Sergey Romanovtsev

Sergei Dmitriyevich Romanovtsev (; 29 September 1925 – 26 May 2022) was an officer of the Soviet Armed Forces. Over his time in service, he reached the rank of polkovnik, the Soviet equivalent to colonel. In 1944, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Deployed to defend his home city of Tula shortly after the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Romanovtsev later joined the Red Army as commander of a machine-gun squad. He saw action in the heavy fighting in the south of the Soviet Union, and distinguished himself in battle by repelling a number of counterattacks in 1944. Romanovtsev remained in the military after the war, entering the reserves in 1947 and subsequently graduating from military schools. He joined the KGB's foreign intelligence service in 1954, while also being part of the diplomatic service with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, carrying out duties in Western Europe and North America. He retired in December 1991 with the rank of polkovnik, and with numerous honours and awards. He died in 2022 at the age of 96.

Early life Romanovtsev was born into the family of a gunsmith on 29 September 1925 in Tula, in the Russian Soviet Socialist Federative Republic. He received a secondary level education, and worked in a local factory. He joined the defence effort shortly after the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, and between July and August 1941 was deployed as part of the Tula youth detachment to build defensive structures along the Dnieper near the city of Dorogobuzh. After the Soviet defeat at the Battle of Smolensk in August, Romanovtsev joined the Red Army in retreat. He was then deployed in defence of Tula in an anti-tank role, and in 1943 he joined the Red Army. Having cut off the enemy infantry from the supporting tank force, Romanovtsev and his forces were credited with killing 150 German soldiers and officers. On 3 March his detachment crossed the Inhulets, and after repelling further counterattacks in which 65 German soldiers and officers were killed, captured Rudnik and the Inhulets railway station. On 6 March he assisted in the capture of in the face of heavy German resistance.

Romanovtsev died on 26 May 2022, at the age of 96.