Photo of Hero of the Soviet Union A.P. Pytkin with his son

A rare and fairly high-quality studio photograph of the Hero of the Soviet Union in excellent collector's condition. The size is 112*80 mm. Guarantee of authenticity.

Alexey Petrovich Pytkin (1920 — 2001) was a Soviet military officer. Participant of the Great Patriotic War. Hero of the Soviet Union (1944): On September 25, 1943, the advanced units of the 46th Army reached the Dnieper River and on the night of September 26 forced a water barrier and occupied a bridgehead near the village of Soshinovka in the Verkhnedneprovsky district of the Dnipropetrovsk region of the Ukrainian SSR. On the night of September 28, the main forces of the 31st Infantry Division began moving to the captured bridgehead. For two days, under heavy enemy fire, Junior Lieutenant A. P. Pytkin worked as commander of the amphibious crossing point, ensuring the transfer of rifle units to the right bank of the Dnieper. When the situation demanded it, Alexey Petrovich sat down at the oars himself, replacing the rowers who were out of action. On September 30, units of the 31st Infantry Division launched an offensive against the village of Auli. The enemy resisted fiercely and constantly launched counterattacks. In order to cover the left flank of the rifle regiment, a sapper platoon of second Lieutenant Pytkin was thrown into battle. Sappers repelled five enemy counterattacks, destroying up to 120 Wehrmacht soldiers. During the battle, Junior Lieutenant Pytkin personally killed 18 enemy soldiers, and also took out the seriously wounded commander of the communications company, Captain A. L. Shvartsman, from under enemy fire. When the commander of the neighboring rifle company was out of action, Alexey Petrovich assumed command of the company. Having raised the infantrymen and sappers to attack, he led them by personal example and drove the Germans from their occupied lines with a bayonet blow. The heroic actions of Second Lieutenant Pytkin ensured the success of the infantry regiment's offensive. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated February 22, 1944, Junior Lieutenant Alexei Petrovich Pytkin was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for his exemplary performance of combat missions of the command on the front of the struggle against the German invaders and his bravery and heroism. He completed his military career on May 11, 1945, near Prague.