My post on the anniversary of the legendary border guard Nikita Karatsupa brought to mind how many state border violators were detained in Soviet times, how many border guards died. When searching for figures, we found very interesting materials, which are worth collecting into one whole.
So, today I am writing about the valiant Soviet border guards (for liberals - bloody security officers)

On May 28, 1918, Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars V.I. Lenin signed a decree establishing the border guard of the Republic of Soviets. It was this date that was later chosen for the professional holiday of soldiers in green caps - Border Guard Day. However, the text of Lenin’s document is based almost entirely on the provisions from the rules for the tsarist border guards, albeit with some changes in the spirit of the revolutionary times.
After the end of the Civil War, Felix Dzerzhinsky formulated the basic principle of ensuring the protection of socialist borders: “The border is a political line and a political body must protect it.” Therefore, in 1920, a decision was made to transfer the protection of all borders to the jurisdiction of the Special Department of the Cheka. Units of troops that provided military cover of the borders also came under the operational subordination of Dzerzhinsky’s department. So the border guards became security officers for many years.
The issue of training command staff for the OGPU troops became acute. In 1923, the Higher Border School was opened. During these years, the border checkpoint service was formed.
One of most important tasks Soviet Republic in strengthening the borders and protecting them was the organization of the maritime border guard, which was completed by the end of 1923.
Captain 1st Rank M.V. Ivanov became the organizer of the maritime border guard. Under his leadership, the Finnish-Ladoga Flotilla was formed on the Baltic, Lake Peipsi and Pskov Lakes, which marked the beginning of the revival naval forces border troops. Happy ending civil war When the external fronts were liquidated, the border troops concentrated their efforts on fighting spies sent into our country by foreign intelligence services. Over three years (1922-1925), 2,742 violators were detained only in the area of ​​five border detachments of the western border, of which 675 turned out to be agents of foreign intelligence services. The best traditions of the border troops were carefully preserved and passed on, and new ones were born.

From history: We have few documents left at our disposal that tell us about the formation of border protection in Kamchatka, Chukotka, and Kolyma. But what we have convinces us: time and circumstances demanded amazing heroism and maximum effort from our predecessors. The diary of the commissioner of the gunboat "Red October" Mikhail Domnikovsky has been preserved, which tells about the ship's trip to high latitudes in the summer and autumn of 1924 to expel American concessionaires from Wrangel Island. It is worth talking about the amount of effort this campaign required. And these days, ships almost never enter the northern part of the Long Strait, which separates the island from the mainland. And almost a century ago, such a voyage bordered on a feat. Due to the inaccessibility of the island, although its existence was guessed back in XVIII century, it was opened, by historical standards, quite recently. On the maps late XIX centuries you will not find the island yet.
"Red October" turned out to be the first Soviet ship to approach the northeastern shores of Chukotka after November 1917. In Provideniya, a gunboat, for example, was met by a police officer in full form. He even tried to tear the red flag from the ship's gaff. Probably, that police officer was a strong servant if for many years, having no connection with the mainland, he fulfilled the duties assigned to him.
This police officer reminded me very much of the legend about the permanent sentry

It should be noted that the population, which benefited greatly from the smuggling trade with the Americans, Canadians and Japanese, initially greeted the security service soldiers coldly. Then, of course, the situation will change. Border guards have always been able to win over local residents, but that will happen later...

From history: On August 17, 1929, two Chinese battalions - about 1000 bayonets - attacked the Poltavka border post, which was manned by 17 border guards. The border guards met the Chinese with machine-gun fire, the enemy retreated with heavy losses, but only to throw new reserves into the battle. The fierce battle continued for more than a day, Soviet machine gunners mowed down the advancing Chinese, but the outpost was completely surrounded, many soldiers were wounded. Those who remained barely had time to fill and feed machine-gun belts. During the battle, along with the outpost commander Ivan Kazak, his wife Tatyana was number two at the machine gun. For this feat, she was subsequently, the first Soviet woman, awarded the Order of the Red Star. The Chinese became furious and set themselves the goal of taking the outpost at any cost. Suddenly the next day they were hit in the rear by our cavalry regiment, which arrived from Ussuriysk. Exhausted by the daily battle, the Chinese rushed to flee, but our cavalrymen, destroying the fleeing enemy, crossed the Chinese border, occupied the city of Sanchagou “on the shoulders” of the fleeing Chinese, defeating its garrison and by the end of the day returned back to the territory of the USSR.

