At that height

The feat of the sixth company of the 104th regiment of the 76th Guards Red Banner Airborne Division shocked the world. There, in Ulus-Kert, the Pskov paratroopers showed everyone that greatness of spirit, honor and courage remained in Russia.

Poems are now written about them, books are written, and monuments are erected to them. But what were they like in ordinary life before stepping into eternity? Today we introduce you, dear readers, to Alexander DOSTOVALOV .

Alexander Dostovalov was born in 1963 in Ufa. He would have turned 38 on July 16th. He died in Chechnya on March 1, 2000 at altitude 776, in Ulus-Kert. Posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.

Major Alexander Dostovalov laid down his life on the altar of male friendship, forever entering the history of the Pskov land.

Alexander was at the checkpoint when the company started a battle with the militants. He heard battalion commander Mark Evtyukhin asking in vain for help, but no one was in a hurry to break through to the guards. And then, with fourteen fighters, contrary to the ban, the major rushed to the rescue of his friends. During the breakthrough, the platoon came under fire, platoon commander Oleg Ermakov was seriously wounded, but remained to cover the platoon to allow the paratroopers to break through to their own.

And here is Dostovalov at height 776, friends are fighting here, and battalion commander Mark Evtyukhin is here. On the spot, Alexander assessed the situation. He had participated in battles more than once, so he realized that it would be difficult to get out of this mess. Did Alexander Dostovalov know that this was his last fight? I think he was under no illusions.

The brave guardsman considered his regiment his military family, sharing both joy and sorrow with his comrades in arms, so he decided to share death with them. Witnesses of this battle remained; they were with Alexander during the last battle. They are two of the six soldiers left alive.

Private Evgeny Vladykin :

• What joy there was with the appearance of Major Dostovalov! Reinforcements arrived and our guys broke through. We are not alone! The major raised his hand clenched into a fist, then walked up to the battalion commander, they hugged like brothers. For the first time, the battalion commander smiled.

• There won't be seven deaths! - Dostovalov joked. - We'll fight!

• “Yes, we will,” echoed the guys who heard him.

First, the arriving soldiers carried the wounded out of the field, and then each took the position that our former company commander assigned them.

Sergeant Alexey Suponinsky :

• Major Dostovalov came to the company from the rear, so that we would not shoot at him, and quietly shouted: “Our people.” His conversation with the battalion commander was short. He distributed his fighters into positions and took the weapon himself. It became easier for all of us, Dostovalov came, others will come. (We didn’t know then that there would be no help). None of us wanted to die. I remember when we went to the height, the guys joked, laughed and did not know that death was nearby. Dostovalov lay down three meters from the battalion commander, I was eight meters away from him. And then a protracted battle began.

How many of ours were lying around! The “spirits” shouted: “Russians, give up, you’re finished.” They were sent away. The shooting did not stop for a minute. The worst thing was when the battalion commander fell on his back. He fell and never got up again.

“This is the end,” I thought. And he began to pray, asking God for life.

The “spirits” kept climbing and climbing, standing up to their full height. Dostovalov fired without moving from his spot. Sometimes he turned to me, as if encouraging me. And then he fell silent, burying his face in the ground. It seemed to me that I was left alone... It was as if I had gone deaf.

Major Andrei Vyatkin (Alexander and Andrei were friends from the first days of Dostovalov’s arrival at the location of the 76th Division after the Ryazan Airborne School. Andrei Vyatkin witnessed the formation of a young lieutenant who began his service as a platoon commander):

• I still can’t get used to not having a friend. I see him alive in a dream, I talk to him. He meant a lot to us paratroopers. He knew how to unite people, he could relieve tension with a joke.

There were a lot of people at Dostovalov’s funeral, mostly his friends, from all over Russia. He was a real man, without self-interest or cunning. He moved up the career ladder slowly because he did not like behind-the-scenes intrigue, he was straightforward and spoke the truth to anyone's face.

My friend and I visited all the hot spots of the Soviet Union. Yerevan started it in 1988. There Alexander distinguished himself, risked his life, and saved the chief of staff of the regiment from an angry crowd. For this, he, the only one in the regiment, received the medal “For Excellent Service in the Protection of Public Order.” After returning two months later, a business trip to Baku, where Alexander Dostovalov ended up in a reconnaissance company. And then there were Osh, Uzgen, Transnistria. For excellent service he was appointed deputy company commander. With this company he was sent to Chechnya...

With minor losses, his company passed Argun, Gudermes, and entered Grozny. In difficult situations, Dostovalov more than once showed a personal example of valor. For this he received the Order of Courage. We passed all the tests and returned alive to the hooting of some of the media representatives.

After the war, my friend received the rank of major, and over time was appointed battalion commander, the same one where Mark Evtyukhin was battalion commander. They had no personal friendship, but a spirit of mutual understanding and mutual assistance reigned. Both complemented each other: Mark, who loved brightness and brilliance, and Alexander, who meticulously delved into every little detail, preferring not to get in the way of high-ranking officials.

