Alexander Yulievich Bondarenko

Young heroes Fatherland

Two days later, the Turks actually attacked Russian positions on the island of Rodamas, but they were expected there, they were well prepared for the meeting, so they responded with well-aimed fire, and the enemy was driven back with heavy losses...

Emperor Nicholas I highly appreciated the feat of the 13-year-old hero. He was awarded the medal “For Diligence” on a red Annensky ribbon and 10 half-imperials - a large sum of money at that time. Somewhat later, Raicho's father also received a cash allowance of one hundred chervonets. But the main thing that made the boy happy was that the tsar fulfilled his request, allowing him to stay in Russia, learn Russian literacy and enter military service.

A few years later, Herodion Nikolov trained and became a border guard officer on the Moldavian-Wallachian border - closer to his homeland. As a Russian officer, he was elevated to the dignity of nobility.

When the struggle to liberate Bulgaria from Ottoman rule began in the 1870s, many Russian officers, even before Russia entered the war, went to the Balkans as volunteers to fight the Turks. Lieutenant Colonel Nikolov became the commander of a detachment of one of the Bulgarian squads. For the courage shown in battles, he was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th degree with a bow.

But the life of our hero was short: he was mortally wounded during fierce battles on Mount Shipka and was buried here in his native land.

Commander of the Varangian and the Korean

(Sasha Stepanov)

January 27, 1904 Japanese warships suddenly attacked the Russian squadron stationed on the outer roadstead of the Port Arthur fortress. So it began Russo-Japanese War, for which neither Tsar Nicholas II, nor the Russian government, nor the command of the Russian army were ready, although they had all known about the possibility of such a war for a long time and were even confident in the unconditional victory of Russia. In this war there were loud battles, brilliant feats and wonderful heroes, but there was no our victory in it. We can say that it was Nicholas II who lost this war - because of his incompetent state, military and economic policies, his attitude towards the army and the selection of army leadership.

The events of this war are devoted to several very interesting books Russians Soviet writers, including the novel “Port Arthur” by Alexander Nikolaevich Stepanov. But few people know that the author of this book saw the events he describes with his own eyes, being a young hero of the defense of the fortress...

Since time immemorial in noble family Stepanov, all men served in the artillery. He dreamed of becoming an artillery officer and little Sasha, who had already studied at the Polotsk Cadet Corps, in present-day Belarus. However, in 1903, his father was transferred to Port Arthur, and the entire large Stepanov family went to Far East. Sasha was eleven years old, and his parents decided not to leave him alone, and therefore took him away from the corps, so the cadet had to take off his shoulder straps and enter a real school - a school where education was given with an emphasis on the study of mathematics and exact sciences. Of course, the boy was very upset: it’s one thing to be a cadet, a military man, and quite another thing to be a realist, a “shtafirka”! But if Alexander knew what combat tests would lie ahead of him in the very near future...

His father was appointed commander of an artillery battery of the so-called Small Eagle's Nest. Sasha went to school and made new friends. Mom ran the household and took care of the younger children. The family’s life gradually returned to normal – everything was the same as in Russia.

But soon the war began. After they thundered near Port Arthur naval battles, and shells fired from Japanese ships began to explode on the streets of the city, a decision was made to evacuate the families of the officers. The Stepanovs—his mother, Sasha, his younger brother and two sisters—were also leaving. The father sat them all down in the compartment of the railway carriage, kissed them goodbye, waved his hand after the train for a long time, thinking about whether they would have to see each other again.

And two days later Alexander returned. It turned out that he escaped from the train at the first station. And what was to be done with him?! His father whipped him, but left him on his battery. As they say, the train has left – in both senses.

On April 22, Japanese troops landed near Port Arthur, and already on the 28th the fortress was under blockade. Now the Japanese guns fired at it every day and quite often, and the Port Arthur guns returned fire. At first, Sasha was afraid of these shellings, hid in his father’s dugout and sat there until the shells stopped thundering, but he soon got used to it and, like the soldiers, no longer paid much attention to the shooting.

He spent several months on the battery. And since it is impossible to live in positions just like that, without doing anything, he soon took on the duties of assistant battery commander. The boy not only conveyed his father’s orders to the firing positions, but also checked the correct installation of the sight: the soldiers were mostly illiterate and often made mistakes, and he, as a cadet, had certain skills in artillery. When Japanese shell explosions cut off the telephone line, Sasha, despite the shelling, bravely “ran along the wire,” looked for the break point and repaired it.

The situation in the besieged fortress worsened every day. There was not enough ammunition, water and food, the soldiers died not only under enemy fire and while repelling Japanese attacks, but also due to various diseases that literally decimated the garrison.

