Braiko Petr. Hero of the Soviet Union. Took part in seven raids
by the guerilla brigade of 
S.A.Kovpak.
Though the dream of the career of a military pilot haunted him from childhood,
he graduated from the Moscow Border Communication College and on June 22nd
was fighting the Nazi invaders on the Soviet-Rumanian border. Entered action
on June 22 1941 as a Soviet border guard on the border with Rumania. Witnessed
the tragic encirclement and routing of Soviet forces near Kiev. Spent years
deep behind enemy lines. Took guidance from great Soviet guerilla leaders
in Ukraine including S.A.Kovpak, S.V.Rudnev and P.P.Vershigora.
Where were you when the war broke out?
I am a border guard, so I served on the border when the Nazi invaded the
Soviet Union at 4 a.m. on June 22nd. I was with the 97th border unit at
the 13th frontier post in the town of Chernovtsy. Western territories were
annexed to the USSR in 1939, so the conditions at our post needed improvement.
The border went through a scenic forested and mountainous terrain. When
I arrived at the post in 1940 I was in the rank of lieutenant. The first
thing I discovered was that my fellow guards had 9 to 12 years border service
experience behind them, whereas the term required was three years only!
So when their term of service ran out, they applied for prolongation. They
just couldn’t leave the outpost, which had become like a family to them.
Border guards work in pairs: a pair follows the footsteps, a pair
goes into the ambush, a pair – to observation square, a pair – to a listening
post. There was a sergeant Zykin, who had served for 11 years. For me,
a lieutenant, he was a professor, for he knew the profession inside out.
So I ask him “Will You help me to learn?” and he replies “Yes”. I can still
remember him clearly enough, for he taught me all basic skills in half
a year, something that would be unthinkable in any college or academy.
The year 1941 saw constant violations of the border. There were no
reinforcements and battles raged every night. Every night there intruders
and we captured nearly all. Those who did break through presented no danger
then. The horrible times came in May 1941 when the spy agents were crossing
back. We shot them on the spot if we couldn’t take them alive.
On June 22nd we came under artillery shelling, then – the motorized
infantry. There were no tanks, the terrain left them no chances. A border
post is a small detachment of 50-75 people, who protect a 20-25 kilometer
section of the border. But protection is somewhat different from defending
the border. Half a hundred border guards armed with rifles and grenades
can do little. Only seniours had sub-machine-guns. And the weapons were
good for nothing. Border guards had never been trained in distance fighting.
They normally let the enemy come close and hit on a dead certainty to kill.
So this is how we acted on the first day of the war. We dispersed and each
pair took the blow on itself. On the first day only 2 stayed alive. All
fellows were killed. In the evening I got through to the unit’s headquarters
to report what I had seen. After the war I began to doubt whether it had
been worthwhile to go and fight knowing for sure that you were going to
be killed.
You witnessed the siege of Kiev. Can You tell us more of it?
I was given a pass and sent to the 4th motorized infantry regiment of Soviet
NKVD in Kiev. The regiment consisted of surviving border guards. I was
appointed liaison company commander. But there was no liaison. There were
commanders and equipment but no personnel. The commander ordered me to
staff the company in accordance with the requirements of wartime within
two weeks. I took the reservists, who had served as liaison officers before
and now came to fight as civilians. Our regiment was told to take defenses
on the Irpen River along Zhitomir highway west of Kiev. The Germans had
broken the defenses near Zhitomir and formed a mobile force of two tank
battalions with gunners that were to rush straight off into Kreshchatik
in Kiev. We blocked the way. It was there that I saw for the first time
what it was like to fight with wits. In our trenches fortified by concrete
we were absolutely safe. We were not visible and we were well-armed. So
we just sat in waiting for the two battalions to approach the bridge across
the Irpen. The river was small but deep, and as the first two tanks climbed
the bridge, it blew into the air and collapsed into the river along with
the tanks. The tank column was traveling at high speed and we struck at
it from machine and sub-machine-guns. It took a mere 15 minutes to burn
down the entire column. The Germans made another breakthrough attempt at
Belogorodki village. But we repeated the operation and the enemy ceased
to advance in our direction.
Next the Germans resolve to break the defenses at Boayrka station south
of Kiev. The strike was as powerful as it could be. But the 5th airborne
brigade of Colonel Rodimtsev was one of the smartest. Colonel Radimtsev
was later made General and Two Times Hero of the Soviet Union. His brigade
was formed from border guards right before the war. The border guards were
used to close battle but the Germans didn’t know that. The enemy brought
three motor divisions, several tank regiments and put a 1000-member orchestra
in front, all this on a narrow strip of land. They counted on psychological
attack. And as they came closer the paratroopers shot them all – the orchestra,
the tanks and the division. The battle lasted for an hour or half an hour.