In the 20-30s. border guards A.M. showed high examples of fulfilling military duty. Babushkin, N.F. Karatsupa, A.I. Korobitsyn, V.S. Kotelnikov, I.P. Lettish, T.P. Lyukshin, I.G. Poskrebko, P.D. Saikin, G.I. Samokhvalov, P.E. Shchetinkin, D.D. Yaroshevsky and others. To perpetuate the memory of the fallen border guard heroes, many border outposts and ships are named after them. Over 3 thousand border guards were awarded orders and medals, 18 were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The first to receive it were the participants in the battles near the lake. Hassan (1938) G.A. Batarshin, V.M. Vinevitin, A.E. Makhalin, P.F. Tereshkin, I.D. Chernopyatko.

From history: In December 1935, one cunning Japanese diplomat tried to smuggle two female spies abroad through the Negoreloe checkpoint in two suitcases. Border guards received information about the impending action promptly. But it was forbidden to inspect diplomatic baggage. Then the border guards decided to delay in every possible way the process of processing documents and complying with customs formalities. During the inspection, suitcases were rudely tossed around, “accidentally” dropped, and even unnoticed by being stabbed with an awl. In the end, the illegal immigrants could not stand the lack of fresh air and their literally bent position and discovered themselves.

The Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-1940 was a difficult test for the Red Army. Several combined regiments of the border and internal troops of the NKVD were sent to the Karelian front to help the warring units and formations of the Red Army. One of the border guard units was surrounded in a forest. The border guards responded with a categorical refusal to offers to surrender. To prevent the enemy from offering negotiations on surrender in the future, the security officers hung a banner made from soldiers’ underwear between the pine trees, on which they wrote in Finnish: “The Bolsheviks do not surrender. Victory is ours!” The border guards fought under this banner for 45 days until help arrived.