Captain Stepanov fell ill and was sent to the hospital, so Sasha was essentially left homeless. However, he was not alone - there were other sons of officers in the fortress, whose mothers had left, and whose fathers were in the hospital or died. Then these guys were assigned to help water carriers when delivering water to the forts and fortifications of the fortress: there were no water pipes or conduits, and water was transported to the garrison at night in large 20-bucket barrels mounted on carts. Each barrel was pulled by a team of two donkeys.

During the day, the guys washed and cleaned the barrels, filled them to the top with water, and in the evening, when dusk was gathering over the besieged fortress, they handed over the sleds to the water carrier soldiers, who went their separate ways and waited for their return. The boys also had to look after the donkeys: feed, water, clean, harness.

Sasha named his long-eared charges with the loud names Varyag and Koreets - in honor of the Russian ships that died heroically in unequal battle with the Japanese on the first day of the war. The Varangian was healthier than the Korean, but lazy and stubborn - if he resisted, he could not be moved either by prodding, or by treats, or by beatings. But Stepanov soon learned that when you splash water on a donkey, he immediately becomes submissive and goes where he is told.

The fighting did not stop, the shelling continued, and the number of soldiers defending Port Arthur was inexorably decreasing. After some time, the guys had to replace the drivers and carry water to the front line themselves. Sasha Stepanov got the route from the Litera B battery to Fort No. 2 - about one and a half kilometers long. Whether the Japanese were shooting or not, every night he led his stubborn Varyag and Korean, harnessed to a heavy barrel, along this difficult path, stopped in certain places and distributed water to the soldiers in a precisely established, calculated volume: on one fortification there were two buckets, on the other - three ... The buckets were large and heavy, so by the end of the journey both my back hurt and my arms didn’t obey me. It wasn’t a child’s job, of course, it was work, but war and siege are generally not children’s activities.

At the beginning of November 1904, a Japanese shell exploded near the house where Sasha lived. The house collapsed, Stepanov’s both legs were damaged, and the boy was sent to the hospital. When he recovered, he went to one of the batteries of White Wolf Bay, where his father was, again in command of the artillery pieces. And Sasha continued his military service there.

On December 20, 1904, the Russian command treacherously surrendered the fortress, although the defenders of Port Arthur were still able and ready to resist. The victors took the captured Russian soldiers and officers to Japan, so that on January 21, 1905, Sasha Stepanov ended up with his father in the city of Nagasaki.

The young hero of the defense of Port Arthur did not stay there long: a few weeks later, together with sick soldiers and officers, he was sent by ship to Russia. The route ran through Shanghai, Manila, Singapore, Colombo, Djibouti, Port Said, Constantinople - names that would make any boy's head spin.

On March 8, Sasha was met in the Odessa port by his mother... Only a year and a half has passed since his arrival in the Far East.

"Peaceful children of labor"

This is what the wonderful Russian called the heroes of one of his most famous poems poet XIX century Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov. The guys our story is about lived almost at the same time as him - maybe a little later. They did not wear officer epaulettes or soldiers' shoulder straps, did not participate in battles, they were not awarded orders and medals - but it just so happened that each of these simple peasant children who lived in various parts of Russia, these “peaceful children of labor”, in some At that moment I had to risk my life to save other people. It doesn’t matter whether they are family or complete strangers. The main thing is that they all acted then exactly as their conscience told them, as their heart told them.

After that, each of them lived his most ordinary life, but there is no doubt that it was honest, worthy and, God willing, long and happy life people who work in their native land.

And therefore, let us once again remember the words of the poet N. A. Nekrasov:

That nature is not mediocre,
That land has not yet perished,
What brings people out
There are so many glorious ones, you know, -
So many kind, noble,
Strong loving soul
Among the stupid, cold
And pompous of themselves!

There is something here to think about for a person just entering life.

Angara - a wayward river

(Timosha Grechin)

336 rivers and streams flow into Lake Baikal, and only the Angara flows out of it - a fast, wide, stormy, capricious, and very cold river.

On the shore along the Angara, somewhere in the Irkutsk province, stretches the large village of Vorobyovo, which is closely approached by dense taiga. When you leave the hut, you look at how the green wall stands in front of you. The places here are beautiful, protected, but in order to plow the fields, it was necessary to first cut down centuries-old trees, uproot stumps, and then cultivate the arable land. However, the Vorobyov peasants found another way out: in the middle of the river there was a large island, which they turned into their field, where they came along the river in boats and longboats. In times of need they usually went there early in the morning and returned only late in the evening...