The Germans got the bulldozers and for the next two weeks were removing
bodies. We thought then that the enemy would never capture Kiev.
How did it happen that Your regiment found itself in the enemy rear?
The Germans broke Soviet defenses in two places – north of
Kiev near Gomel and south of Kiev near Kremenchug. They had brought in
tank armies and these armies rushed eastward in late August. The Germans
quickly advanced 350 kilometers into the mainland and came together
near Konotop-Bakhmachi-Vorozhba east Dnieper. Five our armies found themselves
in the steel clutch. But we learned of that at the end of September only.
All of a sudden we receive an order to blow up the stronghold and retreat
to the eastern bank of the Dnieper. Tears in eyes we blew up our own defenses,
retreated without a single shot to Kiev at nighttime, blew up all bridges
across the Dnieper and headed for the eastern bank of the Dnieper. We thought
then that we were safe. So we moved farther eastward… and the Germans were
everywhere, wherever we went we were met by Germans. We reached the Trubezh
River, which was just like Irpen, only its flood-lands were marshy. We
learned that there was a railway bridge across the river. So we went up
there, brought planks so that vehicles could pass and our two battalions
headed for the eastern bank. And the moment the last vehicle came off the
bridge the Germans struck at us from artillery pieces, machine and sub-machine
guns and in several minutes our entire column was burnt down.
With the first volley I rolled out of the cabin and found myself on the
opposite side, where there were no Germans. I rose to my feet, and I saw
that another 11 had survived too. All were privates, I was the only officer.
They had carbines with 10 cartridges and I carried a “TT” handgun only.
Suddenly we hear gunfire coming from the embankment. And it becomes closer
and closer. Behind us is the river, the riddled bridge. We have nowhere
to go, we are encircled. So we had only one option – to find a good hiding
position, let the enemy come closer about five meters, destroy the enemy
and move on.
From the old trenches that had survived from the days of the Civil War,
I could hear dogs barking. That confirmed me in my worst fears. The dogs
would never let us pass. Behind us, about 20 meters away, is the river
with a marshy shore. I command in a whisper: “Crawl backward without turning
your backs”.
My calculations were childishly naive. I thought that the dogs would not
dare into the marshes and lose our tracks, and the Germans would go after
firing into the air as a warning. Everything proved different. The Germans
fetched mown grass, adjusted the machine-guns and dropped flat. At different
intervals they gave volleys of gunfire and cut reeds, at which time we
plunged our heads into water. The reeds helped us a lot. Because if you
keep them in your mouth you can stay underwater for several minutes. The
shooting stopped eventually. We thought an eternity passed. We waited.
Only four of us survived.
I will remember that day for the rest of my life. That was frightening
beyond description, more frightening than the war itself. Unarmed, we were
helpless and had no idea what to do next, we had no maps with us. That
was on September 30th 1941.
So I found myself on the enemy-controlled territory. The Germans were everywhere.
In the first village we ran into we changed in civilian clothes and the
villagers gave us something to eat.
From the Kiev Region we arrived in Chernigov Region. By Voronki village
we were stopped by a truck. Two Germans were in the cabin, four – in the
back. “Partisanen?”- they ask. And without waiting for an answer they ordered
us into the truck. I carried a handgun and 30 cartridges. If they had found
it, it would have been the end of the story. As I was contemplating what
I should do with the gun we were brought to a big prisoner camp that occupied
a former engineering property storage facility in Darnitsa in Kiev.
What were the conditions?
Our servicemen no longer looked like servicemen. Clad in ragged soldier
overcoats, field caps and helmets all swarming with bugs they were a poor
sight. Flocking to the camp were wives and mothers who were looking for
their loved ones. For they knew that a whole army had been besieged. The
Germans were demonstrating heartfelt magnanimity. If a wife found a husband
he was let go. The women stood by the camp’s walls for hours and they brought
food with them, which they threw over the fence. I saw with my own eyes
half a loaf of homemade bread land near where we sat. Some 10 prisoners
rushed for it and they started a fight. Five German officers came to the
noise and on seeing what was happening they began to roll with laughter.
They then took out their guns and shot into the fighting mass. The prisoners
scattered in different directions and on the ground lay half a loaf of
bread and five bodies. That made my hair prickly at the nape. I suddenly
realized that we were a nobody there, we were bugs and would be treated
as bugs. The camp was surrounded with a four-meter concrete fence with
barbed wire over it. How to get out?
Quite by chance I met Sergei, a Caucasian in black clean overalls. He told
me of the camp rules. Every Saturday they buried 200 people who had died
of starvation. In the morning they gave slops with boiled unwashed beets.
