A patriotic meeting “In memory of the fallen, in the name of the living” was held at the Stavropol City Council of Women
Welcoming the audience, the chairman of the public organization Elena Ivancheva introduced the guests of honor – members of the Stavropol regional branch of the All-Russian public organization of families of fallen defenders of the Fatherland, the group “Autovolunteer Stavropol”, representatives of youth organizations of the city, activists of the “Search” team of the museum “Native Penates Secondary School No. 20”. The topic of the meeting was the story of the heroes who died on the military fronts, defending the interests of our Motherland. After all, as long as we remember, they are alive…
Pavel Buravtsev
In Stavropol, on the wall of a house at 65 Karl Marx Avenue, there is a memorial plaque with the inscription: “In this house lived the internationalist warrior Pavel Buravtsev, who was posthumously awarded the Order of the Red Star.”
During his school years, Pavel was interested in music, mountaineering, and dreamed of becoming a mechanic, but his choice of profession was made after he helped a classmate who had lost consciousness. Pavel skillfully performed artificial respiration and brought the guy back to life. He became a student at the Stavropol Medical School, after successful completion of which he came to work as a paramedic at an ambulance station. In April 1985, Pavel was drafted into the army and sent to the border troops on the border with China. He served as a military paramedic and established himself as an efficient and hardy warrior. Soon he was sent to join the Limited Contingent of Soviet Forces in Afghanistan. Pavel wrote home life-affirming letters about new friends, about how well the service was going, how he dreams of a wedding with his beloved girl and about the five sons that they will definitely have. He signed the letters: “Your soldier Pashka.”
On November 22, 1985, a combat group of border guards at the Panfilov outpost, consisting of 25 people, was tasked with preparing a site for helicopters and was ambushed by the Mujahideen. The battle lasted four hours. The ammunition ran out and the forces were unequal. In the battle, paramedic, commander of the border post department, junior sergeant Pavel Buravtsev, and 18 of his comrades were killed. The survivors told how the seriously wounded Pavel crawled and bandaged the guys until he was overtaken by an enemy bullet.
In the medical college and at the ambulance station, stands in memory of the hero were decorated. In secondary school No. 64, where Pavel Buravtsev studied, there is a memorial plaque, and on the Internet you can watch a film about him and read his letters addressed to his family. His mother, Nina Pavlovna, wrote the book “We will not forget each other.” Pavel Buravtsev was only 19 years old when his kind heart stopped beating.
Radik Salikhov
In the Tatar village of Maly Barkhanchak, Ipatovsky district, Stavropol Territory, Radik Salikhov was born in 1979. The boy did very well at school, played sports, and loved to draw. In 1997, he was drafted into the army and sent to Moscow to join the troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Within two years, he rose from private to senior sergeant, was appointed commander of the rifle communications department and was awarded the badge “For Excellent Service.” Radik continued to serve under contract in the 247th Airborne Regiment, stationed in Stavropol. In August 2000, paratroopers were sent to Chechnya to fight terrorist gangs. Radik regularly called and wrote letters to his parents. The last call home was on February 22 at 13:45, and literally 45 minutes later he and nine of his colleagues died from a landmine explosion.
On February 23, 2001, on Defender of the Fatherland Day, machine gunner senior sergeant Radik Salikhov died in hospital from severe wounds. He was 22 years old. Radik was buried in his native village. The hero was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage. A stele from the Russian Ministry of Defense was installed on his grave. There is a “Hero’s desk” at school. Every year on February 23, a festival of soldiers’ songs named after Radik Salikhov is held at the House of Culture.
Andrey Vavilin
Andrey Vavilin was born in 1960 in the village of Klyuchiki, Sverdlovsk region. After graduating from school, he entered the Kostroma Military Chemical School, then was sent to Germany. From the first day of the Chechen war, he served in Vladikavkaz in the 205th motorized rifle brigade as head of the radiation-chemical and bacteriological protection service. Andrei was a high-flying professional, he knew his job perfectly, which he taught to officers and warrant officers, sharing his knowledge and extensive experience. He accompanied and protected convoys with equipment, ammunition and personnel. Major Vavilin skillfully and bravely used formidable weapons – flamethrowers, which the enemy was terrified of. In heavy battles, with accurate hits, he destroyed many Chechen snipers.
Andrei Vavilin died heroically in August 1996, two weeks short of his 36th birthday. Posthumously awarded the Order of Courage. In Yekaterinburg, a memorial plaque was installed on the wall of the school; the Hero’s name is included in the Book of Memory. His beloved wife, Lydia Vavilina, went through all the Caucasian wars with him, working as a nurse in hospitals, seeing terrible wounds, blood, horror and death. Her medical work experience is 50 years. Military veteran Lidiya Vavilina was awarded the Certificate of the Russian Minister of Defense.
