Alexander Vologin

Guards Junior Sergeant Alexander Dmitrivich Vologin (Александр Дмитриевич Вологин (October 8, 1924 - October 17, 1943) was a Soviet soldier who was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously in 1943 when he was killed during an offensive over the Dnieper in modern-day Belarus.

Early life
Vologin was born in 1924 into a peasant family in the village of Pechersk, in Samara Oblast in the then-Russian SFSR of the Soviet Union. Graduating from high school in 1940, he became an apprentice lathe operator at an asphalt plant. He joined the Komsomol in the same year.

Eastern Front (World War II)
He was conscripted into the Red Army in 1942 as a machine gunner, and assigned to the 65th Army. He participated at the Battle of Kursk in 1942.

In August 1943, he received the Order of Lenin for valourous conduct during the defence of Dmitrovsk, a town in Russia. His company were the first soldiers to break through German lines, but they were flanked. Vologin used his machine-gun to eliminate them and save his platoon, but he was wounded when a landmine exploded. However, he continued to fight for the several days that the defence lasted. According to the report he killed "dozens of soldiers and officers."

On the night of August 26, he and a small platoon crossed the Desna River, where the Wehrmacht was planning to cross the following day. They concealed themselves in vegetation. As the Germans attempted to cross the river, Vologin and his men opened fire while the Soviet counterattack started. Over the month and a half, the 65th Army pushed forward until it came to the Sozh, a tributary of the Dnieper.

Death and award
On October 17, 1943 while defending against German troops trying to cross the Sozh, Vologin and his assistant were killed by an artillery shell burst. The citation from the Presidium said that Vologin received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for "the exemplary performance of command assignments at the front against the Nazi invaders, the successful crossing of the Dnieper and for displaying courage and heroism." He was buried in a mass grave in Teruha, near Gomel in modern-day Belarus.

Posthumous honours
In Samara, Russia, a middle school and a street are named after him. At the house in Samara Oblast where he lived, there is a plaque remembering him, as well as a monument at the local boarding school. He was made a permanent member of the roll call of the 65th Army.