During the Great Patriotic War, the Germans called the Tuvans “der schwarze Tod” - “Black Death”. The Tuvans fought to the death even with the obvious superiority of the enemy, and did not take prisoners.
This is our war!
The Tuvan People's Republic became part of the Soviet Union already during the war, on August 17, 1944. In the summer of 1941, Tuva was de jure an independent state. In August 1921, the White Guard detachments of Kolchak and Ungern were expelled from there. The capital of the republic became the former Belotsarsk, renamed Kyzyl (Red City).
Soviet troops were withdrawn from Tuva by 1923, but the USSR continued to provide all possible assistance to Tuva, without claiming its independence. It is commonly said that Great Britain was the first to support the USSR in the war, but this is not so. Tuva declared war on Germany and its allies on June 22, 1941, 11 hours before Churchill's historic radio statement. Mobilization immediately began in Tuva, the republic declared its readiness to send its army to the front. 38 thousand Tuvan arats stated in a letter to Joseph Stalin: “We are together. This is our war too."
Regarding the declaration of Tuva War in Germany, there is a historical legend that when Adolf Hitler found out about it, he was amused and did not even bother to find this republic on the map. But in vain.
Everything for the front!
Immediately after the start of the war, Tuva transferred to Moscow its gold reserves (about 30 million rubles) and all production of Tuvan gold (10-11 million rubles annually). Tuvans truly accepted the war as their own. This is evidenced by the amount of assistance that the poor republic provided to the front. From June 1941 to October 1944, Tuva supplied 50 thousand war horses and 750 thousand heads of cattle for the needs of the Red Army. Each Tuvan family gave from 10 to 100 heads of cattle to the front. The Tuvans literally put the Red Army on skis, supplying 52 thousand pairs of skis to the front.
Prime Minister of Tuva Saryk-Dongak Chimba wrote in his diary: “They destroyed the entire birch forest near Kyzyl.” In addition, the Tuvans sent 12 thousand sheepskin coats, 19 thousand pairs of mittens, 16 thousand pairs of felt boots, 70 thousand tons of sheep wool, 400 tons of meat, ghee and flour, carts, sleighs, harnesses and other goods totaling about 66.5 million rubles. To help the USSR, the arats collected five trains of gifts worth more than 10 million Tuvan aksha (1 aksha was equivalent to 3 rubles 50 kopecks), food for hospitals worth 200 thousand aksha. According to Soviet expert estimates, presented, for example, in the book “The USSR and Foreign States in 1941-1945”, the total supplies of Mongolia and Tuva to the USSR in 1941-1942 in volume were only 35% less than the total volume of Western allied supplies to those years in the USSR - that is, from the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, the Union of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand combined. “Black Death” The first Tuvan volunteers (about 200 people) joined the Red Army in May 1943.
After a short training, they were enlisted in the 25th separate tank regiment (since February 1944, it was part of the 52nd Army of the 2nd Ukrainian Front). This regiment fought on the territory of Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. In September 1943, the second group of volunteer cavalrymen (206 people) were enrolled, after training in the Vladimir region, into the 8th Cavalry Division. The Cavalry Division took part in raids behind enemy lines in western Ukraine. After the battle of Durazhno in January 1944, the Germans began to call the Tuvans “der schwarze Tod” - “Black Death”.
The captured German officer Hans Remke said during interrogation that the soldiers entrusted to him “subconsciously perceived these barbarians (Tuvians) as the hordes of Attila” and lost all combat effectiveness. Here it must be said that the first Tuvan volunteers were a typical national part, they were dressed in national costumes and wore amulets. Only at the beginning of 1944, the Soviet command asked Tuvan soldiers to send their “objects of Buddhist and shamanic cult” to their homeland. The Tuvans fought bravely. The command of the 8th Guards Cavalry Division wrote to the Tuvan government: “With the enemy’s clear superiority, the Tuvans fought to the death. So, in the battles near the village of Surmiche, 10 machine gunners led by the squad commander Dongur-Kyzyl and an anti-tank rifle crew led by Dazhy-Seren died in this battle, but did not retreat a single step, fighting until the last bullet. Over 100 enemy corpses were counted before a handful of brave men who died the death of heroes. They died, but where the sons of your Motherland stood, the enemy did not pass.” A squadron of Tuvan volunteers liberated 80 Western Ukrainian settlements.
