Pipchuk Vasily Ivanovich was born in 1924 in the village of Asenkritovka, Taranovsky district. In August 1942, as a cadet at the Tyumen Infantry School, he was drafted into the ranks of the Red Army. All the cadets were sent to the front line. After a short study in the reserve regiment, the young soldier is sent to the Western Front and enlisted in a separate reconnaissance company of the 53rd Infantry Division. The hard days of the front began. He performed many combat missions together with other scouts: attacking monsters, ambushing, making sorties behind enemy lines, participating in the capture of “languages”, only 5 “languages” on his account. Vasily Ivanovich recalled: “At night, our unit approached the Bug. Shells and mines flew and flew from the right bank, bullets were flying. The troops had to cross the river. Me and two others had to reconnoiter, to find out if the enemy had prepared a trap. We sailed by boat along a deep river. The fascists were hitting the water. The explosions raised fountains, and we were constantly doused with water, but we were quickly approaching the island. There was no one there. Half an hour later, an infantry battalion went to the island. At dawn, a rapid rush was made to the right bank of the river. Here on Malaya Zemlya, the commander presented me with the first award – the Order of Glory of the III degree.” On August 23, 1944, the reconnaissance group, under the command of Second Lieutenant Zalot, was tasked with making its way to the enemy’s rear in the area of Bura. Everything went according to plan, they passed the enemy’s defenses unnoticed, took the road through the forest to the village of Genesti, where the enemy nevertheless discovered the scouts, opened fire on them, but the Soviet soldiers boldly attacked the Romanians, killed several people, and took one prisoner. They have established that the enemy is retreating and the front line of defense created by him is important. The prisoner confirmed these statements and gave important information about the location of the minefields south of the village of Genesti, which allowed us to inform our advancing troops in time and bypass them. During the withdrawal of enemy troops from the city of Targul-Frumus, V. Pipchuk was with a group of scouts in the enemy’s rear, observing their actions. As a result of observation, he established that the enemy was withdrawing and concentrating in the forest area south of Targul-Frumus. This feat of the scout was awarded the Order of Glory of the II degree. On the night of November 7-8, 1944, Pipchuk went to the enemy’s rear for the second time in the group of senior Sergeant Abashkin with the task of reconnoitering defensive structures, the strength of fire and the enemy’s plans in the area of Tapodverdye station and the villages of Tapiosele and Formosh. The scouts completed their task, and the command received valuable information about the enemy. For the successful completion of these tasks, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated March 24, 1945, Sergeant Pipchuk V.I. was awarded the Order of Glory of the first degree. He died on December 20, 1995.
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