Nikolai Usenko

Nikolai Ilyich Usenko (Russia: Николай Ильич Усенко; 22 December 1924 – 21 March 1996) was a Red Army man and Hero of the Soviet Union. Usenko was awarded the title on 10 January 1944 for his actions during the Battle of the Dnieper in October 1943. During the battle, Usenko, a telephonist, was reported to have repaired numerous breaks in the line, often under German fire. He was also reported to have killed 25 German soldiers. Later he was seriously wounded and blinded by a German shell and medically retired from the Red Army. He subsequently returned to his home in Krasnoyarsk Krai and worked in the logging industry.

Early life Usenko was born on 22 December 1924 in Kamenka village in the Irbeysky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai to a peasant family. In 1930, his family was dispossessed and as special settlers relocated to the village of Kosoy Byk in the Kezhemsky District. After the completion of his six classes of school, he worked as a lumberjack as well as a raftsman on the Angara River.

After six months of treatment, Usenko was discharged from the Red Army in April 1944 for being medically unfit. In 1985, Usenko was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War 1st class, along with all other surviving veterans. He died on 21 March 1996 and was buried in the Badalyskoe Cemetery in Kransnoyarsk.