Tuvan heroes Of the 80 thousand population of the Tuvan Republic, about 8 thousand Tuvan soldiers took part in the Great Patriotic War. 67 soldiers and commanders were awarded orders and medals of the USSR. About 20 of them became holders of the Order of Glory, and up to 5,500 Tuvan soldiers were awarded other orders and medals of the Soviet Union and the Tuvan Republic. Two Tuvans were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union - Khomushka Churgui-ool and Tyulush Kechil-ool. Tuvan squadron The Tuvinians not only helped the front financially and fought bravely in tank and cavalry divisions, but also provided the Red Army with the construction of 10 Yak-7B aircraft. On March 16, 1943, at the Chkalovsky airfield near Moscow, the Tuvan delegation solemnly handed over the aircraft to the 133rd Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Red Army Air Force. The fighters were handed over to the commander of the 3rd Aviation Fighter Squadron, Novikov, and assigned to the crews. On each one was written in white paint “From the Tuvan people.” Unfortunately, not a single aircraft from the “Tuvan squadron” survived until the end of the war. Of the 20 servicemen of the 133rd Aviation Fighter Regiment, who made up the crews of the Yak-7B fighters, only three survived the war.
During the Great Patriotic War, the Germans called the Tuvans “der schwarze Tod” - “Black Death”. The Tuvans fought to the death even with the obvious superiority of the enemy, and did not take prisoners.
"This is our war!"
The Tuvan People's Republic became part of the Soviet Union already during the war, on August 17, 1944. In the summer of 1941, Tuva was de jure an independent state. In August 1921, the White Guard detachments of Kolchak and Ungern were expelled from there. The capital of the republic became the former Belotsarsk, renamed Kyzyl (Red City).
Soviet troops were withdrawn from Tuva by 1923, but the USSR continued to provide all possible assistance to Tuva, without claiming its independence.
It is commonly said that Great Britain was the first to support the USSR in the war, but this is not so. Tuva declared war on Germany and its allies on June 22, 1941, 11 hours before Churchill's historic radio statement. Mobilization immediately began in Tuva, the republic declared its readiness to send its army to the front. 38 thousand Tuvan arats stated in a letter to Joseph Stalin:
"We are together. This is our war too."
Regarding the declaration of Tuva War in Germany, there is a historical legend that when Adolf Hitler found out about it, he was amused and did not even bother to find this republic on the map. But in vain.
Everything for the front!
Immediately after the start of the war, Tuva transferred to Moscow its gold reserves (about 30 million rubles) and all production of Tuvan gold (10-11 million rubles annually).
Tuvans truly accepted the war as their own. This is evidenced by the amount of assistance that the poor republic provided to the front.
From June 1941 to October 1944, Tuva supplied 50 thousand war horses and 750 thousand heads of cattle for the needs of the Red Army. Each Tuvan family gave from 10 to 100 heads of cattle to the front. The Tuvans literally put the Red Army on skis, supplying 52 thousand pairs of skis to the front. Prime Minister of Tuva
Saryk-Dongak Chimba wrote in his diary: “They destroyed the entire birch forest near Kyzyl.”
In addition, the Tuvans sent 12 thousand sheepskin coats, 19 thousand pairs of mittens, 16 thousand pairs of felt boots, 70 thousand tons of sheep wool, 400 tons of meat, ghee and flour, carts, sleighs, harnesses and other goods totaling about 66.5 million rubles.
To help the USSR, the arats collected five trains of gifts worth more than 10 million Tuvan aksha (1 aksha was equivalent to 3 rubles 50 kopecks), food for hospitals worth 200 thousand aksha.
