Aliya Moldagulova

Aliya Nurmukhambetovna Moldagulova (; ; 25 October 1925 – 14 January 1944) was a Soviet sniper in the Red Army during World War II who killed over 30 Nazi soldiers. After dying of wounds sustained in battle on 14 January 1944, she was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

Childhood Moldagulova was born on 25 October 1925 in Bulak village (now in the Khobdinsky district of the Aktobe region, Kazakh ASSR) to Nurmukhamet Sarkulov and his wife Marzhan. She had at least one sibling, a younger brother called Bagdat.

During the Soviet famine of 1930–1933, her mother Marzhan collected the remains of potatoes. In 1933, Marzhan was shot and killed by a watchman. Shortly afterward, Bagdat died when he was about two years old.

Moldagulova's father was being persecuted by the Soviet authorities as a descendant of noblemen. He hastily buried his wife somewhere in the lower reaches of the Kuraili River, where his family lived at that time. After the death of her mother, she wandered around the village for a whole year until her uncle, Aubakir Moldagulov, took her to Alma-Ata to be raised by her grandmother.

During the Great Patriotic War, women of the Soviet Union took a massive and active part in the armed defense of their homeland. Many names of the women, seen as heroes of Central Asia and Kazakhstan, are captured in historical and fictional literature.

During the war, more than 1,200,000 Kazakh soldiers were drafted into the ranks of the Soviet army, and more than 20 rifle divisions and other formations were formed. A total of 601,939 people died on the war fronts, which is 12% of the total population of the then Kazakh people.

Military career In March 1942, together with the orphanage, Moldagulova left the besieged Leningrad for the village of Vyatskoye, Yaroslavl Region. On 1 October 1942, after graduating from the 7th grade of the Vyatka secondary school, she entered the Rybinsk Aviation Technical School. She wanted to become a pilot, but she got into a training group specializing in "cold metalworking". Three months later, Moldagulova applied to the Red Army with a request to send her to the front. On 21 December 1942, she was expelled from the technical school due to leaving to the front. According to the recollections of one of her fellow soldiers Ya. K. Prokopenkova: "In August 1943, a sniper Aliya Moldagulova arrived in our brigade. A fragile and pretty girl from Kazakhstan. She was only 18 years old, but by October the sniper girl had 32 killed fascists on her account ". According to the memoirs of N. A. Matveeva: "Here she had to shed a lot of tears before getting to the front line. The reason for this was again her age and height. Leah and I were assigned to one platoon of the 4th battalion. We, snipers, went on missions in pairs, we had positions prepared in advance. We stayed there until they took the Fritz on the fly and let them flow. Then enemy shells and mines fell on us! Leah at such moments showed exceptional fearlessness. She did not only beat the fascists but also carried the wounded comrades from the battlefield and performed them first aid. "

In the battle of Pskov, Moldagulova contributed to the successful offensive charge of the battalion. At the age of 18, Moldagulova died in hand-to-hand combat on January 14, 1944, near the village of Kazachikha, Novosokolniki district. On June 4, 1944, she was posthumously awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union. She was also awarded the Order of Lenin.

Military reports of battle at Pskov According to military reports, the last battle that Moldagulova was engaged in is described as follows:

"During the Leningrad-Novgorod operation in early January 1944, the 54th rifle brigade marched along the front to the city of Novosokolniki (Pskov region), where it broke through the enemy's defenses and advanced north of the city. G.V. Varshavsky, political instructor of the 4th battalion, where the sniper Aliya Moldagulov served, parts of the brigade reached the railway at the Nasva station, where they were met with strong enemy fire. Having occupied the starting lines at night, the Red Army attacked at dawn on January 14, 1944. The battalion, whose actions were covered by snipers, was tasked with cutting the Novosokolniki-Dno railway in the area of Nasva station and seizing the village of Kazachikha. Even though the first line of defense had already been successfully broken through, the attack was drowned out by the strong return fire of the enemy."

The winters were cold at that time. According to the recollections of Moldagulova's front-line friends, frosts reached - 47 degrees (°C) and everyone lay in the trenches. Moldagulova was not at a loss and took everyone to the village of Kazachikha, near the town of Novosokolniki in the Kalinin (Tver) region where Soviet soldiers fought the Nazis already in hand-to-hand combat. Suddenly, a German officer appeared from around the corner and fired at Moldagulova. Falling, she managed to return fire. This is the official storyline from Soviet times. According to official figures, Moldagulova killed 78 fascists. However, Kazakh museum workers are more inclined towards the version that places this number at over one hundred.

Moldagulova died from a gunshot wound later that day after writing a letter to her sister and was buried in a mass grave in Monakovo, Pskov. On 4 June 1944, she was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

Estimates of Moldagulova's final sniper tally vary; Henry Sakaida credits her with 91 kills, while Andrey Simonov, Svetlana Chudinova, her nomination sheet for the title Hero of the Soviet Union, and other estimates indicate a tally in the 30's.

After her death The command of the unit where Moldagulova served wrote to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan: "To you, dear comrades, on behalf of the unit command, thank you for such ardent patriots as Aliya Moldagulova was. Her name is immortal and belongs to the great people of the Union of Soviets. We would like to ask a favor: tell the Kazakh people about her exploits and selfless devotion to our Motherland. "

Legacy Soviet people sacredly honored Moldagulova's memory: in Aktyubinsk, there is a street named after her, in the center of the city there is a monument to the faithful daughter of the Kazakh people. One of the schools in Leningrad bears her name. In 1997 a monument was erected in her name in Astana Square in Almaty. Streets in St. Petersburg, Moscow, and other cities are named after her. The "Aliya" Regional Center of Patriotic Education in Aliya village, Bulaksky rural district, Aktobe On Aqtobe airport was officially renamed to Aliya Moldagulova International Airport in order to commemorate Aliya Moldagulova.