The Karelian Isthmus is a territory similar to a triangle, located between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga and narrowing towards the Neva. In the political sense, the Karelian Isthmus is still called only a part of it, which was part of Finland in 1811-1940. The Karelian Isthmus is distinguished by the uniqueness of its ethnic history: its population has completely changed three times over three centuries. At the same time, the last settlement began in 1940, and in fact - in 1944. Because of this, the inhabitants of the region cannot be inspired by centuries-old traditions, unlike the inhabitants of many other Russian lands. In essence, the formation of a special identity of the inhabitants of the isthmus begins only in our time. There is no need to talk about local traditional art yet. But most of the settlers of the 40s. were citizens, everyone was literate, and even today, thanks to the proximity of St. Petersburg and the presence of their own educational institutions, thanks to which the inhabitants of the region are distinguished by a high level of education. And, probably, it is precisely from here that one can expect a rapid rise in culture and science.

The Karelian Isthmus is one of the most picturesque places in the Leningrad region. Its nature is good and majestic. Severe mighty coniferous forests; endless expanses and lakes with rocky shores; the huge, moss-covered boulders found everywhere are bizarre.

From north to south, the length of the isthmus is 150-180 km, from west to east - 55-110 km. From the west, the Karelian Isthmus is washed by the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea; from the east - by the stormy and deep Lake Ladoga. Coastal terraces overgrown with coniferous and birch forests rise above the strip of beaches stretching along the coast of the bay. In the northwestern part of the isthmus, the skerries of the Vyborg Bay deeply cut into the land.

People appeared on the land of the isthmus 6 thousand years ago. In the 9th century, the isthmus became the ethnic homeland of the Karelians. From about that time on, the Karelians became allies of Veliky Novgorod. At the turn of the 11th-12th centuries, on a large island formed by two branches of the Vuoksa River, the center of Novgorod possessions arose - the city of Korela.

From the middle of the XII century, the Karelian land became a theater of military operations in the continuous wars of Sweden with Novgorod, and then with the Moscow state. During these wars, the Swedes managed to push the Russians in the northwestern part of the isthmus. In 1293, the Swedish barons, who had captured all of Finland before that, landed on the small Volovy Island of the Vyborg Bay and, next to the old Novgorod settlement that had existed here since the beginning of the 11th century, laid their fortress, which received the name "Vyborg", that is, "sacred fortress". In 1323, according to the Orekhovets Treaty, the Russian-Swedish border was established. Karelian lands were divided. The westernmost part of the Karelians, having become Swedish subjects, converted to Catholicism and joined the Finnish ethnos. Most of the Karelians remained in Russian possessions.

In 1617, according to the Treaty of Stolbov, the entire Karelian Isthmus fell under the rule of Sweden. A significant part of the Orthodox population, both of Slavic and Finnish origin, refused to live under the rule of the Lutheran king, and moved to Russia. So the Karelian Isthmus lost the Karelians. The Finns-Suomi began to settle on the Karelian Isthmus, which later formed the ethnic group of the Ingrian Finns. So for the first time the entire population of the isthmus changed.

During the Northern War, the Karelian Isthmus was again reunited with Russia. The territory of the isthmus formed a separate Vyborg province of Russia, which also included the northern shore of Lake Ladoga. For a century, the history of the isthmus was no different from the history of the outskirts of the imperial capital.

But since 1811, the ethnic history of the isthmus has changed radically again. In this year, the idealist tsar Alexander I, annexed the Vyborg province, which occupied the isthmus, to the newly created Grand Duchy of Finland. Recall that after the last in the history of the Russian-Swedish war of 1808-1809, the Russians occupied all of Finland. At the same time, Finland did not at all become several new Russian provinces, but turned into an autonomous Grand Duchy. In essence, Finland became an independent state, connected with Russia only by a personal union - the autocratic Emperor of All Russia concurrently was also the constitutional Grand Duke of Finland. Wanting to bind new subjects to himself even more, Emperor Alexander I made such a royal gift to the principality. Interestingly, the Vyborg province in the principality was also called Old Finland.

So, from that time on, the Karelian Isthmus became part of Finland for 130 years. For the ethnic development of the isthmus, this historical period meant the final Finnization of the population of the isthmus, including its cities. For the economy of the Vyborg province of Finland, the proximity of St. Petersburg became the basis of prosperity.

Two revolutions in 1917 led to the collapse of the Russian state. Finland, which had nothing to do with Russia after the fall of the monarchy, declared independence. On December 31, 1917, this independence was recognized by Lenin.

In Finland, a civil war immediately began between the local Reds and Whites, which ended with the victory of the Finnish Whites. The White Finns were led by a Russian general of Swedish origin, a native of the Grand Duchy, K.G. Mannerheim, who became a “Finn” at the age of 50, and until the end of his long life (he died in 1951 at the age of 84) never learned to speak Finnish correctly. However, this war was not reduced only to civil strife among the Finns. The result of the war was the ethnic cleansing of Finland, and especially the isthmus close to the Soviet border, from the Slavic population.

So, Finland, in which the whites won, and whose official ideology was Russophobia, began to pose a threat to those who were 32 km away from Leningrad. This state of affairs persisted for 20 years!

During the short but very bitter war of the winter of 1939-40. Finland was defeated. According to the peace treaty of March 12, 1940, the new border approximately corresponded to the border of the Russian Empire and Sweden in 1721. The territories of the Karelian Isthmus, islands in the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea went to the Soviet Union. The border from Leningrad was moved 150 km away, which increased the city's defense capability during the Great Patriotic War.

The territory ceded to the USSR amounted to almost 7% of the territory of Finland as of 1939, and the total area of ​​the USSR, taking into account water areas, increased by 35,000 square meters. km. This territory was empty - the entire civilian population was evacuated from the isthmus in the autumn of 1939, before the war.

So, a rather significant territory went to the USSR, which had to be settled and developed. This task was all the more urgent because, firstly, almost all industrial enterprises and all infrastructure were destroyed during the hostilities and during the retreat of the Finns, who, leaving, blew up and destroyed everything that was possible. Thus, the newly annexed Karelian Isthmus was a huge pile of ruins.

Secondly, in 1940, the Soviet leadership had no doubt that after the “small” war with Finland, a big war with Germany and its allies would soon follow, among which Finland, thirsting for revenge, would inevitably be among them. Because of this, the issues of settling new territories were ten-degree for the Soviet leadership.

Nevertheless, the resettlement movement to the new Soviet territories carried out by the Soviet government in 1940-41 proved to be quite effective. Resettlement to the newly annexed areas were busy in 1940-41. The Resettlement Department under the Council of People's Commissars of the Karelian-Finnish SSR, the Resettlement Department under the Leningrad Region Executive Committee, as well as regional resettlement departments. The whole process of resettlement was carried out in the shortest possible time with austerity of funds, in the conditions of the militarized economy of the country.

The organized mass resettlement of Soviet people to the lands of the Karelian Isthmus began in May-July 1940. The state supported the settlers financially. They were provided with benefits that at that time looked very attractive: free travel, transportation of property and livestock (up to two tons per family were allowed); lifting - 1000 rubles for employees, and 300 rubles for dependents (the average salary in the USSR at that time was 339 rubles a month); house in the place of settlement - free of charge; a cow or a loan for its acquisition - in the amount of three thousand rubles. In addition, the settlers were forgiven for arrears and were given a three-year exemption from taxes and mandatory state deliveries.

As of January 1, 1941, the population of the new districts was 144.3 thousand people, including the urban population - 70.9 thousand, the rural population - 73.4 thousand people, of which there were 36.3 thousand collective farmers. This number does not include numerous military and temporarily seconded specialists and workers from Leningrad. By the summer of 1941, the number of settlers had increased even more, and reached the number of 197,600 people.

The results were not long in coming. By the beginning of June 1941, all pulp and paper mills in the new Soviet territories were restored and began to produce products. Also in the annexed areas for 1940-1941. A number of power plants were put into operation, giving current to both industry and the population of new territories.

From other branches of the Finnish industry of the Northern Ladoga region and the Karelian Isthmus, sawmilling, woodworking, logging, fishing, food and local industries were developed.

At the beginning of 1941, there were 202 primary, 33 incomplete secondary and 10 secondary schools in the regions of the Northern Ladoga and the Karelian Isthmus. An industrial technical school, a pedagogical school with a department of the Finnish language, an obstetric and dental school in Vyborg, an agricultural technical school in Sortavala, a forest technical school in Kexholm, two vocational schools in Vyborg and Enso, and some others were opened. Since immigrants arrived from all over the Soviet Union, it is not surprising that schools with national languages ​​of instruction began to open on the isthmus. So, only in the Vyborg region in 1940-1941. 6 schools were created to teach children in the Tatar language.

Along with educational institutions, cultural institutions were created on the former Finnish territory: theaters, cinemas, libraries, clubs, red corners, etc. A network of medical institutions was also established - hospitals, clinics, medical and obstetric stations, etc.

In the almost completely destroyed Vyborg, in a short time, most industrial enterprises were raised from ruins, streets, squares, squares were put in order, a significant number of residential buildings, water supply and sewerage were restored, electric lighting was installed, a tram began to function in the city, schools, clubs, theater, cinema, railway transport.

Settlement of the regions of the Karelian Isthmus in the period from 1940 to 1941. was the first experience of the Soviet development of deserted, but previously inhabited territories. The experience of the Karelian Isthmus was used after the Great Patriotic War when settling the Kaliningrad region and South Sakhalin.

In 1941-44, Finland again crossed arms with the USSR, but was again defeated. First, in the summer of 1941, the Finns captured the Karelian Isthmus and a number of "old" Soviet territories. In modern Finland and among the “free” Russian media, there is a myth that the Finns stopped near Leningrad on the personal order of Mannerheim, who was sentimental about the city of his youth. However, in reality, the Finns seriously planned to take Leningrad along with the Germans. The authorities of Finland, as the modern Russian researcher N. I. Baryshnikov notes, “a speech was specially prepared on the Finnish radio, which was supposed to be delivered immediately after the capture of Leningrad. This speech said: “For the first time in its history, the once so magnificent Russian capital, located close to our borders, has fallen. This news, as expected, lifted the spirit of every Finn.

Although the Finnish offensive against Leningrad bogged down, the territory of the Karelian Isthmus was again under Finnish rule. At the same time, the Russian population on the isthmus was no longer there - from the end of July 1941, the evacuation of the Soviet civilian population began.

But in the summer of 1944, Soviet troops again went on the offensive. In September 1944, Finland withdrew from the war. The Karelian Isthmus became Russian again. The Paris Peace Treaty of 1947 between the USSR and Finland finally confirmed the accession of these territories to the USSR.

Since 1944, even before the end of the war, a new stage in the development of the Karelian Isthmus began. Just as in 1940-1941, the returning and newly recruited population began to restore industrial enterprises, collective farms and state farms, educational, cultural and health institutions. All the destruction of the two wars was removed by hard work.

In 1948, almost all Finnish names of settlements, rivers and lakes of the isthmus were renamed. Most of the new names were fairly standard Soviet ones (Pervomaiskoye, Primorsk, Zelenogorsk, Gorkovskoye). A number of names immortalized the heroes of the wars with the Finns (Kirillovskoye, Balakhanovo, Veshcheva, Serovo, Tsvelodubovo). The village was named after the famous botanist, president of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, V. L. Komarov, in which the dachas of many scientists and cultural figures were located. The ancient Russian city of Korela, under the Swedes called Kexholm (in Finnish - Kyakisalmi), was named Priozersk. However, this is logical, since there are no Karelians left on the isthmus, and the city is really located near Lake Ladoga. Only Vyborg has retained its historical name.

The population of the Karelian Isthmus grew rapidly both due to the arrival of new settlers and as a result of a rather high natural increase. In 1959, the Resettlement Department under the Leningrad Regional Executive Committee of the Council of Workers' Deputies and local resettlement structures were abolished as having fully completed their task.

Since that time, the population of the Karelian Isthmus and the northern Ladoga region (in Karelia) has grown due to natural growth. In 1989, in addition to the military and vacationers, approximately 383,000 permanent civilians lived in the Karelian territories that belonged to Finland. Of these, 65% were city dwellers.

In Vyborg at the turn of the millennium, 80 thousand inhabitants lived, in Priozersk - 20 thousand, Svetogorsk - 15 thousand, Primorsk - 6 thousand.

The industry of the subregion also developed very efficiently. So, in the city of Primorsk (formerly Koivisto), the Buran reusable spacecraft was assembled, capable of flying autonomously, without a crew, which the American Shuttles could not do.

However, the main wealth of the isthmus is its unique natural conditions. In 1946, the creation of the resort area of ​​Leningrad began here, which acquired all-Union significance. Soon after the war, the health resorts of the Karelian Isthmus received up to 1.2 million vacationers a year. 300 thousand small Leningraders annually rested in pioneer camps and other children's institutions of the subregion.

In addition, many Petersburgers have their dachas here, so the real number of inhabitants of the isthmus is several times higher. Finally, there are constantly a large number of transit passengers traveling to or from the European Union.

The economic and political upheavals caused by the collapse of the USSR affected the Karelian Isthmus less painfully than in most regions of Russia. Of course, this does not mean that the Karelian Isthmus is flourishing. Unemployment, a high rise in crime, and other delights of Russian life during the triumph of democracy affected this subregion very sharply. In particular, like most of the lands of Russia, the death rate here also exceeds the birth rate. Proximity to Finland, which is a member of the European Union, contributed to the spread of AIDS. The space plant in Primorsk also closed.

But, on the other hand, due to the favorable geographical position of the isthmus, the general decline of the economy did not become comprehensive. At the beginning of the 21st century, the region experienced an economic boom. As already noted, the high level of education (in addition to the nearby northern capital with many universities, in Vyborg alone at the beginning of the century there were 7 universities), as well as a number of secondary educational institutions) allows us to hope for a future cultural upsurge, and that new art directions. So one can look at the future of the Karelian Isthmus with cautious optimism.

Ippo B. B., Turchaninov N. N., Shtin A. N. Karelian Isthmus. Lenizdat, 1962//http://hibaratxt.narod.ru/sprav/karelskyp/index.html

Great Soviet Encyclopedia. - T.32. - M., 1955. - S. 456.

V-n-baryshnikov.narod.ru/blokada.html

This war, also called the "winter war", arose as a result of unprovoked Soviet aggression against Finland. According to the secret annex to the Soviet-German non-aggression pact of August 23, 1939, Finland was assigned to the sphere of influence of the USSR. After the failure to conclude an agreement with Finland on military assistance and the deployment of Soviet bases in the country, as happened with the Baltic states, as well as the cession of the Karelian Isthmus and the Hanko Peninsula to the Soviet Union in exchange for twice the territory north of Lake Ladoga, Moscow decided to carry out the military occupation of Finland.

On November 26, 1939, NKVD officers carried out a provocative shelling of Soviet positions near the border village of Mainil. After that, the Soviet Union severed diplomatic relations with Finland, and on November 30, the Red Army launched a large-scale invasion of Finnish territory. A month earlier, a corps of the Finnish People's Army was formed in the USSR, designed to become troops of the puppet pro-communist government of the Finnish Democratic Republic, headed by a prominent figure in the Comintern, Otto Kuusinen.

On November 21, the troops of the Leningrad District and the Baltic Fleet subordinate to it received a directive from the Military Council of the Leningrad Military District, which noted: "The Finnish army has completed its concentration and deployment near the border of the USSR." The Soviet troops were ordered to launch an offensive, the plan of which was required to be submitted on November 22 (at the same time the order was given to begin advancing to the border). The duration of the operation was planned to be three weeks. At the same time, it was specifically stipulated: “A special directive will be given about the time of going over to the offensive,” and it was prescribed: “Preparation for the operation and taking up the starting position should be carried out covertly, observing all camouflage measures.” However, rumors of an impending Soviet attack circulated even among the civilian population of the border areas. On November 23, the political department of the LVO sent the following instructions to the troops: “We are not going as conquerors, but as friends of the Finnish people ... The Red Army supports the Finnish people, who stand for friendship with the Soviet Union ... Victory over the enemy must be achieved with little bloodshed” .

However, it was not possible to win with "little bloodshed". The frontal assault on the Mannerheim Line, the strength and impregnability of the fortifications of which Soviet propaganda subsequently exaggerated in every possible way, failed. The system of Finnish fortifications on the Karelian Isthmus was actually about 10 times inferior to the famous French Maginot Line in terms of the density of pillboxes, bunkers of guns and mortars, and even taking into account the smaller development of the road network compared to the border territories of France and the presence of a number of lakes in the area, did not represent an insurmountable obstacle to the armies of that time. Nevertheless, the Red Army failed in the first three weeks not only, as planned, to reach Helsinki, but even to break through the first strip of Finnish positions. On the Karelian Isthmus, by December 21, 1939, the Soviet offensive had completely stopped. On December 26, Soviet troops went on the defensive.

The Military Council of the 7th Army advancing on the Karelian Isthmus, led by Meretskov, sent a report to the Headquarters of the High Command, where it was reported that without the destruction of the main pillboxes of the enemy and measures for the engineering barrier of the approaches to the Finnish positions, a successful offensive was impossible.

The auxiliary strike, inflicted in difficult areas north of Lake Ladoga, ended in complete collapse. Two Soviet divisions were surrounded and almost completely destroyed. In total, five Soviet divisions were surrounded and almost completely destroyed in that area until the end of the war. The lack of preparation for the conduct of hostilities in general and in winter conditions in particular affected.

Only having brought up reinforcements, the Red Army resumed the offensive on the Karelian Isthmus on February 1, 1940. Now the North-Western Front under the command of S.K. Timoshenko, which included two armies - the 7th and 13th. They undertook several partial offensive operations to disorient the enemy as to the direction of the main attack. Every day for several days, Soviet troops bombarded the fortifications of the Mannerheim Line with 12 thousand shells. The Finns answered rarely, but aptly. Red Army soldier of the 97th rifle division N.K. Shevchuk recalled: “From the Finnish side, 3-4 volleys or artillery shots thundered in response. The first projectile was undershot, the second was a flight, and the third or fourth accurately covered our gun "Therefore, Soviet artillerymen had to abandon the most effective direct fire and fire from closed positions and mainly in areas, since reconnaissance of targets and adjustment were poorly established. Five divisions of the 7th and 13th armies, which carried out a private offensive, could not succeed.

On the morning of February 11, a general offensive began. The artillery preparation lasted 2.5-3 hours. On the first day, the divisions of the 7th Army were able to wedge into the defense system of the Sumy fortified knot, the fall of which the front command hastened to notify Moscow on the same day. In fact, the Amount was taken only on 14 February. The 13th Army also pushed back the Finns and reached the Muolaa-Ilves-Salmenkaita-Ritasari line. The Finnish command, realizing that the breakthrough in the Summa area could not be eliminated, on February 23 began a retreat to the rear defensive zone in order to maintain the integrity of the front. By that time, on the 21st, the Red Army was forced to halt its offensive due to heavy losses and depletion of ammunition.

The attacks resumed two days later. At the same time, the Finns managed to inflict a partial defeat on several battalions of the 23rd Rifle Corps of the 13th Army and even take prisoners, but this did not affect the overall course of the fighting. By the end of February, Soviet troops reached the Finnish rear defensive positions in the Vyborg region. The battle for this city continued until the conclusion of a truce.

Meanwhile, Soviet-Finnish negotiations began to end the war. Stalin became convinced that the Kuusinen government did not enjoy any support among the people, and the Finnish People's Corps was incapable of fighting. The Soviet leader foresaw that in the spring of 1940 large-scale battles between German and Anglo-French troops would unfold in the West. He wanted to have by this time the main forces of the Red Army at hand in order to strike Germany at the right moment and secure his hegemony in Eastern and Central Europe. Therefore, it was temporarily decided to abandon the complete conquest of Finland, limiting itself to the capture of a number of border territories. In addition, the first battles showed that the Soviet troops were unable to quickly defeat the Finnish army.

As early as January 2, 1940, R. Grenval, adjutant of Marshal Mannerheim, who had maintained secret radio communications with Moscow since the mid-1930s, visited Stalin in the Kremlin. However, no ceasefire agreement was reached. At the same time, from information about this conversation, it became clear to Mannerheim that the Soviet Union was soon going to concentrate its main military efforts in the West, and this opened up prospects for achieving a compromise Soviet-Finnish peace.

On February 5, in Stockholm, V. Tanner met with the Soviet plenipotentiary in Sweden, AM Kollontai. Prior to this, through Swedish Foreign Minister Karl Günther, the Soviet side made it clear that the treaty could now be concluded only on more stringent terms than those discussed in the autumn of 1939. On the same day, February 5, the Supreme War Council of England and France decided to send an expeditionary force to Scandinavia to help Finland. The Swedish government seriously considered

there was the possibility of sending battalions of volunteers to help the Finns (two of them arrived at the northern sector of the front at the end of February and replaced the Finnish brigade there, which was being transferred to the Karelian Isthmus) Foreign Minister V. Tanner and Commander-in-Chief Mannerheim were skeptical about the reality of the Anglo-French landing Minister R. Ryti believed that this promise could be used to put pressure on the Soviet Union.

