Photos General Pikalov

[Иван Феоктистов]

Many of you have watched the Chernobyl series. In many respects, this series is not true, but some of the characters are shown there very worthy. For example, General Pikalov. I want to tell a little more about this great man.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Pikalov Vladimir Karpovich - Chief of the Chemical Troops of the USSR Ministry of Defense, Colonel General. Born September 15, 1924 in the city of Armavir, Krasnodar Territory, into the family of an employee, a former Red Army soldier during the Civil War. Russian. Graduated from the 9th grade of high school, drafted into the Red Army in June 1941.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

In February 1942 he graduated from the Rostov Artillery School. However, even before his graduation, he took part in battles with the Nazi invaders on the outskirts of Rostov as part of a cadet battalion in October-November 1941. Immediately after graduation, he was sent to the active army at the front of the Great Patriotic War. Since March 1942 he fought on the Western, Stalingrad, Don, Steppe and 2nd Belorussian fronts. He took part in the Moscow battle, the Voronezh-Voroshilovgrad defensive operation in the summer-autumn of 1942, in the Stalingrad and Kursk battles, in the Belarusian offensive operation and in other battles.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

He held the positions of platoon commander of the 584th anti-tank artillery regiment, assistant chief of artillery staff of the 233rd rifle division in the 64th and 53rd armies, deputy commander and commander of an artillery battery in the 290th Guards anti-tank artillery regiment. 27th anti-tank artillery brigade, intelligence officer of the howitzer artillery regiment. He was wounded in battles: in July 1944 - lightly and in March 1945 - seriously, he met the Great Victory Day in the hospital.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

For his courage he was awarded three orders and several medals at the front. After the end of the war he was transferred to the chemical troops. In 1952 he graduated from the K.E. Voroshilov. He served as chief of the chemical service of a motorized rifle division, since 1954 - as a senior officer for combat training of the district headquarters, since 1960 - as deputy chief, and since 1962 - as chief of the chemical forces of the Baltic Military District. Member of the Communist party in 1949-1991.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

In 1968 he graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR. In 1968-1969 he served as deputy head of the Military Academy of Chemical Defense. In 1969 he was appointed Chief of the Chemical Troops of the USSR Ministry of Defense. During 19 years of service in this position, he proved himself to be a proactive and decisive leader. He re-equipped the troops with new equipment and weapons. In particular, he achieved the adoption of a powerful jet flamethrower, which under the name "Buratino" proved to be excellent in military operations in the North Caucasus in the 1990s and 2000s, and in those years it almost disappeared at the development stage.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

In general, former subordinates say that the main distinguishing features of their boss are the ability to take full responsibility for any new business and close ties with science and industry, which made it possible to immediately introduce the latest developments into the troops. He has 144 certificates for inventor's inventions. The most heroic and difficult page in the biography of General V.K. Pikalova - Chernobyl disaster.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Having received the news of the tragedy at 7 o'clock in the morning on April 26, 1986, at 12 o'clock he was already in Pripyat. Having organized a temporary command post, he began to study the situation and realized that no one knew anything. The closest chemical troops were alerted and moved to the scene of the disaster, but they need time to arrive, deploy, organize work. And there was just no time.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Then the general personally on the armored personnel carrier made a circular radiation reconnaissance of the area around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, revealed the direction of the spread of radiation and the movement of the radioactive cloud. In the place of the driver was a volunteer from conscript soldiers, to whom the general made such a request and explained both the responsibility and the danger of the upcoming reconnaissance. When the first military units approached the crash site, the diagram of the most dangerous areas of the terrain was already ready, which made it possible to start performing combat missions right away.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

General Pikalov's travel certificate. Chernobyl, April 1986

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Until mid-May, General V.K. Pikalov was in the area of the accident almost hopelessly, several times flying to Moscow to report. In the future, he personally came to the site of the disaster to manage all important events several times a month. Although the troops, along with their direct combat missions in radiation reconnaissance and decontamination of equipment and terrain, were involved in the performance of tasks unusual for them, the chemical troops showed great skill in Chernobyl, having completed all the assigned tasks.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

General Pikalov personally at the control panel

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[Иван Феоктистов]

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of December 24, 1986, for his great personal contribution to the elimination of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and the elimination of its consequences, and the courage and heroism shown at the same time, Colonel-General Vladimir Karpovich Pikalov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order Lenin and the Gold Star medal.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

In early 1989, Colonel-General V.K. Pikalov has been dismissed. However, he continued to actively participate in the life of the chemical troops, patriotic and veteran work. Since 1995 he was a member of the editorial board of the Military Historical Archive magazine. He lived in the hero city of Moscow. Died on March 29, 2003. Buried at the Donskoy cemetery.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Several photos from the NSGO community archive

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

В нашей стране про таких говорят: "Кремень мужик"
Действительно. Сейчас таких людей практически не найдешь...
К слову, на счету генерала Пикалова также несколько сотен научных патентов