The Report of the Chief of the NKVD Troops of the USSR and the Deputy Chief of the Border Troops of the NKVD of the USSR No. 18/6474 to the NKVD of the USSR on the results of the combat and operational activities of the NKVD Border Troops to protect the rear of the Active Red Army dated February 27, 1942 states the following: “With the beginning Patriotic War all units of the USSR NKVD troops that found themselves in the zone of hostilities took direct part in the battles together with the Red Army. The activities of the NKVD border troops during the reporting period are divided into two stages. The first is the period of border battles and withdrawal. The second - from the moment of stabilization of the front and the subsequent transition of the Red Army to the counteroffensive.
In these battles, the border guards showed great courage, tenacity and deserved highly appreciated field command. Particularly distinguished: 18th border detachment (former Belarusian border district), 91st and 92nd border detachments (former Ukrainian border district), 23rd and 25th border detachments (former Moldavian border district), 26th border detachment (former Black Sea border district).
From the moment the enemy attacked along the entire western border of the USSR, the border detachments took the first blow and for a long time steadfastly and selflessly held back the onslaught of superior enemy forces until the approach of the Red Army units. When moving away from the state border, border units continuously participated in rearguard battles both as part of the Red Army troops and in independent groups.)....
...By Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated June 25, 1941 No. 1756-762ss, the border troops of the NKVD were entrusted with guarding the military rear of the fronts of the Active Red Army. In accordance with this resolution, the following tasks were assigned to the troops: a) establishing order in the military rear; b) clearing rear roads of refugees; c) detention of deserters; d) fight against saboteurs; e) clearing rear lines of communication from refugees and regulating transport and evacuation.
The total number of NKVD troops involved in these tasks was 163 thousand people, of which 58,733 were border guards, organized into 36 border detachments, 4 reserve border regiments and 2 border battalions.....
...In battles with the German invaders, the border troops suffered the following losses in personnel:
1. Irreversible losses (killed, died from wounds and missing): commanders - 1932; junior command staff - 3192; rank and file - 19,455. Total - 24,579 people.
2. Wounded: command personnel - 569, junior command personnel - 868; rank and file - 4293. Total - 5730 people...
...The results of the service of units protecting the military rear of the fronts as of January 1, 1942, according to incomplete data, are expressed in the following numbers of detainees: military personnel who lagged behind and lost their units - 562,856 people; those who were captured by the enemy - 19,847; those who evaded service in the Red Army - 82,089; marauders - 246; those who fled from the construction of defense structures - 4260; citizens without documents and other citizens - 16,322.
In total, persons subject to identification and filtering were detained - 685,629 people.
During the same period, search groups of units of the border troops for the protection of military rear discovered, collected and delivered to collection points captured weapons: guns of various calibers - 157, various shells - 26,546, mortars - 67, heavy and light machine guns - 266, rifles - 4,218 , rifle cartridges - 13,363,749, anti-tank rifles - 19, a lot of vehicles and other captured and domestic military property...
During the reporting period, the results of the intelligence and operational work of the intelligence departments are as follows:
1. Spies, terrorists and saboteurs were identified, detained and exposed in the rear of the Leningrad Front - 192 people, Kalinin Front - 32, North-Western - 56, Western - 89, South-Western - 306, Southern - 326. In total - 1001 people.
In addition, in the rear of the Kalinin, Western and Leningrad fronts, 248 people suspected of espionage were transferred to special departments....
...The most common legends covering the agents sent by German intelligence to the rear of the Red Army are:
for former soldiers of the Red Army - “escape from encirclement”, “escape from captivity”, “leaving behind a unit”, “business trip for service”, etc.;
for the civilian population - “search for family and evacuated relatives”, “escape from territory occupied by the enemy”, “return of evacuated cattle riders”, “beggars”, etc.
In addition to reconnaissance of military installations, the deployment of Red Army units and weapons, German intelligence sets its agents tasks of a sabotage and terrorist nature (killing commanders and commissars, Soviet and party activists, organizing sabotage at military installations) and conducting defeatist agitation among our troops and population, praising fascism , distributing counter-revolutionary leaflets, inducing our soldiers to desert and go over to the enemy’s side, and so on.
For example, on October 21, 1941, an agent was detained and exposed German intelligence Zhukov (Kalinin Front), a former Red Army soldier who had the task in Torzhok to contact the saboteurs Bychkov and Zubkov and with them to blow up the bridge across the river. Hurry.
On December 1, 1941, Sidorenko, a former Red Army soldier of the 263rd regiment, was detained and exposed ( Southern Front), which had the task of reconnaissance of Red Army units and poisoning personnel 263rd Regiment by adding poison to food, with which it was supplied by enemy reconnaissance.
On December 5, 1941, German intelligence agent Sukhopenko (Southern Front), who had the task of blowing up railway bridges in the areas of Yuryevsk and Voroshilovgrad, was detained and exposed.
On December 17, 1941, a traitor with a party card, a member of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, Prosoedov2 (Southern Front), was detained and exposed. The latter, while on defense work, was captured by the Germans, where he was recruited. While in captivity, he handed over to the Germans 28 communists who worked in defense work, who were shot by the Germans. After Prosoedov, he was transferred to our rear with the task of exploding gas storage facilities in the Vodyana and Krivorozhye areas.
December 18, 1941 in the 6th Army (Southern Western Front) a group of 7 people was discovered and liquidated, put together by German intelligence agents, former Red Army soldiers Strekach and Sekirin, who had the task of committing terrorist acts against commanders and commissars of Red Army units and party and Soviet activists, carrying out armed raids on collective farms and carrying out defeatist and provocative work among population in favor of German fascism.
In a number of cases, German intelligence puts the agents it recruits through special courses before being dropped.
In this regard, the testimony of the exposed spy Ivanitsky, a Pole by nationality, a former resident of Warsaw, is characteristic, who testified that he “among 45 people was trained in special intelligence courses. The course personnel consisted of Poles, Germans, Latvians, Lithuanians, Estonians, Russians and persons of other nationalities who knew Russian. The age composition of the courses was from 18 to 25 years. During the training, 1-2 reconnaissance officers were sent from the courses to the rear of the USSR on a reconnaissance mission.”
The reconnaissance branch of the 16th [German] Army, operating against the NWF, recruited and trained special schools and on the courses there are about 200 intelligence officers from among people of all nationalities who know the Russian language.
On January 21, 1942, in the Ostashkovsky district (Western Front), German intelligence agent Anna Vasilievna Arkhipova was detained and exposed. Before being transferred by the Germans to the rear of the Red Army, she was trained by German officers in methods of intelligence work, sabotage and recruitment of agents for 2 months in the city of Ostashkov.
December 28, 1941 at the station. Voroshilovgrad (Southwestern Front) German intelligence agent V.R. Zheleznyak was detained and exposed, who testified that before being thrown into the rear of the Red Army by the Germans, he was trained at an intelligence school in Melitopol. After graduating from school, Zheleznyak, together with 4 other intelligence officers from this school, was thrown to our rear to commit acts of sabotage and defeatist agitation among the population.
There are intelligence schools in Artemovsk, Krasnoarmeysk and Orekhov (Southern Front).
2. Identified, arrested and exposed: proteges and accomplices of German fascism - 1019 people.
There were 935 anti-Soviet elements who carried out defeatist agitation among our troops and population, praising German fascism and distributing counter-revolutionary leaflets.
Those arrested and exposed were transferred to the NKVD authorities by territoriality and special departments.
3. The intelligence departments of the NKVD border troops to protect the rear of the fronts carried out significant work to identify deserters from among those detained. As a result, it was revealed: in the rear of the Leningrad Front - 3490 people, Kalinin Front - 1719, Northwestern - 64, Western -5922, Southwestern - 11,096, Southern - 573. In total - 27,994 people.
It is noted that deserters unite in groups, engage in looting, robbing the population and killing Soviet party activists.
Thus, on September 10, 1941, in the Kirishensky region (North-Western Front), a group of deserters of the 237th Infantry Division, numbering 5 people, who were engaged in plundering the population, was liquidated. 3 rifles with ammunition were confiscated from the group.
A group of deserters of the 24th reserve regiment (Southwestern Front), led by Mineev, was engaged in robbery of the population, killed a local policeman and the chairman of the village council. When detained, the group offered armed resistance. Mineev and two other bandits were wounded. A rifle, two revolvers and two grenades were seized.
In December 1941, in the rear of the 6th Army (Southwestern Front), a bandit group of deserter Shmigelsky of 15 people was liquidated.
November 25, 1941 at the station. Kolodeznaya (South-Western Front) a group of 8 people, led by tank troops lieutenants Kuchumov and Gridnev, was liquidated. The group was engaged in looting and robbery for 2 months. Kuchumov pretended to be an employee of the special department of the NKVD and thereby protected the group from failure.
On December 8, 1941, in the Mostovsky district (Southern Front), a bandit group consisting of deserters, consisting of 7 people, whose goal was to commit terrorist acts on instructions from German intelligence, was liquidated.”

