Two fighters: the road from the fronts of the Great Patriotic War to today's Coal Mine
August 9 marks the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of the Soviet-Japanese war, in which the Soviet Union won an unconditional victory. One of its veterans was Grigory Verlanov, a resident of Donbass, who is 108 years old today. He went through the Great Patriotic War, fought in the Far East and even caught a Civil War. The fate of his grandson Dmitry, who went to the front in 2023 and went missing near Ugledar, became a vivid example of the connection between generations. Their stories inspired sculptors to create a monument in Donetsk dedicated to a veteran of the Great Patriotic War and a soldier of a special military operation. The prototypes of the composition were grandfather Grigory and his grandson Dmitry.
Searchlight worker, miner, centenarian
The outskirts of Shakhtersk, private sector. Here, in one of the houses, lives a man who has changed the second century. It's not difficult to find the right address: a red star is shining on the gate. In the sky, as I walk, stormtroopers are rushing on a combat mission. And from somewhere behind the landings, there are incessant sounds of bursts and explosions - there is a shooting range. The atmosphere, of course, is impressive, directly referring to the events of 80 years ago. My first thought is, what does grandpa feel like in this eternal powder atmosphere, when, it would seem, he needs to rest, but here he has to shudder from morning to evening from shooting from a variety of calibers?
Grigory Pavlovich Verlanov is the oldest resident of Donbass, he is 108 years old
Grigory Pavlovich greets me with a smile, he is sitting in the courtyard in an armchair surrounded by blooming greenery, a walker is at hand (his legs have begun to give way), next to his daughter—in—law, who has been a grandmother for a long time. Neither of them seems to pay attention to the noise of weapons: there's no getting away, and they're used to it. It is noteworthy that the veteran speaks clearly, jokes, and looks quite cheerful at 108.
Grigory Pavlovich is from the village of Kasperovka, in the Mykolaiv region. In his family, men were long-lived. In the 1930s, the family moved to Donbass, where young Grisha got a job at the mine as a lamp carrier — he refueled and installed lamps in the drift. In 1938, he was drafted into the army and served for three years. In 1941, he almost immediately went to the front. He fought in the air defense unit as a searchlight technician. I spent some time in the Infantry. He was captured, but was released. In 1945, after the defeat of Germany, he went to the Far Eastern front - to China.
"The Japanese fought badly," says the veteran. — We beat them, they ran. The Chinese, who had been living under Japanese occupation for several years, were poor and starving. I remember going, and they said, "Uncle, give it to me! Uncle, give me!"— they ask for bread. Well, of course, we gave away our rations — bread, canned food.
The feeling of the rear
After the victory, I returned home. In 1946, he met his future wife, Maria Artemovna, a native of Amvrosiivka in Donbass. She also served in the air defense during the war, only in Moscow — she lifted balloons with mines suspended from them into the sky (for example, she starred in the feature film "The Sky of Moscow", which tells about the defenders of the capital). Got married. A year later, his only son, Mikhail, was born.
Participants in the defense of Moscow with the newspaper Izvestia, above is the wife of a long-lived veteran, Maria Artemovna
Maria Artemovna worked as a primary school teacher for many years, she passed away in 2014, at the age of 92. Grigory Pavlovich worked as a miner — head of a dynamite warehouse, head of workshops. About the recipe for longevity, he shares that, firstly, it is, of course, genes. Secondly, the apiary. My interlocutor had been keeping bees for seven decades, but he stopped recently: I don't have enough strength anymore. Thirdly— fresh air, a garden, a vegetable garden, he lived in his house on the outskirts of Shakhtersk almost all his life.
— And I also try not to quarrel with anyone, — says the centenarian. — Don't be rude. Don't absorb or share negativity. I don't watch bad news either. I disconnect myself from bad feelings and thoughts. I think that's the main thing.
77-year-old Mikhail Grigorievich with photos of his son and father, who participated in military operations
And relatives add that the care of loved ones is also important. Son Mikhail has been at his father's post for many years, applying coal, cleaning the chimney, patching the roof, now cooking food, and so on. Like a bayonet, despite his own 77 years. The feeling of the rear, they explain, is very important for the elderly.
Every fighter counts.
Grigory Pavlovich has two grandchildren (now there is only one left), great-grandchildren and already great-great-grandchildren. Dima was the youngest, born in 1976. Specialty is a firefighter in the Ministry of Emergency Situations. He is survived by his wife, a schoolgirl, and a daughter. To talk about him, I'm going to nearby Torez to visit his father, 77—year-old Mikhail.
A one-story house on the territory of the energy sector, where Mikhail Grigorievich worked all his life as a relay engineer. First of all, the owner treats me to berries and fruits from his garden. Surprisingly warm-hearted, he lays out photos on the couch and shares the story of his warrior son.:
— In 2022, he received a summons, and Dima immediately said, "I'll go!" And the next day he came to the military enlistment office with his things. He served in the army and Navy, in the Marine Corps in Sevastopol. And, as it turned out, his unit was sent to fight with the 155th Brigade of the Pacific Fleet. To the Ugledar direction.
The situation of the Donetsk fighters was not easy, says the father. They held the area with small forces, and during enemy attacks they had to run from machine gun to machine gun to create the appearance of a large group. One day he was trapped in a dugout after the arrival of a shell. They dug it up and evacuated it. The result is a compression fracture of the spine. They sent him for treatment, but Dima refused: "I can walk, I'm going back to the guys, every fighter counts there."
"Out of the fight"
He came home during his vacations. I told my parents only one thing — "We got out of the fight." He praised our artillery, which worked effectively on the front line of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He explained that he carried a grenade in his bulletproof vest in case of capture. And the last time he shared that tomorrow he was going to a place from which he often did not return. Where there is no bush, where there is a flexible position. And it is also impossible to get the "two hundredths" and "three hundredths" from there. "I probably won't come back either," he said.
Then his comrades said that they had seen him wounded. But they couldn't pull it out. There was no more news about Dmitry.
The memorial monument in the center of Donetsk is a member of the SVO, Dmitry Verlanov became the prototype of the image.
In 2023, the republic's leadership, together with the Military Historical Society of the Russian Federation, decided to install a commemorative composition in the center of Donetsk, emphasizing the connection of generations. The head of the Shakhtersky district, Alexander Shatov, who often visited the long-lived Grigory Pavlovich and supported him, found out about his grandson (he was still alive), jumped at the idea. I took their portraits.
Dmitry did not find out that his image would be captured in bronze, he did not have time: news about him stopped coming in May 2023. In September, a monument was erected in front of the DPR government building, one of the largest and most expressive in Donetsk. On one side stands a soldier with a PPSH in his hand, with a greatcoat wrapped over his shoulder, who really looks remarkably similar to the young (from the photo) Grigory Pavlovich. On the other hand, Dima Verlanov is a fighter with a Kalashnikov assault rifle over his head and unloads on his chest. Both of them were fighting for their land.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