Two British divisions, destined to be sent to France, were left in the mother country and began preparations for a landing in Norway, together with 1-2 French divisions. It was believed that for effective assistance to Finland, forces of at least 30-40 thousand people were needed. However, the allies did not know what to do if Sweden and Norway refused to transit.

The subsequent failures of the Finnish army on the Karelian Isthmus forced Helsinki to waver between making a difficult peace and being able to continue resistance with the help of the Western allies. Tanner was told in Stockholm that Sweden would not send regular troops to Finland, but was ready to assist in achieving peace. On February 17, the Swedish government announced that it would not allow troops from England and France to enter its territory. On February 22, Moscow informed Sweden of its conditions: the lease of the Hanko Peninsula for a period of 30 years, the transfer to the Soviet Union of the entire Karelian Isthmus, together with Vyborg, and the Sortavala region northeast of Lake Ladoga. The new border, thus, approximately corresponded to that established by the Nystadt peace in 1721 after the Great Northern War. Finland was also to conclude an agreement with the Soviet Union on the joint defense of the Finnish

Meanwhile, the troops of the 7th Army on March 2 reached the approaches to Vyborg from the south, and units of the 13th Army pushed the Finns to the Vuoksa River, threatening Kexholm. At dawn on March 4, a bridgehead was captured on the western shore of the Vyborg Bay. Finnish troops in Vyborg were threatened with encirclement. On March 7, the 50th Corps cut the Vyborg-Antrea railway. With counterattacks, the Finns were able to somewhat slow down the advance of the Soviet units, but they did not reach a radical change. Formations of the 13th Army crossed Vuoksa, and the 8th Army of Stern was preparing to encircle the enemy in the Loimola region north of Lake Ladoga.

The failures of the Finnish troops forced Helsinki to gradually accept the Soviet conditions, no matter how difficult they were. Mannerheim feared that the fatigue of the Finnish troops, who had already put all the reserves into action, could lead to the fact that the front was about to collapse. Niukkanen believed that the army, especially with Western support, could still hold out long enough. Ryti hoped that Sweden would enter the war on the side of Finland, which would help stop the Soviet offensive on the Karelian Isthmus. He agreed to accept the help of the expeditionary corps of England and France only as a last resort.

Finland was prompted not only by Sweden, but also by Germany to conclude peace as soon as possible. The Germans heard rumors of an impending Anglo-French landing in Scandinavia. Hitler rightly saw this as a threat to be cut off from Swedish iron ore. The German Foreign Ministry advised the former Finnish Prime Minister T. Kivimäki, who visited Berlin at the end of February, to make peace on any terms and wait for the end of the world war in order to receive compensation from the winners.

Mannerheim recalled: “On March 11, the British and French governments issued declarations expressing their intention to help Finland if she asked for it. But in the face of unclear factors that could have led to a possible continuation of the war, the Finnish delegation signed the peace treaty late in the evening of March 12th. On the same day, the governments of England and France decided to send an expeditionary force to Scandinavia, regardless of the official Finnish request.

The landing was scheduled for 20 March. By then, the Allies hoped to persuade the Finns to ask for help. At a meeting of the British Cabinet on March 12, the head of the Foreign Office, Lord Halifax, said: “Russia is afraid of Germany and does not want to see Germany too strong ... At the same time, she does not want war with us ... If war starts with Russia, she, may be limited to individual theaters of war and not escalate into a formal declaration of war.” The allies still hoped that in the event of the landing of the expeditionary force, the case, at worst, would be limited to local skirmishes with the Soviet troops and would not escalate into a major war. On the 12th, the first ships had already put to sea, but were returned after receiving news of the conclusion of peace by Finland.

The peace signed in Moscow was difficult for Finland. The territory of the Karelian Isthmus with Vyborg, the islands in the Gulf of Finland, the western and northern coasts of Lake Ladoga with the cities of Kexholm, Sortavala, Suoyarvi, the territory further north of Ladoga with the city of Kuolajärvi and part of the Rybachy and Sredny peninsulas in the Far North went to the Soviet Union. Petsamo, captured by the Red Army in the first days of the war, was returned to the Finns. The Hanko Peninsula was leased to the Soviet Union for 30 years to create a naval base there. On March 31, 1940, the territories ceded by Finland, with the exception of the Karelian Isthmus, were united with Soviet Karelia into the Karelian-Finnish SSR, the party organization of which was headed by the same Kuusinen. The Finnish Democratic Republic was no longer remembered, but the Karelian-Finnish Union Republic and the 71st Special Division remained, as it were, "an armored train on a siding." In the event of a favorable military-political situation, the rest of Finland could always be added to it. Stalin wanted the government in Helsinki to remember this.

The Red Army in the "winter war" suffered very heavy losses. According to the lists compiled after the Great Patriotic War, 131,476 people did not return from the Finnish front in 1939-1940. According to some reports, up to 20-25 percent of the dead were not included in these lists, so that the true death toll may reach 170 thousand people. About 5,655 Soviet servicemen were captured (according to some estimates, up to 6,000). Of these, more than 5.5 thousand were repatriated to their homeland, 111 people (according to other sources - 113) died in captivity from wounds and diseases, and more than 20 people (according to other estimates, more than 100) remained in Finland. From 150 to 450 Soviet prisoners enrolled in the anti-Soviet Russian People's Army, which, under the leadership of Stalin's former secretary Boris Bazhanov, was going to fight against the Bolsheviks side by side with the Finns, but did not have time to join the battle. The fate of the servicemen of this army is not completely clear even today. Whether most of its fighters were repatriated to the USSR, whether some of them received a secret asylum in Finland, in addition to those who officially remained on Finnish territory until mid-1941, or whether they were transported to third countries according to Finnish documents, it is not yet possible to determine exactly. The losses of the Red Army in the wounded and sick, in all likelihood, exceeded 500 thousand people. The armored forces of the Red Army irretrievably lost 650 tanks in battles with the enemy, about 1800 were knocked out, and more than 1500 were out of action for technical reasons. The Finns captured 131 tanks as trophies. The irretrievable losses of Soviet aviation amounted to at least 522 aircraft (of which 182 crashed in accidents). The Finns irretrievably lost 67 aircraft and 27 tanks.

Finnish losses amounted to 22,810 soldiers who died in battle and died from wounds, diseases, and in captivity. In addition, 1,029 civilians were killed during the fighting, mainly due to aerial bombardment. Of the 11,370 foreign volunteers (including 8,042 from Sweden) who arrived in Finland, 43 people died and 190 were injured. The loss of the Finnish army by the wounded reached 43,557 people (out of this number, approximately 200 wounded were captured). 863 Finnish soldiers and officers returned from captivity, and 20 people chose to remain on Soviet territory. As a result of the Soviet-Finnish war, Finland turned into an enemy of the USSR and in 1941 became an ally of Germany. The Finnish territories captured by the Red Army did not bring any strategic benefits to the aggressor. All these territories were recaptured by the Finns within one or two months after the German attack on the Soviet Union. Almost all the fortifications of the Mannerheim Line were blown up by Soviet sappers in the spring of 1940 - in the spring of 41. Stalin did not imagine that the Red Army would ever have to defend against the Finns. On the contrary, he hoped to repeat the trip to Finland very soon and this time to conquer the "Suomi-beauty". But even the defeat of Germany in World War II and the successful offensive of the Soviet troops on the Karelian Isthmus in the summer of 1944 did not lead to the occupation of Finland. The Finns were then able to inflict very heavy losses on the attackers and maintain their independence, although, according to the terms of the armistice in September 1944, they were forced to give Pechenga to the Soviet Union.

On June 10, 1944, the Vyborg-Petrozavodsk operation began. The offensive of the Soviet troops in Karelia in 1944 was already the fourth "Stalinist blow". The blow was carried out by the troops of the Leningrad Front on the Karelian Isthmus and the troops of the Karelian Front in the Svir-Petrozavodsk direction with the support of the Baltic Fleet, the Ladoga and Onega military flotillas.

The strategic operation itself was subdivided into the Vyborg (June 10-20) and Svir-Petrozavodsk (June 21-August 9) operations. The Vyborg operation solved the problem of defeating the Finnish troops on the Karelian Isthmus. The Svir-Petrozavodsk operation was supposed to solve the problem of liberating the Karelian-Finnish SSR. In addition, local operations were carried out: Tuloksinskaya and Björkskaya landing operations. The troops of the Leningrad and Karelian fronts, which had 31 rifle divisions, 6 brigades and 4 fortified areas, participated in the operations. The Soviet fronts numbered more than 450 thousand soldiers and officers, about 10 thousand guns and mortars, more than 800 tanks and self-propelled guns, more than 1.5 thousand aircraft.

The fourth "Stalinist strike" solved several important tasks:

The Red Army provided support to the allies. On June 6, 1944, the Normandy operation began, the long-awaited second front was opened. The summer offensive on the Karelian Isthmus was supposed to prevent the German command from transferring troops to the west from the Baltic;

It was necessary to eliminate the threat to Leningrad from Finland, as well as important communications that led from Murmansk to the central regions of the USSR; liberate the cities of Vyborg, Petrozavodsk and most of the Karelian-Finnish SSR from enemy troops, restoring the state border with Finland;

The headquarters planned to inflict a decisive defeat on the Finnish army and withdraw Finland from the war, to force it to conclude a separate peace with the USSR.

background

After the successful conduct of the winter-spring campaign of 1944, the Headquarters determined the tasks of the summer campaign of 1944. Stalin believed that in the summer of 1944 it was necessary to clear the entire Soviet territory of the Nazis and restore the state borders of the Soviet Union along the entire line from the Black Sea to the Barents Sea. At the same time, it was obvious that the war would not end on the Soviet borders. It was necessary to finish off the German "wounded beast" in his own lair and free the peoples of Europe from German captivity.

On May 1, 1944, Stalin signed a directive to start preparing the troops of the Leningrad and Karelian fronts for the offensive. Particular attention was paid to the need to conduct an offensive in the specific conditions of the terrain, in which the Red Army had already had to wage a difficult and bloody struggle during the Winter War of 1939-1940. On May 30, the commander of the Karelian Front, K. A. Meretskov, reported on the preparations for the operation.

On June 5, Stalin congratulated Roosevelt and Churchill on their victory - the capture of Rome. The next day, Churchill announced the start of the Normandy operation. The British Prime Minister noted that the start is good, the obstacles have been overcome, and large landings have successfully landed. Stalin congratulated Roosevelt and Churchill on the successful landing of troops in northern France. Also, the Soviet leader briefly informed them about the further actions of the Red Army. He noted that, according to the agreement at the Tehran Conference, an offensive would be launched in mid-June on one of the important sectors of the front. The general offensive of the Soviet troops was scheduled for the end of June and July. On June 9, Joseph Stalin additionally informed the British Prime Minister that the preparations for the summer offensive of the Soviet troops were being completed, and on June 10 an offensive would be launched on the Leningrad Front.

It should be noted that the transfer of military efforts of the Red Army from south to north was unexpected for the German military-political leadership. In Berlin, it was believed that the Soviet Union was capable of carrying out large-scale offensive operations in only one strategic direction. The liberation of the Right-Bank Ukraine and the Crimea (the second and third Stalinist strikes) showed that the main direction in 1944 would be the south. In the north, the Germans did not expect a new big offensive.

Side forces. THE USSR. To carry out the Vyborg operation, the troops of the right wing of the Leningrad Front were involved under the command of Army General (from June 18, 1944 Marshal) Leonid Alexandrovich Govorov. The 23rd Army was already on the Karelian Isthmus under the command of Lieutenant General A. I. Cherepanov (in early July, the army was led by Lieutenant General V. I. Shvetsov). It was reinforced by the 21st Army of Colonel-General D.N. Gusev. Gusev's army was to play a major role in the offensive. Given the power of the Finnish defense, in three years the Finns built powerful defensive fortifications here, which strengthened the Mannerheim Line, the Leningrad Front was significantly strengthened. Two breakthrough artillery divisions, an artillery and cannon brigade, 5 artillery battalions of special power, two tank brigades and seven regiments of self-propelled guns were transferred to its composition.

The 21st Army under the command of Dmitry Nikolaevich Gusev included the 30th Guards, 97th and 109th Rifle Corps (a total of nine rifle divisions), as well as the 22nd fortified area. Gusev's army also included: the 3rd Guards Artillery Breakthrough Corps, five tank and three self-propelled artillery regiments (157 tanks and self-propelled artillery mounts) and a significant number of separate artillery, sapper and other units. The 23rd Army under the command of Alexander Ivanovich Cherepanov included the 98th and 115th rifle corps (six rifle divisions), the 17th fortified area, one tank and self-propelled artillery regiment each (42 tanks and self-propelled guns), 38 artillery divisions. In total, both armies had 15 rifle divisions and two fortified areas.

In addition, the 108th and 110th rifle corps from the 21st Army (six rifle divisions), four tank brigades, three tank and two self-propelled artillery regiments were in the reserve of the front (in total, the tank group of the front consisted of more than 300 armored vehicles) , as well as a significant number of artillery. In total, more than 260 thousand soldiers and officers were concentrated on the Karelian Isthmus (according to other sources - about 190 thousand people), about 7.5 thousand guns and mortars, 630 tanks and self-propelled guns and about 1 thousand aircraft.

From the sea, the offensive was supported and provided by coastal flanks: the Red Banner Baltic Fleet under the command of Admiral V.F. Tributs - from the Gulf of Finland, the Ladoga military flotilla of Rear Admiral V.S. Cherokov - Lake Ladoga. From the air, the ground forces were supported by the 13th Air Army under the leadership of Lieutenant General of Aviation S. D. Rybalchenko. The 13th Air Army was reinforced at the expense of the reserves of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command and consisted of about 770 aircraft. The air army included three bomber air divisions, two attack air divisions, the 2nd Guards Leningrad Air Defense Fighter Air Corps, a fighter air division and other units. Aviation of the Baltic Fleet consisted of about 220 aircraft.

Plans of the Soviet command. The terrain was difficult - forests and swamps, which made it difficult to use heavy weapons. Therefore, the command of the Leningrad Front decided to strike the main blow with the forces of Gusev's 21st Army in the coastal direction in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bSestroretsk and Beloostrov. Soviet troops were to advance along the northeastern coast of the Gulf of Finland. This made it possible to support the offensive of the ground forces with naval and coastal artillery, and the landing of amphibious assault forces.

Cherepanov's 23rd army was supposed to actively defend its positions in the first days of the offensive. After the 21st Army reached the Sestra River, Cherepanov's army was also supposed to go on the offensive. The remaining three armies of the Leningrad Front, concentrated on the Narva sector of the Soviet-German front, were supposed to intensify their operations at that time in order to prevent the transfer of German divisions from the Baltic to the Karelian Isthmus. In order to misinform the German command, a few days before the Vyborg operation, the Soviet command began to spread rumors about the proximity of a major Red Army offensive in the Narva region. To this end, a number of reconnaissance and other activities were carried out.

Finland. The main forces of the Finnish army opposed the Soviet troops on the Karelian Isthmus: parts of the 3rd Corps under the command of Lieutenant General J. Siilasvuo and the 4th Corps of General T. Laatikainen. In this direction, there was also a reserve of the commander-in-chief K. G. Mannerheim. On June 15, they were combined into the Karelian Isthmus Task Force. The group included: five infantry divisions, one infantry and one cavalry brigades, the only Finnish armored division (located in the operational reserve in the Vyborg region), as well as a significant number of separate units. Three infantry divisions and an infantry brigade occupied the first line of defense, two divisions and a cavalry brigade - the second line. In total, the Finns had about 100 thousand soldiers (according to other sources - about 70 thousand people), 960 guns and mortars, more than 200 (250) aircraft and 110 tanks.

The Finnish army relied on a powerful defensive system that had been created on the Karelian Isthmus during the three years of the war, as well as on the improved Mannerheim Line. The defense system in depth and well prepared on the Karelian Isthmus was called the Karelian Wall. The depth of the Finnish defense reached 100 km. The first line of defense went along the front line, which was established in the autumn of 1941. The second line of defense was located approximately at a distance of 25-30 km from the first. The third line of defense ran along the old "Mannerheim Line", which was improved and further strengthened in the Vyborg direction. Vyborg had a circular defensive belt. In addition, the rear, the fourth line of defense, passed outside the city.

In general, the Finnish army was well-equipped, had extensive experience in fighting in the wooded, swampy and lake areas. Finnish soldiers had high morale and fought hard. The officers supported the idea of ​​"Great Finland" (due to the annexation of Russian Karelia, the Kola Peninsula and a number of other territories) advocated an alliance with Germany, which was supposed to help Finnish expansion. However, the Finnish army was significantly inferior to the Red Army in terms of guns and mortars, tanks, and especially in aircraft.

Finnish soldiers in hiding, June 1944

The offensive of the Red Army

Start of the attack. Breakthrough of the first line of defense (June 9-11). On the morning of June 9, the artillery of the Leningrad Front, coastal and naval artillery began to destroy the previously discovered enemy fortifications. On the 20-kilometer section of the front in front of the positions of Gusev's 21st Army, the density of ground artillery fire reached 200-220 guns and mortars. Artillery fired without interruption for 10-12 hours. On the first day, they tried to destroy the long-term defensive structures of the enemy throughout the entire depth of the first line of defense. In addition, they conducted an active counter-battery fight.

At the same time, Soviet aircraft dealt a massive blow to enemy positions. About 300 attack aircraft, 265 bombers, 158 fighters and 20 reconnaissance aircraft of the 13th Air Army and Naval Aviation took part in the operation. The intensity of airstrikes is evidenced by the number of sorties per day - 1100.

The air and artillery strike was very effective. Later, the Finns admitted that as a result of Soviet fire, many defensive structures and barriers were destroyed or badly damaged, and minefields were blown up. And Mannerheim wrote in his memoirs that the thunder of Soviet heavy guns was heard in Helsinki.

Late in the evening, the reinforced advanced battalions of the 23rd Army began reconnaissance in force, trying to break into the Finnish defense system. In some areas there was little success, but in most areas there was no progress. The Finnish command, realizing that this was the beginning of a major offensive, began to condense the battle formations.

In the early morning of June 10, Soviet artillery and aviation resumed attacks on Finnish positions. The ships of the Baltic Fleet and coastal artillery played an important role in the strikes in the coastal direction. 3 destroyers, 4 gunboats, batteries of the Kronstadt and Izhora coastal defense sectors, and the 1st Guards Naval Railroad Brigade participated in the artillery preparation. Naval artillery attacked Finnish positions in the Beloostrov area.

The effectiveness of artillery preparation and air strikes on June 9-10 is evidenced by the fact that 130 pillboxes, armored caps, bunkers and other enemy fortifications were destroyed only in a small area in the Beloostrov area. Almost all the barbed wire was demolished by artillery fire, anti-tank obstacles were destroyed, minefields were blown up. The trenches were badly damaged, the Finnish infantry suffered heavy losses. According to the testimonies of the prisoners, the Finnish troops lost up to 70% of the composition of those units that occupied the forward trenches.

After a three-hour artillery preparation, units of the 21st Army went on the offensive. Artillery, after the completion of artillery preparation, carried out support for the advancing troops. The main blow was delivered on the Rajajoki front section - Stary Beloostrov - height 107. The offensive began successfully. The 109th Rifle Corps under the command of Lieutenant General I.P. Alferov advanced on the left flank - along the coast, along the railway to Vyborg and along the Primorskoye Highway. In the center, along the Vyborg highway, the 30th Guards Corps of Lieutenant General N.P. Simonyak advanced. On the right flank, in the general direction of Kallelovo, the 97th Rifle Corps of Major General M. M. Busarov was advancing.

Gusev's army broke through the enemy's defenses on the very first day (in Moscow, this success was marked with a salute). The 30th Guards Corps advanced 14-15 km in a day. Soviet soldiers liberated Stary Beloostrov, Mainila, crossed the Sestra River. In other areas, progress was not so successful. The 97th Corps went to Sister.

To develop success, the command of the Leningrad Front created two mobile groups from tank brigades and regiments, they were given to the 30th Guards and 109th Rifle Corps. On June 11, Soviet troops advanced another 15-20 km and reached the enemy's second line of defense. Near the village of Kivennape, which was a key node of the Finnish defense, a Finnish tank division launched a counterattack against the Soviet troops. Initially, her attack had some success, but the Finns were soon driven back to their original positions.

On the same day, Cherepanov's 23rd Army launched an offensive. The army struck with the forces of the 98th Rifle Corps of Lieutenant General G. I. Anisimov. In the afternoon, the right-flank 97th Corps of the 21st Army was transferred to the 23rd Army. Instead of Gusev's 21st Army, the 108th Rifle Corps was transferred from the front reserve.