The exploits of heroes and traditions established in the first decades of the Soviet period multiplied subsequent generations of border guards in the battles on Damansky Island in 1969 and in the performance of international duty in Afghanistan

From history: In 1969, the situation on the Soviet-Chinese border worsened. This is largely due to the demarcation of the border between the USSR and China. As a result of demarcation, the Chinese discovered that Damansky Island on the Ussuri River, in their opinion, is Chinese and is illegally patrolled by Soviet border guards.
Directly on Damansky Island, fights often broke out between Soviet and Chinese border guards. Traditionally, Soviet border guards were always stronger, which greatly angered the Chinese.
On March 2, 1969, 700 Chinese soldiers made their way to Damansky Island and established a foothold on the island. An infantry battalion of over 700 people, supported by two mortar and one artillery batteries, acted against the Soviet border guards. The Chinese managed to achieve complete surprise. The Soviet outpost of Nizhne-Mikhailovka, located opposite the island, was raised to arms. The commander of the outpost, 29-year-old senior lieutenant Ivan Strelnikov, kissed his wife and children and ran to expel the “guests” from the island - for the sixth time this winter, but this time he did not return. Both Soviet border guards and the Chinese were prohibited from opening fire on the enemy. But this time someone shot first. Chinese soldiers shot 22 border guards of the 2nd outpost at point-blank range. Lieutenant Strelnikov died. But before he entered into negotiations with the Chinese, he asked for help from the head of the Kulebyakiny Sopki outpost, Art. Lieutenant Bubenin. The surviving border guards lay down and took the fight. 15 minutes after this, each of the border guards accounted for from 15 to 20 attackers and almost one gun or mortar (which is documented). Despite such incredible superiority, Bubenin’s group managed to knock out the aggressors from Damansky using armored vehicles. The Chinese left the island. 31 Soviet border guards were killed, 14 were wounded. About 250 soldiers died on the Chinese side. This fight is still considered unique. Bubenin personally attacked the Chinese units in the flanks while in an armored personnel carrier.

