 |
Djagan KarakhanyanSquad commander of the 280th separate engineer battalion, Hero of the Soviet Union, private
Date of Birth: 01.01.1918
|
Content:
Early Life and Military Service
Djagan Sarkisovich Karakhanyan was born in 1918 in the village of Kokhb, Armenia, into a peasant family. After completing his rural education, he worked on a collective farm in his hometown. In 1938, he was conscripted into the Red Army. He participated in the Soviet liberation of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus in 1939 and the Soviet-Finnish War. After completing his military service in 1940, he was demobilized and returned to his village.
World War II
Karakhanyan was called back to active duty in December 1941. He joined the 89th Armenian Rifle Division as a private and served as a squad leader in the 280th Independent Engineer Battalion of the 18th Army on the North Caucasus Front. In September 1943, during the battle for Novorossiysk, he single-handedly cleared a warehouse, disarming four land mines and four delayed-action surprise mines, enabling the infantry to advance. He neutralized over 500 kilograms of explosives and 20 mines in the city. During the pursuit of the enemy, he cleared several bridges and removed 196 mines.
Heroic Death
In the fighting for Crimea on December 22, 1943, Karakhanyan was killed in action. He was buried in a mass grave in the garden of the Yaroslavsky family in the village of Glazovka, Crimea. The cemetery was later designated a military war grave, and a memorial was erected in his honor.
Posthumous Recognition
For his exceptional bravery and heroism, Karakhanyan was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on May 16, 1944.
Legacy
Karakhanyan's memory is honored in his hometown, where a bust of him is erected and the local secondary school bears his name.
