Crimea: a cycle of publications «Victory in the Persons» — a veteran of the Great Patriotic War Nikolai Kolesnik

Nikolai Fedorovich was born in 1927 in a small village of Kirovograd region. When he was five years old, the family moved to Crimea. Here they were found by war and occupation.

After the liberation of the peninsula, 17-year-old Nikolai, having added a year to his age, went to the front. He fought as part of 415 of the anti-aircraft artillery regiment of air defense of the 1st Ukrainian Front, freed Poland and Germany from fascism. The victorious May 1945 met in the city of Breslau (now — Wroclaw).

After the war ended, Nikolai Fedorovich continued military service. He graduated from the regimental school of junior commanders in Bataisk. In the 1950s, he returned to the Crimea with his young wife, where he worked at the airport at the school of training aviation specialists with a mechanic, a foreman.

Among the awards of Nikolai Fedorovich are the Order of the Patriotic War of the II degree and the Medal of Zhukov. For the capture of Breslau, he was marked by gratitude signed by Stalin. In 2022 he was awarded the medal «For the Protection of the Republic of Crimea.»

In conclusion, Sergei Aksyonov emphasized: «We are always grateful to veterans for our lives and freedom.»

Source: Information and press service of the Head of the Republic of Crimea