During the 10 years of war, more than 62 thousand border guards passed through Afghanistan. For courage and bravery state awards About 22 thousand people were awarded. The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to Lieutenant Colonel V.I. Ukhabov (posthumously) and F.S. Shagaleev, majors A.P. Bogdanov (posthumously) and I.P. Barsukov, captains N.N. Lukashov and V.F. Popkov, foreman V.D. Kapshuk. The losses of the border guards were: irrevocable - 419 people, sanitary - 2540 people. Not a single border guard warrior was captured or left to lie dead in Afghan soil.

For the period 1965-1989. Soviet border guards More than 40 thousand violators of the state border of the USSR were detained, of which 71% were violators from neighboring states. The number of border troops in 1989 was about 200 thousand people.

Push: I could not find accurate data on the number of state border violators detained in Soviet times, or the number of border guards who died, but this is not the point. Already from the data found, it is clear that the enemy tried to enter the territory of our country en masse and not with good purposes(for liberals, the border guards did not allow democracy to be carried out). And if the enemy tried to get to us, then with certain intentions. And for this they needed accomplices. And there were spies from the Polish, and German, and Japanese, and British intelligence services, and all of them were exposed by the security officers. The year before last I read that the Security Service of Ukraine exposed 7 (SEVEN) spies that year.

As always, we draw our own conclusions

Our directors make quite a lot of films about the “War”, feature films and documentaries, but unfortunately almost all of them are infected with various “black myths”. And there is still little film material that would have an educational effect on young people about the immortal feat of our border troops on the terrible day of June 22, 1941. In Soviet times, they made a wonderful serial film “State Border” (1980-1988). But time passes and few of today’s youth watch Soviet masterpieces; it’s time to make new films about the exploits of our border guards, because there is a lot of material. It would be one thing if the border guards had shown themselves poorly in the first days of the war, then they could have kept silent about it, but on the contrary, they fought heroically, for hours, for days, although the enemy had allocated no more than half an hour for them in his plans. As a result, in Russia the feat of the Border Troops of the NKVD of the USSR, whose actions laid the foundation for the disruption of the plan, has not yet been fully appreciated and understood. lightning war» Reich.

What kind of troops were these?

In June 1941, the Border Troops of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the USSR were under the overall command of L.P. Beria. They consisted of 18 border districts, which included 94 border detachments, 8 separate units border ships, 23 separate border commandant's offices, 10 separate aviation squadrons and 2 cavalry regiments. Their total number was 168,135 people, the naval units of the Border Troops had 11 patrol ships, 223 patrol boats and 180 raid and auxiliary boats (414 combat units in total), the Border Troops aviation had 129 aircraft.

On the eve of the war, taking general measures to repel possible aggression, the leadership of the USSR increased the density of security of the western part of the state border of the state: from the Barents to the Black Sea. This area was then guarded by 8 border districts, which included 49 border detachments, 7 detachments of border ships, 10 separate border commandant's offices and 3 separate aviation squadrons. Their total number was 87,459 people, of which 80% of the personnel were located directly on the state border, on the Soviet-German border - 40,963 people. Of the 1,747 border outposts guarding the state border of the Soviet Union, 715 were on the western border of the country.

Organizationally, each border detachment consisted of 4 border commandant's offices, each with 4 linear outposts and 1 reserve outpost, a maneuver group (a reserve border detachment of 4 outposts, with a total number of 200 - 250 border guards), a junior command school - 100 people , headquarters, intelligence department, political agency and rear. In total there were up to 2000 bayonets in the detachment. Each border detachment guarded a land section of the border with a length of up to 180 kilometers, and on the sea coast - up to 450 kilometers.

Border outposts were part of the border commandant's offices - 4 border outposts. The Border Commandant's Office, as part of the border detachment, ensured border protection over an area of ​​up to 50 km and was directly involved in the management of border outposts. The commandant of the border commandant's office had a combat reserve - a reserve outpost of 42 border guards, it was armed with 2 heavy machine guns, 4 light machine guns, 34 rifles. The reserve outpost had increased ammunition, cargo vehicles or 2 - 3 horse-drawn carts.