According to Soviet expert estimates, presented, for example, in the book “The USSR and Foreign States in 1941-1945”, the total supplies of Mongolia and Tuva to the USSR in 1941-1942 in volume were only 35% less than the total volume of Western allied supplies to those years in the USSR - that is, from the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, the Union of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand combined.
"Black Death"
The first Tuvan volunteers (about 200 people) joined the Red Army in May 1943. After a short training, they were enlisted in the 25th separate tank regiment (since February 1944, it was part of the 52nd Army of the 2nd Ukrainian Front). This regiment fought on the territory of Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
In September 1943, the second group of volunteer cavalrymen (206 people) were enrolled, after training in the Vladimir region, into the 8th Cavalry Division.
The Cavalry Division took part in raids behind enemy lines in western Ukraine. After the battle of Durazhno in January 1944, the Germans began to call the Tuvans “der schwarze Tod” - “Black Death”.
The captured German officer Hans Remke said during interrogation that the soldiers entrusted to him “subconsciously perceived these barbarians (Tuvians) as the hordes of Attila” and lost all combat effectiveness.
Here it must be said that the first Tuvan volunteers were a typical national part, they were dressed in national costumes and wore amulets. Only at the beginning of 1944, the Soviet command asked Tuvan soldiers to send their “objects of Buddhist and shamanic cult” to their homeland.
The Tuvans fought bravely. The command of the 8th Guards Cavalry Division wrote to the Tuvan government:
“With the enemy’s obvious superiority, the Tuvans fought to the death. So, in the battles near the village of Surmiche, 10 machine gunners led by the squad commander Dongur-Kyzyl and an anti-tank rifle crew led by Dazhy-Seren died in this battle, but did not retreat a single step, fighting until the last bullet. Over 100 enemy corpses were counted before a handful of brave men who died the death of heroes. They died, but where the sons of your Motherland stood, the enemy did not pass.”
A squadron of Tuvan volunteers liberated 80 Western Ukrainian settlements.
Tuvan heroes
Of the 80 thousand population of the Tuvan Republic, about 80 thousand Tuvan soldiers took part in the Great Patriotic War.
67 soldiers and commanders were awarded orders and medals of the USSR. About 20 of them became holders of the Order of Glory, and up to 5,500 Tuvan soldiers were awarded other orders and medals of the Soviet Union and the Tuvan Republic.
Two Tuvans were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union - Khomushka Churgui-ool and Tyulush Kechil-ool.
Tuvan squadron
The Tuvans not only helped the front financially and fought bravely in tank and cavalry divisions, but also provided the Red Army with the construction of 10 Yak-7B aircraft. On March 16, 1943, at the Chkalovsky airfield near Moscow, the Tuvan delegation solemnly handed over the aircraft to the 133rd Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Red Army Air Force.
The fighters were handed over to the commander of the 3rd Aviation Fighter Squadron, Novikov, and assigned to the crews. On each one was written in white paint “From the Tuvan people.”
Unfortunately, not a single aircraft from the “Tuvan squadron” survived until the end of the war. Of the 20 servicemen of the 133rd Aviation Fighter Regiment, who made up the crews of the Yak-7B fighters, only three survived the war.
On the same topic:
Tuvans at war: why the Germans called them “Black Death” “Black Death” for the Nazis: how Tuvans fought during the war
"This is our war!"
The Tuvan People's Republic became part of the Soviet Union already during the war, on August 17, 1944. In the summer of 1941, Tuva was de jure an independent state. In August 1921, the White Guard detachments of Kolchak and Ungern were expelled from there. The capital of the republic became the former Belotsarsk, renamed Kyzyl (Red City).
Soviet troops were withdrawn from Tuva by 1923, but the USSR continued to provide all possible assistance to Tuva, without claiming its independence.
