Ghali Zakirov

Ghali Zakirov (Russian: Гали Закирович Закиров; 1910-February 1944) was a Soviet soldier and Hero of the Soviet Union.

Early life
Zakirov was born in 1910 in Bogatyje Saby in Tatarstan. He received primary education and then became an agricultural worker. He later moved to Illinka village in the present-day Akzhar District, where he worked in the machine and tractor station.

World War II
On 14 July 1941, Zakirov was drafted into the Red Army. In early 1942, he was seriously wounded. Zakirov spent six months convalescing in Bogatyje Saby and returned to the front in late 1942. Zakirov was in the 3rd Guards Airborne Division from February 1943. He fought in the Demyansk Offensive before the division was withdrawn to Maloarkhangelsk. In June 1943, the division became part of the Central Front. During the Battle of Kursk, the 3rd Guards Airborne were in the second line from 5 to 8 July but were moved into the front line from 8 to 12 July, where they, together with the 307th Rifle Division, stopped German counterattacks around Ponyri railway station.

Zakirov participated in the Chernigov-Pripyat Offensive, where the division crossed the Desna River and then the Dnieper north of Kiev. In fighting to maintain its bridgehead over the Dnieper, Zakirov distinguished himself. By October 1943, he was a sergeant commanding a subunit of the 3rd Battalion of the 8th Guards Airborne Regiment. On 9 October, Zakirov allegedly killed over 100 German soldiers while holding strategic heights with only around 10 other soldiers against three German counterattacks during the Dnieper river crossing.

Zakirov later fought in the rest of the Battle of Kiev, and the Zhitomir–Berdichev Offensive. On 10 January 1944, he was awarded the Order of Lenin. He was killed in February 1944.

Busts of him are displayed in Bogatyje Saby and Ilinka.