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Crossing the Don in Stanitsa Yelanskaya

The second stage of the youth action “The Roads of the War” devoted to the 70^th anniversary of liberation of the Sholokhov District from the fascist invaders took place in the secondary school of Andropovsky Village.

The schoolchildren performed a historical and musical composition “Crossing the Don in Stanitsa Yelanskaya in August of 1942”. It was dedicated to the tragic events, when 70 years ago, the soldiers and officers of the 197^th infantry Division under the command of M.I. Zaporozhchenko not only defended the left bank of the Don, but also ensured the crossing of the river by the units of the Soviet Army.

The writer Nikolay Gribachov, who had taken part in those events, recalled, that they “had been crossing the River Don in Stanitsa Yelanskaya in the wide place for the whole night. By a steel cable stretched from one bank to the other several regiments were conveyed across the river with low losses”. As a result of the operation a beachhead was established on the right bank, from which our troops dealt a crushing blow near Stalingrad.

The historical reconstruction of the hostilities based on real events enabled the contemporaries to plunge into the atmosphere of the past to view the events of the unique crossing of the River Don.

The schoolchildren put flowers on the bank of the River Don and honoured the memory of the dead soldiers with a moment of silence.

The next stage of the action will take place in Merkulovsky Village and will be devoted to the courage and bravery of the soldiers in the battle for the capture of Mount Ursik.

Svetlana Usova