The name of tankman hero Andrei Usov, a native of the Vitebsk region, has been included in the "Golden Book of St. Petersburg".

In the year of the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory, Andrey Mikhailovich Usov, a native of the Dubrovno district of the Vitebsk region, a participant in the legendary tank battle in August 1941 near Leningrad, became the first Belarusian whose name was entered into the Golden Book of St. Petersburg.

In the year of the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory, Andrey Mikhailovich Usov, a native of the Dubrovno district of the Vitebsk region, a participant in the legendary tank battle in August 1941 near Leningrad, became the first Belarusian whose name was entered into the Golden Book of St. Petersburg.

The volume of the Golden Book was delivered to the city on the Dvina River on the Day of the 71st anniversary of the liberation of Vitebsk, Dubrovno, and Tolochin from the Nazi invaders. The delegation of St. Petersburg residents was headed by the chairman of the executive committee of the public association "Golden Book of St. Petersburg" Sergey Grigoriev.

 

The next day, June 27, the Volume went to the hero's homeland. In Dubrovno, a solemn ceremony of inscribing the Belarusian's name in the Golden Book took place at the opening of the XXII International Festival of Folk Art "Dneprovskie Golosa". The ceremony was attended by the Deputy Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee Vladimir Terentyev, the Chairmen of the Dubrovno and Tolochin District Executive Committees Anatoly Lukashov and Sergey Egorov, the Chairman of the Regional Council of Veterans Gennady Egorov, and the heads of the regional organizations of the Belarusian public associations of the Red Cross and the Peace Fund, along with the delegation from St. Petersburg.

Since 1995, work has been underway to create a chronicle of glory for the city on the Neva. The Golden Book records the names of those who, with their good deeds, have served the cause of glorifying the City of Saint Peter. The volume includes the names of not only Russian emperors and outstanding figures in various fields, but also defenders of the Fatherland, in particular, twice Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Karpov, Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Marinesko, Zinovy Kolobanov (commander of a tank crew, combat comrade of Andrey Usov).

The Vitebsk Regional Veterans Organization is carrying out extensive research and organizational work to study and promote the feat of Andrey Usov. In particular, the veteran aktiv has collected over 10,000 signatures for a petition to include the name of their countryman in the Golden Book of the great city.

Vitaly SENKOV, "Vitbichi"

Photo by Mikhail Leshchinsky