Their battalion took prizes for two years in a row and was the best in the division. Evtyukhin and Dostovalov prepared their paratroopers to carry out combat missions, especially since Alexander had practical combat skills. The major loved special missions and field trips. This was a real man's job, to which he devoted himself entirely. How many times Dostovalov was the first to appear on the BMD in the right place, quickly bypassing others. There was so much excitement in him! Alexander was rarely at home; he did not take any days off or vacation.

And here is the second Chechen campaign. Alexander came to say goodbye to me.

• Chechnya again,” he smiled slightly with his lips. - Do you remember the meat grinder in Grozny? You got more then. Now it's my turn.

We shook hands and were silent. I wished my friend a quick return.

Major Vladimir Yakovlev (Vladimir took me to his dacha, where he had built a small bathhouse):

• Sanya came here often, he was a real Russian man. In his free time, he liked to take a steam bath and drink beer with friends. And how humorous he was, you couldn’t help but laugh. He was the life of the party, he would lift the mood, he would tell an anecdote. He loved our military songs, especially about the Afghans.

The last time we all got together was in Chechnya, on my birthday. He came to me on foot (we were standing in different places) and fell straight onto the bed without undressing.

• Hey,” I shout, “Sanya, take off your shoes.”

• “I’m tired,” he says, “I’ve been on my feet all day.”

Soon my other friends came up. We sat for a long time that evening, sang songs with a guitar, told stories from army life, remembered the dead, and more than one toast was raised for them. Sanya stayed with me overnight. And in the morning he got up, said goodbye, held my hand and went. I thought we would meet soon, but it turned out that this was our last meeting.

Sanya, before going to break through to the sixth company, told me over the phone:

• Can you hear Evtyukhin?

And I also stood at the checkpoint, only much further, in the rear of our regiment. I answered him on the radio:

• I hear you.

• And what do you think is happening there?

• The porridge took a long time to brew.

I think Alexander made his conclusion. He couldn't sit still while his friends were dying. I was one of the first to arrive at this damned height to collect the dead. At first I found Sanya, there was hope that he was alive. But judging by the wound, he was shot point-blank. He stood until the end and didn’t take a step back. I stroked his hair, a chill ran through my hand, closed my eyes and handed it over to the soldiers. After Alexander I went to Mark. The bandits smashed the whole back of his head. I bandaged his head. The battalion commander was carried by himself along with the soldiers.

With the death of a friend, something in me broke, died. I lost my zest for life. They tell me I need to take a rehabilitation course. And this is not rehabilitation, this is really what is needed. Why did the entire company die when there were so many troops and equipment around? It’s hard to remember how many scary and strange things I saw. We would have defeated the militants long ago if there were no forces interested in this war.

Olga Dostovalova is a woman of few words. She still finds it difficult to share her memories:

• My husband didn’t think about me and my daughter when he went to his death. He always put his friends and service first. Only Sasha could end his life this way. They call him at midnight, always calling him somewhere, asking him for something. How it offended me. “What do you need more than anyone else!” No one will be denied anything. And there, at the height, he didn’t refuse either.

We haven't seen each other much lately. But I felt warm from the thought that he was nearby and could always return home. And now time seems to have frozen, and I live in the past. My daughter misses him. They loved each other so much. They play on the floor, on the carpet, then he rolls her on himself, then they play with a ball, then they tell fairy tales. And they will laugh so loudly, like children. Alexander was very spontaneous, which is why everyone was so willing to communicate with him: children, neighbors, friends. And I was jealous: it never belonged to me alone.

Mother (I met Lyubov Petrovna Dostovalova in church, during the anniversary of the death of the sixth company):

• Sasha is my only son. My husband and I separated when he was 12 years old. Since then, I raised him alone, although he also visited his father. His father is an officer, and his son was proud of it. But I did not allow him to enter the military school. After ninth grade, he went to the railway school and trained to be a diesel locomotive driver. I worked a little, then the army. And after the army, he still insisted on his own - he entered the Ryazan Higher Military School. I cried for a long time, for some reason it was hard that my son would be an officer. Apparently, my heart felt trouble. And, indeed, if I were driving trains now, I would be alive and well. But it's just not for him. Since childhood, Sasha loved adventure and war books and was the leader among the boys. But he was not a hooligan or mischievous person. He studied well and helped me in everything. I worked at a factory, he will clean the house and prepare food for me. And everything in his hands “burns.” “I,” he says, “Mom, will not leave you alone.” You will always live with me. But I left one. But I don’t blame him for anything. This is how I raised him - to live for others, to live for the Motherland.

In collecting this material, I did not use all my memories. There are so many of them!.. Alexandra Dostovalova loves the entire 104th regiment. They say there is no death. Man lives in eternity. Our earthly life is only a step to the next. And the next one depends on what kind of trace you leave behind. Alexander left behind the brightest memory.