The Finnish 10th Infantry Division, which held the defense in the direction of the main attack, was defeated and suffered heavy losses. She ran to the second line of defense. On June 11, she was taken to the rear for reorganization and replenishment. The Finnish command was forced to urgently transfer troops from the second line of defense and from the reserve (3rd Infantry Division, Cavalry Brigade - they were in the second line of defense, a tank division and other units) to the line of defense of the 4th Army Corps. But this could no longer radically change the situation. Realizing that it would not work to hold the first line of defense, by the end of the day on June 10, the Finnish command began to withdraw troops to the second line of defense.

In addition, Mannerheim began to transfer troops to the Karelian Isthmus from other directions. On June 10, the Finnish commander ordered the transfer of the 4th Infantry Division and the 3rd Infantry Brigade from eastern Karelia. On June 12, the 17th division and the 20th brigade were sent to the Karelian Isthmus. Mannerheim hoped to stabilize the front in the second line of defense.

To be continued…

The territory north of Leningrad and located between Lake Ladoga and the Gulf of Finland has been called the Karelian Isthmus since ancient times.

In ancient times, there was a direct waterway from Lake Ladoga to the Gulf of Finland along the Vuoksi River through the northwestern part of the Karelian Isthmus. Along this route, the population of the Ladoga region and the northern part of the Karelian Isthmus communicated with the Gulf of Finland and further with the Baltic Sea. Near the confluence of the Vuoksi River into Lake Ladoga, a settlement arose, which received the name Korela, which later had the names Kexholm, Kyakisalmi, Priozersk.

Karelians were the ancient population of the Karelian Isthmus. Since ancient times, the Karelians have entered into relations with their southern neighbors - the eastern Slavs of the Novgorod land. Soon, after the formation of the ancient Russian state, the Karelians became part of it and linked their fate forever with the great Russian people.

In the 12th and 13th centuries, the small Karelian village of Korela turned into a city and established close political, economic and cultural ties with the northwestern Russian city of Novgorod.

Through Korela, mutually beneficial trade of Karelian lands with Novgorod and further with other regions of Russia is carried out. The main goods in this trade were the wealth of the northern forests.

The city of Korela became the administrative center of the Korelsky land, subject to Novgorod.

From the end of the 13th century, Swedish expansion began on the Karelian Isthmus. In 1293, the Swedish knights landed on the shores of the Gulf of Finland at the western end of the Vuoksa waterway and founded the city of Vyborg. In 1295, the Swedes captured the city of Korela and built fortifications there. However, the Karelians, together with the Novgorodians, again liberated the city, destroyed the fortifications and captured the Swedish garrison.

In 1310, the Novgorodians built a new fortress in Korela, and although the struggle for the Karelian Isthmus continued for several decades, with the powerful fortress of Korela and the support of the Karelian population, the Russians managed to defend the eastern half of the Karelian Isthmus from conquest by the Swedes.

At the end of the 15th century, all Russian lands united into a Russian centralized state headed by Moscow. Together with Novgorod and its vast possessions, the city of Korela with the territory of the Karelian land surrounding it also became part of the Russian state.

In 1580, the Swedish government launched an operation to capture the Russian border regions. In November 1580, the Korela fortress was besieged and taken by the Swedes and the entire Karelian Isthmus was captured.

At the beginning of the 17th century, taking advantage of the sharply aggravated class struggle in Russia and the brewing peasant war, the neighboring feudal states of Poland and Sweden organized an armed intervention in order to seize Russian lands.

Weakened by a long internal struggle and intervention, Russia was forced in 1617 to conclude a difficult Stolbovsky Treaty with Sweden, according to which the Russian lands seized by them adjacent to the sea - the banks of the Neva and the Gulf of Finland, as well as the city of Korela with the Korelsky district, passed into the hands of Sweden. The city of Korela was renamed by the Swedes to Kexholm.

Instead of Russian and Karelian residents, a new population began to appear in the city, who moved from Finland - Finnish merchants, artisans and other classes. On the territory of the Korelsky district, the Swedes established a difficult feudal regime, the oppression of the Swedish state and Swedish landlords. Karelian peasants began to leave their homes and go to Russian possessions.

At the beginning of the 17th century, Peter I began a war with the Swedes for access to the Baltic Sea. The Russians returned the mouth of the Neva River, where in 1703 the city of Petersburg, the future capital of Russia, was founded.

Since that time, the acute issue of ensuring the safety of St. Petersburg from the attack of the Swedes has arisen. Soon, Narva and Dorpat were taken on the western approaches to it, and the Swedish troops were driven back deep into the Baltic. However, the northern approaches to the new capital and the Karelian Isthmus were still in the hands of the Swedes. Based on the fortresses located on the isthmus - Vyborg and Kexholm, the Swedes kept St. Petersburg under the constant threat of attack.

After the decisive victory at Poltava in 1709, Russian troops went on the offensive on the shores of the Baltic.

In the spring of 1710, Peter I launched an operation to capture the Karelian Isthmus. After a three-month siege, the fortress of Vyborg fell, and after a two-month siege, the fortress of Kexholm was taken.

Under a peace treaty with Sweden in 1721, the return of the Karelian Isthmus with Vyborg and Kexholm to Russia was finally secured.

In 1910, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of this victory, a monument to Peter I was erected on a high rock by the sea in the city of Vyborg.

As a result of the Russo-Swedish War of 1808-1809, Finland was annexed to Russia and became part of the Russian Empire under the name "Grand Duchy of Finland".

Knowing that the population of Finland had been under the rule of Sweden for centuries and was exposed to Swedish propaganda, which instilled in the Finnish people a feeling of enmity towards Russia, the tsarist government decided to grant autonomy rights to the annexed territory of Finland, thereby preserving local laws and customs so that the population of Finland did not resist the new government and so that this territory would not become a hotbed of unrest and uprisings on the outskirts of the Russian capital.

In December 1811, Alexander I presented Finland with the Karelian Isthmus and the Russian-owned Vyborg Governorate with the cities of Vyborg and Kexholm. Almost the entire territory of the Karelian Isthmus up to the Sestra River and the current Orekhovo station went to Finland. Finnish administration appeared on this territory, the composition of the population changed. The city of Vyborg was renamed Viipuri, and Kexholm was renamed Kyakisalmi.

On December 18, 1917, the Soviet government, at the request of the Finnish government, granted independence to Finland. Its border with Soviet Russia was established in the southern part of the Karelian Isthmus from the Beloostrov station in the vicinity of the Rasuli (Orekhovo) station and to Lake Ladoga along the previously existing border of the Grand Duchy of Finland.

In the area where the border passed, there are a number of historical sites, such as Copper Lake, on which the dam of the copper smelter, which operated in the 18th century to melt bells into guns, remains. The height at which Peter I made peace with the Swedes was called "Peace is here." Over time, the name was transformed and turned into "Mertut".

After Finland gained independence by decision of the government of the young Soviet republic in December 1917, Finnish reaction linked its fate with the enemies of the Soviet Union.

In 1918, the government of Finland turned to the reactionary government of Germany for armed assistance to suppress the revolutionary action of the workers and peasants of Finland.

In the spring and summer of 1918, the Finnish White Guards took part in the Entente's campaign against Petrograd.

In 1924-1925. under the guidance of foreign specialists, mainly English, the Finnish army was reorganized, in addition, a new system of its equipment was developed.

Considering that Leningrad was located at a distance of 32 kilometers from the border with Finland and, bearing in mind the militaristic preparations of Finland, the issue of strengthening the northern border of the Soviet state became very acute.

On the basis of the decision of the Soviet government, the People's Commissariat of Defense by order No. 90/17 of March 19, 1928 created a department for military construction work on the construction of the Karelian fortified region under the command of brigade engineer Yakovlev within the boundaries: Lake Ladoga - the Gulf of Finland, along the state border.

October 12, 1928 is considered the birthday of the Karelian fortified region. It was one of the first fortified areas created on the northwestern borders of our state.

The deployment and construction of military installations, the formation of units took place under the direct supervision of the hero of the Civil War M. N. Tukhachevsky, who at that time was the commander of the Leningrad Military District.

The secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee of the Bolshevik Party Sergei Mironovich Kirov and the party organizations of Leningrad provided great assistance in the construction.

The workers of Leningrad enterprises, united in detachments, mainly communists and Komsomol members, took part in the construction of military installations.

Since 1930, the protection of the state border on the Karelian Isthmus was entrusted to the Karelian UR, reinforced by a separate artillery brigade.

PREPARATION OF FINLAND FOR WAR WITH THE USSR

Military construction work in Finland was carried out at the expense of England, France, Sweden, Germany and the United States, under the guidance of the largest specialists in these countries.

Finland was visited by military ministers and chiefs of general staffs of major European states.

Such voyages especially intensified during the European crisis in 1938-1939, when the Second World War was already underway in most of Europe.

In 1938, the German military-technical commission and the commander of the Swedish engineering troops, General Alin, visited Finland, in 1939 - the commander-in-chief of the British army W. Kirk, the Swedish minister of war P. E. Scheld and the chief of the general staff of the German ground forces, General F. Halder.

General Kirk, according to the testimony of the English public figure D. Pritt, expressed satisfaction with Finland's intensified preparations for an anti-Soviet war. He was especially satisfied with the Mannerheim line, which consisted of three fortifications and two intermediate ones with a total length of up to 90 kilometers and numbering 296 long-term reinforced concrete and 897 granite structures, some of which could withstand 152-mm and 203-mm shells.

All this indicated that the government of Finland did not care about establishing good neighborly relations with the USSR, but about preparing for the participation of their country in the anti-Soviet war as part of any European coalition.

It is clear that in the conditions of the aggravated military-political relations in Europe, the Soviet Union could not remain indifferent to what was being planned on its borders.

The military preparations of Finland, in which the aggressive imperialist states were interested, were aimed at creating a springboard for war with the USSR.

In 1938, Finnish reactionary circles began a secret remilitarization of the Åland Islands, although, according to the international convention of 1921, Finland was obliged not to arm them.

The Soviet government was concerned about the situation on the Soviet-Finnish borders. In April 1938, the Soviet embassy in Helsinki told the Finnish government of the urgent need to improve Soviet-Finnish relations and take measures that would strengthen the security of both the Soviet Union and Finland.

The Government of Finland recognized this formulation of the issue as natural and agreed to appropriate negotiations. At that time, the governments of England, France, Sweden and Germany took all measures to disrupt the negotiations between the USSR and Finland and prevent the signing of an agreement.

The Export-Import Bank of the United States at that time handed over a loan of 10 million dollars to Finland. Assistance to Finland was also promised by Western European states.

At a time when negotiations were underway in Moscow, a member of the Finnish government, E. Erkko, at a meeting of the foreign commission of the Seimas, said: “We will not make any concessions to the Soviet Union and will fight at all costs, England, America and Sweden promised to support us ".

On October 13 and 14, 1939, the mobilization of spares was announced in Finland and general labor service was introduced.

The evacuation of the population from the city of Helsinki, Vyborg, Tampere, the zone of the Karelian Isthmus and the coast of the Gulf of Finland began.

By the end of November, Finland deployed its troops on the border of the USSR. These troops included 9 infantry divisions, 5 infantry brigades, 5 separate infantry regiments, 2 jaeger battalions and one cavalry brigade.

In addition, Finland had trained reserves, consisting of 300-400 thousand people, including 100 thousand Schutskorovites (Finnish fascists).

The navy had 29 different ships, and the air force had 270 aircraft.

The Finnish command hoped to tie up the main forces of the Red Army on the Mannerheim line before receiving effective military assistance from Western states, after which, together with the Allied troops, go on a counteroffensive and transfer military operations to Soviet soil.

Based on this, the main forces of Finland under the command of General Esterman concentrated on the Karelian Isthmus. The operational formation of Esterman's army consisted of 3 echelons. In the first echelon, 24 separate battalions and a cavalry brigade were deployed to cover the barrier zone. In the 2nd echelon, on the main line of fortifications - the Mannerheim Line, were the 4th, 5th, 10th and 11th infantry divisions.

In the 3rd echelon, units of the 6th and 8th infantry divisions deployed on the second (rear) defensive zone. The cities of Viipuri (Vyborg), Kyakisalmi (Kexholm) and Sortavala were covered by jaeger battalions and detachments of the Schützkors.

At the talks in Moscow, the Soviet government proposed to Finland to move the state border on the Karelian Isthmus 120 km to the north, and instead of the territory ceding to the Soviet Union, Finland received the territory of Karelia twice as large.

However, the Finnish delegation did not show any compliance, and on November 28, 1939, the USSR denounced the non-aggression pact concluded with it and recalled its diplomatic representatives. The Soviet government at that time gave the order to the high command of the Red Army and the Navy to be ready for all sorts of surprises and immediately stop possible sorties from the Finnish military.

SITUATION ON THE BORDER OF THE KARELIAN ISTH
BEFORE THE STARTING OF HOSTILITIES IN 1939

In 1929, military installations were built along the front line of defense and in the same year the administration of the commandant of the Karelian fortified area was formed, the 15th and 17th separate machine-gun battalions (each of six companies - five machine-gun companies, the sixth company - economic) and 151- th separate communications company.

The office of the commandant of the Karelian fortified area was located in Leningrad in the Peter and Paul Fortress. A. A. Inno (a Finn, former commander of the Petrograd International Military School) was appointed commandant of the KaUR, and A. V. Blagodatov was appointed chief of staff.

The 15th separate battalion occupied the area from Lake Ladoga to Lembalovo, the headquarters was located in Agalatovo (in 1935, the headquarters of the 15th bulbat moved to Kuyvozi).

The 17th separate battalion occupied the Lembalovo - Elizavetinka - Sestroretsky Kurort area, the battalion headquarters in Levashovo.

In 1932, the construction of the Mertut substation began to provide light and ventilation for military structures and electrify barriers.

In 1936, the civilian population was evicted from the area occupied by the fortified area.

In connection with the increased military training on the part of Finland on the Karelian Isthmus, the Soviet state was also forced to take measures to further strengthen the northern border.

In 1935-1936, the construction of military camps began - Garbolovo, Oselki, Chernaya Rechka, Sertolovo I and II. The 90th Rifle Division from Ukraine and the 70th Rifle Division from the Volga Military District were transferred to this area. The 19th Rifle Corps was also organized, which included, in addition to the 90th and 70th Rifle Divisions, the 24th Rifle Division. Since the autumn of 1936, the defense of the Karelian Isthmus was entrusted to the 19th Rifle Corps. The 90th Rifle Division covered the strip of the area from Lake Ladoga to Lake Lembalovsky. The headquarters was located in Oselki. The 70th Rifle Division covered the line from Elizavetinka to the Gulf of Finland. The headquarters was located in the village of Black River. The reserve 24th rifle division was stationed in Leningrad. The 19th Rifle Corps was reinforced with two corps artillery regiments.

In 1936, the office of the commandant of the fortified area was abolished. The construction of new structures and fortifications continued. The 15th and 17th separate bulbats, in accordance with the occupied areas, were assigned to rifle divisions.

In July 1938 and October 1939, on the basis of the 90th and 70th rifle divisions, the 7th and 106th separate fortress battalions were formed.

The military-political situation was heating up. The Soviet government was forced to take urgent measures to ensure the security of the northwestern borders.

In September-October 1939, when fascist Germany attacked Poland, the Soviet government offered the Baltic states to conclude mutual assistance treaties, and such treaties were signed.

Soviet troops entered these countries and began to create air and naval bases for the defense of our neighbors. At that time, English and German instructors who were in Finland were intensively preparing Finnish troops for war with the USSR.

WAR WITH FINLAND FROM NOVEMBER 30, 1939 TO MARCH 13, 1940

The provocative sorties of the Finnish military on the border intensified. In November 1939, provocative shots of the Finns thundered in the area of ​​​​the village of Mainila, where our units were located - four fighters were killed, nine were wounded.

On November 30, 1939, the troops of the Leningrad Military District went on the offensive on the Karelian Isthmus. Fortified machine-gun battalions also operated as part of rifle divisions. They were removed from the line, and one or two companies were left to protect structures and property under the command of Colonel Lazarenko, deputy commander of the 70th Infantry Division.

This is how one of the participants in the Finnish campaign, junior political instructor Comrade Katasonov, recalls the beginning of events.

“On the afternoon of November 29, a combat order was received. Began intensive preparations for the campaign. Late in the evening, from the headquarters they reported: "It is ordered to cross the border tomorrow, November 30." Party and Komsomol meetings were held at night, and then a rally. Never before have I seen such gatherings. Speeches are short, clear, precise, words coming from the heart. And not a resolution was born by itself, but a solemn, born with a single impulse, an oath - to win. Soldiers rise one after another. In their speeches there is an ardent love for the people, the party, an oath of allegiance to the Motherland.

This is how the night goes. It's still dark. Noisy forest. Soldiers silently move towards the border, silently take up firing positions, choose shelters, lie down near machine guns. A bright streak appeared on the horizon. With impatience, the fighters are waiting for the signal to start the offensive. 7 hours 40 minutes. 7 hours 50 minutes. Cautiously, so as not to make noise, people check the bolts of rifles, machine-gun belts. Commands are whispered. 8 ocloc'k. Rockets crackle into the sky, illuminating the black tree trunks. At the same time, gun thunder rolls. Artillery preparation began. Shell explosions are visible on the Finnish side of the Sestra River. Lying in the snow, we watch the destruction being done by our artillery.

8 hours 30 minutes. Artillery fire subsides. The sudden silence is broken by the powerful roar of the engines of tanks and tractors. The infantry follows the tanks, the artillery moves. Under the onslaught of tanks, the Finns take to flight. They hastily mine the roads along the route of our troops. The border post of the USSR - Finland was left behind.

On the Karelian Isthmus, in the main direction, the 7th Army under the command of the commander of the 2nd rank L.F. Yakovlev delivered a blow to the Finnish army.

During the outbreak of hostilities, the military council of the district, guided by the instructions of the High Command of the Red Army, concentrated its main efforts on the Karelian Isthmus. The troops to the north of Lake Ladoga were tasked with tying down the Finnish forces in this area, preventing the landing of amphibious assault forces of the Western powers in northern Finland.

The troops of the 7th Army were tasked with advancing along the highway and railways leading to Vyborg. A breakthrough in a section of 17 km was to be carried out by two rifle corps, reinforced by three tank brigades, one tank battalion and twenty artillery regiments. An auxiliary strike was delivered on the Keksholm direction.

On November 30, 1939, after a 30-minute artillery preparation, Soviet troops in the north went on the offensive and blocked the northern coast of Lake Ladoga for 10 days.

On the Karelian Isthmus, Soviet troops met stubborn resistance in the first days and by the end of the day advanced only five to six kilometers. Two days later, the 142nd Rifle Division and the 10th Tank Brigade approached the main Finnish defense line - the Mannerheim Line. Other formations of the 7th Army reached it only on December 12th.

The actions of the army were actively supported by the Baltic Fleet under the command of the flagship of the fleet of the 2nd rank V.F. Tributs, as well as the Northern Fleet.

Naval paratroopers occupied a number of islands located to the west of Kronstadt - Seiskari (Seskar), Lavansari (Powerful), Sursari (Gogland), Narvi (Nerva), Someri (Sommers), and in addition, the Finnish part of the Kalastayasaarento peninsula (Rybachy and Sredny peninsulas ) in the Barents Sea. The fleet blocked Finland from the sea.

The battles in the zone of the foreground required enormous physical and moral effort from the personnel of the troops.

The Military Council of the Leningrad District decided to force the water line in the zone of the 142nd Infantry Division. To do this, the 49th and 150th rifle divisions, reinforced by artillery, were combined into a special group under the command of commander V. D. Grendal. It was supposed to force the Taipalen-Joki (Burnaya) River and go to the rear of the Finnish fortifications, and the 142nd Infantry Division was to force the isthmus in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bLake Suvanto-Järvi (Sukhodolskoye) and the Vuoksi River near the Kiviniemi station (Losevo).

On December 6, 1939, Taipalen-yoki was forced with great difficulty, and six battalions of infantry were transferred there. However, it was not possible to develop further success.

The offensive in the conditions of a lake wooded area and the widespread use by the enemy of various obstacles in combination with natural boundaries demanded great effort, perseverance and heroism from the Soviet troops. Deep snow, up to two meters, excluded the advancement of troops and especially equipment off the roads, and the paths suitable for movement were covered by Finnish troops and permanent structures.

The Finnish army already at that time had machine guns. The first period of the offensive of the Soviet troops revealed shortcomings in their training and management. Some units were not sufficiently trained to conduct combat operations in these conditions. Despite the heroism and courage during the fighting, overcoming obstacles by individual soldiers and commanders, it soon became clear that the breakthrough of the Mannerheim Line could take a protracted nature and lead to unnecessary losses.

The offensive launched on December 7 in the Kiviniemi (Losevo) area was also unsuccessful. It was suspended, and the preparation of troops for a general offensive began.

In December 1939, the formation of the 13th Army began.

To strengthen the leadership of the troops on the Karelian Isthmus, the commander of the 7th Army was appointed commander of the 2nd rank K. A. Meretskov, members of the Military Council - A. A. Zhdanov and divisional commissar N. N. Vashugin. Chief of Staff - Brigade Commander G.S. Isserson. Commander V. D. Grendal was appointed commander of the 13th Army, and Corps Commissar A. I. Zaporozhets was appointed a member of the Military Council.