One fine day, when the people were already hard at work on their island field - the harvest and harvesting of grain had begun - a worker of the wealthy peasant Grechin took a horse to the owner on a large longboat. The owner's son Timosha, a boy of about fifteen, went with him. Timosha himself, unfortunately, was a useless worker - the boy was small for his age, quiet, weak, and even lame. But he had a kind, gentle disposition, they say about such people that he wouldn’t hurt a fly, and people pitied him. He usually stayed at home rather than working in the fields with everyone else.

- What are you up to, Timosha? – the worker asked affectionately. - Why can’t you stay at home?

– Why sit when everyone is in the field? - he answered. – The island is nice, fresh, fun with people! Yes, maybe I can help my father in some way...

While they were getting ready to set off, they led the horse along the gangplank onto the longboat, and she, of course, was afraid, did not go, then they tied her there, a young peasant, Khrisanf Stupin, came out of his hut - a healthy man and a competent peasant, but he was still a little tipsy, I didn’t have time to recover from yesterday’s holiday, so I overslept the general departure to the island.

A worker called out to him, but Chrysanthus did not answer, he hid his eyes, he was ashamed that he had gone on a spree. He sat down in his fragile boat and began rowing hastily, in order to quickly make up for lost time - the oars were bending, the boat was literally flying along the river. The current near the Angara is stormy, the boat dances on the waves, sways, rolls from side to side. And suddenly there was trouble: the boat rocked, and a brand new sickle, which the man had carelessly thrown onto the stern bank - the back bench, slid along the board and fell overboard into the water. And, of course, straight to the bottom. The peasant did not even realize that, as they say, all hell was lost, the sickle sank irrevocably, and he started to grab it. After all, a sickle costs money; to buy it, you need to go to the city for a fair, and what can you do on the island without it now?! But then the boat swayed strongly, fell on its side and capsized, and Stupin fell into the water. As luck would have it, all this happened in the deepest place. The boat floats upside down, the current carries it away, and Chrysanthos in the water tries to catch up with his little boat, but then he too is carried somewhere to the side.

- Good people, help! Save! I'm drowning! - the man shouted.

But who will hear him when all the people are on the island?

Only Timosha saw what happened - the worker was driving the longboat and did not look around. Without saying a word, the boy jumped into a small boat that was tied to the stern of the longboat, grabbed the oars and rowed to the drowning man - well, he was downstream, it was easy to row. In a hurry, the boy sat down facing not the stern, but the bow, and the mighty river carried the boat forward astern.

- Grab the stern! - he shouted to the man, swimming up.

Yes where there! When a person drowns, he loses his mind - it’s not for nothing that they say that a drowning person clutches at straws. So Khrisanf Stupin grabbed tightly onto the side of the boat, pulled it towards himself, trying to climb into it. The boat tilted and scooped up water on its side. Another moment - and it will capsize, both will end up in the water, and then there will definitely be no salvation. But Timosha did not lose his composure, he leaned onto the other side, even leaned over it - and leveled the boat. And the man, who had swallowed water, was frozen, was already exhausted and was simply hanging on board, holding on from last bit of strength. But, God forbid, he unclenches his fingers and that’s it, he drowns! Then the boy, without deviating from his side, contrived and extended his hand to him, grabbed him by the hair, and pulled him towards him. And he was so puny and frail, as they said about him, but he managed to drag a huge man into his boat! He fell to the bottom, froze, and lay there breathing heavily until they swam to the shore...

Bottomless Well

This book is dedicated to the young heroes of our Fatherland: children and younger age, and already almost an adult, 16 years old, who lived in various historical eras– from the 10th century to the present day. Among them are the future rulers of the Russian land, young soldiers and officers, as well as the most ordinary children of various nationalities. Some of them became war heroes, others performed feats in Peaceful time- in your native village, on the street of your city, even in your home. And since a feat is always associated with danger, sometimes mortal, then, unfortunately, many of them remained young forever... But, as stated in Holy Scripture, “greater love has no one than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” - that is, no more love to people than to give your life for them. After all, life is always a choice, and each person makes it independently: how and why to live, what trace, what memory to leave of oneself on earth.

Some of our heroes subsequently became famous for other deeds, reached considerable heights in life, and for some, it was a childhood feat that became the most striking event of their entire life - perhaps a very long one, her finest hour. Talking about young heroes, we also talk about the history of our entire country, which includes their exploits. History, as we know, is made by people through their actions, and therefore the book “Young Heroes of the Fatherland” is addressed to everyone who is interested in the history of our country, who is not indifferent to its present and future.

On our website you can download the book “Young Heroes of the Fatherland” by Bondarenko Alexander Yulievich for free and without registration in fb2, rtf, epub, pdf, txt format, read the book online or buy the book in the online store.

