Rahimzhan Koshkarbayev Soviet officer, participant in the Great Patriotic War Date of Birth: 19.10.1924 Country: Kazakhstan

1. Soviet Officer and Hero of the Soviet Union
2. Meeting with Stepan Andreevich Neustroev
3. Raising the Soviet flag over the Reichstag
4. Post-War Life and Honors

Soviet Officer and Hero of the Soviet Union

Rakhimzhan Koshkarbaev was a Soviet officer and participant of the Great Patriotic War. On April 30, 1945, during the course of military operations, he and Red Army soldier Grigory Bulatov were the first to raise the red flag on the facade ("on the main entrance stairs") of the Reichstag building. Koshkarbaev was born in the city of Akmolinskaya Oblast, Kazakh SSR, now Kazakhstan. By the end of the war, Lieutenant Koshkarbaev served as the commander of the reconnaissance platoon of the 674th Rifle Regiment, 150th Rifle Division.

Meeting with Stepan Andreevich Neustroev

Stepan Andreevich Neustroev, the battalion commander who stormed the Reichstag, described his encounter with Koshkarbaev as follows:

According to the combat journal of the 150th Rifle Division, on April 30, 1945, at 2:25 p.m., Lieutenant Rakhimzhan Koshkarbaev and Private Grigory Bulatov "crawled like sappers to the central part of the building and raised the red flag on the main entrance stairs." In his book "We Stormed the Reichstag," Hero of the Soviet Union I.F. Klochkov wrote that "Lieutenant R. Koshkarbaev was the first to attach a red flag to the column."

Raising the Soviet flag over the Reichstag

Koshkarbaev himself described the raising of the first red flag as follows:

After their heroic feat, the commanding officers of the regiment nominated Lieutenant Koshkarbaev and Red Army soldier Bulatov for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. However, they were awarded the Order of the Red Banner instead.

Post-War Life and Honors

After the war, Koshkarbaev worked as the manager of the "Alma-Ata" Hotel in the city of the same name. By the decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan on May 7, 1999, he was posthumously awarded the highest distinction - the title of "Halik Kaharmany" ("People's Hero"). The name of Koshkarbaev is given to a secondary school in the village of Koshi, Akmolinskaya Oblast, as well as a street in Astana, the capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan.