Hero of the Soviet Union, veteran of the Great Patriotic War Nikolay Vasilyevich Chikharev was born

26 April (9 May) 1910 Nikolai Vasilyevich Chikharev was born, Hero of the Soviet Union (1944), veteran of the Great Patriotic War, who took part in battles on the Southern, Transcaucasian, North Caucasian, Stepnoy and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts, as well as in forcing the Dnieper.

N. V. Chikharev (there is also a variant of pronunciation and spelling of the surname - Chikhirev) was born in the village of Borovoye, Borovsky volost, Ishim uyezd, Tobolsk province (now Ishim district, Tyumen region) in a peasant family of Vasily Orefievich and Ksenia Andreevna Chikharevs. He was the eldest sixth child in the family.

N. V. Chikharev finished six grades and one course at Solikamsk technical school. At the age of seventeen he went to Troitsk timber farm, where he worked as a lumberjack. From 1932 to 1934 he served in the Joint State Political Directorate (since 1934 - People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) of the USSR). After serving, he worked as a lumberjack, then in the Krasnodar militia.

In December 1941 he was mobilised by the Krasnodar city military commissariat into the Red Army. Since March 1942 he fought on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War: Southern, Transcaucasian, North Caucasian, Steppe and 2nd Ukrainian fronts. For a long time he served as a section commander of the 148th battalion of engineering barriers of the 27th separate engineering brigade of special purpose of the Steppe Front.

For the exemplary performance of combat missions of the command during the forcing of the Dnieper and for the courage and fortitude shown by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on 22 February 1944, Sergeant N. V. Chikharev was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

N. V. Chikharev's feat of arms is reflected in the award list: "Fulfilling the combat mission to prepare and provide two crossings across the Dnieper River at Shelomai station and at Dzyuba village.Dzyuba, under enemy fire from all kinds of weapons and aerial bombardment in cold water, disregarding the danger to life, t. Chikharev by personal example of courage and bravery enthralled the soldiers and sergeants working at the crossings. 3.10.43 at night under enemy fire by forces of his squad on rafts from improvised means by oars ferried 120 men with weapons, 12 boxes of ammunition, 2 machine guns and 2 mortars. 6.10.43 at night under enemy fire at the crossing near Dzyuba village with a group of soldiers risking their lives stretched a cable across the Dnieper river, and when during the ferry work the cable broke, t. Chikharev, dipping his head in cold water, within one hour tied the cable and ensured the work of the ferry. On the right bank of the Dnieper under heavy enemy fire he cleared the passages and ensured the advance of the advancing units. Participating again in the boat crossing, under heavy enemy fire on an inflatable boat with two punctured compartments made 12 trips and carried 87 men, 5 machine guns, anti-tank means and ammunition".

On 1 January 1944 N. V. Chikharev was seriously wounded and demobilised with the rank of senior sergeant. In 1946 he graduated from the Saratov Militia School, served in the KGB bodies of the Krasnodar Territory. Then until 1959 he worked in the public order protection bodies of the Saratov Department of Internal Affairs, reaching the rank of police captain.

Died on 10 October 1986 in Saratov. He is buried in the Yelshansky cemetery of the city.

N. V. Chikharev had, in addition to the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin (1944), many other military awards: the Order of the Red Banner (1953), the Order of Patriotic War I degree (1985), two Orders of the Red Star (1943, 1948), two medals "For bravery" (1943, 1943), a medal "For the defence of the Caucasus" (1945).

The memory of N. V. Chikharev is preserved by a memorial plaque, installed in his small homeland, in the village of Borovoye, Ishim district, on the building of the local school. On the eve of the 60th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War in 2005 in Saratov, a memorial plaque dedicated to the hero was also installed on the building of the police department of the Oktyabrsky district. In 2015, in the year of the 70th anniversary of the Victory, a Gallery of Honour dedicated to Ishim residents - Heroes of the Soviet Union and Heroes of Socialist Labour was opened in the village of Strekhnino, Ishim District, with a portrait of N. V. Chikharev occupying one of the places of honour.

Lit.: Герои земли Тюменской: [сборник] / сост. Н. Данилин, А. Поторочин, Н. Д. Радченко. Свердловск, 1968; Герои земли Тюменской: историческая литература / сост.: М. М. Никифирова, Н. Д. Радченко, А. Поторчин, Свердловск, 1975; Герои земли Тюменской: сборник / сост. Н. Т. Вокуев. Тюмень, 1991; Герои земли Тюменской / автор-сост. Бажин А. И. Тюмень, 2023; Полещук И. Н. Герои Советского Союза земли Тюменской. Тюмень, 2023.

Based on the materials of Presidential Library:

Чихарев Николай Васильевич: [биографическая статья] // Герои Советского Союза: краткий биографический словарь: [В 2 т.]. Т. 2 Любов – Ящук. М., 1988. С. 738 (доступно в электронном читальном зале);

Fatherland Defenders // Memory of the Great Voctory: [digital collection].

The article was prepared by Tyumen branch of the Presidential Library