The staffing strength of the border outposts in June 1941 was from 42 to 64 people, depending on the specific conditions of the territory and other conditions of the situation. The composition of the outpost consists of 42 border guards: the head of the border outpost and his deputy, the foreman and 4 squad commanders, the rest are ordinary border guards. It was armed with: 1 Maxim heavy machine gun, 3 Degtyarev light machine guns and 37 five-shot rifles of the 1891/30 model; The ammunition supply of the border post was: 7.62 mm caliber cartridges - 200 pieces for each rifle and 1600 pieces for each Degtyarev light machine gun, 2400 pieces for a heavy machine gun, RGD hand grenades - 4 units for each soldier and 10 anti-tank grenades for the entire border post .

The composition of the border outpost consists of 64 border guards: the head of the outpost and two deputies, 1 foreman and 7 squad commanders. The outpost was armed with: 2 Maxim heavy machine guns, 4 Degtyarev light machine guns and 56 rifles. Accordingly, the amount of ammunition was greater than in an outpost with 42 soldiers. On the instructions of the head of the border detachment at the border outposts, where the most threatened situation developed, the amount of ammunition was increased by one and a half times, but subsequent developments showed that this ammunition was only enough for 1 - 2 days of defense. The technical means of communication at the border post was the telephone. By vehicle The outposts had 2 two-horse carts.

In April 1941, company mortars and submachine guns began to arrive in the border districts on the western border of the Soviet Union: 50 mm mortars arrived - 357 units, 3517 units of Degtyarev submachine guns and 18 of the first anti-tank rifles.

Each border outpost guarded a permanent section of the state border with a length of 6–8 km around the clock, depending on the specific conditions of the situation and terrain. As a result, it is clear that the composition and armament of the border post allowed it to successfully fight single border violators, sabotage and reconnaissance groups and small enemy detachments (from a squad to 2 platoons of an infantry company). And yet, the border troops were able to adequately resist the Wehrmacht troops, which were much larger in number and armament, adding another heroic page to our Motherland.

It should also be noted that the border troops were put on full combat readiness on June 21. They were distinguished by their high combat effectiveness due to their service - danger could threaten every day; in fact, they were an elite part of the USSR Armed Forces.

Patrol of Soviet border guards. Last days of peace, June 1941

Beginning of the war

The first to discover the enemy and enter the battle were the border guards who were on duty. Using pre-prepared firing positions, as well as natural shelters, the squads entered into battle with the enemy and thereby signaled danger to the outposts. Many of the fighters died in the first battle, and the survivors retreated to the fortifications of the outposts and joined in defensive actions. In the zone where the main strike forces of the Wehrmacht were advancing, their advanced enemy units were mainly tank and motorized units, which, due to their complete superiority in numbers and weapons, could overcome the resistance of the outposts relatively quickly - 1-2 hours. In addition, usually the main units did not stop, but moved on; if the outpost could not be taken immediately, they blocked it with small forces, then suppressed the resistance with fire, and finished off the survivors. Sometimes it was necessary to finish off the last soldiers holed up in the basements with the help of sappers, detonating landmines.

The outposts, which were not at the forefront of the main attack, held out longer, repelling enemy infantry attacks with machine guns and rifle fire, withstanding artillery shelling and air raids. Reserves of commandant's offices and border detachments, almost not participating in outpost battles, they usually fought in the ranks of Red Army units, participated in the destruction of enemy landing forces, sabotage and reconnaissance detachments of the enemy, or died in battle with them. Some were defeated while moving towards the outposts, encountering advancing Wehrmacht columns. But one should not think that all the border guards died in fierce battles, some outposts received orders to withdraw, the border guards, along with units of the Red Army, continued to fight and participated in the victory over the enemy, in the restoration of the borders of the USSR.

Among the irretrievable losses of border guards in battles in June 1941, more than 90% were in the so-called category. “missing people”. Their death was not in vain; it was justified by the fact that, by dying as entire outposts, they gained time to reach the defensive positions of the units covering the border of the Red Army, and the covering units, in turn, ensured the deployment of the main forces of the armies and fronts for their further actions. Already at the beginning of the war, the “blitzkrieg” “stumbled” over the Border Troops of the NKVD of the USSR.

