“The exploits of many of you were seen not only by the whole country, but also by almost half the world. I congratulate you on these high awards. I wish you that in the future, firstly, your awards will not be the last,” Shoigu said. “Secondly, you continued to defend our Fatherland with dignity, no matter where you were, on what fronts and in what positions.”
Two officers were awarded Hero of Russia medals: Colonel Roman Fedorov, commander of the motorized rifle brigade that prepared the defense, and Colonel Ivan Kleshcherev, commander of the motorized rifle regiment that led the counterattack. Sergeant Yuri Shcherbakov, commander of the anti-tank guided missile unit, which alone eliminated a massive amount of Ukrainian materiel, received the Gold Star Medal.
“This award is not mine alone, it belongs to my entire unit, to the entire team. It is earned through joint efforts, common successes,” Kleshcherev said upon receiving the medal.
Fedorov’s well-prepared defenses included engineered barriers and fire ambushes, and enabled the Russian defense lines in his area to withstand more than 20 attacks by Ukrainian forces. During those battles, the Russian military destroyed 12 Ukrainian tanks, six foreign-made infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs), two self-propelled artillery mounts, 11 cars, 10 drones, and more than 230 Ukrainian attack aircraft.
Led by Kleshcherev himself, the subsequent counterattack effectively annihilated 11 Ukrainian tanks, 10 infantry fighting vehicles, and a staggering total of over 170 Ukrainian military personnel.
Shcherbakov’s missile squad seized on a moment of opportunity and by itself annihilated nine Ukrainian tanks, four armored personnel carriers, 12 IFVs, four trucks loaded with ammunition, two platoon strongholds, and over 100 Ukrainian military personnel.
"I heard on the radio that there was an attack on the neighbor to the right. I saw it myself, discovered it myself and opened fire," Shcherbakov said of the battle.
“I brought the fire to the end - that’s it, the offensive was completely disrupted and stopped. We just arrived in this direction, we didn’t know everything yet, where and where the enemy was coming from, and we were just studying all the heights, directions, where he could come from and where he would appear,” Shcherbakov stated.
Altogether, some 32 Ukrainian tanks were destroyed in the battle.