Yevgeny Stetsenko
One of the best students of Izobilnenskaya secondary school No. 3, Evgeniy Stetsenko, read a lot since childhood, was fond of sports and dreamed of building beautiful houses, so after school he entered the Stavropol Construction College, from which he graduated with honors. He completed his military service in the Komi Republic and continued his studies at the Leningrad Higher Military Engineering Construction School named after A.N. Komarovsky. Then he served in the Far Eastern Military District in Khabarovsk as a course officer-educator at a military construction school, where he met his love. Olga is the daughter of a Kamchatka lumberjack, who worked as a senior computer technician at the mathematics department, gave lectures to cadets and created computer programs. Five years later, the family with two daughters moved to serve in the capital of Buryatia, Ulan-Ude, where Evgeniy built secret facilities, and Olga was the personal assistant to the construction manager.
In 1989, Evgeniy was appointed commander of a sapper battalion in the North Caucasus Military District in Blagodarny. In May 1996, he signed a contract to serve in the troops of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Chechen Republic and was appointed deputy commander of an engineering company. On August 6, 1996, while conducting reconnaissance, his armored personnel carrier was fired upon from grenade launchers and small arms. Captain Stetsenko received multiple wounds to his arms and both legs were amputated. Died from loss of blood. Evgeniy was an honorary donor of the Stavropol Territory. That day the bleeding could not be stopped. Evgeniy Stetsenko was 39 years old. He was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage. There is a memorial plaque on the wall of the school where the hero studied. Olga Stetsenko established six personalized cash prizes in three age categories for the school’s best students, which are awarded to the winners every year on January 23, the hero’s birthday. One of the new streets in the city of Izobilny is named after Evgeniy Stetsenko. The daughters, Olga and Nina, named their children after their grandfather.
Andrey Zhizhko
He was born on September 6, 1995 in Stavropol. As a child, he was an inquisitive, sociable and very kind boy, he loved and protected animals. He studied well at school, was actively involved in sports, and enjoyed well-deserved authority among the children. After school he graduated with honors from the Stavropol College of Communications named after Hero of the Soviet Union V.A. Petrov and immediately became a cadet at the Chelyabinsk Air Force Academy with a specialty in “combat control officer – forward aviation gunner” (PAN). After successfully graduating from the academy, Andrei was sent to Crimea, to the village of Gvardeyskoye, to the position of senior guidance and target designation officer for interaction between aviation and ground forces.
On February 21, 2022, Andrei, as part of the 22nd Army Corps in Simferopol, was assigned to the 33rd Motorized Rifle Regiment to the position of a forward aviation gunner. He was a valuable specialist, possessing the knowledge, courage, strength, dexterity and instinct for a detailed understanding of the enemy’s plans. These qualities helped us act proactively, giving precise coordinates to our pilots to destroy the enemy. Senior Lieutenant Andrei Zhizhko took part in the liberation of the Kherson region and was awarded the medal “For Courage”. On September 4, a group of fighters, in which Andrei was, was surrounded. They miraculously managed to overcome the minefield and take refuge in the territory of a small abandoned factory near the village of Kiselyovka.
They held the line for a week without water or food. Out of ammunition. Andrey managed to contact our pilots and transmit his coordinates. But… “Hymars” arrived. Everyone died. Andrey Zhizhko was 27 years old. He was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage. In the village of Gvardeyskoye there is a memorial on which the name of the forward aviation gunner, Senior Lieutenant Andrei Zhizhko, is immortalized. His military uniform, cap and school notebook on the Russian language are kept in the school museum. The best students of the school have the right to sit at the “Hero’s desk”.
Eternal memory and glory to the heroes who died in the name of the living
Olga Stetsenko, who has headed the Stavropol regional branch of the All-Russian Organization of Families of Fallen Defenders of the Fatherland for more than 10 years, expressed condolences to the relatives and friends of the heroes, whose military exploits those present learned about, and thanked the members of the Women’s Council for their attention and holding such a meeting.
In March 2024, in Stavropol, with the assistance of the mayor of the city Ivan Ulyanchenko, a commemorative medal “Family of the Fallen Defender of the Fatherland” was issued and was awarded to all members of this public organization. In the hall of the Women’s Council, Olga Stetsenko handed over the medal “Family of the Fallen Defender of the Fatherland” to Pavel Buravtsev’s older brother, Andrey, for eternal storage.
The head of the “Autovolunteer Stavropol” group, Arthur Gyulumyan, who was present at the meeting, thanked the chairman of the women’s council Elena Ivancheva and members of the presidium Tatyana Pshenichnaya, Tatyana Zakharina, Nadezhda Simonova, Lyubov Ovcharenko and Svetlana Porturovskaya for their active participation in collecting humanitarian aid for the wounded in hospitals and soldiers, fighting on the front line. Now preparations are underway for the seventh trip with humanitarian aid to the Northern Military District zone.