At 8 a.m. the prisoners were collected by a truck and driven to work to
rebuild bridges across Kiev. Those who were not on the work list worked
as servants for officers who lived opposite the camp. Sergei said that
every day he was taken by Major Lutke. The major then gave him a pass so
that he could go on his own. At the time our conversation took place he
was serving for another officer. So I asked if he happened to have the
pass to Lutke. Sergei produced a piece of paper with “Pass for three. Major
Lutke” on it. I grabbed it and suddenly felt a tinge of hope. I realized
that I would be safe.
The next morning after wake-up I and two other guys from our regiment climbed
under the plank beds. We lay still for another hour until the morning bustle
subsided. We went out. The most important thing was to behave naturally
and not evince any fear. We had to pass through four posts and a gate.
At every post I told the guard that we were going to serve an officer.
It was frosty and at all posts the watch guards looked like frozen icicles.
They said nothing, just motioned for us to pass. We left the camp and headed
for the officers’ quarters. And skirting the quarters was a road normally
used by Kiev residents to go to the market to exchange their things. Whole
families went. When we came up to the seemingly endless road I asked a
woman if I could help her. She quickly understood where we had come from
and said: “Follow with us”. We passed the gate. In the crowd we could not
be spotted. So this is how we left the camp, quietly and smartly.
How did you find your guerilla unit ?
Villagers told me there was a big force of Soviet guerillas
in the Sumy Region. Finding that force was quite a challenge: two German
divisions were trying but failing. In the village of Victorovo, I met a
troop of weeping girls. They said they were crying for their boyfriends
who had been called up to serve in a local guerilla unit. They also told
me the guerillas who mobilized their boys had moved to the village of Uzlitsa
about 5 kilometres down the road. Arriving there in the manner of a marathon
runner, I encountered an armed guard in a Hungarian trenchcoat and with
a German field cap on his head. His allegiance was a matter of guess. He
challenged me and then escorted me to a nearby house. On the porch, there
was another guard, a teenage boy with a 1891 Mosin rifle. Inside, I was
questioned by a man in an officer's leather gear and with a German Parabellum
handgun on his side. I recounted my fake story of being a Konotop student
on the way to the granddad.
- 'Would you join the police?'
- 'No. I'm civilian and I have no experience of guns.'
- 'Would you join the Cossacks?'
- 'No.'
- 'And what about the resistance guerillas?'
- 'No.' Answering otherwise might carry immediate death.
- 'Damn you. Get out of here and proceed to your granddad.'
'Who is that man?' -- I inquired from the teenage guard on the porch. 'Is
he your local police chief?' The boy swore and told me the man was guerilla
company commander Lieutenant Lysenko. I stormed back and owned up to being
a resistance sympathizer. They didn't believe me and locked me up for questioning.
I spent three days in a guerilla guard-cabin in the village of Zazirki.
Was that the force of kovpak ?
Yes. He actually led the questioning process in his command house. Four
men at a long table opposite me looked like former Soviet military officers.
The one directly opposite -- a rather old daddy with a small pointed beard
-- was Kovpak. A handsome macho guy on his left -- with a black moustache
and piercing all-knowing eyes -- was Rudnev. He was the main interrogator.
They meticulously wrote down my answers to thousands of very ordinary questions.
During intervals between daily interrogation sessions, they cross-checked
my answers with people in their force who had first-hand knowledge of places
I mentioned. On day three, when they were asking questions about Konotop,
a man stepped out of a hiding place behind the oven and told them he had
recognized me. Before the war, he was District Council Chairman in Konotop.
In the Kovpak force, he led what we called the Konotop Regiment. I became
a fighter of that regiment. Six months later, Kovpak told me that on my
first day on the grill Rudnev persuaded the panel to delay a decision to
have me shot dead.
Could you describe the status and situation of the kovpak force at the
time ?
Kovpak and Rudnev started separately, each with about three
dozen men. Rudnev proposed a merger. 'Granddad' accepted. He became Commander,
making Rudnev Commissar. Shortly after I joined their force, a third backbone
man arrived, Piotr Petrovich Vershigora from the Red Army's Military Intelligence
Department. In 1943, when the force numbered 15 hundred, the Nazis estimated
it at 20 thousand. That was the kind of environment that nurtured me as
combatant.
PLANNING WORK AHEAD OF AN OPERATION
TO DESTROY A CARPATHIAN OIL FIELD.
ON THE LEFT: S.A.KOVPAK, S.V.RUDNEV.
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What posts did your hold in the kovpak force?
Platoon commander, company commander, battalion commander,
chief of tactical intelligence, regiment commander.
Please, tell us about the operations of your guerilla force.
We carried out 7 big raids and umpteen small ones. In April
1942, a man from us reached Kharkov in eastern Ukraine and crossed into
Soviet-held territory in the vicinity. Veterans of the great Nazi-locked
pocket of Soviet resistance near Kiev in 1941 confirmed his identity
and his story. The Soviet command parachuted a field radio station to us
and we started operating on directives from Moscow.
