Oleg Kokushkin

Oleg Ioilevich Kokushkin (Russian: Олег Иоильевич Кокушкин; 8 May 1910 – 14 September 1943) was a Soviet officer and Hero of the Soviet Union.

Early life
Kokushkin was born on 8 May 1910 in Plyos. His father was an accountant for a textile factory. In 1912, his family moved to the village of Zakharovo. From 1917, he lived in Buy, where his father worked at the station. After graduating in 1929, he became a foreman at the Stalingrad tractor factory. He joined the Communist Party in 1931 and the Red Army the same year.

He graduated from the Junior Aviation Spechialists School in Tashkent. In 1934 he graduated from the Volsk Military Aviation Technical School and was the secretary of the party organization and then an instructor of the political department. In October 1940 he graduated from the courses of political personnel in Smolensk.

World War II
In June 1941, Kokushkin was a Political commissar. In the Battle of Kiev, Kokushkin was the commissar of a battalion in the 212th Airborne Brigade of the 3rd Airborne Corps. He reportedly organized the party political staff and repeatedly led the battalion in the attack. For these actions, Kokushkin was awarded the Order of the Red Banner twice, on 5 November and 13 December 1941. He was wounded and fought in the Battle of Moscow after recovering. Kokushkin was again wounded and fought in the Second Battle of Kharkov.

He was the 3rd Battalion commissar of the 42nd Guards Rifle Regiment, part of the 13th Guards Rifle Division, during the Battle of Stalingrad. On 31 January 1943, he was recommended for the Order of the Red Star after leading the battalion's counterattacks which reportedly destroyed 12 tanks, but Vasily Chuikov instead awarded a Medal "For Courage" on 11 April 1943. In November 1942, Kokushkin attended a course and afterwards was assigned to the 3rd Guards Airborne Division.

On 3 July 1943, he became the commander of the 8th Guards Airborne Regiment of that division. Kokushkin fought in the Battle of Kursk and was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War 2nd class for defending territory against the Germans.

In the ensuing Central Front offensive, the 8th Guards Airborne Regiment helped capture areas of Kursk, Sumy and Chernihiv oblasts. By the evening of 7 September the regiment was near Bakhmach. The Germans launched several counter-attacks, stopping the offensive temporarily. Kokushkin led cut the Bakhmach-Nizhyn Railroad, leading to the retreat of the German forces to avoid being encircled. On 14 September 1943, a German bomb scored a direct hit on the regimental command post, killing the divisional chief of staff, Alexei Arapov, and Kokushkin. On 17 October he was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

Kokushkin's name is engraved on the World War II memorial in Ivanovo. There is also a memorial plaque at the Volsk Military Aviation Technical School.