To unite the actions of both armies, the North-Western Front was formed, headed by the commander of the 1st rank S.K. Timoshenko. The Military Council included A. A. Zhdanov, Chief of Staff Commander 2nd Rank I. V. Smorodinov, Air Force Commander E. S. Ptukhin and Corps Commissar A. N. Melnikov.

The headquarters of the Leningrad district, by decision of the Headquarters, was reorganized into the headquarters and management of the North-Western Front.

In order to prepare troops for skiing in the winter in a lake-wooded area in severe frosts and to gain experience in storming long-term lines and reinforced concrete structures, the Main Military Council decided to begin comprehensive training of troops.

The front received the task of preparing offensive operations with the aim of breaking through the Mannerheim line, defeating the main forces of the White Finns on the Karelian Isthmus, with the subsequent exit of Soviet troops to the line Kexholm (Priozersk) - Antrea station (Kamenogorsk) - Vyborg.

The main blow was inflicted on the Vyborg direction, auxiliary - on the Keksholm direction and through the Vyborg Bay.

For the operation were involved:

13th Army consisting of:
nine divisions, six regiments of the High Command reserve, three corps artillery regiments, two divisions of armored vehicles, one tank brigade, two separate tank battalions, five air regiments and one cavalry regiment;

7th Army:
twelve divisions, seven artillery regiments of the High Command reserve, four corps artillery regiments, two divisions of armored vehicles, five tank and one machine-gun brigades, ten air regiments, two separate tank battalions;

Reserve group Stavka consisting of:
three rifle divisions, a tank brigade and a cavalry corps.

For almost a month, Soviet troops were carefully preparing to break through the Mannerheim Line. Leningrad factories provided the troops of the front with new means of combat and protection - mine detectors, armored shields, armored sledges, sanitary sleds.

Work was done to prepare the starting line for the offensive.

The capacity of the railways of the Leningrad junction increased, new roads and bridges were built, and the network of dirt roads was improved. Trenches were laid in the direction of enemy pillboxes, trenches were dug, command and observation posts were built, firing positions for artillery were prepared, starting positions for tanks and infantry.

During the period of preparation of the troops, the fighting at the front did not stop. On the basis of intelligence data, the fortifications of the main Finnish defense line were destroyed by artillery and aviation. A significant part of the structures of the Mannerheim Line was destroyed by artillery fire before the start of the decisive offensive.

In addition to destructive actions, massive methodical fire exhausted the enemy.

Only the artillery of the 7th Army consumed about twelve thousand shells and mines daily.

In addition, in the final period of preparation from February 1 to February 10, private operations were carried out by the 100th, 113th and 42nd rifle divisions of the 7th army, as well as the 150th and 49th rifle divisions of the 13th army for the purpose of thorough reconnaissance of the enemy defense and disorientation regarding the timing of the main attack, checking the readiness of the troops for the upcoming offensive.

By the end of January 1940, preparations for the offensive were basically completed. On February 3, 1940, the Military Council of the front approved the final version of the operation plan. The 13th Army was tasked with breaking through the fortified zone in the area from the mouth of the Taipalen-Yoki (Burnaya) River to Lake Muolan-Yarvi (Glubokoye) with a subsequent attack on the Kexholm (Priozersk) line - Antrea Station (Kamenogorsk), delivering the main blow with the left flank between lakes Vuoksi-järvi and Muolan-järvi by the forces of five rifle divisions and a tank brigade, supported by six artillery regiments.

An auxiliary strike was planned to be delivered on the left flank by two rifle divisions. In the center of the army, in order to pin down the enemy, it was supposed to attack with the forces of one division. On the fourth or fifth day of the operation, the immediate task of the army was to reach the Lokhi-Yoki line (Solovyevo, on the shores of Lake Ladoga) - Purpua (area north of the central part of Lake Sukhodolskoye) - Lake Suvanto-Jarvi (Sukhodolskoye) - Ritasari (the area of ​​​​the mouth of the Bulatnaya River) - Ilves (area north of Lake Glubokoe) (to a depth of twelve kilometers).

The 7th Army received the task of breaking through the enemy's fortified zone in the section of Lake Muolan-Jarvi (Deep) - Karhula (Dyatlovo) with a subsequent attack on the front station Antrea (Kamenogorsk) - Vyborg. The army delivered the main blow on its right flank on the Muolan-Järvi-Karhula front with nine divisions, five tank and one rifle machine-gun brigade, supported by ten artillery regiments. An auxiliary strike was delivered on the left flank by two rifle divisions. The next task was to reach the line Ilves (the area north of Lake Glubokoe) - the station Kamarya (Gavrilovo) - Khumola (Mokhovoe) (ten-twelve kilometers deep) on the fourth or fifth day.

On February 11, 1940, after a powerful artillery preparation, the infantry and tanks of both armies went on the attack under the cover of a barrage of fire. The decisive stage of the fighting has come. By February 14, units of the 7th Army (123rd Rifle Division) broke through the main line of Finnish defense on the front six kilometers and to a depth of six to seven kilometers. By the end of February 16, the breakthrough in the zone of the 7th Army had reached a width of eleven to twelve kilometers and a depth of eleven kilometers.

In the zone of the 13th Army, units of the 23rd Rifle Corps came close to the front edge of the fortified area of ​​Muola - Ilves.

On February 16, the reserve divisions of the front were brought into battle in the main direction. In the afternoon, the Finns, unable to withstand the blow, retreated, leaving their positions from Muolan-järvi to Karhul and west from Karhul to the Gulf of Finland.

On the morning of February 17, the troops of the 7th Army began to pursue the enemy. The pace of advance increased to six to ten kilometers a day. By February 21, the Soviet units cleared the enemy from the western part of the Karelian Isthmus, the islands of Koivisto (Bjerke, Bolshoi Berezovy), Revon-sari (Fox), Tiurin-sari (Western Berezovy) and Piy-sari (Northern Berezovy).

The mobile groups of the 7th Army, advancing ahead of the infantry, were stopped in front of the second lane of the Finnish defense. On February 21, the front command ordered the main divisions to be withdrawn from the battle for rest and replenishment, the advancing troops to be regrouped, and reserves to be brought up. On February 28, after artillery preparation, our units again went on the offensive. Unable to withstand the onslaught, the Finnish troops began to retreat along the front of the breakthrough from Vuoksi to the Vyborg Bay.

During February 28-29, the troops of the 7th Army broke through the second line of defense, and from March 1 to March 3 they reached the approaches to Vyborg.

Encouraged by the successes of the 7th Army, the 13th Army, having crossed the Vuoksi River with part of its forces in two places, developed an attack on Kexholm (Priozersk), threatening to encircle two Finnish divisions. Other troops of this army went to Lake Noskuanselka (Big Graduevskoye), in the area of ​​​​Noskuanselkya - Repola, cutting the Vyborg - Antrea (Kamenogorsk) railway. The 7th Army reached the Saimaa Canal, seizing the enemy's Vyborg grouping from the northeast.

Having crossed the Vyborg Bay, the Soviet troops captured a bridgehead on its western coast along a front of forty kilometers and a depth of thirteen kilometers, cutting off the Vyborg-Helsinki highway.

In the first days of March, a crucial moment came for the Soviet troops - the battles for the city of Vyborg. The Finnish command attached great importance to the reliability of the defense of Vyborg. It hoped that measures to strengthen it would prolong the war and make it possible to wait for active assistance from Western states. To this end, Lieutenant-General K. L. Esh, Chief of the General Staff, was placed at the head of the troops defending Vyborg. In addition, at the end of February, the Finns blew up the locks of the Saimaa Canal, flooded the suburbs of the city and the squares in front of it for tens of square kilometers.

To encircle the enemy grouping and defeat it, the 10th and 28th rifle corps were to take up a position west of the Saimaa Canal. The successful actions of the troops of the 7th Army created the conditions for the complete encirclement of Vyborg. On March 11, Soviet troops approached the Vyborg suburb of Karjala (named after Kirov). Despite the stubborn resistance of the enemy, on March 13, units of the 7th Infantry Division reached the prison and railway station building. The division captured the eastern and southeastern regions of Vyborg. The fate of Vyborg was sealed. Vyborg was taken.

Each day of continued hostilities brought Finland closer to a military disaster.

Having suffered a military defeat, the Finnish government turned to the Soviet government with a request for peace. On March 12, 1940, as a result of negotiations in Moscow, a peace treaty was signed. On March 13, at 12 o'clock, in accordance with the terms of the peace treaty, hostilities along the entire front were stopped. The peace treaty obliged Finland not to participate in coalitions hostile to the USSR.

The Finnish parts of the Kalastayasaarento peninsula (Rybachy and Sredny peninsulas) were transferred to the Soviet Union. The USSR received a thirty-year lease on the peninsula of Hanko. The border on the Karelian Isthmus was moved 150 kilometers away from Leningrad.

The Karelian Isthmus, as an ancient Russian land, has again returned to the composition of the Russian land.

In the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939, units of the Red Army gained rich experience in combat operations in the winter conditions of breaking through a powerful fortified area. Parts of the Karelian fortified region also received this combat experience, which took an active part from the beginning of preparations for hostilities and until victory.

A lot has been written about the valor, courage and heroism of the Red Army soldiers in these battles, but at least some examples of the fighting of the fortified area units should be noted. At the time of crossing the border, the calculation of the field power plant of the 30th separate electrical engineering company under the command of junior military technician Lisunov Kuzma Evdokimovich was especially distinguished. On the instructions of the command, the group prepared to disable the equipment and communication lines of the enemy. At the bridge over the Sestra River, on the very border, at night, preparations were made for the operation. The field power plant was brought up and installed on the outskirts of the village of Aleksandrovka. In the morning, just before the start of hostilities, by connecting electric current to the communication line in the Vyborg direction, all the equipment of the enemy telephone and telegraph communications in the Rayajoki (Solnechnoye) and Terijoki (Zelenogorsk) areas was disabled. For this operation, junior military engineer Lisunov was awarded the Order of the Red Star, and the rest of the group was awarded the medal "For Military Merit".

On December 15, 1939, two machine-gun platoons - Kutikhina and Sturov, together with rifle units, received an order to attack enemy firing points located on the northern shore of Lake Suvanto-yarvi (Suhodolskoye).

The units, by their actions, were supposed to divert the attention of the enemy and thereby provide an opportunity for the neighbor on the right to deliver the main blow to the enemy from the flank.

The path of the attackers passed through a snow-covered lake. Attack signal. Under a hail of bullets, the fighters rushed forward, but the attack bogged down. Enemy fire pinned the fighters to the ground. A few minutes later, junior lieutenant Shutikhin rose to his full height, dragging the fighters with him. Bursting into enemy positions, Shutikhin received a through wound in the thigh. The command of the platoon was taken over by his assistant Khrabrov. He also confidently and boldly led the actions of the platoon and completed the combat mission to the end. The platoon of Junior Lieutenant Sturov also acted boldly and skillfully. Both officers were awarded the Order of the Red Star, and the commander of the Brave squad was awarded the medal "For Courage".

Most Finns are hunters and excellent skiers. The command of the Finnish troops skillfully used these qualities of soldiers and officers to organize sabotage detachments and groups in order to penetrate our rear to organize sabotage, attack columns of units, headquarters, and rear.

The subdivisions of the machine-gun battalions of the fortified area were often used to cover the flanks and junctions of units, guard headquarters, rear areas and important communications. They had to fight to destroy enemy sabotage groups.

One of the machine-gun companies under the command of Senior Lieutenant Tsingauz was surrounded. The path to the rear was cut off by an enemy sabotage group. It was necessary to reconnoitre the enemy forces. The department, headed by junior lieutenant Bondarev, expressed a desire to go into intelligence. The fighters left early in the morning in white camouflage robes and, after walking about three kilometers, began to cautiously enter the ruined village. Suddenly, machine guns and machine guns crackled from behind the pipes and skeletons of houses. The detachment turned into battle formation and entered the battle. The forces were unequal. The White Finns, seeing that there were few fighters, surrounded them, but the fighters did not flinch, courageously fought to the end.

The platoon that came to the rescue was late. All seven men died a heroic death. Their names are: junior lieutenant L. V. Bondarev, squad leader V. V. Mankov, Red Army soldiers I. P. Kukushkin, V. Ya. Zhigalov, I. V. Luchin, Z. Sh. Khodyrov, I. I. Bogdanov. The memory of them remained forever in the hearts of the Soviet people.

There was such a case: under the cover of a dark night, a group of White Finns surrounded the Red Army soldier Zanka. The enemies crept silently, but Zanku discovered them and, since they were already close, first set off hand grenades, and then, deploying a machine gun, opened fire. The enemy in a panic hid in the forest. The Red Army soldier Zanku was wounded in this battle, but did not leave his machine gun and his combat post. For bravery and courage, he was awarded the medal "For Military Merit".

On January 13, 1940, a machine-gun platoon under the command of Lieutenant P. A. Ananich was located at the junction between the 1st and 3rd rifle battalions of the 701st rifle regiment and covered the headquarters of this regiment. A group of White Finns with a strength of up to a company, having gone hidden from the flank, attacked the platoon, with the aim of destroying the guards, breaking through to the headquarters, defeating it, taking prisoners and documents.

Having cut the connection and surrounded the platoon from three sides, the Finns went on the attack with shouting and noise. Platoon commander Ananich gave the command to take up all-round defense. The enemy was driven back by grenades and machine-gun fire. Three times the enemies went on the attack, but each time they were met by heavy machine gun fire and grenade explosions. With heavy losses, the White Finns hid in the forest. Lieutenant Ananich was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for skillful actions, valor and courage in defending headquarters.

There were many other examples when the fighters of the Karelian fortified area showed skill, ingenuity, courage, courage and devotion to the Motherland.

In the difficult conditions of the combat situation, the fighters of the UR units connected their best thoughts with the Communist Party. The Communists were in the forefront and in the most dangerous areas, by their personal example they carried people away to military exploits. The death of heroes was killed in battle by the junior political instructor Pavlotsky, the commissar of the 40th separate machine-gun battalion, the senior political instructor Panin, and the junior political instructor Antonov.

Many regular officers of the fortified area, commanders of platoons and companies, who distinguished themselves in battles, were promoted during the Great Patriotic War to the positions of commanders of units of the fortified regions of the Leningrad Front. Among them are Podkopaev, Ostroumov, Kosarev, Khasanov, Levchenko, Shirokov, Gerasimov, Shalygin, Bataev, Shutikhin, Solovyov and others.

In connection with the relocation of the state border, the 19th Rifle Corps changed its location. His 142nd and 115th rifle divisions reached the section of the new border from Sortavala (exclusively) to Enso (Svetogorsk) (exclusively), to the left of their border in the Enso - Gulf of Finland section was covered by the 123rd and 43rd divisions of the 50th rifle corps.

At the turn of the Karelian fortified area in August 1940, the 22nd fortified area was formed, which included the 1st, 13th, 7th, 106th and 4th separate machine gun battalions, a communications battalion, the 125th separate sapper battalion, 30th and 33rd separate electrical companies. The Office of the 22nd UR is located in the village of Chernaya Rechka. Colonel Yermolin was appointed commandant (he died at the beginning of 1941), brigade commissar Dranichnikov was appointed commissar.

In January 1941, by order of the Leningrad Military District, the 4th OPAB (battalion commander - Captain Sintsov) in full force with weapons (1119 people, 107 heavy and 60 light machine guns) was withdrawn from the 22nd UR and transferred to the area north of Vyborg , where the construction of a new fortified line was being completed at the turn of Enso - the Gulf of Finland. The battalion became part of the 50th Rifle Corps, whose headquarters was located in the city of Vyborg. The 13th and 7th battalions were transferred to the Rybachy Peninsula, and new ones were organized instead. The Karelian Isthmus lived a peaceful life within the Soviet Union for only about 15 months.

PATRIOTIC WAR ON THE KARELIAN ISTH

Already in 1940, when Germany began to prepare an attack on the USSR, alarming intelligence reports began to appear at the headquarters of the Leningrad District that the German troops occupying Norway were studying not the Norwegian language, but Russian. Other scouts reported that the attack on Leningrad would take place in the spring of 1941.

On the territory of Finland, active preparations were made for military operations. Roads to the borders of the USSR were intensively built. Forbidden zones were created in the border areas, free passage to port cities located on the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia was prohibited.

From June 1, 1941, covert mobilization and the transfer of troops to the Soviet border was carried out in Finland. German troops appeared in Finland.

Taking into account the situation, the Military Council of the district took measures aimed at increasing the readiness of our troops. On June 19, 1941, all the troops of the Leningrad District were put on alert No. 2. The situation became more and more alarming. At half past one in the morning on June 22, the Military Council received from Moscow a telegram from People's Commissar for Defense Marshal of the Soviet Union S. K. Timoshenko and Chief of the General Staff G. K. Zhukov, warning of the possibility of a German attack on the Soviet Union. At dawn on June 22, German troops, treacherously violating the 1939 treaty, began military operations against the USSR.

In the north, the Nazi troops, together with the Finnish troops, developed the Blue Fox plan, according to which the army of fascist Germany "Norway" was given the task of capturing Murmansk and Kandalaksha, and the Finnish troops, advancing between Lake Ladoga and Onega and on the Karelian Isthmus, were to join the German troops on the Svir River and in the Leningrad region.

At 04:30 on June 22, 1941, an order was received from the People's Commissar of Defense not to allow anything that could aggravate relations with Finland. By eight o'clock in the morning on June 22, 1941, a directive regarding further actions was received from the People's Commissar of Defense at the headquarters of the Leningrad District:

"one. Troops to attack the enemy forces with all their strength and means and destroy them in areas where they violated the Soviet border. From now on, until further notice, the ground troops will not cross the border.

2. Reconnaissance and combat aviation to establish the places of concentration of enemy aviation and the grouping of its ground forces ... Do not make raids on the territory of Finland and Romania until special instructions.

Troops began to advance to the lines of defense.

On June 24, the Northern Front was formed on the basis of the administration and troops of the Leningrad Military District. Lieutenant General M. M. Popov was approved as front commander, Major General D. N. Nikishev was approved as chief of staff, corps commissar N. N. Klementyev, divisional commissar A. A. Kuznetsov and brigade commissar T. F. Shtykov.

On June 24, the Headquarters of the High Command of the Armed Forces of the USSR informed the Military Councils of the Northern Front, Northern and Red Banner Baltic Fleets that German aviation was being concentrated in Finland to strike at Leningrad, Murmansk and Kandalaksha.

On June 25, to prevent an attack by enemy aircraft on Leningrad, a preemptive air strike was carried out against 19 enemy airfields. 487 sorties were made, 130 enemy aircraft were destroyed on the ground and 11 were shot down in the air. Air strikes on enemy airfields and concentrations of troops continued in the following days.

At the beginning of 1941, Lieutenant General M.A. Popov was appointed commandant of the 22nd fortified area, and Colonel Ladygin was appointed chief of staff. By the beginning of World War II, units of the 22nd UR were deployed: 1st OPB - Nikulyasy - Peremyaki (headquarters in Kuyvozi), 63rd OPB - Lembalovo - Elizavetinka (headquarters in Agalatovo), 4th OPB - Copper Plant - Mertut (headquarters in the Mertuti area), the 106th OPB - Beloostrov - Sestroretsk (headquarters - Dibuny), the 125th separate engineer battalion - the Beloostrov area, the headquarters of the 22nd UR - the Chernaya Rechka area.

By 1941, the construction of machine-gun structures (DOT), as well as artillery caponiers in the main directions, was completed, the command post of the UR was built, the construction of engineering and artillery depots and rear was completed.

By June 1941, at the turn of the fortified area, the density of military structures was insignificant, there were large gaps between the nodes - from three to seven kilometers. The depth of defense did not exceed one and a half to two kilometers. Anti-tank defense was very weak. The defense of the line was designed for strong field filling.

As mentioned earlier, the 4th separate machine-gun battalion under the command of Captain Sintsov occupied the newly built structures from Enso to the Gulf of Finland. By the beginning of the war, the fortified area was completely mastered and prepared for military operations. Violations on the border at this time became more frequent. On June 18, in the vicinity of the Louko (Pogranichnoye) station (the border station on the Vyborg-Helsinki railway), while continuously combing the area, military units found three saboteurs, two were killed during the arrest, the third was removed from the tree, where he put our military installations on the diagram and photographed them .

During interrogation, the saboteur behaved arrogantly and boastfully declared: "Soon little Finland will do big things with her old friend."

On June 26, in the same area at 6 o'clock in the morning, a Finnish reinforced infantry battalion suddenly, without firing, attacked a border post in the area of ​​​​the stronghold of the company of Senior Lieutenant Bataev. The calculation was to destroy the border guards without noise and capture military installations before they were occupied by garrisons. At night, the personnel of the garrisons rested in the village, 200-300 meters from the buildings, the bunkers were guarded by sentries.