It is commonly said that Great Britain was the first to support the USSR in the war, but this is not so. Tuva declared war on Germany and its allies on June 22, 1941, 11 hours before Churchill's historic radio statement. Mobilization immediately began in Tuva, the republic declared its readiness to send its army to the front. 38 thousand Tuvan arats stated in a letter to Joseph Stalin: “We are together. This is our war too."
Regarding the declaration of Tuva War on Germany, there is a historical legend that when Hitler found out about this, he was amused and did not even bother to find this republic on the map. But in vain.
Everything for the front!
Immediately after the start of the war, Tuva transferred to Moscow its gold reserves (about 30 million rubles) and all production of Tuvan gold (10-11 million rubles annually).
Tuvans truly accepted the war as their own. This is evidenced by the amount of assistance that the poor republic provided to the front.
From June 1941 to October 1944, Tuva supplied 50,000 war horses and 750,000 head of cattle for the needs of the Red Army. Each Tuvan family gave from 10 to 100 heads of cattle to the front. The Tuvans literally put the Red Army on skis, supplying 52,000 pairs of skis to the front. Prime Minister of Tuva Saryk-Dongak Chimba wrote in his diary: “they destroyed the entire birch forest near Kyzyl.”
In addition, the Tuvans sent 12,000 sheepskin coats, 19,000 pairs of mittens, 16,000 pairs of felt boots, 70,000 tons of sheep wool, 400 tons of meat, ghee and flour, carts, sleighs, harnesses and other goods totaling about 66.5 million rubles.
To help the USSR, the arats collected 5 echelons of gifts worth more than 10 million Tuvan aksha (rate 1 aksha - 3 rubles 50 kopecks), food for hospitals worth 200,000 aksha.
According to Soviet expert estimates, presented, for example, in the book “The USSR and Foreign States in 1941-1945”, the total supplies of Mongolia and Tuva to the USSR in 1941-1942 in volume were only 35% less than the total volume of Western allied supplies to those years in the USSR - that is, from the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, the Union of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand combined.
"Black Death"
The first Tuvan volunteers (about 200 people) joined the Red Army in May 1943. After a short training, they were enlisted in the 25th separate tank regiment (since February 1944, it was part of the 52nd Army of the 2nd Ukrainian Front). This regiment fought on the territory of Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
In September 1943, the second group of volunteer cavalrymen (206 people) were enrolled, after training in the Vladimir region, into the 8th Cavalry Division.
The Cavalry Division took part in raids behind enemy lines in western Ukraine. After the battle of Durazhno in January 1944, the Germans began to call the Tuvans “Der Schwarze Tod” - “Black Death”.
The captured German officer G. Remke said during interrogation that the soldiers entrusted to him “subconsciously perceived these barbarians (Tuvians) as the hordes of Attila” and lost all combat effectiveness...
Here it must be said that the first Tuvan volunteers presented themselves as a typical national part; they were dressed in national costumes and wore amulets. Only at the beginning of 1944, the Soviet command asked Tuvan soldiers to send their “objects of Buddhist and shamanic cult” to their homeland.The Tuvans fought bravely. The command of the 8th Guards Cavalry Division wrote to the Tuvan government:
“... with the enemy’s obvious superiority, the Tuvans fought to the death. So, in the battles near the village of Surmiche, 10 machine gunners led by the squad commander Dongur-Kyzyl and an anti-tank rifle crew led by Dazhy-Seren died in this battle, but did not retreat a single step, fighting until the last bullet. Over 100 enemy corpses were counted before a handful of brave men who died the death of heroes. They died, but where the sons of your Motherland stood, the enemy did not pass...”
A squadron of Tuvan volunteers liberated 80 Western Ukrainian settlements.
Tuvan heroes
Of the 80,000 population of the Tuvan Republic, about 8,000 Tuvan soldiers took part in the Great Patriotic War.
67 soldiers and commanders were awarded orders and medals of the USSR. About 20 of them became holders of the Order of Glory, and up to 5,500 Tuvan soldiers were awarded other orders and medals of the Soviet Union and the Tuvan Republic.
Two Tuvans were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union - Khomushka Churgui-ool and Tyulush Kechil-ool.
