Ecaterina Demina Hero of the Soviet Union Date of Birth: 22.12.1925 Country: Russia

1. Biography of Ekaterina Demina
2. Early Life and Entry into the Army
3. Service in the 369th Separate Marine Battalion
4. Acts of Heroism and Awards
5. Final Acts of Heroism and Retirement

Biography of Ekaterina Demina

Ekaterina Mikhailova, a heroine of the Soviet Union, was born on December 22, 1925, in Leningrad. Her father, Mikhailov Illarion Mikhailovich, was a commander in the Red Army, and her mother, Mikhailova Natalya, worked as a doctor but died from typhoid fever. Her husband, Demin V.P., was a front-line signalman and later worked as a designer. Her son, Yuri (born in 1953), graduated from Moscow State University and is a candidate of chemical sciences, working within the Russian Academy of Sciences. Ekaterina's granddaughters are Galina and Ekaterina.

Early Life and Entry into the Army

After losing her parents at a young age, Katya was raised in an orphanage. Before the war, she completed nine grades of school and nursing courses. On June 22, 1941, while traveling by train to Brest to visit her brother, who was a pilot, she found herself under bombardment. Instead of reaching Brest, she walked to Smolensk and went to the military enlistment office, where she added two years to her age and enlisted in the Red Army. She served in battles near Gzhatsk and was severely wounded in the leg. After recovering in hospitals in the Urals and Baku, she served on the military medical ship "Krasnaya Moskva" from January 1942, transporting the wounded from Stalingrad to Krasnovodsk. She was promoted to the rank of chief warrant officer for exemplary service and was awarded the "Excellence of the Navy" badge.

Service in the 369th Separate Marine Battalion

Upon completing her recovery, Katya joined the 369th separate marine battalion as a sanitary instructor, which was formed in Baku in February 1943 from volunteers. She fought with this battalion, which later received the honorary name "Kerch Red Banner," in the waters and shores of the Caucasus and Crimea, the Azov and Black Seas, the Dniester and the Danube, and participated in liberation missions in Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and Austria.

Acts of Heroism and Awards

With an automatic rifle in her hands, Katya disembarked with her fellow soldiers onto enemy territory, bravely engaged in battle, repelled fascist counterattacks, and carried the wounded off the battlefield, providing them with first aid. She was wounded three times herself. She participated in long marches, dug trenches, and slept on damp ground in freezing weather. For her courage and heroism during the war, Ekaterina Mikhailova was awarded many orders and medals. Her first medal, the "For Courage" medal, was received for her participation in the landing during the capture of Temryuk. She was awarded the first class Order of the Patriotic War for her participation in the battle for Kerch, where she landed troops during a storm and helped evacuate the wounded. She received the first and second Orders of the Red Banner for crossing the Dniester Liman in August 1944 and for her participation in the battles for the fortress of Ilok on the border of Hungary and Yugoslavia in December 1944.

Final Acts of Heroism and Retirement

In the most critical moments, while in freezing water, Katya Mikhailova fired her rifle at the enemy and provided assistance to the wounded. Despite being injured herself, she dragged and tied weakened wounded soldiers to trees sticking out of the water so that they would not drown. The losses were heavy, with only 13 soldiers surviving from their unit. Nevertheless, their mission was accomplished, and the fortress of Ilok was captured by Soviet forces. Katya Mikhailova, weakened by blood loss and lung inflammation, was transferred to a hospital in almost hopeless condition.

After recovering, Katya returned to service. She fought with her beloved 369th marine battalion for the Imperial Bridge in Vienna, Austria. She celebrated Victory Day on May 9, 1945, in Vienna. In November 1945, Chief Warrant Officer Ekaterina Mikhailova was demobilized and returned to Leningrad. In 1950, she graduated from the Second Leningrad Medical Institute and worked as a doctor for 36 years, eventually becoming the head of a special laboratory at the Minatom plant in Elektrostal and later in Moscow. She retired in 1985.

Throughout the years, Ekaterina Demina received numerous awards, including the Order of the Patriotic War, the medals "For the Liberation of Belgrade," "For the Capture of Budapest," "For the Capture of Vienna," "For the Defense of the Caucasus," and "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945," among many others.

In 1990, on the 45th anniversary of Victory Day, Ekaterina Illarionovna Mikhailova (Demina) was awarded the highest honor of her homeland, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. Even in her retirement, Ekaterina Demina remains active, engaging in veteran affairs, meeting with her comrades, giving speeches to young people, and traveling to places of past battles and campaigns. She continues to care for her grandchildren and is always ready to help those who have been injured and traumatized by life's challenges. Ekaterina Demina currently resides in Moscow.