Kanti Abdurakhmanov

Kanti Abdurakhmanov (Абдурахманов Канти) (1916 — March 28, 2000) — ethnic Chechen, Master Sergeant of artillery battery during World War II. For heroic deeds during the war he was awarded the title Hero of the Russian Federation in May 1996.

Born in 1916 in the Chechen town of Shali (or, according to different data, Argun) Abdurakhmanov became an orphan at an early age. Soon after the start of Operation Barbarossa in 1941 he joined the Red Army as a volunteer. Abdurakhmanov completed junior artillery commanders' training in Tashkent in June 1942. From October 1943 to May 1945 he served in the acting Army and took part in a number of offensive battles, on several occasions he was wounded but returned to the Army.

During an offensive battle in December 1943 to the West of Vitebsk the infantry lay under intense fire from the fortified position of the enemy. Abdurakhmanov with his squad moved the cannon out and, despite the enemy's machine gun fire, destroyed the enemy pillbox with several precise hits. That enabled fighters to attack and occupy the enemy's frontier. In June 1944 Abdurakhmanov repeated his deed during the forced crossing of the Daugava river in a similar situation, which ensured the success of the operation. During the war he destroyed a number of enemy tanks.

After the victory Abdurakhmanov served in the Army until 1946 when he was demobbed and exiled to Middle Asia as a person of the deported Chechen nation. The "Nationality" entry of his personal details proved to be more important than his heroic military deeds.

He returned to Chechnya in 1967, worked as driver, combiner, food industry operative, and master of a geological exploration drilling crew. After retirement he moved to the city of Argun. He died on March 28, 2000. Abdurakhmanov was born in the Russian Empire and died in the Russian Federation, which means he lived through the entire Soviet Era.