User:Pusf.smbd/Vasily Skopenko

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Fedorovych and the family name is Skopenko.

Василь Федорович Скопенко
Nationality	українець
Citizenship	Soviet Union
Alma mater	Криворізький педагогічний інститут
Children	Скопенко Віктор Васильович
Awards

Vasyl Fedorovych Skopenko (1912 - 1945) is a Ukrainian teacher, colonel, participant in the German-Soviet war, Hero of the Soviet Union.

Biography

He was born on January 1, 1912 in the village of Struhivka, which belonged to the Suraz district of the Chernihiv province (now the Bryansk region of the Russian Federation). After graduating from high school, he studied at a mining school, then worked as a mining foreman at the Carl Liebknecht mine in the city of Kryvyi Rih.

He studied at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Odesa State University. In 1935, he graduated from the Kryvyi Rih Pedagogical Institute.

From 1937 to 1939, he worked as a director of a secondary school in the village of Verblujka, Novgorodkiv district, Kirovohrad region.

In RSCHA since 1939. Took part in the Soviet-Finnish war.

In 1943, he graduated from the MV Frunze Military Academy.

Commander of the 1180th Rifle Regiment (350th Rifle Division, 13th Army, 1st Ukrainian Front), Lieutenant Colonel V. F. Skopenko distinguished himself on July 29, 1944, during the crossing of the Vistula River. Under his skillful leadership, the regiment crossed the river in the area of the settlement of Lonjak (Poland) using improvised means. Then, brilliantly performing a circling maneuver, he freed the city of Sandomir from the German troops, thereby creating a bridgehead for the further advance of the Soviet troops.

By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated September 23, 1944, for the exemplary performance of the combat tasks of the command on the front of the struggle against the German-fascist invaders and demonstrated courage and heroism at the same time, Lieutenant Colonel Vasyl Fedorovych Skopenko was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (No. 4589). On January 24, 1945, he received the rank of colonel.

On January 27, 1945, Colonel Skopenko was mortally wounded in a battle near the city of Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland). Dying in the hospital, he ordered to be buried in Sandomir.

In February 1945, Skopenko's body was transported to the city and buried on Rynok Square. The city authorities honored his memory at a special session. In the 1950s, Opatovska Street was renamed Skopenka Street (now the historical name has been returned). A monument was erected near Opatovska Brama. In 1990, Skopenko's remains were reburied at the military cemetery of Soviet soldiers (near Mickiewicz Street), and the monument was also moved there.

Rewards

Могила полковника В. Ф. Скопенка на кладовищі солдатів Радянської Армії в Сандомирі

• Орден Леніна
• 2 ордени Червоного Прапора
• Орден Олександра Невського
• Орден Вітчизняної війни 1-го ступеня
• Орден Червоної Зірки

Memory

The high school where he worked was named after Vasyl Fedorovych Skopenko, and a memorial plaque was installed on the school building. In the city of Sandomir, a street, a pioneer's wife, and a library were named after him.

Skopenko's name is engraved on the Stele of Heroes in Kryvyi Rih.

Family

• Wife — Ганна Митрофанівна
• Daughter — Alla Vasylivna
• Son — Victor Skopenko, ректор Київського університету

External links

• Кіровоградська область
• Герої Archived 2011-05-14 at the Wayback Machine