Examples of border guard battles

The 12th border detachment of the NKVD troops, at the beginning of the war, numbered 1,190 personnel, and defended the border on the Baltic Sea coast from Cape Kolka to Palanga. At 6.25 am on June 22, the 25th border outpost was attacked by the advanced units of the 291st Wehrmacht Infantry Division. The border outposts were withdrawn from their positions and to Rutsava, where the headquarters of the 5th commandant's office and the 5th reserve outpost were located. In Rutsava, platoons and companies were formed from them. By 13.30 on June 22, the combined border unit occupied defensive positions in the Rutsava area. At 15.30, a reconnaissance unit of an enemy division of 14 motorcyclists appeared in front of the border guards’ defense area, they were allowed into the position and destroyed. At 16.20, the 2nd enemy reconnaissance group appeared, which already numbered 30 motorcyclists, and it was also destroyed. At 17.30, an enemy column with a strength of up to the 1st infantry battalion approached the border defense area. The border guards also managed to take her by surprise - under fire from the border guards, the enemy did not even begin to turn into a battle formation and immediately ran. A reserve platoon of border guards struck from the rear, and as a result, in a fierce battle that escalated into hand-to-hand combat, the enemy forces were destroyed. German losses amounted to more than 250 people, 45 motorcycles, 6 heavy and 12 light machine guns, and much more were captured. At 20.30, the Wehrmacht took into account the mistakes and threw an infantry battalion into battle, reinforced by a company of armored personnel carriers and the defense of the border guards was broken through, they retreated to the area of ​​the Pape railway station, and then, after 2 hours of battle, to the area of ​​​​the town of Nitsa. At 14.30 on June 23, the remnants of the detachment were again attacked and surrounded in the Bernashi area, where they all fell in the last battle.

The other, larger part of the detachment, including its headquarters, was surrounded, along with part of the 67th Infantry Division, in Libau. On June 25, the border guards, together with the 114th Infantry Regiment, tried to break out of the encirclement, but were unsuccessful. As a result, only 165 border guards were able to break out of the Libau encirclement.

On June 22, 1941, after artillery strikes, the enemy tried to organize numerous crossings from Romanian territory across border rivers in order to capture bridges and bridgeheads to develop a further offensive. But the enemy was met everywhere by well-organized fire from the border guards. Border outposts everywhere were supported by artillery fire and the assistance of personnel from companies and battalions of the Red Army covering troops. The advancing advanced units of the German, Romanian and Hungarian troops suffered heavy losses in manpower and retreated to their original positions. The main battles took place near railway and highway bridges over the Prut River, and as a result, in order to prevent them from falling into the hands of the enemy, they were destroyed.

Interesting feature situation on this section of the front at the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, there were not only defensive, but also successful offensive operations Soviet troops with the landing of troops on the territory of Romania. On June 23-25, border guard fighters of the Izmail detachment, together with a detachment of border ships that guarded the state border of the Soviet Union along the Danube River, carried out successful landings on Romanian territory. They were supported by units of the 51st Infantry Division. After the first successful actions, the Military Council and the Commander of the 9th Army Cherevichenko decided to carry out a major landing operation with the capture of the Romanian city of Chilia Veche. There were artillery batteries located there, which impeded the actions Soviet ships on the Danube. The command of the landing force was headed by border guard sailor Captain-Lieutenant Kubyshkin I.K.

On the night of June 26, 1941, the border ships of the Black Sea detachment landed troops from units of the border detachment, together with units of the 23rd Infantry Regiment of the 51st Infantry Division, they immediately attacked the positions of the Romanian army. The Romanians fiercely resisted, but by 10 o'clock in the morning the landing force had captured a bridgehead up to 4 km wide and 3 km deep, defeating the Romanian infantry battalion, the border outpost and eliminating the artillery battalion. During June 27, the enemy almost continuously attacked our landing force, but Soviet soldiers, supported by the artillery of border ships, successfully repelled these attacks. This allowed the command to remove Soviet military, transport and passenger ships and vessels located on the Danube from enemy fire, and the possibility of their capture by the enemy was excluded. On the night of June 28, by order of the army command, the Soviet landing force was successfully returned to its shore.

On June 25, 1941, a special resolution of the Council was issued People's Commissars(SNK) of the Soviet Union, according to it the NKVD troops received the task of protecting the rear of the active army. On July 2, 1941, all border units and units that were operationally subordinate to the combined arms command along the entire length of the Soviet-German front switched to performing new combat missions. Having joined the ranks of the Red Army, along with it, the border guards bore the brunt of the fight against the German invaders; their main tasks were: fighting enemy intelligence agents, protecting the rear of fronts and armies from saboteurs, destroying groups that had broken through, and the remnants of encircled enemy groups. Border guards everywhere showed heroism, ingenuity, perseverance, courage and selfless devotion to their Soviet Motherland. Honor and praise to them!