This book is dedicated to the young heroes of our Fatherland: children both younger and almost adults, 16 years old, who lived in various historical eras - from the 10th century to the present day. Among them are the future rulers of the Russian land, young soldiers and officers, as well as the most ordinary children of various nationalities. Some of them became war heroes, others accomplished feats in peacetime - in their native village, on the streets of their city, even in their home. And since feat is always associated with danger, sometimes mortal, then, unfortunately, many of them remained young forever... But, as it is said in the Holy Scriptures, “there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” - that is, no greater love for people than to give your life for them. After all, life is always a choice, and each person makes it independently: how and why to live, what trace, what memory to leave of oneself on earth.

Some of our heroes subsequently became famous for other things, reaching considerable heights in life, and for some, it was a childhood feat that became the most striking event of their entire life - perhaps even a very long one, its finest hour. Talking about young heroes, we also talk about the history of our entire country, which includes their exploits. History, as we know, is made by people through their actions, and therefore the book “Young Heroes of the Fatherland” is addressed to everyone who is interested in the history of our country, who is not indifferent to its present and future.

Part 1
Primordial Rus'

“The prince has already begun!”
(Svyatoslav, Grand Duke of Kyiv)

Probably the first of the famous young heroes of the Russian state - Ancient Rus'- we should name Svyatoslav, the future Grand Duke of Kyiv, born around 942. That is, one thousand seventy years ago. But it’s not without reason that they say that a feat lives on for centuries, and the glory of heroes is immortal. The memory of the exploits of Svyatoslav, preserved in chronicles and folk legends, – the best for that confirmation.

Svyatoslav was the son of the Grand Duke of Kyiv Igor and his wife Grand Duchess Olga, who became the first Russian saint. The end of the 10th century... It was a very difficult, cruel time - there were endless wars with neighbors and nomadic tribes, in battles and campaigns the borders of the Kyiv principality expanded, the power of the great princes was strengthened, and a powerful centralized state. Already at that time the government Prince of Kyiv extended over the entire vast territory of the East European Plain - from Staraya Ladoga and New Town in the north to Kyiv and Rodney in the south.

However, everything was still unsteady and fragile: when Svyatoslav was three years old, his father, Grand Duke Igor, was treacherously killed by the Drevlyans - there was such a union of East Slavic tribes, subject to Kievan Rus. After Igor was killed, the leader of the Drevlyans, Prince Mal, decided to woo Princess Olga in order to sit on the Kiev throne himself. But Olga, who took the throne after her murdered husband and with her young son, decided to keep him behind herself and Igor’s family, which she was able to do not so much by force as by cunning.

She invited the first Drevlyan ambassadors-matchmakers to her feast, treated them gloriously, and after the feast she ordered to bury them alive in the ground.

The second ambassadors-matchmakers were taken from the road, according to Russian tradition, to a bathhouse to take a steam bath, and there they were all burned, and Princess Olga ordered the Drevlyan squad accompanying the ambassadors to be received and treated so well that they were all then slaughtered, sleepy and drunk... After all this Grand Duchess Olga herself led the Kiev army on a campaign against the rebellious Drevlyans in order to avenge the death of her husband and again bring them to submission.

Moreover, it was believed that the army was being led on the campaign by the Grand Duke of Kiev Svyatoslav Igorevich, who was then only four years old, because women were not supposed to go to war. Well, if the prince leads an army, then he should have started the battle. Here sat a young warrior on a good horse, dressed in a helmet and chain mail, with a small but combat damask sword and a red shield in his hands. Perhaps another boy of that age, and even older, would have been scared great amount noisy armed people, fires burning in parking lots, the whole anxious atmosphere of anticipation of a battle, which is felt not only by its future participants, but also by everyone who happens to be nearby. However young prince he felt neither embarrassment nor timidity - he was accustomed to this military camp, among the warriors who saw in him their leader and leader.

When, on the battlefield, two armies stood against each other, and arrows began to whistle in the air, Svyatoslav sat on a horse in front of the ranks of his soldiers and also did not show any signs of fear. Starting the battle, he was the first to throw his battle spear at the enemy. Launched by a weak, still childish hand, a heavy spear fell right there, at the feet of the prince’s horse. But the ritual was observed, because this is how the Russian great princes started the battle from time immemorial. And tradition is a great thing!

- The prince has already begun! - the commanders closest to him shouted. - Let's follow the prince, squad!

Clouds of arrows whistled in the air, spears flew. Inspired by the courage of their young leader, the Russian soldiers rushed at their opponents, crushed their ranks and drove them away...