The border guards found the enemy and opened fire. On alarm, the garrisons occupied the buildings and repulsed the first attack with heavy machine-gun fire. Then the enemy opened fire on the structures with 155-mm heavy guns, trying to destroy the structures. Under the cover of artillery fire, the Finns tried to penetrate on the flanks and seep into the rear, but all their attempts were repulsed by the fire of border guards and machine-gun units of the UR, deployed from other strongholds to these areas.

The company commander, senior sergeant Bataev, an Ossetian, an energetic commander, skillfully led the company's actions in battle, promptly unraveling the enemy's plan. Lieutenant Smolensky especially distinguished himself in these battles. Despite heavy enemy fire, he always appeared in the most needed areas and, by transferring part of the machine guns from the structures to open areas, eliminated the danger of bypassing, encircling and blocking the structures from the rear.

The battle lasted 7 hours. Approaching rifle units, the enemy was driven back beyond the state border.

The next day, the Finnish units attacked a stronghold on the northern outskirts of the city of Enso, but met with heavy fire from the military installations of the company of Senior Lieutenant Shalygin, they were forced to retreat abroad. However, part of the Finnish "cuckoos" infiltrated, bypassing the stronghold, into the city of Enso and occupied the territory of the timber mill warehouse. But this enemy unit was thrown back abroad. These were the first battles on the Karelian Isthmus, and units of the fortified area took an active part in them on the border of 1940.

In Hitler's plan "Barbarossa" the capture of Leningrad was given one of the first places. The political and military leaders of Nazi Germany believed that the capture of Leningrad, Kronstadt and the Murmansk railway would automatically entail the loss of the Baltic States by the Soviet Union, lead to the death of the Baltic Fleet, sharply weaken the defensive potential of the Soviet armed forces and deprive the USSR of communications going inland from the ports of the Barents and the White Seas. They believed that Leningrad would be taken by German troops by the end of July 1941.

After the successful attack of fascist Germany on the USSR and two unsuccessful attempts to attack the Finnish army, on July 1, 1941, the high command of the Finnish troops began its third attempt in the north of Lake Ladoga. The Finnish troops were tasked with forging the units of the Red Army in the Sortavala and Vyborg directions. However, enemy attacks north of Lake Ladoga in the direction of Lakhdenpokhya at the junction of the 23rd and 7th armies were also unsuccessful. And only on July 31, the 2nd Army Corps of the Finnish Army launched an offensive on the Karelian Isthmus, fighting with units of the 23rd Army, 7th Army and border troops.

The second army corps of the Finns sought to encircle the Soviet troops operating here, and then build on success by striking in the direction of the Vuoksi River, force it and go to the rear of the Vyborg grouping of the Northern Front. The 4th Corps of the Finnish Army was preparing to launch an offensive in the Vyborg direction.

The 142nd and 115th Rifle Divisions of the 23rd Army, together with the border guards, put up stubborn resistance to the enemy. But it was almost impossible to defend on a wide front (the 142nd Rifle Division covered the border in a section 59 km long, and the 115th Rifle Division on a 47-kilometer stretch), without reserves, it was almost impossible.

To the north of the 142nd SD, on its right flank, the 168th SD of the 7th Army operated under the command of Colonel Andrei Leontyevich Bondarev. For almost a month, she defended the border of the USSR together with border guards. Even after the 142nd Rifle Division was cut off from the 168th Rifle Division, the "Bondarevites", as they were then called at the front, did not flinch. Pressed against the shores of Lake Ladoga, they, led by their divisional commander, resolutely repelled numerous attacks by enemy troops. Often the enemy broke through and surrounded individual units, but not a single one of them was defeated or captured. The head of the operational department of the 168th rifle division, S. N. Borshchev, wrote about this time: “For 25 days we fought to the death, holding our state border, and for 20 days we held the defense lines of Sortavala - Niva station.”

It is no coincidence that in the diary of the Finnish general V. E. Tuompo, published in Finland in 1969, in the entry on August 19, 1941, the commander of the 168th rifle division Bondarev was given a very expressive and flattering description: "A good and persistent commander." This assessment was given to Bondarev by Mannerheim's closest assistant at his headquarters. The professionalism and courage of A. L. Bondarev earned high praise even from enemies.

The well-known Finnish military historian Helge Seppälä, in his last book, also gave an assessment to the commander of the 168th rifle division, A. L. Bondarev. He writes: "Bondarev was a skilled commander."

In the 142nd Rifle Division of the 23rd Army, the commander of the 461st Infantry Regiment, Colonel V.A. Trubachev and machine gunner A.I. Zakhodsky, skillfully and professionally acted. They became Heroes of the Soviet Union. Many other defenders of the northern border of Leningrad showed courage, heroism and skill. Among them was the colonel of the 102nd consolidated border detachment S. N. Donskoy. This detachment fought on the border of the USSR together with the 168th SD of A. L. Bondarev and the 142nd SD of S. P. Mikulsky.

“In the Keksholm direction,” the reports for July 1 said, “the enemy went on the offensive in several places and tried to penetrate our territory. With a decisive counterattack by our troops, the enemy attacks were repulsed with heavy losses for him.

In this direction, a combined detachment of border guards, Lieutenant Colonel S. N. Donskoy, did not allow the enemy to break through to Kexholm from the northwest on the move. Despite its small number, the detachment fought stubborn battles for more than 10 days, inflicting significant losses on the enemy in manpower and equipment. Subsequently, the detachment was the base for the creation of a military group of the Keksholm direction.

The Finnish three-volume history of the war about the troops on the Karelian Isthmus says: “The enemy was persistent, his main part was the forces of the border guards, who fought stubbornly, made counterattacks, tried to move forward. Using hand grenades and delivering bayonet strikes, they fought bloody close-quarters battles in forests and hilly areas continuously for a day.

These examples speak of the courage and steadfastness of all the troops that fought in 1941 on the Karelian Isthmus. Unfortunately, in our fiction and military literature, the course of the battles of the July and August days of 1941 is not sufficiently disclosed, the struggle of soldiers in individual sectors is not covered.

This can only be explained by the fact that the fighting on the southern approaches to Leningrad at the Luga line, and then on the near approaches to the city, attracted maximum attention. Naturally, in the historical and memoir literature, it was they who occupied a central place. For the same reason, the military operations of the Karelian fortified region, which detained the enemy, and for almost 3 years held the front 25 kilometers from Leningrad, were not covered.

Only in the Finnish multi-volume history of the war can one find a proper assessment of the courage of the border guards, soldiers of the rifle and UR units on the Karelian Isthmus in the period 1941-1944.

Only as a result of long and fierce battles did the 2nd Corps of the enemy manage to break through the defenses of the 23rd Army in the border zone, develop an offensive in the direction of Khitol, Kexholm, and on August 7 and 8 cut the railway in the sections of Sortavala - Khitola and Khitola - Vyborg.

Part of the troops of the 23rd Army, located in the area of ​​​​Sortavala and Hitol, were pressed against the shore of Lake Ladoga. The middle part of the front was held by our troops, but gradually retreated to the Vuoksa water barrier.

In early August, in connection with the threat of encirclement of our troops, an order was given from the Leningrad Front to prepare the fortified area on the border of 1940 for an explosion.

On August 7, weapons and instruments were removed. The buildings were blown up. The UR battalion under the command of Captain Sintsov was transferred to the Slutsk-Kolpinsky fortified area, to the southern direction of the defense of Leningrad.

Surrounded in the Sortavala area, part of the 168th Rifle Division of the 7th Army in full force was taken by the Ladoga Flotilla to the island of Valaam, and from there to the Petrokrepost area.

The 142nd Rifle Division, which was surrounded north of Kexholm, was transferred by the ships of the Ladoga Flotilla to the southern coast of the Vuoksa system, where it subsequently took up defense.

From the beginning of the Patriotic War to August 1941, the 22nd fortified area turned around in the state of wartime.

In addition to the existing artillery and machine-gun battalions, new ones were organized, and the UR consisted of the 246th, 1st, 4th, 126th, 154th, 293rd, 106th and 63rd (8th) OPAB, 125th separate engineer battalion, 147th separate communications battalion, 228th transport company and 2nd electric company. The number of personnel of the UR is 5634 people.

To reinforce the field troops with the task of extending the delay of the enemy on the road, four barrage detachments were allocated from the 22nd UR, which were supposed to create strongholds to help the field troops. Each detachment consisted of a machine-gun company reinforced with artillery:

3rd company of the 1st OPAB under the command of Lieutenant Nikolenko - Kiviniemi area (Losevo);

3rd company of the 63rd OPAB under the command of Lieutenant Maleev - the mouth of the Salmenkaita (Bulatnaya) River;

1st company of the 293rd OPAB - between the lakes Muolan-yarvi (Deep) and Yayuryapyan-yarvi (Big Rakovoe);

The 2nd company of the 106th OPAB under the command of senior lieutenant Yuferitsin - Srednevyborgskoye highway in the Kelola area (Boboshino, Kamenka).

These were the first units of the 22nd UR, which began hostilities. The 3rd company of the 1st OPAB under the command of Lieutenant Nikolenko, reinforced by an artillery platoon, left for the Kiviniemi area on August 12, 1941.

On the evening of August 12, the company arrived in the Kiviniemi area and took up defensive positions on the left (north-western) bank of the channel of the same name.

The Kiviniemi (Losevskaya) channel flows out of the Vuoksi and flows into the Suvanto-Jarvi (Suhodolskoye) lake. At the confluence of the channel into the lake there was a railway bridge of the Kexholm-Leningrad railway, at that time it was blown up. All Finnish houses in the area were burned or destroyed, including the Kiviniemi station. A wooden bridge was thrown over the Kiviniemi canal for automobile and horse-drawn transport. The Kiviniemi channel is very fast, rapids, a lot of stones sticking out of the water. The speed of water movement in the channel is due to the fact that the water level in Vuoksi is almost two meters higher than the Suvanto-Jarvi level.

The task of the company was to hold the bank of the Kiviniemi channel for as long as possible. The task was brought to the attention of every commander and fighter, everyone knew what to do and how to act when the enemy approached.

The first night and day were spent preparing the line of defense - the main and reserve firing positions were equipped, guns and heavy machine guns were installed. By morning, the company was ready to meet the enemy. However, the enemy did not appear all day on August 13, separate groups of retreating Soviet troops and lone soldiers passed.

By nightfall, traffic on the road had ceased, and heavy enemy fire had begun. The shooting was erratic, and it was not clear where it was coming from.

The shots were all around and even behind our positions. Not seeing the enemy, the company did not open fire, it waited. After a while, the shooting stopped.

On the Karelian Isthmus in August, the dark time of the day is short, and soon the fighters discovered several “cuckoos” (Finnish soldiers setting up ambushes in the trees) that had leaked into the area of ​​​​the company. The Finns let the retreating groups of our soldiers pass and shot them with explosive bullets, the wounds inflicted were terrible. It turns out that these are "cuckoos" and they arranged such shooting from machine guns. Therefore, they could not immediately establish where the shooting was coming from, since the shots and bullet explosions created the illusion of a much larger number of fire weapons than they actually were.

Already in the morning, the soldiers of the company managed, firing from rifles, to destroy several "cuckoos". The Finns' calculation that the company would open its own fire to their fire, and thereby give out firing points to reconnaissance, did not materialize.

By the middle of the day, Finnish units approached the area and shelling of the positions of the company from mortars began. The shelling went on for almost two hours, but it did no damage. The company did not respond to the fire, did not unmask its firing positions. After the mortar shelling, the Finns began to probe the defenses in small groups, and in the evening they went on an assault in the direction of the platoon of Lieutenant Seredin, who was in the combat guard of the main direction along the road to the bridge. The intense fire of the machine guns of the company of Lieutenant Nikolenko laid the advancing enemy on the ground, and later forced him to retreat into the forest. At night, the Finns tried to break through on the right flank to the railway bridge, but they also failed.

During the period from August 13 to 20, the Finns tried to break through all the time, but with small forces, and the company, together with the rifle units, managed to repel the attacks. Every day it became more and more difficult to hold the enemy, increasing the pressure.

Rifle units left on August 18, and the company could rely only on its own forces. And they became less and less. Everyone was tired, sleeping fitfully between attacks, running out of food and ammunition.

On August 19, in the middle of the day, an order was received to move to the right (southeast) bank of the channel and continue to hold the area.

When almost the entire company crossed to the right bank, and only the cover platoon of Lieutenant Seredin remained at the bridge on the left bank, the Finns began to fire at the fighters from mortars and move towards the line of the platoon. Seredin sent a platoon to the company on the right bank, and he, together with the Red Army soldier Demchenko, continued firing from a machine gun.

When the Finns came close to the lieutenant, and the cartridges in the machine gun ran out, Seredina and Demchenko launched grenades, but both were killed. After that, Lieutenant Nikolenko ordered to blow up the bridge, mined earlier, and take the lines along the right bank of the Vuoksi River. Here, basements and foundations of destroyed houses were used as firing points and shelters.

Organizing the defense, the fighters tried to contact the neighbors on the right and left, but they did not find anyone. Behind, in the forest, were the positions of the artillery regiment, with which the company had contact from the first day, and which more than once helped with fire in difficult times at the request of the company.

On the morning of August 20, the artillery regiment announced that it was leaving for a new location. Rota was left alone. Ammunition is running out. The emergency supply was eaten, food was over, but in the middle of the day an order was received to return to OPAB.

Moving from the Kiviniemi area along the road that passed by the railway station Rautu (Sosnovo) and passing under the bridge, we found a small group of Finns. The company turned into battle formation and accepted the battle. The Finns retreated into the forest. The company could not pursue them, as there was almost no ammunition. Continuing to move, the company soon arrived at the 1st OPAB. The company completed its task - for almost ten days it held the defense of the Kiviniemi area.

On August 17, the 3rd company of the 63rd OPAB under the command of Lieutenant Maleev, also reinforced by an artillery platoon, was sent to the mouth of the Salmenkaita (Bulatnaya) River and, together with units of the 123rd Infantry Division, repelled enemy attacks for seven days. In one of the battles, Lieutenant Maleev was wounded, but continued to lead the battle until he was ordered to return to the OPAB.

On August 25, a detachment of the 106th OPAB under the command of Senior Lieutenant V.N. Yuferitsin, together with units of the 123rd Infantry Division, fought with an advancing enemy on the Srednevyborgskoye Highway.

Junior Sergeant Egorov distinguished himself in the first battle. He let the drunken Finnish soldiers close to the attack and destroyed a large group of the enemy with machine-gun fire.

On August 26, an artillery platoon of the fortified area under the command of junior lieutenant Ivanov was sent to the Kiriyasala area to reinforce the rifle units covering the road to Lembalovo. The platoon had three 45 mm cannons and three light machine guns. The soldiers set up firing positions near the village of Lipola, carefully disguised the guns. In the evening, the first groups of Finns appeared on the road leading to the village. They cautiously entered the village. Then there were loaded carts. The tipsy soldiers began to sing songs. On the northern outskirts, the Finns flooded the bathhouse. Junior Lieutenant Ivanov, having prepared the data, gave the command "fire". The first shells hit the target. The bathhouse and nearby buildings were set on fire, panic broke out among the Finnish soldiers. Finnish submachine gunners tried several times to break into the location of the platoon, but not a single attack was successful. The platoon held its positions for three days and only by order moved to the Steklyannoye area, where it continued to operate jointly with the border guards.

In early August, the third company of the 125th engineer battalion, under the command of senior lieutenant Tivosenko, was in the obstacle detachment and ensured the withdrawal of our units from the Kexholm area by setting up explosive barriers.

By laying mines in the Karlakhti (Kuznechnoye) area, the company found itself without the cover of rifle units. The enemy occupied the village of Karlakhti with large forces and began to advance his units along the highway. The company took up battle formation and entered the battle. Courage and courage were shown in this battle by junior lieutenant Sizov, sergeant Kirponos, Shustov, Shtukaturov and Startsev. More than a hundred Finnish soldiers were exterminated in the battle. The company held this line until the arrival of rifle units. Junior Lieutenant Sizov, covering the retreat of his platoon with light machine gun fire, died, but ensured the platoon's exit without loss.

The strongholds from the companies and subunits of the fortified area completed their tasks, the enemy's movement was suspended for almost a month. This respite gave the 23rd Army the opportunity to withdraw its troops from the blow with fewer losses. The Vyborg area, Koivisto and the northeastern part of the Gulf of Finland, together with the islands included in this area, were defended by the troops of the 23rd Army, the border troops and the Baltic Fleet until the end of October 1941 and only on November 1 they left the area and were evacuated with the help of ships of the fleet through Kronstadt to Leningrad.

On August 18, 1941, the 125th engineer-sapper battalion (without one company) was sent to the Volosovo-Krasnogvardeysk (Gatchina) region, where for a month, in contact with the enemy, under continuous bombing and shelling, he carried out the installation of explosive barriers on the path of the advancing enemy.

Our small infantry units, border guards and destruction battalions fought heroically, holding back the advance of the Finnish troops to Leningrad, defending each line.

And the Karelian fortified area was improving, preparing to repel the enemy. Replenishment was coming, new parts were being formed. It was necessary in a short time to acquaint people with military service, the equipment of military installations, and teach them how to use weapons. All this was done on the move, at the same time the structures were put on alert, and new long-term points and positions were built.

Together with the fighters, thousands of Leningraders worked on the fortifications of the border: workers, workers, students. In the difficult time of July 1941, the 126th, 4th, 283rd OPAB.

Starting from the first days of September, the movement of our retreating troops through the units of the fortified area began. It was necessary to take measures so that the enemy did not break through on the shoulders of the retreating fighters. This retreat of our troops did not really resemble a systematic, organized retreat. Apparently, the commander of the 23rd Army, Lieutenant General P.S. Pshennikov, with his headquarters, lost command of the troops and failed to organize their withdrawal to the fortified area. This can be judged by the nature of the retreat and by the fact that Marshal K. E. Voroshilov, as commander of the Northern Front, gave the order to organize the withdrawal of units to the line of the Karelian fortified area only at the end of August, appointing Lieutenant General A. And Cherepanova. Cherepanov had to form the command and organize the interaction of the KaUR, the Ladoga military flotilla, the artillery of the Baltic Fleet, units coming from the front reserve, and also collect the retreating units on the go.

By the approach of the Finnish army to the fortified area, in August, the 113th OPAB was additionally formed, and instead of those who left for Krasnogvardeysk and Slutsk, new ones were organized - the 4th OPAB and the 126th OPAB. The personnel continued to improve, to study military equipment and battle tactics, many units of the fortified area had already begun to fight with the enemy.

When the Finnish army approached the fortified area, the front line of defense formed where our troops managed to stop the Finnish ones, so it did not always coincide with the front line of the fortified area. Only in the areas of Lembalovo, Elizavetinka, Mertuti, Beloostrov and Sestroretsk, the firing structures of the fortified area were located in the areas of the first and second trenches of the field troops. But the order of battle of the UR units was the main backbone of the defense of the area. Rifle units carried combat guards.

The chiefs of the combat areas were the commanders of the field units, the subdivisions of the fortified area located within the boundaries of the combat areas were operationally subordinate to them. Such a provision gave the right, if necessary, to call fire or involve one or another unit in combat. The interaction of the parts of the fortified area with the field troops was organized in the link: a rifle regiment - OPAB, a rifle battalion - a machine gun and artillery company. It consisted in the mutual knowledge of battle formations, the establishment of communications, common signals, landmarks, call signs of the tables and the preparation of a joint battle plan.

Separate structures entered the battle already in the first days of the approach of the Finnish troops to the line of the fortified area.

The bunker "07", being a test one, was built outside the fortified area with the removal to the line of the front edge at a distance of 700 meters from other structures. It was not associated with other structures.

It also differed in its design. Pillbox "07" is a two-hole rubble-concrete structure, while other structures are reinforced concrete. The garrison of the "seven" consisted of 7 people: the commandant, Lieutenant Petrov, an old member of the party, called up from the reserve; deputy political instructor, the young, energetic commander Yaroslavtsev; chiefs of machine guns Kolosov and Smirnov, gunners Vedenev and Semichev; light machine gunner Ivanov. Thanks to the great work of the lieutenant and the political officer, the personnel in a short time mastered the technique and tactics of combat. On the morning of September 3, 1941, the enemy opened massive artillery fire on our battle formations. More than 880 shells and mines were fired at the G7 area alone, 25 of them hit the building. After artillery preparation, the Finnish infantry went on the offensive. Having allowed the attackers to close range, the garrison repulsed the attack with machine-gun fire. Then the enemy in small groups decided to bypass the structure from the rear. Under the cover of artillery and mortar fire, the groups managed to approach the "seven" from the front and from the rear for a hundred meters, but their attack attack was repulsed by dagger fire from machine guns from the structure and light machine gun fire from Private Semichev, who left the structure to open positions near the entrance.