Tuvan squadron
The Tuvans not only helped the front financially and fought bravely in tank and cavalry divisions, but also provided the Red Army with the construction of 10 Yak-7B aircraft. On March 16, 1943, at the Chkalovsky airfield near Moscow, the Tuvan delegation solemnly handed over the aircraft to the 133rd Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Red Army Air Force.
The fighters were handed over to the commander of the 3rd Aviation Fighter Squadron, Novikov, and assigned to the crews. On each one was written in white paint “From the Tuvan people.”
Unfortunately, not a single aircraft from the “Tuvan squadron” survived until the end of the war. Of the 20 servicemen of the 133rd Aviation Fighter Regiment, who made up the crews of the Yak-7B fighters, only three survived the war.
During the Great Patriotic War, the Germans called the Tuvans “der schwarze Tod” - “Black Death”. The Tuvans fought to the death even with the obvious superiority of the enemy, and did not take prisoners.
This is our war!
The Tuvan People's Republic became part of the Soviet Union already during the war, on August 17, 1944. In the summer of 1941, Tuva was de jure an independent state. In August 1921, the White Guard detachments of Kolchak and Ungern were expelled from there. The capital of the republic became the former Belotsarsk, renamed Kyzyl (Red City).
Soviet troops were withdrawn from Tuva by 1923, but the USSR continued to provide all possible assistance to Tuva, without claiming its independence. It is commonly said that Great Britain was the first to support the USSR in the war, but this is not so. Tuva declared war on Germany and its allies on June 22, 1941, 11 hours before Churchill's historic radio statement. Mobilization immediately began in Tuva, the republic declared its readiness to send its army to the front. 38 thousand Tuvan arats stated in a letter to Joseph Stalin: “We are together. This is our war too."
Regarding the declaration of Tuva War in Germany, there is a historical legend that when Adolf Hitler found out about it, he was amused and did not even bother to find this republic on the map. But in vain.
Everything for the front!
Immediately after the start of the war, Tuva transferred to Moscow its gold reserves (about 30 million rubles) and all production of Tuvan gold (10-11 million rubles annually). Tuvans truly accepted the war as their own. This is evidenced by the amount of assistance that the poor republic provided to the front. From June 1941 to October 1944, Tuva supplied 50 thousand war horses and 750 thousand heads of cattle for the needs of the Red Army. Each Tuvan family gave from 10 to 100 heads of cattle to the front. The Tuvans literally put the Red Army on skis, supplying 52 thousand pairs of skis to the front.
Prime Minister of Tuva Saryk-Dongak Chimba wrote in his diary: “They destroyed the entire birch forest near Kyzyl.” In addition, the Tuvans sent 12 thousand sheepskin coats, 19 thousand pairs of mittens, 16 thousand pairs of felt boots, 70 thousand tons of sheep wool, 400 tons of meat, ghee and flour, carts, sleighs, harnesses and other goods totaling about 66.5 million rubles. To help the USSR, the arats collected five trains of gifts worth more than 10 million Tuvan aksha (1 aksha was equivalent to 3 rubles 50 kopecks), food for hospitals worth 200 thousand aksha. According to Soviet expert estimates, presented, for example, in the book “The USSR and Foreign States in 1941-1945”, the total supplies of Mongolia and Tuva to the USSR in 1941-1942 in volume were only 35% less than the total volume of Western allied supplies to those years in the USSR - that is, from the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, the Union of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand combined. “Black Death” The first Tuvan volunteers (about 200 people) joined the Red Army in May 1943.
After a short training, they were enlisted in the 25th separate tank regiment (since February 1944, it was part of the 52nd Army of the 2nd Ukrainian Front). This regiment fought on the territory of Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. In September 1943, the second group of volunteer cavalrymen (206 people) were enrolled, after training in the Vladimir region, into the 8th Cavalry Division. The Cavalry Division took part in raids behind enemy lines in western Ukraine. After the battle of Durazhno in January 1944, the Germans began to call the Tuvans “der schwarze Tod” - “Black Death”.