Then Princess Olga acted very cruelly with the Drevlyans: approaching the main Drevlyan city of Iskorosten with a squad led by Prince Svyatoslav, she demanded an unprecedented tribute: not silver and gold, not precious furs of fur-bearing animals, but three sparrows and three doves from each yard. It became funny to the Drevlyans, and they, not having figured out the trick, willingly and quickly presented everything required. At night, no one slept in the Russian camp, because everyone tied tinder to the birds’ legs - different material, which does not burn, but smolders, preserves the smoldering fire - and then they were simultaneously set on fire and released. The birds flew to the city, to their nests and dovecotes, which were in every yard in those days. And in the yards there was hay to feed the cattle, and many of the roofs were thatched. The slightest spark was enough to fall on this dry material for a flame to break out, and soon the entire Iskorosten was engulfed in fire, which was impossible to extinguish, since it was burning everywhere. In just a few terrible hours, the city burned to the ground, and many of its residents died in the unprecedented fire. After such a catastrophe, the Drevlyans submitted to Kyiv forever.

Grand Duke Svyatoslav received his further education in the ranks of the princely squad. He grew up to be a skilled and strong warrior, a wonderful military leader, and throughout his life short life spent in campaigns and battles. Svyatoslav strengthened Kiev State, defeated the Khazar Kaganate, fought in the North Caucasus and the Balkans, fought against the greedy Byzantium in alliance with the Hungarians and Bulgarians... The Grand Duke was not yet thirty years old when he was ambushed by Pecheneg nomads on the Dnieper rapids and died in an unequal battle.

Svyatoslav Igorevich accomplished many feats, but even after all his brilliant victories, his very first glorious act was preserved in the people’s memory - the spear he threw, as a four-year-old boy, in the battle with the Drevlyans.

Boy with bridle
(Hero who remains nameless)

The name of this young hero, a younger contemporary and subject of the Grand Duke Kievsky Svyatoslav, remained unknown. However, the Russian chronicle, “The Tale of Bygone Years,” compiled at the turn of the 11th–12th centuries by the legendary Nestor the Chronicler, a monk of the Kiev Pechersk Monastery, has preserved detailed description his feat.

This happened in 968, when the Pechenegs - thousands of hordes of nomads from the Trans-Volga steppes - first came to Rus'. “With great power,” as the chronicler wrote, they surrounded Kyiv, a trading and rich city. The nomads set up their tents around the city walls, pitched tents, lit fires and, not risking an assault, began to wait for the city residents to decide to surrender. After all, although Kyiv was surrounded by high walls that seemed impregnable, it was not ready for a long siege: the inhabitants did not have large supplies of food and, most importantly, water. But the most important thing is that the brave Svyatoslav Igorevich, the Grand Duke of Kiev, together with his squad was far from the capital city - in the city of Pereyaslavets, which he conquered, on the Danube, and therefore there was simply no one to repel the invasion of the steppe inhabitants. Only Grand Duchess Olga remained in Kyiv with her grandchildren, the young sons of Svyatoslav - Yaropolk, Oleg and Vladimir. Although there was a small Russian squad on the other bank of the Dnieper, it had boats to cross to the besieged city, but it was not sure when exactly this should be done and how large the forces of the besiegers were.

The siege did not last long. Seeing that no one was rushing to help them, and the situation in the city was getting worse every day, the people of Kiev began to say that there was no need for them to suffer, since they would still have to submit to the aliens and give the city up for plunder. And it was clear that the longer the siege lasted, the angrier the besiegers would be.

“If only someone could get over to the other side,” people reasoned, having gathered in the main city square, “let him tell our soldiers that if they don’t approach the city in the morning and save us, then we will open the fortress gates... And if They will help us, then we will still hold on!

All these were wonderful, but empty words: people love to justify themselves. But in order to reach the Dnieper, it was necessary to get through countless hordes of enemies, and any spy from the Pecheneg fortress would have been immediately noticed. And who could swim to the other side of a wide and mighty river?

And suddenly a boy, a youth, came out in front of the people and said loudly:

- I'll get through!

He was so calm and behaved so confidently that all the adults - both old and young - believed him. Or did everyone agree with him only because the Kyiv residents simply had no other hope for salvation, and a person always wants to hope for at least something.

- Go! - they told him without any further questions.

Probably the boy dressed like a Pecheneg, or maybe all the clothes of the common people were then approximately the same. In a place known to him, unnoticed by his enemies, the boy got out of the fortress and quickly, without hiding, ran through the Pecheneg camp. In his hands he had a bridle, which he showed to everyone, asking in Pecheneg:

-Have you seen my horse?