The next day, new attacks were repulsed. Communication with the company was broken, and for two days the garrison fought in complete encirclement. A group of signalers from the company could not break through to the structure, repulsing one attack after another. The besieged destroyed more than 70 enemy soldiers and officers. All attacks were repulsed.

On September 6 at 15:00, three groups of Finns, using rough terrain, tried to get close to the "seven" from three sides in dashes. Two of these groups lay down under the fire of infantry units, the third continued to creep up to the structure. Lieutenant Petrov forbade opening fire on the enemy without a command.

When the group overcame the wire fence that covered the approach to the structure and approached 30 meters, at the command of the commandant, a flurry of machine-gun fire fell upon it. The commander of the Finnish group gave the command to withdraw, but was immediately killed. All attempts by the Finns to carry away the dead failed. At night, the soldiers of the garrison picked up dead enemies. Among them was found the corpse of a Finnish officer with the rank of captain.

For four days the garrison steadfastly repulsed the attacks of the White Finns. Wounded fighters did not fail. Having bandaged their wounds, they again took up their posts and continued to fight. Lieutenant Petrov showed himself to be a brave officer. Distinguished in battle was the machine gunner, deputy political instructor Yaroslavtsev, who destroyed up to 50 Finns and 2 machine guns, Sergeant Kolosov, who destroyed up to 20 soldiers and a light machine gun. Signalers Kozlov and Gizatdinov, under heavy fire, restored more than 80 impulses. The medical instructor Garifulin acted excellently, assisting three wounded soldiers of the garrison and carrying out twelve wounded soldiers of rifle units from the battlefield.

During one of the shelling direct hits of large-caliber concrete-piercing shells in the structure, the frontal wall was pierced through and the embrasures were broken. For several nights, with the heroic work of sappers and fighters of other structures, plates of ship armor and concrete mortar were dragged to the "seven". In a short time, all the damage was sealed with concrete, and the frontal wall was covered with armor plates 200 mm thick. All this was carried out at a distance of 150 meters from the first trench of the Finns.

As soon as communication with the building "07" was restored, the secretary of the Central Committee of the party, a member of the Military Council of the front, A. A. Zhdanov, called from Smolny. He was interested in the military successes of the garrison, thanked for the heroism. Lieutenant Petrov assured: "Seven of the enemy will not miss."

Having met the stubborn resistance of the 07 garrison, the Finns went on the defensive in this sector. After unsuccessful attempts to break through the line of the fortified area, the command of the Finnish troops abandoned major offensive operations. Finnish troops switched to reconnaissance battles of local importance and sabotage operations to block and destroy individual military installations.

On March 31, 1942, at dawn, Finnish artillery made a strong raid along the front line and into the depths of battle formations. Under cover of fire, demonstrating a false attack on the right flank of "07", a company of Finnish skiers in white coats destroyed the outposts to the left of the structure. The commandant of the building, Lieutenant Petrov, was at the command post of the company at that time. At the command of Sergeant Kolosov, the crews took up their combat positions and opened fire on the assault group. Outside the structure in the trench were junior sergeant Smirnov and light machine gunner Ivanov. They also opened fire. Smirnov was killed, and a bullet hit the disk of Ivanov's light machine gun, and he was forced to hide in the building. Under the cover of the first attacking group, the second group of Finns with drags loaded with boxes of explosives approached the building from the rear.

"07" continued to fire at the enemy. At this time there was a strong explosion. The entrance and the rear wall of the building were destroyed. A group of fighters under the command of Lieutenant Petrov broke through the curtain of fire, discovered the destruction of the structure and the corpses of its defenders in it. There were six of them: sergeants Kolosov, Vedenev and Smirnov, privates Kovylin, Semichev, Ivanov.

For all three years of defense in the Karelian fortified area, the Finnish army managed to block and blow up the only bunker "07".

However, within a few nights, under the cover of machine-gun fire, the sappers restored the "seven" and it became an even more powerful structure. The new garrison "07" continued the traditions of the heroically dead comrades, haunting the enemy.

No less valiant are the actions of the garrison of structure "02". This machine-gun structure had two embrasures. There was a dead space in front of the floor wall ahead. The location of this bunker is 350 meters from the enemy. The commandant is junior lieutenant Norkin. On the right and on the left, hollows approached him, densely overgrown with shrubs. Combat guards occupied positions of 300 meters, on the right at the height of "Nameless". The neighboring building supported the "two" with fire, being in the depth behind the hollow at a distance of 500-600 meters.

On June 7, at 1 pm, Finnish batteries opened heavy artillery and mortar fire on the Bezymyannaya height, then the fire was transferred to the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe two. Communication with the company was broken. An officer who came running from the military outpost from the height of "Nameless" reported that the outpost had been knocked out, and the Finns were moving towards the "deuce". The commandant, junior lieutenant Norkin, who knew the strengths and weaknesses of the structure, decided to repel attacks by the main forces of the garrison outside the structure from the trenches. Having ordered three fighters to stay at the machine guns and cover the left and right flanks with fire, Norkin and the rest of the fighters took up a circular defense near the structure. Corporal Blinov, the commandant sent neighbors to the building to report the situation and from there ask the company commander for fire in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe building.

The Finns appeared 50-60 meters from the building. With dagger fire from the machine gun of Corporal Shpagin and Private Denisov, who took up positions in the trench in front of the floor wall of the structure, the attack was repulsed. The second group of Finns, numbering 15-20 people, tried to attack from the left, but under machine-gun and automatic fire of the garrison fighters lay down in a hollow. The Finns sought to get into the trench passing near the structure and use it to block the structure.

At this time, the artillery fire of our field batteries fell on high. The personnel of the garrison took refuge in the building, only corporal Shpagin and private Denisov were found at the bottom of the trench, covered with earth, alive, but deafened by shell explosions.

The garrison of the “two” not only prevented blocking the structure, but with its fire helped the approaching reserve of rifle units to dislodge the enemy from the height of “Nameless” and restore the previous position.

From June 10, 1942 to June 10, 1944, the Avangard bunker garrison under the command of Lieutenant Chetvertakov (293rd OPAB) also waged continuous battles with the enemy. This bunker was located south-west of Mertut's height behind the anti-tank escarpment, protruding, as it were, at the top of the triangle, beyond the line of our defense. Before the trenches of the enemy was 120-150 meters. This bunker was the most forward point of the battalion. He was constantly under enemy fire. The bunker had two 76 mm guns and two tank turrets with machine guns. The fact that this structure disturbed the enemy, and was not in vain called the "Vanguard", is evidenced by the fact that the 76-mm cannon facing the enemy was broken by enemy fire and replaced with a new one seven times. This happened until a new 45-mm DOT-4 gun with a telescopic sight was installed, and a stereo tube was installed instead of a periscope with a fourfold increase. The situation in this area of ​​defense has changed radically, and the Avangard bunker deserved the name "master of the front line", since the target was destroyed by one or two shells.

Along the entire front on the Karelian Isthmus, from Lake Ladoga to the Gulf of Finland, there were local battles. At times, attempts to break through our defenses went on for weeks of continuous attacks. The Finns tried by any means to break through the defenses somewhere, capture the buildings and positions of our units, but these attempts were unsuccessful and only brought tangible losses to the enemy. Many say that the Karelian fortified area hardly fought, but this statement is not true. Despite the continuous search, the Finns could not find a weak point in the defense of the fortified area, and in December 1941 they themselves went on the defensive, waiting for a situation more convenient for the offensive. However, such a situation did not develop.

On September 8, 1941, the blockade of Leningrad began. The Finns saw that the group of Nazi troops "North", which achieved the blockade of the city from the south, had lost 70% of its manpower and equipment by the end of September. By this time, the ratio of forces and means of the parties had become equal. The offensive forces of the enemy have dried up.

On November 20, 1941, the Military Council of the Leningrad Front established a grain norm: the first line of troops 300 grams of bread and 100 grams of crackers per day per person, the rest of the troops - 150 grams of bread and 75 grams of crackers.

The impending famine of the blockade was no less an enemy than the one that burrowed near the border of the fortified area. Welding deteriorated sharply. The release of fuel for vehicles has stopped. There were not enough warm clothes. Even with such a norm of bread, there were frequent interruptions. In the difficult conditions of the blockade, catering for personnel was one of the most important tasks. Every possibility was explored to improve it. In late autumn, in all parts, vegetables and potatoes that were not harvested in the fields were harvested. Due to the lack of fodder for the horse staff, part of it was slaughtered for the planned allowance. Organized fishing in the lakes. At the initiative of motor transport, part of the machines was transferred to gas-generating fuel, and for this, mass production of birch chocks was organized.

To strengthen the country's defense capability, soldiers and officers contributed their personal savings to the defense fund. For example, during the two years of the war, the personnel of the 63rd OPAB contributed 521,624 rubles to the fund, and sent 13,987 rubles in cash to children who were in the areas liberated from occupation. Other OPABs of the fortified area did not lag behind.

Physicians did a great deal of work on the health of personnel. They organized the production of coniferous infusion, identified fighters weakened from malnutrition and lack of sleep, and organized short-term rest for them in the rear of the units.

The Soviet people and the Communist Party did not leave besieged Leningrad and its defenders. The flow of cargo with food and ammunition from all over the country flowed to Ladoga - the "Road of Life".

The "Road of Life", laid in November 1941 along Lake Ladoga, opened the green light for these cargoes from the mainland. Although she could not provide for the needs of the city and the front, she still played a big role in supporting the combat capability of the besieged army.

In January 1942, a sleigh convoy consisting of 20 wagons was organized from the units of the UR under the command of Senior Lieutenant V. T. Belonogov. This convoy, in difficult winter conditions, without roads, delivered food, fodder and ammunition across the ice of Lake Ladoga from Borisova Griva, where the front-line bases were located, to Voloyarvi, and from there to part of the fortified area.

And the fortified area continued to improve and actively defend the line. During this period of the defense of Leningrad, sapper units carried out a huge amount of work, mining the neutral zone and the front line of defense. The sappers installed anti-tank mines, subtle obstacles, barbed wire and hedgehogs, in the tank-dangerous directions - gouges, ensuring the impassability of the defense line and protecting the fortified area from the enemy.

Improved fire control and its system. Particular attention was paid to firing in conditions of poor visibility and at night. Fire tablets were developed for all structures, which made it possible at night and in poor visibility to install sights on machine guns and cannons, to conduct aimed fire at closed targets (on a square of one by one meter) with all fire weapons, in whose sector this square fell. This greatly facilitated the conduct of combat and created more effective fire control, especially at night. The development of documentation was carried out under the leadership of the commander of the 283rd OPAB, Captain A. I. Shirokov (OPAB had returned from Kolpino by this time). The effectiveness of the use of combat tablets was checked by the commander of the Leningrad Front personally. After that, Captain A. I. Shirokov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, and all the other 29 participants in the development of tablets were also awarded orders and medals.

In January 1942, another 103 machine-gun bunkers, 15 artillery bunkers, 11 machine-gun and artillery bunkers were built.

By August 1941, KaUR consisted of 8 OPABs with a personnel strength of 5634 people and had 541 machine guns, 260 light machine guns, 25 guns, mainly 76 mm, 3200 rifles.

In May 1942, the 283rd OPAB returned from Kolpino. In August-November 1942 and a little later, the formation of additional 112th, 133rd and 522nd OPAB was completed.

By October 25, 1942, the 22nd fortified area included 13 OPABs (112th, 246th, 113th, 4th, 1st, 63rd, 126th, 154th, 293rd ii, 106th, 522nd, 283rd, 133rd OPAB), as well as the 147th separate communications battalion, the 125th separate sapper battalion, an auto company and an electrical unit. The total number of personnel of the fortified area consisted of 11,364 people: officers - 1344 people, sergeants - 2279 people, ordinary - 7741 people. The fortified area was armed with 2 152-mm guns, 156 76-mm guns, 84 45-mm guns, 120 mortars, 704 heavy machine guns, 350 light machine guns, 141 anti-tank guns.

The OPABs were located in the following order: the coast of Lake Ladoga from Kraskovo to Nikulyas - the 112th OPAB, the Nikulias region - the 246th OPAB, Soelo - Katuma - the 113th OPAB, Peremyaki - the 1st OPAB, Nenyumyaki - the 4th OPAB, Lembalovo - 63rd OPAB, Okhta - Elizavetinka - 126th OPAB, Copper Plant - 154th OPAB, Mertut - 293rd OPAB, Kamenka - 522nd OPAB, Sestroretsk - 106th OPAB, Sestroretsk - 283rd OPAB, coast of the Gulf of Finland from Sestroretsk to Lisiy Nos - 133rd OPAB.

All this made it possible to have at the turn of the Karelian Isthmus with a length of more than 100 kilometers only 3 rifle divisions of the 23rd Army - the 142nd, 92nd and 123rd. The divisional defense zone ranged from 25 to 40 kilometers.

In addition to the main line of defense in front of Leningrad, three more lines were created in the depths of the defense of the Karelian Isthmus, which had 213 firing structures. These lines of defense ran from the Kraskovo region through Matoksa, Lekhtusi, Nizhnie Oselki, Agalatovo to Lisiy Nos and from Nizhniye Oselki through Toksovo, Rakhya to the Neva River region, south of Shlisselburg. The last, third line of defense ran along the outskirts of Leningrad and Leningrad.

On October 23, 1942, by order of the commander of the Leningrad Front, for the convenience of management, 2 departments were created - the 22nd and 17th fortified areas.

By 1943, the Karelian fortified area included:

22nd fortified area

Within the borders: Gulf of Finland - Lake Lembalovskoe.

Commandant - Colonel Kotik Valery Alexandrovich.

From April 1943, the former chief of staff of the 14th fortified area (Kolpino district), Colonel Vasily Efimovich Meshcheryakov, was appointed commandant of the 22nd UR.

The head of the political department is Colonel Lobanov Vasily Vasilyevich.

Chief of Staff - Colonel Ivanovsky.

The headquarters of the 22nd fortified area was located in the village of Chernaya Rechka.

The 22nd fortified area included the following OPAB:

133rd OPAB (Sestroretsk - Lisy Nos)

Battalion commander - Major Frolov Nikolai Mikhailovich.

Chief of Staff - Captain Anisimov Alexander Andreevich.

Deputy for political affairs - Captain Tikhomirov Mikhail Pavlovich.

283rd OPAB (Sestroretsk)

Battalion commander - Major Shirokov Alexei Nikolaevich.

Chief of Staff - Major Chaikin Alexey Alekseevich.

Political officer - Captain Pashchenko Alexander Grigorievich.

106th OPAB (Sestroretsk)

Battalion commander - Major Podkopaev Ivan Ivanovich.

Chief of Staff - Major Chizhov Vasily Nikolaevich.

Political officer - Major Demidov Alexander Alexandrovich.

522nd OPAB (Kamenka)

Battalion commander - Major Nikonenok Gavriil Georgievich.

Chief of Staff - Captain Lebedev.

Political officer - Bogdanov Nikolai Panfilovich.

293rd OPAB (Mertut)

Battalion commander - Major Grebenshchikov Nikolai Mikhailovich.

Chief of Staff - Major Likholet Mikhail Nikolaevich.

Political officer - Major Zadvornov Vasily Alekseevich.

154th OPAB (Copper Plant)

Battalion commander - Major Kosarev Pavel Andreevich.

Chief of Staff - Captain Klinov Nikolai Mikhailovich.

Political officer - Major Toropov A.V.

126th OPAB (Okhta - Elizavetinka)

Battalion commander - Captain Nozdratenko Ivan Mikhailovich.

Chief of Staff - Senior Lieutenant Petrochenko Ivan Zakharovich.

Political officer - Major Bokov Georgy Dmitrievich.

63rd OPAB (Lembalovo)

Battalion commander - Major Yuferitsin Vasily Nikolaevich.

Chief of Staff - Captain Navrotsky Nikolai Konstantinovich.

Political officer - Captain Rosenoer Viktor Alexandrovich.

125th separate sapper battalion

Battalion commander - Lieutenant Colonel Kozlov Georgy Fedorovich.

Chief of Staff - Captain Baltash.

Political officer - Captain Solovyov Alexey Semenovich.

Separate communications battalion

Two electrical companies

17th fortified area

Within the borders: Lake Lembalovskoe - Lake Ladoga.

Commandant - Colonel Shalev Alexander Vasilyevich.

Since April 1943, in order to use the combat experience of the UR in the offensive, the former commandant of the 79th fortified area, Colonel Maslovsky Georgy Nikolaevich, was appointed commandant of the 17th UR.

The head of the political department is Colonel Gavrilenko.

Chief of Staff - Colonel Decembrsky.

The headquarters of the 17th fortified area was in the village of Matoksa.

The 17th fortified area included the following OPAB:

4th OPAB (Nenyumyaki)

Battalion commander - Major Khasanov Sharif Farkhutdinovich.

Chief of Staff - Captain Semyonov V.V.

Political officer - major Belyutin N.M.

1st OPAB (Peremyaki)

Battalion commander - Major Gerasimov Alexei Foteevich.

Chief of Staff - Major Sadovsky.

The political officer is Major Dementiev.

113th OPAB (Soelo - Katuma)

Battalion commander - Major Mitenichev Alexander Nikolaevich.

Chief of Staff - Captain Deripas Andrey Fedorovich.

Political officer - Major Popkov Nikolai Nikitich.

246th OPAB (Nikulyasy)

Battalion commander - Major Sakhartov Semyon Markovich.

Chief of Staff - Captain Kirgizov Nikolai Pavlovich.

Political officer - Captain Kuznetsov Mikhail Ivanovich.

112th OPAB (Kraskovo - Nikulyasy)

Battalion commander - Major Smirnov Pavel Ivanovich.

Chief of Staff - Captain Slobodsky.

Political Officer - Captain Ivanov M.M.

Separate communications battalion and a separate sapper company

Field filling

22nd fortified area: 123rd Rifle Division (Gulf of Finland - Mednozavodskoye Lake), 92nd Rifle Division (Mednozavodskoye Lake - Lembalovskoye Lake).

17th fortified area: 142nd rifle division (Lake Lembalovskoe - Lake Ladoga).

The following facts speak of the important role that the line of the fortified area on the Karelian Isthmus played during World War II:

1. On September 10, 1941, at the most critical time for Leningrad, the commander of the Leningrad Front, a member of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, General of the Army G.K. isthmus for the defense of more vulnerable lines south of Leningrad. Attempts by the Finnish army to break through the defenses were unsuccessful.

2. Sayings of the enemies themselves. In the winter of 1942, during military operations to capture height 73.3 in the Lembalovo area by our units, a captain of the Finnish army was captured in an enemy trench. A topographic map was confiscated from the prisoner with military installations of our fortified area plotted on it. During interrogation, he said: “We have been preparing for a war with you for a long time and with the help of intelligence, long before the war, we had complete information about your fortified area, but despite this, we refused to break through it, realizing that this would require very large sacrifices.”

3. In his memoirs, Major General B. V. Bychevsky writes: “We should also not forget that in the first days of September 1941, the Finnish troops were finally stopped precisely on the line of the old fortified area; they had to burrow into the ground already under the fire of guns and machine guns installed in the reinforced concrete structures of the fortified area.

4. In the book "Defense of Leningrad 1941-1944." the former commander of the Leningrad Front, M. M. Popov, assesses the role of the Karelian fortified area as follows: “By the measures taken before the war and at its beginning, we sharply increased the combat readiness of this UR. It was in front of its front line that the avalanche of Finnish troops subsequently stopped, rolling towards Leningrad. After some attempts to break through the defenses of the UR, the Finns abandoned them and began to hastily dig into the ground. Here they sat inactive until June 10, 1944.

The iron ring of the blockade, hunger and deprivation did not break the will of the fighters. Anger towards the invaders spontaneously gave rise to a mass extermination movement. At first, it arose in those parts where the battle formations coincided with the general line of defense of the forward edge of the Karelian Isthmus.

In October 1941, in the morning near the bunker "07", a group of Finns was working on installing slingshots on their front line. It was impossible to conduct machine-gun fire from the bunker, since this area was not under fire. The commandant of the bunker had no connection - he could not call fire on the working Finns. With the permission of the commandant of the structure, sergeants Kolosov and Smirnov advanced into the trench with a light machine gun. Two Finns were killed, the rest fled. The enemy opened fire on the positions of a light machine gun, but the sergeants took refuge in the building.

On January 13, 1942, Corporal Kharkov, who soon became a noble sniper on the Leningrad Front, opened his revenge account. Junior Sergeant Fominsky, one of the best fighters of the unit, destroyed 15 White Finns on the anniversary of the Red Army in 1942. Fominsky, an Altai hunter, made friends with weapons from childhood. Once, while entering the firing line in the winter of 1942, he was wounded, but did not leave the battlefield and destroyed two more enemy soldiers. The government highly appreciated the exploits of the fighters. Sergeant Larionov, who destroyed 122 White Finns, was awarded the medal "For Courage", foreman Borodunov - the Order of the Red Star, Lieutenant Navrotsky - the medal "For Courage", Senior Lieutenant Strikozov - the Order of the Red Star.

