“Artek” remembers: Artek hero Volodya Dubinin left to defend his homeland at the age of 12

CrimeaPRESS reports:

On December 4, at the Artek International Children’s Center they remembered the feat of the pioneer hero and Artek resident Volodya Dubinin. He lived a bright but very short life. In 1941, for outstanding academic achievements and social work, Volodya was sent to Artek, where he rested in the Upper camp (now the Gorny camp complex).

When the war began, Volodya left to defend his homeland along with the partisans. The partisans loved 12-year-old Volodya; for them he was their common son. Volodya Dubinin went on reconnaissance missions with his friends Tolya Kovalev and Vanya Gritsenko. Young scouts provided valuable information about the location of enemy units and the number of German troops. The partisans, relying on this data, planned their combat operations.

Intelligence helped the detachment in December 1941 to give a worthy rebuff to the punitive forces. In the adits during the battle, Volodya Dubinin brought ammunition to the soldiers, and then replaced the seriously wounded soldier. Volodya was short, so he could get out through very narrow manholes. Thanks to Volodya’s data, Soviet artillery suppressed the points of the German division that were rushing to Stalingrad. For this the boy was awarded the Order of the Red Star.

At the end of December 1941, paratroopers liberated Kerch. The partisans knew about this, but they could not reach the surface, there were mines all around. Military units began clearing mine passages. And here again the pioneers came to the aid of the elders. Volodya Dubinin climbed to the surface through a familiar hole and showed the sappers where the mines were installed. On the eve of 1942, the command assigned the task of scout Dubinin to get to the Adzhimushkai quarries and contact the partisan detachment based there.

But when Volodya went to carry out the order, he came across… Soviet soldiers. These were naval landing soldiers who liberated Kerch during the Kerch-Feodosia operation.

The joy of Volodya and his comrades knew no bounds. But the Nazis surrounded the Starokarantinsky quarries with a network of minefields, and the partisans could not leave them. The adults were physically unable to leave where Volodya was leaving. And then Volodya volunteered to be a guide for the sappers. The first day of demining was successful, but on January 4, 1942, at about 10 a.m., a powerful explosion occurred at the entrance to the quarries. Four sappers and Volodya Dubinin were blown up by a mine. The dead sappers and Volodya were buried in a mass partisan grave in the Youth Park of Kerch.

On the Alley of Heroes in Artek there is a snow-white bust of Artek resident Volodya Dubinin, who gave his life for his Motherland.

Photos and materials: press service of the Artek Medical Center.

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