How he knew this language is anyone's guess. But it is clear that there were always much more horses in the nomadic camp than people - each rider had one or two spare horses, and there were also carts and wagons, also drawn by horses, and therefore a person looking for his horse whom did not arouse any suspicion. And so, waving his bridle, the boy walked through the entire camp all the way to the Dnieper bank. There, throwing off his clothes, he threw himself into the water and swam quickly.

By the time the Pechenegs realized what had happened and tried to organize a pursuit, the young hero was already quite far from the shore. They began to shoot at him from bows, dozens of arrows sang in the air, but the boy dived deeply, remained under water for a long time, changing the direction of his movement, and emerged where the archers were not expecting this, and therefore the enemy arrows did not harm him.

On the other side they saw what a sudden commotion arose in the Pecheneg camp, saw a man floating along the river and sent a boat towards him. Soon the boy appeared before the governor Pretich, to whom he conveyed the request of the Kievites:

– If you don’t approach the city tomorrow, the people will surrender to the Pechenegs!

The next day, as soon as it began to rise in the blue sky over the Dnieper bright sun, Russian boats moved across the river. The vigilantes trumpeted loudly, and this crossing was immediately noticed both in the Pecheneg camp and in Kyiv. The Pechenezh prince himself came ashore to meet the governor, who was sedately emerging from the boat, and asked:

-Who are you, why did you come?

“I am the governor of Grand Duke Svyatoslav,” answered Pretich, “I came with his vanguard.”

Behind me is an army with the Grand Duke himself, and he has countless warriors!

The Pechenegs believed and retreated, although not too far from Kyiv, they began to wait for the appearance of the main Russian forces... Then the residents of the city urgently sent their ambassadors to Svyatoslav to tell him: “You, prince, are looking for a foreign land and taking care of it, but you have abandoned your own.” ."

Hearing this call, the Grand Duke hastened to lead his squad back to the capital city, after which the Pechenegs fled away.

And what about the young hero who saved Kyiv, Princess Olga, the grand-ducal family and, obviously, the entire Kiev principality? His fate is unknown, just as his name remains unknown. Unfortunately, this often happens in history, in which many are erased over the years. wonderful names and glorious deeds. But people remembered his feat, and in Russian chronicles for many centuries the brave youth remained as the Boy with a Bridle - one of the first young heroes of great Rus'.

Heir to Dmitry Donskoy
(Vasily I, Grand Duke of Moscow)

On September 8, 1380, on the Kulikovo field, which stretches between the Don and Nepryadva, a largest battle of its time, known in history as the Battle of Kulikovo, or Mamayevo massacre, in which the regiments of the Grand Duke of Moscow Dmitry Ivanovich crushed the hordes of the Mongol-Tatar military leader - Temnik Mamai and his allies, which began the liberation of Rus' from the rule of the foreign Golden Horde.

But this was only the beginning of the crushing of the Mongol-Tatar yoke - only two years passed, and in the summer of 1382 the troops of Khan Tokhtamysh, the new ruler of the Horde, approached Moscow. Having taken the city by storm, the Mongols plundered and burned the capital of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, driving away many hundreds of its inhabitants. And a year later, in April 1383, among the Polonian captives was the eldest son of Grand Duke Dmitry, who was named “Donskoy” after the victory on the Kulikovo field.

Of course, the 12-year-old prince Vasily Dmitrievich was not taken to the Horde in order to sell at a profit somewhere on the Asian slave market - the Golden Horde rulers took the sons of the rulers of the lands they conquered to themselves in order to thereby ensure the obedience of their fathers. This, as the Mongol-Tatar khans believed, was the best remedy against unrest and rebellion in the lands under their control.

While everything was calm, the young princes lived very well in Tatar captivity - at the Khan’s court, without feeling the need for anything. And yet, even a large gilded cage will always remain a cage, and the honorary prisoners felt this, yearning for their so distant, but unforgotten and beloved homeland.

Prince Vasily was not yet fifteen years old when he decided to flee: there was no other way but to return to Moscow by secret means. After all, if Khan Tokhtamysh had found out about his desires and plans, then honorable captivity could well have been replaced by imprisonment, or even cruel death... Vasily was preparing to escape in secret, trusting in his plans only a few of his closest and most faithful servants.

