Biography Alexei Botyan

Photo from the Archive of the SVR of Russia Alexei Nikolaevich Botyan-a man of amazing fate: he lived a year, went through the Great Patriotic War at the forefront and did not receive a single wound, and the high title of Hero of Russia was awarded 63 years after his main feat ... Partizan Lexcake ... brightly blue, tenacious eyes, which seemed to be peeping into your very soul, and swiftness of movements ...

"Major Whirlwind" obviously received for nothing. Yes, it was the biography of Botyan that formed the basis of the famous novel by Julian Semenov and the film of the same name by Evgeny Tashkov. The same age as October, who was born back in the Russian Empire, who then lived his last days, Alexei Nikolaevich in his youth, unexpectedly for himself, turned out to be a citizen of Poland - it was to this country that the lands of Western Belarus were departed for the bootyan.

For this reason, Alexei entered the Second World War on its very first day - September 1. As a Polish citizen, he served in the Polish army, at the time of the beginning of the war he was a corporal of anti -aircraft artillery. The calculation in which he served as the gunner of the guns managed to destroy the three fascist Junkers, which the boots often and with pleasure recalled. However, Poland soon surrendered “this is how they fought without the Red Army - the country fell in two weeks,” the boots commented, and the military unit in which Alexei served, surrendered to the Soviet troops that liberated the western territories of Belarus and Ukraine.

So Botyan became a Soviet citizen. In the fall of the year, he was sent to a separate motorized rifle brigade of special purposes, where our hero was prepared for the abandonment to the territory occupied by the fascists. In November, as the commander of the intelligence and sabotage group, he was transferred beyond the front line. He participated in the defense of Moscow, worked in the deep rear of the enemy in the western regions of Ukraine and Belarus, including as part of large partisan detachments.

He took part in the rail war - the destruction of communications and the enemy communication lines. One of the most significant operations carried out by Botryan is the explosion of the German Gbitits -Commissioner in the city of Ovruch in the year. Then 80 Nazi officers were destroyed. For this operation, Alexei Botyan was introduced to the rank of Hero of the Soviet Union, but he never received awards - according to one version, the documents were corny.

Only a scratch for the whole war - from a bullet by the temple ... Alexei Nikolaevich talked about military exploits everyday, even fun. And only once she noticed how his bright blue eyes clouded-when he recalled what he saw in Western Ukraine:-The Germans did not atrocities as local nationalists. We have seen everyone: both the wells filled with children's corpses and the train of refugees, at which they shot their own ...

to save the city in the year Alexei Nikolaevich received the center’s task to cross Krakow and track the movement of the Germans. The army of Krai, although it fought with the German occupation, did not want to accept the help of the Soviet partisans.

Even the Germans were informed of us-we almost didn’t get into an ambush, one former officer of the tsarist army warned me well ... And yet the Botyan managed to acquire agents, to establish relations with the army of Kraiova and the army of Lyudova. The knowledge of Polish and German, sociability helped. Lieutenant Alyosha, for example, made friends with Polish priests, so much so that he began to understand perfectly in all Catholic rites.

Polish priests helped to cover our wounded and did not give a single to the Germans, ”recalled Alexei Nikolaevich. Together with the Poles, the Botyan detachment with the Poles carried out an operation to capture the city of Ilja, released underground workers, seized weapons ... There is still an obelisk in Ilja, on which the name of the partisan Alyosha was knocked out ...

Well, then the main operation of his life began. The commander Karasev gathered a detachment and said: “Who will go to Krakow with a lex? From the agents of the boots, he learned about the explosives warehouse in the Yagellon castle, which the Nazis were going to use to destroy the historical center of the city along with all cultural objects during the retreat. Alexei managed to find a man who was able to install a short -action mine in the castle, and at the height of the Red Army on January 18, she was put into effect, the enemy warehouse took off into the air.

And we caught them there. Hitler, due to the breakdown of the plan for the destruction of Krakow, was furious. A lot of money was appointed for my head, ”the boots laughed. One of the most beautiful cities in Europe - Krakow, who now accepts millions of tourists annually, has survived. Do the Poles remember today, to whom they owe them? After the war, in the year, under the guise of a worker-Chekh, Alexei Botyan was abandoned in Czechoslovakia, worked as a locksmith at the factory and studied at the highest motorbilling school in parallel.

And after the end, he worked on the uranium mines in Yakhimov. As a reconnaissance-reflector conducted several operations. In the Czech Republic, he also found the love of his whole life - Gelena Vincel, a daughter Irina was born.After the death of her wife, she looked after her father until the very last days ... In M, the family came to Moscow. But life, full of adventures and adventures, continued.

For a short time, Alexei Nikolaevich worked as an administrator-translator of the Prague restaurant, naturally, simultaneously collecting important information. And then again foreign business trips: under the cover of an Aeroflot employee, he worked in Berlin, then again Czechoslovakia, in which he performed responsible tasks in the fatal m ... But about all this can only be dotted - information on this time is classified.

Since the middle of the X, Alexei Botyan advised the Vympel special forces groups-there was a rich sabotage experience behind him, participation in operations that developed reconnaissance legends-Pavel Sudoplatov and Naum Eitingon. The title of Hero of Russia - for the Krakow operation - was awarded only in the year. He was presented to this award three times, but each time there were “reasons” to reject the documents.

Karp for Corporal Alexei Nikolaevich passed away three days after his flight. Shortly before his death, he was awarded a certificate of inclusion in the Russian book of Guinness Records. The legendary reconnaissance, retired colonel, but he once began with a corporal! It should be noted that Alexey Nikolaevich was very well held until the last. At the age of 90, he still played volleyball.

B - gambling fought in chess and jealously treated rare other people's winnings - from the generation of winners after all! When all sorts of troubles happened to him - he did not despair, believed that he would recover, and got to his feet even after the fractures! And how he looked at women! Once, on one of his birthdays, colleagues played a trick and read a congratulatory telegram-imprisonment from the program “Let's get married”.

The veteran's eye caught fire! They drove Alexei Nikolayevich to the shooting range, and at the age of 98 he demonstrated amazing accuracy: he knocked out 29 from the photographer of the service to capture this moment: the maximum concentration, the tough gaze of the sniper ... And once the boots were taken to fishing. The Rossiya TV channel shot a documentary about the intelligence officer-living, household personnel were needed ...

The SVR press bureau agreed on filming with one of the fish farms in Moscow. We arrived in advance - to check everything. And then it turned out: it doesn’t peck. What to do? You can’t upset the hero of Russia? One carp was caught from the pond, who was waiting for his stellar hour in the cage. The boots arrived, threw the fishing rod, not forgetting to say that he "will now show everyone how to catch fish." One of the service workers distracted the Hero of Russia, the other planted carp on the bait.

Then everyone shouted together: “Alexey Nikolaevich, pecks! The joy of the old man knew no bounds. But the funniest, the boot on this bezbier managed to completely honestly catch another carp. And no one expected this ... After a while at the headquarters of the SVR, Botyan was honored on the occasion of his birthday. In memory of that fishing, they gave a fishing rod.

They asked to throw her right into the ranks of the auditorium. When he began to wind the fishing line, a hook with prey appeared - a dried wobble! Alexey Nikolaevich appreciated the humor and good attitude towards him. And I also remember last year’s honoring war veterans in the press bureau of foreign intelligence services. Few words - there is a lot of meaning, under such a motto, his whole life passed.

Author: Ilona Egiazarova.