RETURNING FROM THE CARPATHIAN RAID, 1943.
THE MAN IN FRONT IS P.Ye.BRAIKO
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The first such directive was to cross to the right bank of
the Dniepr and establish a new Soviet-ruled area in the forested basin
of the Dniepr's tributary river Pripyat. During our textbook raid to the
Carpathians in the summer of 1943, we paralyzed traffic along the strategic
rail roads from Kiev to Kovel and from Kiev to Lvov. A raid of southeastern
Poland in early 1944 was a real ordeal. Not a single day without
movement and battle! No rest at night into the bargain. The Kovpak brigade
engaged five elite German divisions during that raid. They trapped us each
day
for two months. But we slipped out each day. Forest was our territory.
We were at home there, whereas our enemies were unwelcome and awkward guests.
Please tell us about the main principles of guerilla warfare. Did they
represent a novelty for a regular army officer like you ?
Regular field tactic manuals speak about three main modes
of combat: attack, defence and head-on clash. Clash is no guerilla word
and I always avoided clash in my time as regiment commander. Instead of
attack, guerillas resort to hit-and-run. Instead of defence, they use ambush.
A good ambush is one that denies the ambushed side a single response shot.
The greatest thing in laying ambush is to choose a position that is stronger
than any tanks, machine-guns or bombs. Guerillas have to save manpower
and munitions. They mostly rely on small automatic firearms in battle.
It took us one and a half years to have these lessons
learnt and our guerilla campaign started in earnest. In the opening five
months of the war, the Nazis demolished 17 regular Soviet armies. If each
of those armies had had at least one expert in guerilla warfare in its
ranks, the losses would have been immensely lighter.
Back in the 1920s and 30s, heeding advice by M.V.Frunze,
the country conducted large-scale preparations for guerilla war.
Two years worth of supplies was cached up, and guerilla-coaching schools
worked in a number of places including Kiev and Kharkov. Rudnev was a graduate.
In 1937, however, the authorities abruptly dismantled the guerilla infrastructure,
mostly together with the people in it. Following the outbreak of the war
in 1941, everything had to be created anew.
Please describe some of your most successful guerilla operations.
In the summer of 1943, my guerilla regiment of just 200 men
received orders to completely block movement by three motorized SS regiments
-- backed by artillery and tanks -- up the gorge of the river Bystrica
Nadwornianska in the Eastern Carpathians. We had only an hour and a half
worth of ammunition for the task and initially I was at a complete
loss. Inspection of the terrain suggested a solution. A cobbled road that
ran all 5 kilometres up the Bystrica Gorge crossed the river on bridges
at four points near the gorge's mouth. We expediently dynamited those bridges.
The Germans, on approach, had to leave their tanks and artillery pieces
behind. Unaware of our presence, they entered the gorge in a regular marching
column and soon pulled into a horseshoe-shaped ambush laid by my men. Using
the protection of huge boulders that could withstand any bomb or shell,
we sprayed them with bullets and had them on the run within 15 minutes
or so. This done, my regiment instantly redeployed to a similar position
about one kilometre upstream. It took the German force about five hours
to lick wounds, remove the bodies and clear the way up the gorge. Three
days of such shifting ambushes resulted in the routing of 7 German battalions.
My regiment lost only 4 men.
During the Red Army's offensive to liberate Byelorussia in June
and July 1944, our 1st Ukrainian Guerilla Division as it was called by
that time supported a pincer movement by the 1st Byelorussian Front
to encircle the German Central Army Group. Near the river Neman, our 600-strong
division of two regiments, including mine, confronted three German tank
and two motorized infantry divisions. Against their Tigers and Panthers,
we had nothing but landmines. Fortunately, we managed to take up a highly
advantageous position for the battle -- in a deep ravine with thick bush
growth on the sides. When they approached to within point-blank range,
we unleashed all our firepower on them. Their head tanks tried to perform
about-turns and they immediately hit our landmines on the roadsides. The
whole German convoy turned back, delivering me from uneasy calculations
of what I do next. We lost only two men. That was guerilla warfare at its
most brilliant !
Was that the last raid of the kovpak force ?
Yes, it was. The division merged with regular Red Army forces in
July 1944. In August, I was made Hero of the Soviet Union for my achievement
during the raid of southeastern Poland. For the last and the most productive
Kovpak raid, the one of Byelorussia, no man in the force got even a formal
thank you from the High Command.
ALL PEOPLE IN THE PICTURE ARE FRESH HEROS
OF THE SOVIET UNION. P.Ye.BRAIKO IS SECOND ON THE LEFT.
THE MAN IN THE CENTRE IS P.P.VERSHIGORA.
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