How it all happened later is unknown to historians, so one can only guess and speculate. Perhaps the young hero with his loved ones in Once again went hunting and did not return; perhaps they suddenly disappeared under the cover of darkness; or maybe they went to accompany Khan Tokhtamysh on one of his trips and secretly changed the direction of movement, as if accidentally falling behind the khan’s caravan and getting lost in the steppe... The details of this escape from captivity were not preserved in the chronicles. It is only known that it happened in 1386, when Vasily was 14, or maybe already 15 years old. Apparently, the young man was quite smart and had good, experienced advisers, because he chose for himself not the closest direct path to the borders of the Moscow principality, along which, undoubtedly, more than one pursuit was sent for him, but to the west, to the Moldavian lands. At first, his small detachment had to flee across the steppe, where any person was visible for many miles from afar, and therefore it was possible to move only at night, and during the day to hide in ravines or bushes. From the Moldavian lands, Vasily moved to Poland, from there to Prussia and, finally, to Lithuania.

Again, very little is known about this journey and the exact route of the prince’s escape. But in the chronicle there is evidence that he, as a mature statesman, met with the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vitovt and even asked him for the hand of his daughter Sophia. The proposal was accepted, so from Lithuania the heir to the Moscow grand-ducal throne returned to his father, Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy, already accompanied by a large retinue, consisting mainly of Polish and Lithuanian nobility. A solemn meeting awaited him in Moscow, which took place on January 19, 1388.

Subsequently, Vasily actually married a Lithuanian princess, thereby strengthening the relations of the Moscow principality with Lithuania - at that time its still powerful western neighbor...

A little more than a year after the return of his eldest son, Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich died, and before his death he bequeathed to Vasily two great principalities at once: Moscow and Vladimir. Vasily I Dmitrievich sat on the grand-ducal throne until 1425 - 36 years, remaining in historical memory of our people as a collector of Russian lands and their zealous defender from the encroachments of enemies from the east and west. He, having known the bitter bread of bondage, really did not want the Russian people to eat it!

The childhood of John the Great
(John III, Sovereign of All Rus')

It happened in history that difficult times themselves sometimes turned children into heroes from their very early childhood, even before they really began to understand their great and responsible mission. It's about about Russian princes, heirs to the Moscow throne - future great princes, future sovereigns. In the midst of difficulties, mortal dangers and exploits, the iron character of those who later firmly and wisely ruled the Russian land was forged.

This is exactly how the fate of Prince Ivan, the eldest son of the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily II Vasilyevich, who received, as we will tell later, the nickname Dark, was the grandson of Vasily I Dmitrievich.

John was born in Moscow on January 22, 1440, and if according to the then accepted chronology - 6948 years from the Creation of the world. The time was terrible and alarming then. The baby was still lying in the cradle, surrounded by mothers and nannies, and the Russian principalities and princes were waging an internecine fratricidal struggle - for lands, for power. Golden Horde was already falling apart, but its troops still continued raiding Rus', plundering Russian outskirts. And then there were crop failures, which caused people in Russian villages and cities to starve, and diseases, from which many thousands of peasants and townspeople died every year, spread. But all these troubles bypassed the heir to the grand ducal throne - but it didn’t last long, until the young prince was five years old...

On July 7, 1445, under the walls of the Spaso-Evfimiev Monastery, near the city of Suzdal, the regiments of the Grand Duke of Moscow were defeated by the Mongol-Tatars, and Vasily II himself was captured. And on the day this news came to Moscow, a huge fire broke out in the capital of the Grand Duchy, in which not only all the wooden buildings burned down, but also many stone churches collapsed, and in several places even the huge walls of the Kremlin could not stand. Fortunately, they managed to take the grand-ducal family from the burning city to Rostov. But this fiery, constantly threatening terrible death the hell that he had to go through - collapsing buildings, dying people, screams of pain and horror, unbearable heat, pillars of flame rising from all sides, myriads of flying sparks - became the first test of life for five-year-old John. And then everything in his life turned out to be even more terrible...

While the Grand Duke was in captivity, Prince Dmitry Shemyaka tried to arbitrarily take the empty Moscow throne. And although he did not succeed, because soon Vasily II was ransomed from captivity, the insidious self-proclaimed ruler did not abandon his plans, and, having waited for an opportune moment, he deceived the Grand Duke, who went with his sons on a pilgrimage to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Moreover, he also villainously blinded Vasily, who was captured by him, which is why the nickname Dark - the Blind - came from. Shemyaka was so happy that he managed to deceive the Grand Duke and take his throne that he even forgot about the sons of his rival - John and his younger brother Yuri, whom supporters of the overthrown Grand Duke managed to take to the city of Murom.

And then suddenly six-year-old Prince John suddenly turned into folk hero. All the Russian people, dissatisfied with the new ruler, began to gather around him, as the son of a legitimate sovereign. In the young prince they saw not an unintelligent six-year-old boy, but the heir to the grand ducal throne, the future ruler of the Great Moscow Principality. This means that with his behavior Ivan Vasilyevich had to correspond to this important role. Thus ended his childhood, which had barely begun.

