10 of them, but the 11th did not have time, and artillery fire was opened on our gun, and our gun was broken, and three of my comrades were wounded. I personally had to take them to a safe place from the tanks... I dressed my wounds and with great difficulty managed to send them to the rear, but now I don't know where they are. Now I am completely cut off from all my relatives and acquaintances, and after my gun was smashed, I had to join a rifle company that was on the defensive in the fight against airborne troops, and we are now operating in the area of the city of Mogilev...

While... there is no danger to life. I fully understand how much trouble it took for you to find out about me, and how many tears were shed, but don't worry prematurely. I am alive and I feel quite healthy and strong...

I kiss you all and shake your hands.

Goodbye. Valentin.

P.S. Frontline handwriting, if only sorted out.

June 30, 1941".

These two checkered notebooks, hastily and thickly written in plain pencil, are the first and last message that Valentin Yakovlevich Andreev sent from the front to Udmurtia. He was a cadet of the training battery of the 4th separate artillery anti-tank division. On the morning of June 22, this division, commanded by Captain Glazkov, received a combat mission. Cadet Andreyev, who was appointed commander of the first battery's 45 - millimeter cannon, then repelled attacks by German tanks and motorized infantry advancing south of Brest. By evening, a fierce battle took place near Zhabinka, where the division lost about a third of its personnel and weapons. Fierce battles with the enemy continued in the following days of the war.

The motherland appreciated the merits of Valentin Yakovlevich Andreev. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of July 22, 1941, he was awarded the Order of the Red Star. The award list says;

"On June 22, 1941, the gun commander Andreev V. Ya. received the task in the Baranovichi area to take up a firing position on the edge of the forest on the right side of the highway coming from Slutsk, and prepare to open fire on enemy tanks. The firing position was taken in a timely and skilful manner, and surveillance was established... At a distance of 500 meters, he opened a well-aimed destructive fire from his gun at enemy tanks.

Despite the fact that the calculation was disabled by fragments of enemy shells 3 people. continued to conduct accurate fire... As a result, 6 tanks were destroyed and the movement of the enemy tank column was suspended. By his personal example, the gun commander T. Andreev encouraged his team to fight heroically against the German invaders. The fire was only stopped when an enemy shell disabled the cannon..."

During the defense of Mogilev, the life of Valentin Andreev was cut short. He never saw the Order of the Red Star on his chest.

"Hello, my dear parents!

I know that you are very worried about me. I myself am still under the impression of very pleasant and joyful meetings with you during my vacation. And now I'm at war.

Heavy fighting is taking place on our front. Civilians are being killed, villages are burning, and cities are being destroyed. Yesterday, when I was returning from a combat mission, I saw black smoke rising over the grain field, and flames raged under it. The horror of it all made my heart ache. We have a hard time holding back the onslaught of the fascists, who are rushing forward. And it will take a lot of effort to stop them, and then drive them out of our land.

Our people will never forgive the Hitlerite robbers for the atrocities they commit in our home and how they mock the Soviet people.

I'm still alive and well. There is almost no free time. Often you have to fly out to bomb the enemy. We also suffer from the fire of German anti-aircraft guns and the attacks of enemy pilots. But our guys are holding firm, not getting lost, and most importantly, they believe in our victory, although it is not without losses on both sides...

I ask you not to worry and not to miss me, take care of yourself. If I am going to die, you should know that I gave my life not in vain, for the happiness of our people, for my sunny Georgia, for my children.

I kiss you hard. Always with you. Your Vladimir Meladze. June 1941".

Yes, it was difficult to contain the onslaught of the Nazis near the Ukrainian city of Zhmerinka and the personnel of the 229th bomber regiment, in which the squadron navigator Major Vladimir Meladze fought. On the fourteenth day of the war, the regiment's bombers suffered losses in a battle with enemy fighters. Major V. Meladze was seriously wounded in the air. When the plane landed, he was taken to the hospital of Vinnytsia, where a few days later the navigator of the squadron died.

"Hello, my dear, beloved!.. This is not the time, my dear, to write about how much we miss our loved ones. You know that, and you know it perfectly well.

I read the papers, and my heart bleeds for these damned bastards who are so brutally destroying our wives, children, and mothers. My hands are itching to take revenge on them for all their outrages against our people. Soon I will be able to fulfill my duty as a warrior to the country. I promise you and my parents that I will do everything in my power to sink as many Nazi ships as possible. And you, my dear, bring up our daughter, because she is ours, you know, ours!..

In the meantime, my dear, I give you a big kiss and a dear Tick. Your Boris.

Tallinn. 28.07.1941".

Lieutenant Boris Gudkov in 1940 became the navigator of the submarine "Shch-301". On it, he met the war.

On August 10, 1941, "Shch-301" left Tallinn for a combat campaign and sank a fascist transport, two days later it destroyed another one. At the end of August, the submarine, having completed the raid, returned to Tallinn. The ships and vessels of the fleet based there were already leaving the port, and the submarine took its place in the caravan.

During the passage from Tallinn to Kronstadt, our fleet was subjected to continuous massive attacks by the enemy, and the ships, forced to maneuver to avoid them, came to the largest minefield set up by the Nazis-20 miles along the parallel and the same along the meridian. While avoiding the aerial bombs, some ships hit mines. Among them was the "Shch-301".

Thanks to the decisive actions of the navigator, Lieutenant B. Gudkov, 14 submariners were transferred to the boat. He himself did not have time to leave the submarine, which quickly disappeared into the abyss.

* * *

In the above letters, we are talking about the battles with the Nazis in different territories of the country-from the Barents Sea to the Black Sea. We will publish the frontline news of the soldiers who fought near Leningrad and Moscow in the next issue of the magazine.

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