The captured German officer Hans Remke said during interrogation that the soldiers entrusted to him “subconsciously perceived these barbarians (Tuvians) as the hordes of Attila” and lost all combat effectiveness. Here it must be said that the first Tuvan volunteers were a typical national part, they were dressed in national costumes and wore amulets. Only at the beginning of 1944, the Soviet command asked Tuvan soldiers to send their “objects of Buddhist and shamanic cult” to their homeland. The Tuvans fought bravely. The command of the 8th Guards Cavalry Division wrote to the Tuvan government: “With the enemy’s clear superiority, the Tuvans fought to the death. So, in the battles near the village of Surmiche, 10 machine gunners led by the squad commander Dongur-Kyzyl and an anti-tank rifle crew led by Dazhy-Seren died in this battle, but did not retreat a single step, fighting until the last bullet. Over 100 enemy corpses were counted before a handful of brave men who died the death of heroes. They died, but where the sons of your Motherland stood, the enemy did not pass.” A squadron of Tuvan volunteers liberated 80 Western Ukrainian settlements.
Tuvan heroes Of the 80 thousand population of the Tuvan Republic, about 8 thousand Tuvan soldiers took part in the Great Patriotic War. 67 soldiers and commanders were awarded orders and medals of the USSR. About 20 of them became holders of the Order of Glory, and up to 5,500 Tuvan soldiers were awarded other orders and medals of the Soviet Union and the Tuvan Republic. Two Tuvans were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union - Khomushka Churgui-ool and Tyulush Kechil-ool. Tuvan squadron The Tuvinians not only helped the front financially and fought bravely in tank and cavalry divisions, but also provided the Red Army with the construction of 10 Yak-7B aircraft. On March 16, 1943, at the Chkalovsky airfield near Moscow, the Tuvan delegation solemnly handed over the aircraft to the 133rd Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Red Army Air Force. The fighters were handed over to the commander of the 3rd Aviation Fighter Squadron, Novikov, and assigned to the crews. On each one was written in white paint “From the Tuvan people.” Unfortunately, not a single aircraft from the “Tuvan squadron” survived until the end of the war. Of the 20 servicemen of the 133rd Aviation Fighter Regiment, who made up the crews of the Yak-7B fighters, only three survived the war.
During the Great Patriotic War, the Germans called the Tuvans “der schwarze Tod” - “Black Death”. The Tuvans fought to the death even with the obvious superiority of the enemy, and did not take prisoners.
"This is our war!"
The Tuvan People's Republic became part of the Soviet Union already during the war, on August 17, 1944. In the summer of 1941, Tuva was de jure an independent state. In August 1921, the White Guard detachments of Kolchak and Ungern were expelled from there. The capital of the republic became the former Belotsarsk, renamed Kyzyl (Red City).
Soviet troops were withdrawn from Tuva by 1923, but the USSR continued to provide all possible assistance to Tuva, without claiming its independence.
It is commonly said that Great Britain was the first to support the USSR in the war, but this is not so. Tuva declared war on Germany and its allies on June 22, 1941, 11 hours before Churchill's historic radio statement. Mobilization immediately began in Tuva, the republic declared its readiness to send its army to the front. 38 thousand Tuvan arats stated in a letter to Joseph Stalin:
"We are together. This is our war too."
Regarding the declaration of Tuva War in Germany, there is a historical legend that when Adolf Hitler found out about it, he was amused and did not even bother to find this republic on the map. But in vain.
Everything for the front!
Immediately after the start of the war, Tuva transferred to Moscow its gold reserves (about 30 million rubles) and all production of Tuvan gold (10-11 million rubles annually).
Tuvans truly accepted the war as their own. This is evidenced by the amount of assistance that the poor republic provided to the front.