Soon the treacherous Prince Shemyaka realized what a mistake he had made by leaving the princes free. John was captured by the people of the new ruler and brought to his father, who was in exile, but the flame of popular anger, which he managed to support with his name alone, already burned strongly and unquenchably. In the Moscow principality, the people rose up, and in February 1447, supporters of Vasily the Dark expelled Shemyaka and his supporters from Moscow.

At the head of the regiments entering the city, riding side by side on good horses, stirrup to stirrup, father and son - Grand Duke Vasily Vasilyevich and Prince Ivan Vasilyevich. And just a year later, John himself began to be called the Grand Duke, co-ruler under his blind father. Then he was only eight years old. But in the same year he was already in the city of Vladimir, at the head of the regiments that defended the southern borders of the Moscow principality from Mongol-Tatar raids, and at the age of 12, in 1452, he led a campaign against the city of Ustyug - against the same Shemyaki, to finish off the remnants of his troops. The rebel regiments were defeated, but the malicious prince himself fled and died a year later in Veliky Novgorod.

Young Heroes of the Fatherland

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Title: Young Heroes of the Fatherland

About the book Alexander Bondarenko “Young Heroes of the Fatherland”

This book is dedicated to the young heroes of our Fatherland: children both younger and almost adults, 16 years old, who lived in various historical eras - from the 10th century to the present day. Among them are the future rulers of the Russian land, young soldiers and officers, as well as the most ordinary children of various nationalities. Some of them became war heroes, others accomplished feats in peacetime - in their native village, on the streets of their city, even in their home. And since feat is always associated with danger, sometimes mortal, then, unfortunately, many of them remained young forever... But, as it is said in the Holy Scriptures, “there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” - that is, no greater love for people than to give your life for them. After all, life is always a choice, and each person makes it independently: how and why to live, what trace, what memory to leave of oneself on earth.

Some of our heroes subsequently became famous for other things, reaching considerable heights in life, and for some, it was a childhood feat that became the most striking event of their entire life - perhaps even a very long one, its finest hour. Talking about young heroes, we also talk about the history of our entire country, which includes their exploits. History, as we know, is made by people through their actions, and therefore the book “Young Heroes of the Fatherland” is addressed to everyone who is interested in the history of our country, who is not indifferent to its present and future.

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“Day of Heroes of the Fatherland” - Pavel Stepanovich Nakhimov. For his services, Alexander Nevsky was canonized. Icon of the Holy Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky. In the USSR, the Order of Alexander Nevsky was established on July 29, 1942. The veneration of the Great Martyr George the Victorious has acquired special significance. In the USSR, the Order of St. George was replaced by Golden star Hero.

“City of Young Russians” - Conversation with elements of the game “United by strong friendship.” "Symbolic" area. Series of conversations “History state symbols Russian Federation, Kostroma, Kostroma region." Conversation about New Year's symbols and customs. 1 class Workshop"Games and amusements of the Russian people." Blitz survey “Word about hometown" “I am a citizen of Russia, I am a Kostroma resident.”

“Young Firefighters Squad” - Among the firefighter assistants important place occupied by squads of young firefighters. Basic principles when creating a DUP. Living cracks and wrinkles are not visible under the layer of ash. For red-haired and gray-haired firefighters In smoky and scorched sackcloths Like all the mourned saints, there is not enough space on the icons. Organization of the work of the DUP. Sample DYP classes during the school year.

“Young Heroes” - Memory is our history. Defense of the Motherland has become a matter of honor for every citizen. Young heroes of the Great Patriotic War- an example for patriotic education. Vali Kotika. The courage and courage of the pioneers became an example for Soviet children. The names of young heroes will forever remain in the memory of our people. Leni Golikova.

“Young anti-fascist hero” - Valya Kotik. Monument to Zina Portnova. Marat Kazei is a hero of the Soviet Union. Young pioneer heroes Soviet Union. Valya Kotik is a hero of the Soviet Union. February 8 is the Day of the Young Anti-Fascist Hero. Valya Kotik in the partisan detachment. Partisan Lenya Golikov. Monument to Tanya Savicheva. Funeral of Lenya Golikov. Monument to pioneer heroes.

“Heroes of the Fatherland” - A. Nevsky. K. Minin and D. Pozharsky. A.V. Suvorov (1730 – 1800). Famous battles: 1240 – Battle of the Neva; 1242 – Battle on the Ice. Prince of Moscow and Vladimir, built a new stone Kremlin in Moscow. Icon of St. G.K. Zhukov 1896-1974. Great Russian commander. Saint Reverend A. Nevsky. Alexander Nevsky (1221-1263).