St. Petersburg. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Danilov (left), who led the defence of the village of Malaya Loknya in the Kursk region. Photo: Vyacheslav Prokofiev/Press Service of the President of the Russian Federation/TASS
Russian President Vladimir Putin has met with Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Danilov, who is currently undergoing treatment at the clinic of the Kirov Military Medical Academy. From the first days of the Ukrainian invasion of the Kursk region, the officer commanded a battalion, managed to lead more than 30 soldiers out of the encirclement, and then returned to his position and called enemy artillery on himself. This caused a concussion.
– Why did you have to call artillery fire? – asked Vladimir Vladimirovich.
“The enemy was heavily surrounded, we still had ammunition,” Danilov explained.
– Did you get people out of the encirclement and even take someone prisoner? – Putin clarified and received an affirmative answer.
The Russian leader informed the lieutenant colonel of the decision to award the officer the gold star of the Hero.
– Considering how you professionally completed your combat mission, did not lose your leadership in a critical situation and behaved heroically, the Ministry of Defense and the Chief of the General Staff nominated you for the title of Hero of the Russian Federation. This decree will be signed in a few days. I would like to congratulate you and thank you for this,” the President said.
In the end, the head of the country firmly shook the lieutenant colonel’s hand. Putin added that it had been decided to send Danilov to study at the Academy of the General Staff.
During his visit to the Military Medical Academy, Vladimir Vladimirovich met with Deputy Minister of Defense Anna Tsivileva. He spoke about the work of military doctors:
– We train 600 officers as doctors every year, who are currently also working in front-line medical battalions, so these highly qualified specialists have allowed us to minimize losses by 98 percent. <...>most of them (wounded soldiers – Ed.) return to service. <...> “We have 2,000 beds deployed and our soldiers are receiving assistance,” Tsivileva said, adding that wounded soldiers can count on the most complex operations.