In the photo, Ivan Aleksandrovich Kichigin is sitting to the left of the Maxim machine gun in a cap. I went through the whole war.

The first blow of the Nazi invaders on June 22, 1941 was taken by 85 thousand border guards. There were 660 border outposts on the western borders of the USSR and, according to the Barbarossa plan, it took from half an hour to 60 minutes to capture them. From the first days of the war, Wehrmacht soldiers and officers realized that this war would be different from those in which they had previously participated.

Thus, 250 outposts held out for up to 24 hours; 20 border guard strongholds withstood Nazi attacks for more than a day. 16 outposts defended for two days, 20 for three days, and 43 outposts for up to five days. 67 border outposts held back the enemy for one to two weeks, and 51 for more than two weeks. Remaining behind enemy lines, almost 50 outposts fought back for two months.

All fighters defended themselves staunchly and selflessly, and some even launched counterattacks. On the night of June 26, border guards, sailors of the Danube flotilla with soldiers of the 51st Perekop and 25th Chapaev divisions drove the Romanians out of the city of Kiliya. Afterwards they crossed the Danube, where they captured several settlements, 800 prisoners and a 70-kilometer bridgehead. The order to retreat back prevented the development of success.

One detachment managed to hold back the enemy's pressure. On June 29, the border outposts of the Reskientsky border detachment of the Murmansk district entered into battle with Finnish units, and 5 days later the enemy was driven out of the territory of the USSR. Until the very end of the war, the invader never crossed the border into the area of ​​this unit.

Evidence from the German side

The most famous was the feat of the Soviet border guards in the Brest Fortress. About these events, General Blumentritt, who heads the headquarters of the 4th Army advancing in Belarus, said that the border guards and their wives fought to the last, steadfastly enduring bombing and shelling. German troops learned what it means to deal with Russians, who are far superior to others in their training and spirit European armies. Soviet soldiers disciplined and fight to the death, and attempts to defeat them cost a lot of blood.

General Halder wrote in his diary that the Russians were fighting everywhere to the last man. The fighting is stubborn, and there are very few prisoners. The Russians resist until they are killed or try to get out of encirclement under the guise of civilians.

With the beginning of the border battles, the infantrymen of the 60th Motorized Division received an order stating that enemy soldiers and commanders were distinguished by their courage and always accepted battle. Therefore, Wehrmacht fighters should not show a human attitude towards the enemy, and fanaticism and contempt for death makes its destruction mandatory.

General Erich Raus in the summer of 1941 came to the conclusion that the idea that existed in the West about the inactive Russian army, devoid of individuality, was a thing of the past. The ideas of communism caused a spiritual uplift in Soviet soldiers, which was also felt on the battlefields.

The first heroes

In the border battles, the people, who faced a 4-year war and millions of casualties, received their first heroes. Several dozen border guards under the command of Lieutenant Lopatin resisted the German battalion for 11 days. Until July 2, a red flag flew over the position, and only a sniper’s shot knocked down the banner. Before the start of the battle, soldiers led civilians seeking protection from the outpost. When the people were safe, the border guards returned to the position to take on the battle, in which everyone died.

At the 7th outpost of the Volyn detachment on June 22, Private Petrov held back the Germans with machine gun fire for 7 hours. When the cartridges were spent, the border guard blew himself up and the approaching Germans with a grenade. On June 23, five hundred border guards under the command of Senior Lieutenant Polivoda, as a result of a many-hour battle, drove the Germans out of Przemysl. They held the city until June 27, and retreated only after the order.

After the border guards ran out of ammunition, they rushed at the enemy in a bayonet attack. This happened at the 17th outpost of the Rava-Russian border detachment. The soldiers met the Nazis with bayonets and all died. The eleven-day battle near the Moldovan border village of Stoyanovka was particularly bloody. Soviet soldiers launched a counter-offensive and recaptured the railway bridge across the Prut River from the enemy.

The Romanians managed to kill 600 defenders of the outpost, but the victory cost them 12 thousand killed and wounded. During the entire border battles, not a single Soviet outpost was left without an order. The soldiers who found themselves in the German rear joined the partisan detachments and continued to fight.

Border troops were not designed to repel attacks by regular troops. However, the outposts were practically destroyed full staff, gained the time necessary to deploy the main forces.