From January 1942, for four months, fighters of the 113th OPAB under the leadership of fighter engineer Lieutenant Artemyev went to the forefront in the Korosari area. After Artemyev was killed, the fighters were commanded by Senior Lieutenant A.F. Deripas. During these four months, 42 Finnish soldiers and 2 horses were destroyed.

Girls actively participated in the fighter movement. Komsomol medical instructor Tamara Chernakova from the Sovet bunker garrison was the first to open an account. Her example was followed by the fighters of the female garrison of the bunker "Will" Vasilyeva, Mazova, Orlova, Kins and others. Sergeant Shostka, Lieutenant Sazontov, Red Army soldier Smirnov, medical instructor Tamara Chernakova died in single combat with the enemy. In honor of the feat of the fighters of the Red Army soldier Smirnov and medical instructor Tamara Chernakova, the military facilities in which they served are named after them. One of the streets of the village of Chernaya Rechka is named after Tamara Chernakova.

In the center, from left to right - the chief of staff of the 154th OPAB Bialiatsky, battalion commander Kosarev and
political officer Toropov together with female fighters on March 8, 1942.

Since the beginning of the blockade, about 2,000 women from the suburbs of Leningrad arrived in the fortified area to replenish existing and newly formed units. Mostly women occupied rear positions. They were doctors, paramedics, medical instructors, storekeepers, cooks, clerks at headquarters and commissariats, signalmen, radio operators, and telegraph operators. But there were also women in combat structures. More than 10% of machine-gun bunkers were occupied by female garrisons, and they were not inferior in all sections of the service to male ones.

Here, for example, is what senior sergeant Orlova wrote in a handwritten album created by Komsomol members: “Our Volya garrison was formed on September 17, 1942 from female volunteers from the city of Leningrad. It consisted of: Kins Z. P., Loban V. D., Sokolova L. I., Kozlova L. A., Bugrova N. D., Yakovleva N. S., Konstantinova V., Glebova V. V. , Slobodskaya R. M. and Eroschina L. M. Under the guidance of the company commander Navrodsky, and later Onosov, the commandant of the Nazarov construction, the girls began to study the charters. In a short time mastered the technique. We, burning with the desire to take revenge on the enemy, go to the front line of defense, not sparing our lives, hunt down the invaders and destroy them. All the girls of the garrison opened an account of revenge, and the garrison became a fighter, our area is impassable for the enemy.

The platoon of lieutenant Ekimov showed great activity in the fighter movement. He organized 130 ambushes and destroyed several dozen enemy soldiers in three months.

In October 1943, on the 15th anniversary of the fortified area, for the staunch defense of Leningrad, the Leningrad City Council of Workers' Deputies awarded the fortified area with the Red Banner of the Executive Committee of the City Council. The banner was presented directly in the battle formations of the fortified area by the commission of the City Executive Committee, chaired by the Secretary of the City Committee, Comrade Kapustin. The tide in the party increased. When leaving on a mission, the soldiers applied for membership in the party.

Anticipating the imminent retribution, the Finns feverishly built their defenses. On January 27, 1944, a majestic salute from 324 guns announced the liberation of Leningrad from 900 days of blockade. Lightnings of artillery volleys and multi-colored rockets flew up, illuminating the horizon far around. But on the Karelian Isthmus, having built powerful fortifications and deeply buried in the ground, there was still an enemy - the White Finnish army, and the threat to the city in this area still remained. Each commander and fighter felt that it was his turn to pay off the invaders. It was necessary to wean from the habits developed during the long defense. The fighters learned to advance, crawl in a plastunsky way, cut wire, storm bunkers and bunkers, quickly burrow into the ground, throw grenades at tanks. Artillerymen learned to roll guns on their hands in off-road conditions, keeping up with machine gunners, to pave the way for them with fire. The headquarters of the units of the fortified area were also persistently and intensely preparing for the operation.

During the blockade, the enemy intensively carried out the restoration of their pillboxes on the Mannerheim Line, and also built new powerful defensive structures and strongholds. He created a line of anti-tank granite gouges 106 kilometers long across the entire Karelian Isthmus, especially intense in the Vyborg direction. Using favorable natural conditions, the enemy cut the isthmus with three fortified strips, in the Vyborg direction, with a depth of almost 100 kilometers.

The first defensive line ran along the front line of defense. Strong strongholds and points covered important areas, such as the Leningrad-Vyborg railway line, Primorskoye Highway, and the area of ​​Stary Beloostrov.

The second main defensive line ran 20-30 km from the first. It started in the area of ​​Vammelsuu (Serovo), Metsäkülä (Molodezhnoye) near the coast of the Gulf of Finland and went east through Sakhakulya (Mukhino), Kuterselkya (Lebyazhye), Kivennap (Pervomayskoye), south of Rautu (Sosnovo) to the Vuoksa water system, ending in the area Taipal (Solovyevo). Its construction was completed by the summer of 1944. This powerful line of defense consisted of 926 bunkers and shelters covered with a network of granite gouges and anti-personnel obstacles. It was designed for long-term resistance.

The third lane ran 30-40 km south and southeast of Vyborg through the Kuparsaari (Zhdinovsky) region, and then along the Vuoksa water system to the village of Taipale on Lake Ladoga. The defense skillfully used natural conditions and the water system.

In 1939-1940, it took Soviet troops three and a half months to break through the defenses of Mannerheim and capture Vyborg. By 1944, the Finnish command had created a much more powerful system of fortifications on the Karelian Isthmus than in 1939.

A blow to the Finnish army could take it out of the war and deprive Nazi Germany of an ally. Government circles in Finland watched with alarm how the German fascist troops continuously rolled back to the west under the blows of the Soviet troops. The major defeats of Army Group North near Leningrad led to increased internal political tension in Finland.

In mid-February 1944, Yu. K. Paasikivi, a representative of the Finnish government, informed through the Soviet embassy in Sweden about Finland's desire to find out from the USSR government the conditions under which it could withdraw from the war.

The Soviet government laid out its preconditions for an armistice on February 19, 1944: Finland must sever relations with Germany, intern or expel the German fascist troops located on its territory, restore the Soviet-Finnish treaty of 1940, immediately return Soviet prisoners of war, as well as civilians who are in the camps.

However, on April 16, 1944, the leadership of the Finnish state rejected them. At the head of the state were R. Ryti, E. Linkomies and V. Tanner - after the war they were all convicted as war criminals. They decided to keep the occupied territory and did not agree to the elimination of Finland's vassal dependence on Nazi Germany.

The task of the Soviet troops to defeat the Finnish army seemed difficult - it was necessary to break through the Karelian Wall as soon as possible with the least losses. The Leningrad Front set about fulfilling this task.

By this time, the combat power of the Karelian fortified area had increased significantly. By 1944, another 462 bunkers and 383 BOTs were erected, 2 km of gouges were installed, and 47.1 km of minefields were built. The anti-tank defense was significantly strengthened due to new means of combating tanks. Also, 52 km of anti-tank ditches, 106 km of trenches and communication passages were dug, 121.8 km of wire fences and 60 km of electrical obstacles were installed. The fire density of structures has increased. At the beginning of the war, its density was 1.65 bullets per minute per linear meter, and by 1944 it had become 4.4 bullets, and in important areas - up to 8 bullets, and this is without field filling.

OPAB were ready to move to the headquarters of the field separate machine-gun and artillery battalions - lists of personnel and weapons were prepared for the transition in the units. In the artillery warehouses of the fortified areas, instead of machine guns located in the embrasures of bunkers, stocks of heavy machine guns, as well as mortars, were created.

Battalion commander of the 113th OPAB, Major Mitenichev conducts classes with the command staff
for combat and political training. 1943

Before the Great Patriotic War and at its beginning, the structure of the headquarters of the fortified area's bulbats depended on the number of pillboxes in the defense center and, accordingly, the number of embrasures. Therefore, the number of personnel and weapons in the headquarters of the battalions varied. The large gaps between the battalion defense nodes were calculated to be occupied by field filling.

The combat experience of the Krasnogvardeisky and Slutsk-Kolpinsky UR showed the inexpediency of such an organization of the headquarters of the pulbats. This was confirmed by the September battles of 1941 in the Karelian fortified area, especially in the areas where intense battles took place - Lembalovsky, Elizabethan and Beloostrovskaya.

45-mm anti-tank guns were introduced into the headquarters of the OPAB. By forming new OPABs, the front of each OPAB was reduced to 4.5-6.5 kilometers, depending on the importance of the direction. The defense of the fortified area became continuous - OPAB adjoined each other. The battalion nodes of the bunkers were divided among the OPAB, the headquarters were brought to a common denominator. As a result of the creation of a continuous front of the OPAB at the turn of the fortified area, there was no need to have field filling between the OPAB. The field troops got the opportunity to create more powerful reserves for counterattacks in the event of an enemy attack in one direction or another.

The positive experience of using the OPAB of the 16th UR in offensive battles in January 1943 during the breaking of the blockade of Leningrad, the transfer to the field headquarters of the 14th and 79th fortified areas, showed the expediency of organizing a field-type OPAB. For this, 82-mm mortars and anti-tank rifles were introduced into each OPAB. OPAB had an average of 640 personnel, 16 76-mm cannons, 8 45-mm cannons, 12 82-mm mortars, 28 anti-tank rifles, 36 heavy machine guns, 16 light machine guns. Armament was mastered by the personnel of the garrisons on the basis of interchangeability.

All this made it possible to significantly strengthen the defense line of the Karelian fortified area, and in addition, to prepare artillery gun battalions for participation in the Vyborg operation.

VYBORG OPERATION AND PARTICIPATION IN IT FORTIFIED AREA

Before the start of the Vyborg operation, the Soviet troops on the Karelian Isthmus were confronted by the 3rd and 4th Finnish Corps, united on July 15, 1941 in the Karelian Isthmus group, as well as formations and units reporting directly to its high command. The headquarters of the high command, headed by Marshal K. G. Mannerheim, was located in the city of Mikkeli, 140 kilometers northwest of Vyborg.

By the beginning of military operations, the ratio of forces of the troops of the Leningrad Front and the Finnish army was characterized by the superiority of the Soviet side: in infantry - 2 times, artillery - six, tanks - seven, aviation - five times.

In total, Soviet troops numbering 260 thousand people, about 7.5 thousand guns and about 630 tanks were concentrated on the Karelian Isthmus, and 60-80% of our troops were preparing for operations in the Vyborg direction. The offensive was to be carried out in close cooperation with the Red Banner Baltic Fleet and the Ladoga Flotilla. The main task of breaking through the enemy defenses was assigned to the 21st Army, which arrived on the Leningrad Front in May 1944 from the reserve of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. Formed for the second time in July 1943, it fought in the summer and autumn of the same year and distinguished itself in the capture of Yelnya and Smolensk. (For the first time, the formed 21st Army fought to encircle German troops near Stalingrad). Replenished with the reserves of the Leningrad Front, it represented an impressive force, it included three rifle corps (30th, 97th and 109th), and in addition, it was operationally subordinate to units of the 22nd fortified area, the breakthrough artillery corps and other connections. The army was reinforced by the command and political staff. Lieutenant General D.N. Gusev, who had previously headed the headquarters of the Leningrad Front, was appointed commander of the 21st Army. The members of the Military Council were Major General V.P. Mzhavanadze, Colonel E.E. Maltsev, Chief of Staff - Major General V.I. Petukhov, (since June 18, 1944 Chief of Staff - Major General G.K. Bukhovets) , head of the political department - Colonel A. A. Bystrov, commander of artillery - Lieutenant General M. S. Mikhalkin, commander of armored and mechanized troops - Colonel I. B. Shpiller, head of engineering troops - Colonel A. T. Gromtsev.

On the right flank of the 21st Army, the 23rd Army was to fight. The commander of the 23rd Army was Lieutenant General A. I. Cherepanov (since July 3, 1944 - Major General V. I. Shvetsov), members of the Military Council - Major General F. A. Shamanin, Major General V. M Khanzhin, chief of staff - Major General D. M. Bolshakov, head of the political department - Colonel F. P. Stepchenko, artillery commander - Major General I. M. Pyadusov, commander of armored and mechanized troops - Colonel Z. G. Paykin, head of the engineering troops - Colonel F. M. Kiyashko.

The 23rd Army, which occupied the defenses on the Karelian Isthmus from Lake Ladoga to the Gulf of Finland, did not receive an independent sector for a breakthrough. It was tasked, using the successes of the 21st Army, to expand the breakthrough in the direction of the northeastern part of the isthmus, go to the Vuoksa water system and move towards Kexholm. All this made it possible to avoid unnecessary losses. The army included two rifle corps: the 115th for operations in the first echelon and the 98th for the second echelon. The fighting on the Karelian Isthmus was to be supported by the 13th Air Army of Lieutenant General S. D. Rybalchenko. To reinforce the Air Force of the front for the period of the offensive, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command transferred from its reserve the 334th bomber division of Colonel General I.P. Skok and the 113th bomber air division of Major General M.V. Shcherbakov. The 13th Air Army, reinforced at the expense of the Headquarters, could use 770 aircraft, including 260 bombers, 200 attack aircraft and 270 fighters. The actions of the air force during the operation were led by the representative of the Headquarters, Air Chief Marshal A. A. Novikov.

For more than a month, preparations were made for the 21st and 23rd armies in the region of Strelna, Gostilitsy, Ropsha and Krasnoe Selo, as well as north of Leningrad at the location of the 23rd army, where units of the 21st army were also located.

The 109th Rifle Corps, despite the beginning of the white nights, was secretly transported from the enemy from the Oranienbaum area to the vicinity of Lisiy Nos on the ships of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet. The 97th Rifle Corps was transferred by rail, as well as by the movement of small units from May 6 to June 7 in different directions through Leningrad during the hours of the greatest revival on the streets. At the same time, for 15 days, one hundred echelons with personnel, guns and mortars went to the Karelian Isthmus from the Stavka reserve from the Pskov and Narva directions to Levashovo and Toksovo. After that, the replacement of the troops of the 23rd Army by the troops of the 21st Army began in the main direction and the advancement of artillery pieces for direct fire.

Finnish General K. L. Ash subsequently wrote that Finland did not expect such a surprise from the Leningrad Front in terms of secrecy and concentration of troops. The front-line newspapers of the Lenfront at that time wrote that the troops were preparing to strike in Estonia. This disguise and a lot of propaganda and political work made it possible to covertly prepare an offensive on the Karelian Isthmus. Parts of the fortified area were also involved in the Vyborg operation. In order to disguise the preparatory operations, the task of engineering preparation of the bridgehead in the places of the planned breakthrough was assigned to parts of the fortified area. The plan provided for the equipment of the initial trenches, communications, firing positions, shelters, as well as camouflage and road work. In order to disorient the enemy, at the same time, work was carried out in other places on the construction of false structures and trenches.

To accomplish this task, up to 1200 soldiers and officers were allocated daily from the units of the UR. The Finns always interfered with their work with their fire, therefore, in dangerous areas, work was carried out at night under the cover of fire weapons.

Between June 1 and 9, 1944, a continuous trench 53 kilometers long was dug and fully equipped, 5 kilometers of roads were built and 12,600 anti-tank mines were removed. In addition, positions for direct-fire guns, platforms for mortars were equipped, and ammunition was brought up. All these preparations were carefully disguised. A group of sappers, advancing to the front line of defense, paved the way for our tanks. On the night of June 10, the commander of the Leningrad Front, General of the Army L. A. Govorov and a member of the Military Council, Lieutenant General A. A. Zhdanov, arrived at the observation post of the Izmail structure to direct the operation.

On the morning of June 9, 1944, echeloned strikes by our aviation against the 10th and 2nd Finnish infantry divisions heralded the beginning of a period of preliminary destruction of the enemy's defenses. For ten hours, the 113th, 276th and 334th bomber air divisions, as well as the 277th and 281st assault air divisions, bombed Finnish positions, headquarters and fortified areas in the areas of Svetloye Lake, Stary Beloostrov and Rayajoki. 250 large-caliber guns fired at bunkers, bunkers and fortified enemy defense units. 219 guns and 102 mortars of units of the 22nd and 17th fortified areas participated in this cannonade.

On June 9, the pilots of the 13th Air Army made 1,150 sorties. In the noise of the cannonade, 280-mm and 305-mm heavy siege artillery guns, transferred by the Headquarters, guns of the Kronstadt fortress, the battleship "October Revolution", the cruisers "Kirov" and "Maxim Gorky" stood out.

Commandant of the 22nd UR, Colonel V. A. Kotik (in the center) with the political administration of the fortified area.
1944

It “was such a fiery hell, which has never been in the history of Finland,” recalls the former commander of the 1st Infantry Regiment of the 10th Infantry Division T. Viljanen (later Lieutenant General, Chief of the General Staff of the Finnish Army).

In the evening reconnaissance began. The forward battalions of the divisions of the first echelon, under the cover of powerful artillery fire and tank support, went on the attack and wedged into the enemy defenses. In the course of reconnaissance, the enemy's firepower was more accurately determined, and additional information about the opposing units appeared. The Finnish command took reconnaissance as the beginning of the offensive of our troops and considered that the offensive was repelled. The Finns, in turn, decided to conduct reconnaissance in force and began to pull up troops to the front line. And the 21st Army was already ready for the offensive. In the early morning of June 10, 1944, the troops went on the attack. For two hours, on a small segment of the main attack, a hurricane of artillery and aviation fire was fired, dust and sand were in the air. The horizon turned black, clouds of yellow smoke and burning rose to a height of 20-30 meters. It was hot and stuffy. The batteries fired at the enemy fortifications, both from closed positions and direct fire. So the reinforced concrete pillbox "Millionaire" was destroyed, located at a distance of two hundred meters from the advanced positions of the Soviet troops. It was destroyed by the 4th Battery of the 18th Guards Howitzer Artillery. Of the 140 shells, 96 hit the target. The strength and accuracy of artillery fire was evidenced by the fact that 335 engineering structures were destroyed on the Karelian Isthmus. And when the guard units went on the attack, 80 guns and 115 heavy machine guns of the fortified area units ensured their advance, suppressing enemy firing points with well-aimed fire.

During the day, the enemy's first line of defense was crushed, and by the end of the day the 21st Army reached the enemy's 2nd line of defense. The 109th Corps of Lieutenant General I.P. Alferov broke into the city of Terijoki (Zelenogorsk) and liberated it by the end of the day. The 30th Guards Corps, continuing to move along the Srednevyborgskoye highway, approached one of the most powerful enemy defense centers of Kivennap (Pervomaiskoye).

On the second day of the offensive of our troops, the 23rd Army entered the battle. The 98th Corps was introduced into the gap made by the 97th Rifle Corps. From that day on, the 97th Corps was reassigned to the 23rd Army.

By the end of June 11, 80 settlements were liberated. Moscow saluted the successes of the front. The 23rd Army advanced only two to six kilometers. With the support of the Ladoga Flotilla under the command of Admiral V. S. Cherokov, units of the 142nd Infantry Division went along the shore of Lake Ladoga to the Vuoksa water system, to the Taipalen-Yoki (Burnaya) River. The 112th OPAB of the 17th SD entrenched itself on its southern bank.

In the main direction, the 30th Corps drove the enemy out of the Kivennapa settlement, and the 109th Corps liberated the Raivola station (Roshchino) and the village of Tyurisevya (Ushkovo).

On June 12, 1944, the directive of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command proposed to liberate Vyborg on June 18-20.

The commander of the Leningrad Front, General of the Army L. A. Govorov, while at the command post of the main direction, decided to transfer the vector of the main attack from the Srednevyborgskoye highway to the Primorskoye highway because the enemy concentrated large forces against the 30th Corps and had powerful fortifications in the Kivennap area, and by such a maneuver it was possible to avoid unnecessary losses in manpower and equipment and achieve great success.

The 108th Rifle Corps of Lieutenant General N.P. Tikhonov and the 110th Corps of Major General A.S. Gryaznov were transferred to the coastal sector. On the night of June 13, 1944, there was a covert regrouping of Soviet troops. By the end of the day on June 13, a powerful artillery group was created in the coastal direction. To ensure this maneuver, especially the artillery corps, units of the 22nd fortified area were used. The front headquarters ordered the commandant of the 22nd fortified area, Colonel Kotik, to transfer the 522nd and 293rd OPAB to the Kivennap (Pervomayskoye) area, and the 133rd OPAB to the Vehmainen (Krivko) area. The battalions were reorganized in advance into field headquarters. The OPAB was given the task of conducting active combat operations in order to cover the regrouping of troops, as well as to simulate preparations for breaking through the Finnish defenses in this sector, diverting all the attention of the enemy. The battalions were subordinate to the corps commanders operating in this direction.

