Vitaly Bubenin

Vitaly Dmitrievich Bubenin (; born 11 July 1939) was a Soviet Border Troops major general and recipient of the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

Early life Bubenin was born on 1939 in Nikolayevsk-on-Amur. He graduated from 10 classes in 1957 and studied at the Khabarovsk Technical School No. 2. He later worked as a mechanic for the repair of industrial equipment at JSC "Dalenergomash" plant in Khabarovsk.

Military career He joined the Soviet Border Troops in 1961 and graduated from Alma-Ata Higher Command Border School in Kazakh SSR.

From 1966, he was deputy head of the Nizhne-Mikhailovka outpost in the 57th Ussuri Border Detachment of the Pacific Border District in the Soviet Far East. On 1967, he was appointed as head of the frontier post in Sopki Kulebyakiny, Primorsky Krai. Bubenin became a member of the CPSU in 1968.

On 1 March, during the shelling of the positions of border guards by machine guns, grenade launchers and mortars by PLA troops, Bubenin was shell-shocked by a close rupture of a mortar mine, but managed to get to an armored personnel carrier and used it to counterattack Chinese forces from the north. During the counterattack, he fired at the enemy from a heavy machine gun and decided to withdraw from the battle after all the cartridges were used up. During the retreat, the armored personnel carrier was damaged by enemy fire and Bubenin was wounded in the legs by a mine fragment. Despite being injured for a second time, he did not leave the battlefield. During the next counterattack using another armored personnel carrier, he was wounded for the third time.

Bubenin was appointed deputy head of the political department of the Kamchatka Border District on 1979. From 1981 to 1983, he served as deputy chief of the operational-troop department of the troops of the Central Asian Border District and took part in the Soviet-Afghan War.

In 1995, he retired at the rank of major general.

Later life Following retirement from military service, he served as deputy in the Legislative Duma of Khabarovsk Krai from 1994 to 1997.

As of February 2015, he resides in the city of Sochi in Krasnodar Krai.

Awards and honors Medal "For Distinction in Guarding the State Border of the USSR"