The work of journalist A. Alyabyev is not only a history of the Second World War, but also an excursion into the history of the development of military aviation during that period. The author draws on a vast amount of documentary material: official reports from governments, news agencies, radio and the press, providing the opportunity to compare the viewpoints of the warring parties on the same...

Rear Admiral Nikolai Belorukov of the Soviet Navy, awarded the Orders of the Red Banner, Nakhimov Second Class, and the Red Star for his combat service, recounts his service in the Black Sea Fleet during World War II. After graduating from naval school, he was initially appointed navigator of the submarine ‘M-53,’ then senior assistant commander of ‘S-31,’ and in May 1942 he took command of...

Seriia Soldatskie dnevniki

Evgeny Ivanovich Fokin served in a reconnaissance company from May 1943. He repeatedly participated in capturing enemy prisoners (‘languages’) at the front lines and in the enemy's rear. A special chapter in the author's military biography is his participation in a daring operation by a special detachment to save crucial facilities in Krivoy Rog in February 1944. E.I. Fokin vividly and...

The memoirs of O.G. Ivanovsky are one of the rare books written by officers of the Soviet military counterintelligence 'SMERSH'. The author frankly writes about the attitude in the troops towards the Chekists of SMERSH, about the methods of operational work of military counterintelligence at its initial level, and about the battles, campaigns, and raids of the cavalry regiment in which he was...

In 1932, Vasily Emelyanenko, a student at the Moscow Conservatory, had no idea that his decision to leave the conservatory, join a flying club, and train as a pilot would lead him to the then-yet-to-be-established title of Hero of the Soviet Union. But to earn this title, he had to complete 92 combat sorties to attack the enemy in 1942-1943 – one of the most difficult periods for the country,...

The confrontation between the ‘Stalin's Falcons’ and the Luftwaffe in the early years of the Great Patriotic War is full of tragedy. What did the Soviet Air Force represent, and why did it find itself on the verge of defeat? How did they manage to turn the tide and gain air superiority? To what extent is the fame of German aces exaggerated and the fame of Soviet aces underestimated? The answers...

The book recounts the confrontation between the German air force and the air defense system of the Volga region during the Great Patriotic War. Based on numerous previously inaccessible archival materials, eyewitness accounts, and other documentary sources, the authors recreate a comprehensive panorama of events that took place in this region from 1941 to 1944.

The author of the book is a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, who served with his battery from Leningrad to Berlin. ‘I had already adapted to firing for effect with the entire battery without preliminary sighting. This time I quickly ‘caught’ my bursts, made some adjustments, and switched to firing at the target with rapid fire. The first salvos sent fountains of black, greasy earth and fire...

In 1940, after Estonia's annexation by the USSR, the submarine ‘Lembit,’ built in England, became part of the Soviet Navy. This submarine, commanded by Captain Alexei Mikhailovich Matiyasevich, was destined to endure a difficult combat journey. It broke through enemy fairways through minefields, crept along the seabed under a hail of German depth charges that exploded almost right next to its...

In his book, the author, who fought as an infantryman in the battles of the Kursk Salient, the Lviv, Vistula-Oder, and Berlin operations, recounts what he saw as a platoon commander of a tank landing force: the daily life of Red Army soldiers with their simple joys in the form of sleep and hot food, monotonous work, the desire to survive, and the constant feeling of imminent death.