From June 1941 to October 1944, Tuva supplied 50 thousand war horses and 750 thousand heads of cattle for the needs of the Red Army. Each Tuvan family gave from 10 to 100 heads of cattle to the front. The Tuvans literally put the Red Army on skis, supplying 52 thousand pairs of skis to the front. Prime Minister of Tuva
Saryk-Dongak Chimba wrote in his diary: “They destroyed the entire birch forest near Kyzyl.”
In addition, the Tuvans sent 12 thousand sheepskin coats, 19 thousand pairs of mittens, 16 thousand pairs of felt boots, 70 thousand tons of sheep wool, 400 tons of meat, ghee and flour, carts, sleighs, harnesses and other goods totaling about 66.5 million rubles.
To help the USSR, the arats collected five trains of gifts worth more than 10 million Tuvan aksha (1 aksha was equivalent to 3 rubles 50 kopecks), food for hospitals worth 200 thousand aksha.
According to Soviet expert estimates, presented, for example, in the book “The USSR and Foreign States in 1941-1945”, the total supplies of Mongolia and Tuva to the USSR in 1941-1942 in volume were only 35% less than the total volume of Western allied supplies to those years in the USSR - that is, from the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, the Union of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand combined.
"Black Death"
The first Tuvan volunteers (about 200 people) joined the Red Army in May 1943. After a short training, they were enlisted in the 25th separate tank regiment (since February 1944, it was part of the 52nd Army of the 2nd Ukrainian Front). This regiment fought on the territory of Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
In September 1943, the second group of volunteer cavalrymen (206 people) were enrolled, after training in the Vladimir region, into the 8th Cavalry Division.
The Cavalry Division took part in raids behind enemy lines in western Ukraine. After the battle of Durazhno in January 1944, the Germans began to call the Tuvans “der schwarze Tod” - “Black Death”.
The captured German officer Hans Remke said during interrogation that the soldiers entrusted to him “subconsciously perceived these barbarians (Tuvians) as the hordes of Attila” and lost all combat effectiveness.
Here it must be said that the first Tuvan volunteers were a typical national part, they were dressed in national costumes and wore amulets. Only at the beginning of 1944, the Soviet command asked Tuvan soldiers to send their “objects of Buddhist and shamanic cult” to their homeland.
The Tuvans fought bravely. The command of the 8th Guards Cavalry Division wrote to the Tuvan government:
“With the enemy’s obvious superiority, the Tuvans fought to the death. So, in the battles near the village of Surmiche, 10 machine gunners led by the squad commander Dongur-Kyzyl and an anti-tank rifle crew led by Dazhy-Seren died in this battle, but did not retreat a single step, fighting until the last bullet. Over 100 enemy corpses were counted before a handful of brave men who died the death of heroes. They died, but where the sons of your Motherland stood, the enemy did not pass.”
A squadron of Tuvan volunteers liberated 80 Western Ukrainian settlements.
Tuvan heroes
Of the 80 thousand population of the Tuvan Republic, about 8 thousand Tuvan soldiers took part in the Great Patriotic War.
67 soldiers and commanders were awarded orders and medals of the USSR. About 20 of them became holders of the Order of Glory, and up to 5,500 Tuvan soldiers were awarded other orders and medals of the Soviet Union and the Tuvan Republic.
Two Tuvans were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union - Khomushka Churgui-ool and Tyulush Kechil-ool.
Tuvan squadron
The Tuvans not only helped the front financially and fought bravely in tank and cavalry divisions, but also provided the Red Army with the construction of 10 Yak-7B aircraft. On March 16, 1943, at the Chkalovsky airfield near Moscow, the Tuvan delegation solemnly handed over the aircraft to the 133rd Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Red Army Air Force.
The fighters were handed over to the commander of the 3rd Aviation Fighter Squadron, Novikov, and assigned to the crews. On each one was written in white paint “From the Tuvan people.”
Unfortunately, not a single aircraft from the “Tuvan squadron” survived until the end of the war. Of the 20 servicemen of the 133rd Aviation Fighter Regiment, who made up the crews of the Yak-7B fighters, only three survived the war.