On June 13, during the period of the regrouping of troops of the 21st and 23rd armies, our aviation inflicted bombing blows on the enemy in the areas of Metsäkül (Molodezhnoye), Kuterselkya (Lebyazhye), Liikola (Tsvelodubovo region) at nodes, strong points and communications, preventing the enemy from pulling up to front their reserves. On this day, units of the 13th Air Army made more than 600 sorties. In the process of rapid regrouping, formations and units of the 21st and 23rd armies continued to actively fire on the enemy, and in some areas decisively attack positions. It was at this time in the Mustolovsky Heights area that the Komsomol organizer of the 2nd company of the 98th rifle regiment D.K. Ushkov accomplished his feat, closing the embrasure of the bunker with himself. Thanks to this feat, the enemy's key line of defense was taken. Hero of the Soviet Union D.K. Ushkov was buried with honors in Pargolovo.

Finnish troops, despite powerful aviation and artillery preparation, met units of the 109th and 108th rifle corps with organized fire and strong counterattacks.

The most intense battles flared up for the fortified knot of Kuterselka (Lebyazhye), located on a dominant height. For six hours in a row, the 277th and 281st assault air divisions of colonels F. S. Khatminsky and S. E. Greskov stormed the height of Kuterselk. Six hours did not get out of the cockpit. No pauses, no respite was given by the pilots to the enemy. One wave of IL-2 replaced another. No sooner had the planes landed than they were quickly refueled and armed with bombs and eres. And by the evening, the 133rd and 187th rifle regiments of the 72nd rifle division, Major General I. I. Yastrebov, occupied Kuterselka. Thus, in six days, our troops overcame two lines of enemy defense. Many fighters and commanders of the fortified area showed courage and bravery, participating in operations, supporting rifle units with their fire.

The commander of the 45-mm gun, senior sergeant Mochalov, was given the task of advancing with his crew into the combat formations of the rifle unit. Under enemy fire, he equipped a firing position, and on a general signal, the gun opened fire on the embrasures of the Finnish pillbox, preventing the enemy from firing at our infantry. During the battle, the senior sergeant was wounded by shrapnel in the head, but continued to command the gun.

And even earlier, at the very beginning of the Vyborg operation, during the crossing of our infantry across the Sestra River, there was such an episode. The gun suppressed enemy firing points. At this time, from the height of "Sand", the Finns opened heavy machine-gun fire, forcing the chains of the guards to lay low. Mochalov, assessing the situation, moved the fire on the height occupied by the enemy. The enemy machine gun fell silent. The way was open for the guards. For resourcefulness and courage, Senior Sergeant Mochalov was awarded the Order of Glory.

No forces could hold back the powerful impulse of our troops, inspired by the idea of ​​liberating their homeland.

In the battles in the Kivennap area, the UR family mortar crew of foreman M. D. Kocheshkova distinguished himself. Having received the task, the calculation quickly prepared the main and reserve positions, as well as shelter. By order of the platoon commander, the crew opened fire on enemy firing points.

Mother and sons worked well together. From the shooting, the barrel of the mortar was red-hot, the paint was burned. Accurate fire suppressed several enemy firing points. The enemy spotted the position of the mortars and unleashed a flurry of fire on it, but the crew managed to retreat to a reserve position and continue firing. The combat mission was completed. In addition to the mother of Maria Dmitrievna, the family mortar crew included the eldest son Dmitry - the loader and the youngest son Vladimir - the gunner. For this fight, Maria Dmitrievna was awarded the Order of the Red Star, and her sons - medals "For Courage".

On June 14, storming the main defensive line of the enemy, the 108th Corps approached the village of Metsäkyulya (Molodezhnoye), located at the intersection of the roads to Vyborg, Koivisto (Primorsk) and Raivola (Roshchino). The enemy defense area in Metsäkülä, located on the high bank of the Vammel-joki River (Chernaya Rechka, Roshchinka), consisted of four strongholds with circular fire. The 46th and 90th Rifle Division crossed Wammel-Yoki and stormed the enemy's fortifications. Finnish troops, fearing encirclement in the area southwest of Vanhasakh (Pine Glade), hastily retreated.

On June 15, the 113th OPAB of the 17th fortified area was transferred to the 109th rifle corps, which, having broken through the defenses of the second, main line of the enemy, fought along the Leningrad-Vyborg railway line. The battalion was used to cover the joints of rifle units. To manage the combat activities and material support of the battalions of the fortified area, an operational group was allocated from the headquarters of the 22nd fortified area, headed by the chief of staff of the 22nd fortified area V. E. Meshcheryakov, which went to the Karvala (Vorontsovo) area. Later, the troops of the 21st Army increased the pace of the offensive, and the need to use units of the 22nd fortified area disappeared. Only the 113th and 4th OPAB remained in the 109th Rifle Corps. On the night of June 16, the chief of staff of the front, Lieutenant-General M. M. Popov, ordered the commander of the 17th fortified area, Colonel G. N. Maslovsky, to establish contact with the 293rd, 522nd and 133rd OPAB of the 22nd UR, operating among advanced rifle units, subjugate them and enter the disposal of the commander of the 23rd Army, Lieutenant General A. I. Cherepanov. The commander of the 23rd Army set the task for the 17th fortified area: as the 115th rifle corps of Major General S. Yayuryapya (Baryshevo). As the southern coast was liberated, the 283rd and 126th OPAB arrived in the OPAB group of the 17th fortified area from the 22nd fortified area.

The rapid advance of the front in the Vyborg direction is by no means explained by the weak resistance of the enemy, but by the force of the onslaught of units of the 21st Army. During June 17 and 18, the 108th, 109th and 110th rifle corps occupied a large number of settlements, including Perk-yarvi (Kirillovskoye), Uusikirkko (Polyany), Loistola (Vladimirovo), Pihkala (Mamontovka), Humaljoki (Yermilovo), Markki (south of Leipyasuo), Ilyakulya (Dyatlovo). Finnish troops desperately resisted, trying by any means to contain the offensive of the 21st Army, and there were many opportunities for this among the forests, swamps, granite rocks, rivers and lakes of the isthmus. However, the Soviet soldiers persistently and fearlessly went forward. Using strong artillery and air support, hiding behind boulders and trees, they blocked and destroyed enemy strongholds.

On June 17, the commander of the Karelian Isthmus group, General Esh, ordered the troops to be withdrawn to the Vyborg-Kuparsaari-Taipale line, fearing encirclement and destruction of their troops. The English newspaper "Daily Mail" wrote these days: "Now on the Karelian Isthmus, the Russians have broken through the steel, concrete line, which, as they claimed, was among the strongest in the world."

At the same time, the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was announced on conferring the military rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union to the commander of the Leningrad Front, L. A. Govorov, and the member of the Military Council of the Leningrad Front, A. A. Zhdanov and the commander of the 21st Army, D. N. colonel.

On June 19, 1944, the commander of the Lenfront issued an order to the troops of the 21st Army to capture Vyborg the next day. On the same day, the Supreme Commander of the Finnish Army, Marshal K. G. Mannerheim, spoke on the radio with an appeal to the Finnish soldiers to stop the Russian troops. The assault on Vyborg began. The 90th Infantry Division of Major General N. G. Lyashchenko broke into Vyborg and fought for almost six hours, trying to dismember and destroy the 20th Finnish Infantry Brigade of Colonel A. A. Kemppi in parts. The battalion under the command of Major D. A. Filichkin from the 90th Rifle Division took the Vyborg Fortress on June 20, 1944. In the evening of the same day, Vyborg was completely liberated from the enemy.

On June 21 and 23, 1944, especially fierce battles were fought in the areas of Tammisuo, Mannikkala (Smirnovo), Tali (Paltsevo), Repola. The 97th and 109th rifle corps participated in them, the command sent the 113th and 4th OPAB of the 17th UR to the same place.

The 113th OPAB was sent to cover the joints of the 21st Army units in the Repola-Tali area, in the area between the lakes Leitimo-yarvi (Small Krasnokholmskoye), Repolan-yarvi (Smirnovskoye) and Lyuyukulyan-yarvi (Smirnovskoye), east of the Saimaa Canal. At this system of lakes, Soviet troops met with strong enemy resistance. Having come to his senses from the blow near Vyborg, using his fortifications and fresh forces, the enemy put up a serious rebuff in the areas of the Tali (Paltsevo) station, the villages of Lehtola, Nurma and Repola. The Finns repeatedly stormed the front line of our troops, trying to push them out of the occupied area.

The 133rd Rifle Regiment of the 109th Rifle Corps under the command of Major P. Ya. Kolsuho and the 113th OPAB of the 17th UR fought in this area. The crossroads near the station Tali (Paltsevo) was defended by the 1st company of the 113th OPAB captain A. A. Komarov. Because of the fierce fighting, this crossroads was called the "crossroads of death" by the soldiers and the army press. Captain A. A. Komarov was wounded in the battles, but he did not leave the battlefield and continued to command the company. The commander of a machine-gun platoon, Lieutenant I.I. Buglo, was seriously wounded. Our losses grew, but the frontier was held.

The battles for the Tali station showed a clear interaction, cohesion and mutual assistance of the soldiers of various branches of the armed forces. The offensive of the Soviet troops on the Karelian Isthmus in order to force Finland out of the war continued for another three weeks. Soon the 113th OPAB was sent to a new place to replace the units of the 381st division of Major General A.V. Yakushev to strengthen the defense of the Heinjoki (Veshchevo) - Ristiseppyala (Zhitkovo) - Paakkola (Baryshevskoye) area along the water line of Lake Koltavesi (Makarovskoye ) - the Vuoksi River and the islands on Vuoksi Kaupin-saari (Winding) and Musta-saari (Dark).

In the Tali area, the 113th OPAB was replaced by the 4th OPAB, with which Komarov's company remained. Instead, the company of Captain Brushnevsky was transferred to the 113th OPAB from the 4th OPAB.

Subsequently, in the sectors north and west of Vyborg, the advance of the troops of the Leningrad Front was suspended. By the end of July 6, 1944, the operation to liberate the islands of the Gulf of Finland was basically completed. “Three or four days,” recalled Admiral V.F. Tributs, “we cleared the islands from small groups of the enemy. Booby traps prevented doing this faster. On July 10, the islands of the Vyborg Bay became completely ours. The task set by the front command was completed. The islands of the Vyborg Bay were occupied by the OPAB of the 9th fortified area (commanded by Colonel Kazunenko), which was blockaded on the western shore of Lake Ladoga south of the 17th UR.

And to the east of Vyborg on June 22, 1944, they occupied the line along the southern coast of the Vuoksa water system and began to strengthen the 112th, 522nd, 293rd, 133rd, 283rd and 126th battalions of the 17th fortified area. For this purpose, the 17th fortified area was attached to the electrical battalion of the 2nd engineering brigade. At the new frontier, the 17th fortified area was given the task of improving the defense on the 80-km section from Lake Ladoga to the village of Yayuryapya (Baryshevo), preventing active enemy actions, destroying it with fire of all means.

The battle order of the field OPABs at the new frontier was built up by platoon and company strongholds. The length of the front of company strongholds was 1.5-2.5 kilometers, battalion - 8-15 kilometers. All weapons were located in open areas, near which shelters were erected for personnel and weapons. Most of the artillery pieces were put on direct fire to shoot through the water table in front of the front. Capital observation posts for company and battalion commanders were equipped. Dugouts were built for all personnel. The basis of engineering equipment were trenches. Within a month and a half, a continuous trench was dug along the front line of the defense with the equipment of platforms and shelters. In total, 110 kilometers of full profile trenches were dug. In addition, 82 kilometers of wire fences and 26 kilometers of electrical obstacles were installed. In front of the front line, along the coast, as well as at the junctions of the battalions, 10 thousand mines were placed, made by sappers from water pipes.

Retreating across the Vuoksi River, the Finnish command decided to maintain a foothold on its right bank northwest of Yauryapya (Baryshevo), choosing for this a piece of terrain adjacent to the coast and consisting of a high granite massif overgrown with forest. In the crevices of the rocks, behind the huge boulders and under them, firing points were equipped, where machine gunners and submachine gunners took their positions. Such positions were not very vulnerable to mounted artillery fire, and it was very difficult to pull up direct fire guns and tanks over such rough terrain. The high bank allowed the Finns to sail along the river with impunity and bring ammunition and soldiers to the bridgehead. The 115th Rifle Corps of Major General S. B. Kozachek, advancing in this direction, was tasked with eliminating the Finnish bridgehead, creating conditions for forcing the Vuoksi River and capturing a bridgehead on the left bank. To secure the area being liberated from the enemy, the 293rd OPAB of the fortified area was allocated. The OPAB units, moving behind the attacking units of the rifle units, and, if necessary, helping them, on the night of July 9, 1944, advanced to the Vuoksi coast area and took up defense. In the following days, units of the 293rd OPAB provided great assistance to rifle units with fire from all types of weapons in crossing the river and seizing a bridgehead on the Finnish coast.

After the capture of the bridgehead, the 293rd OPAB was transferred there. Under heavy enemy fire, the fighters dug trenches, shelters, equipped machine-gun platforms and positions for guns and mortars, at the same time repulsing all enemy attempts to dislodge our units from the captured bridgehead.

On July 11, at the direction of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, the troops on the Karelian Isthmus stopped the offensive and went on the defensive. Many rifle divisions and technical units were transferred to the south. The 293rd OPAB returned to the right bank of the Vuoksi River in the general line of defense. The fortified area was tasked with improving the defense in engineering terms, preventing active enemy operations, destroying it with fire by all means.

Departing for the Vuoksa water system, the Finns left a group of seasoned scouts-saboteurs in the forests in the Rautu (Sosnovo) region, setting them the task of observing the movement of military units, equipment and cargo along the Leningrad-Rautu railway. In carefully camouflaged hiding places for saboteurs, stocks of food, ammunition, explosives and spare radio stations for communication were created. The saboteurs knew the area well. For a month, units of the border troops of the NKVD tried unsuccessfully to catch them. Experienced scouts evaded pursuit. Driven into a dead end by relentless pursuit, the saboteurs were allowed to go to their own shore. For the transition, they chose a place on the shore in the battle formations of the fortified area.

Warm August night. Treacherously sleepy. Quiet. The water surface of Vuoksi is slightly swaying. In the trench near the machine guns - the gunner, an elderly soldier Polikarpov and his assistant Ibragimov. The silence at the front is deceptive. A splash is heard on the water to the right. What is it? Fish or man? The fighters are sensitively listening and peering into the darkness. About two hundred meters away something is moving, you can barely see the flickering of oars - a boat with people. A long queue sharply breaks the silence of the night. Immediately echoed by a nearby machine gun. A sheaf of rockets illuminates the water surface. At the rubber boat - the screams of drowning people. The high vigilance of the fighters Polikarpov and Ibragimov liquidated a group of dangerous enemies.

End of August 1944. For two nights, during the darkest hours, the observers of the units heard the noise of an aircraft flying over our combat formations. Whose he could not be identified. Reported on command.

Two days later, near the shore of Lake Ladoga, signalmen Simkin and Fedorov, who served an artillery platoon located nearby, were building a dugout for themselves. Leaving their carbines in a dug pit, they dragged logs that had been sawn down nearby. Dropping another log from their shoulders, they sat down to smoke. At this time, a man dressed in the uniform of a tanker of the Soviet troops approached them. He began to ask the soldiers about the road to Rauta (Sosnovo). The signalers, knowing that there were no our tank units in this sector, realized that this was a stranger. Simkin imperceptibly pushed Fedorov. He, as if remembering something, walked to the dugout for weapons. The saboteur, realizing that he was exposed, pulled out a pistol from his pocket and, having fired several shots, wounded both fighters, and he ran into the forest. The soldiers of the artillery platoon, attracted by the shooting, rushed to pursue the saboteur. Artillerymen drove him into an empty farm and cut off his retreat. The saboteur ran into the bathhouse and slammed the door behind him, trying to close it. The gunner Ilyukhin, a tall strong Siberian, pulled the door with force and flung it open. Shot at point-blank range, Ilyukhin was killed. The saboteur committed suicide with the second bullet.

Three days later, in the battle formations of one of the artillery gunpulbats, the orderly Konyashin detained a Finnish soldier, exhausted from hunger and barely able to stand on his feet, who turned out to be the second saboteur from the thrown out group. During interrogation, he testified: “Three of us, two soldiers and a non-commissioned officer, who were trained in a sabotage school in Lappeenranta, were dropped by parachute in the swamp area east of Rautu. A load of explosives was also dropped. Our group was given the task of undermining bridges and tracks, and putting the Leningrad-Rauta railway out of action. The parachute descent was unsuccessful. We scattered in different directions and could not find each other, and the explosives, apparently, sank in the swamp. For five days I walked near the river, trying to go ashore and get over to my own, but all the time I ran into your soldiers.

The third saboteur, a non-commissioned officer, who landed unsuccessfully in a swamp, drowned. So the vigilance of the fighters created the conditions for the elimination of the landing of enemy saboteurs.

The victories of the Soviet troops on all fronts disheartened the enemy. It was felt throughout. Fire activity was greatly reduced, reconnaissance operations ceased.

In Finland, at that time, in an atmosphere of political tension, under pressure from the public, President R. Ryti resigned. The new Finnish leadership had to ask the Soviet government for peace talks.

A truce was signed. The headquarters of the Supreme High Command ordered the troops of the Leningrad and Karelian fronts to cease hostilities from September 5, 1944. The final armistice agreement was signed in Moscow on September 19, 1944, and the peace treaty was signed in Paris on February 10, 1947.

In September 1944, the 21st Army was transferred to the Vistula-Oder direction, and the armistice conditions began to be implemented on the Karelian Isthmus. The Finnish army determined the directions and roads for the withdrawal of troops and the evacuation of property, the timing and procedure for the withdrawal. Starting from September 20, 1944, in two weeks the Finnish troops had to go beyond the border of 1940, passing 15 kilometers daily. At the end of each day, the Finns had to install a barrier on the road showing the distance traveled. The next day, Soviet troops left their place of deployment, reached the barrier, and so - to the very border. A 15-kilometer distance was always to be maintained between Finnish and Soviet troops. Houses and other buildings had to remain intact. Leaving, the Finns even left unharvested crops in many places.

Parts of the Karelian fortified region reached the border along with border guards and troops of the 23rd Army. The 293rd OPAB was commanded by Major Dragan, the 283rd by Major Shirokov, the 522nd by Major Nikonenok, the 133rd by Major Frolov, the 126th by Major Shkurenko, and the 112th by Major Sakhartov. During the first week after reaching the state border, the battalions, together with infantry units, helped to restore the engineering support of the border - they equipped the border strip, set up wire fences, and tore off trenches. Then they began to build military camps to accommodate personnel, and after reconnaissance, they began work on equipping battalion units and company strongholds of defense.

A period of peace began for the Karelian fortified area. During the exit of Soviet troops to the border in 1940, two armies were stationed on the Karelian Isthmus - the 23rd and 59th. The commander of the 23rd Army was Lieutenant General V.I. Shvetsov, the headquarters was in Kirva (Free). The commander of the 59th Army was Lieutenant General Korovnikov. The army headquarters was located in Vyborg. However, soon the 59th Army was transferred to the southern direction, and the headquarters of the 23rd Army was located in the Vyborg fortress. The 23rd Army occupied the entire territory from Lake Ladoga to the Gulf of Finland.

The 17th fortified area occupied the line from Hitol through Oya-yarvi and Inkil (Zaitsevo) to Yaska (Lesogorsky) on the Vuoksi River. The headquarters is located in the village of Sayrala (Borodino).

During the transition of the 59th Army to the southern front, the 16th fortified area was withdrawn from Narva. He was sent to the Karelian Isthmus, where he took up defense from Yaska (Lesogorsky) to the Gulf of Finland. The headquarters of the fortified area was located in the fortress of Vyborg along with the headquarters of the 23rd Army.

1945 The command of the 16th UR with the commanders of the OPAB.
In the center is the commandant of the fortified area, Colonel K.K. Zhelnin.
In the first row, far right is the chief of staff of the UR, Colonel S.P. Ostroumov.
In the top row, second from the right, is the battalion commander of the 113th OPAB, Lieutenant Colonel Shabalov,
fifth from the right is the battalion commander of the 4th OPAB, Major Sh.F. Khasanov.

The 113th and 4th OPAB, which were part of the 21st Army, became part of the 16th fortified area. The 113th OPAB from Enso (Svetogorsk) moved to the border in the area of ​​the Saimaa Canal and settled in the villages of Karkorpi (Iskrovka) and Kilpen-Yoki (Komsomolskoye). The location of the 4th OPAB was the village of Terva-yoki (Kondratyevo) on the river of the same name.

In May 1946, the 16th, 17th, 6th and 9th fortified areas were disbanded. Part of the officers went to replenish the 22nd fortified area (on the border of 1939) and the 79th fortified area in Estonia.

The 1st, 246th, 106th, 154th, 63rd OPAB from June 1944 remained on the old lines of the 22nd fortified area (on the border of 1939) and from that time did not participate in hostilities.

The 22nd fortified area was reorganized several times, the last time - as the 22nd machine gun and artillery division, and then completely disbanded. The last commander of the division was Major General Vasily Efimovich Meshcheryakov.

Such is the long and bloody historical path of the land of the Karelian Isthmus - the border land of the Russian and Karelian fortified areas - the northern outpost of the cradle of the revolution of the city of Leningrad.