Where are drunken trees located in Russia? Route in the Ryazan region: Drunken forest - the Golitsyn estate - the holy springs of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa and the Barsky spring - Borovoe. “There is simply no consensus on the Drunken Forest”

Many have heard about the Dancing Forest Curonian Spit in the Kaliningrad region. However, there are also similar places in central Russia, for example in the Shilovsky district of the Ryazan region. Only here for some reason the crooked trees are called the Drunken Forest. We decided to see this miracle of nature with our own eyes and set off on another journey through the Ryazan region, at the same time seeing local holy springs, temples and what was left of the vast estates of the Golitsyn princes along the way.

Drunken forest

Drunken forest in the Ryazan region

So, we are moving along the highway from the regional center of Shilovo towards Kasimov. After about thirty kilometers we turn left at the sign to the village of Dubrovka. We drive along a broken asphalt road and reach a forest area. This is where the fun begins. The normal road ends, and then there are quite deep puddles. We pass the first one, and when the next one appears, and we realize that we could really get stuck in it, we decide to leave the car aside and continue on foot. According to my calculations, the “drunken forest” should be nearby.

Ryazan Oblast

We look around: there are even birch trees all around, everything is like in an ordinary forest.

Ryazan Oblast

But our instincts were correct; soon we saw a treasured anomalous section of forest to the right of the road. The pines here are twisted, and they all lean in one direction. Next to the straight trees it looks especially unusual.

Drunken forest

Naturally, many versions have appeared among the people about the curvature of the pine trees in this place. There are legends that tell about evil spirits that twist tree trunks. They say that this is a place with bad energy and it is better not to stay in a drunken forest for a long time. We did not notice such an effect on ourselves. There are also a number of more realistic versions that connect the curvature of the pine trees with the fact that they were eaten by insect pests, or processes of soil displacement and vortexes occurred here. However, the most plausible explanation is this: these pine trees are about fifty years old. At the end of the 70s. In this area, very snowy winters and rainy summers were repeated for several years. The pines at that time were young, with a weak root system. The sand on which they grew absorbed a lot of moisture, and the soil began to slide, which was interrupted for a short time during the dry period. And so it happened that the trees bent so strangely.

Drunken forest

Golitsyn estate in Dubrovka

After wandering a bit among the amazing pine trees, we returned to the car and went to Dubrovka, which we passed on the way to the “drunk forest”. This settlement is interesting because from the end of the 18th century the extensive estate of the Golitsyn princes was located here. During their time in Dubrovka there was a large house, of which in our time only ruins remain, overgrown with bushes.

Ruins of the Golitsyn estate in Dubrovka

In addition, preserved outbuildings and fragments brick wall around the orchard.

Dubrovka

The fruit trees in the garden have degenerated and it is now overgrown and unkempt.

Dubrovka

It was completely different here under the Golitsyns. The house was decorated with luxury items, which after the revolution were partly stolen and partly given to museums in Ryazan and Kasimov. The ancient Golitsyn family owned several settlements nearby.

After Dubrovka we went to the village of Nasledniche, where the Church of Peter and Paul, built in 1839 by A.P., has been preserved. Golitsyna.

Naslednichye village, Peter and Paul Church

There are legends that Prince Golitsyn resettled lazy men from Dubrovka to this village. The name of the area is associated with the fact that the estate was given as a dowry to Golitsyn’s daughter. The name of the next settlement, which was also part of the vast domain of the Golitsyn princes, is associated with the beautiful name of this daughter. In 1860, the prince founded the Adelino farm, named after his daughter Adelaide. A distillery was built here, and in the Ryazan region they tried to grow grapes and make wine. However, after the revolution, the enterprise was transformed into a distillery.
Now it does not work and is in a deplorable state.

In general, it’s very sad to look at such dying settlements: it seems Railway nearby, and the regional center too, but the roads are dead, public transport there is no traffic, there are no businesses nearby, and there are almost no people left. In the summer you can still meet people, but mostly they are summer residents. Many houses in Naslednichy and Adelino are leaning and are about to fall.

Holy springs

It is located to the left of the country road in a small forest clearing.

miraculous spring of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa

There is also a small parking lot and a church shop. This source is very popular in the area; many pilgrims come here. This is because there are rumors about various miraculous healings of people who tried the water from this source or plunged into the font here. According to legend, a long time ago, a local peasant found in the forest an icon of Paraskeva Friday, which was illuminated by a pillar of light. The peasant moved the shrine to the temple, but at night it disappeared. They found her in the forest in the same place. Then they decided to build a chapel, and a spring was miraculously discovered near it.

miraculous spring of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa

If you return to the highway and turn towards Kasimov, then after a few meters to the left of the road there will be a sign to the source in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. You just need to go a little deeper into the forest.

source in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker

Another name for this spring is Barsky spring, perhaps because it is located on the territory former park landowners Olenins. The nature here is amazing - some tree trunks are so covered with leaves that it seems as if they are vines hanging from the tops.

Barsky spring

If here this can be explained by the fact that under the Olenins there may have been an arboretum in this place, then similar phenomena in other settlements of the Ryazan region, for example, near the village of Terehovo, are difficult to explain.

ringing stream

The most interesting thing is that you can see with your own eyes how water gushes from underground, lifting grains of sand at the bottom of the stream.

Borovoe village

On the way back to Shilovo we stopped in the village of Borovoye, which previously belonged to the Protasyev family.

A very beautiful wooden church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, built in late XIX century.

Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the village of Borovoe

Next to it is a monument to the villagers who died during the Great Patriotic War.

monument to village residents who died during the Great Patriotic War

This concludes our next journey through the Ryazan outback.

This is a place with a pronounced geomagnetic anomaly. "Drunk Forest" is a rectangle of crooked, intertwined coniferous trees. Coniferous trees are curved towards the north, while deciduous trees grow evenly around this place. Researchers and scientists have not fully determined the nature of this place, but they only agreed on one thing, that there is some kind of natural anomaly taking place here.

The study of this strange forest was undertaken by the group “Murom-Cosmopoisk” (Murom Branch of the International Research Association for the Study Anomalous Phenomena"Cosmopoisk"). They determined an approximate area of the “drunk” forest – 150-200 meters wide and 500-600 meters long. Moreover, there is a clearly visible border between normal and anomalous forest. The group discovered that almost all the trees, and there are about a thousand of them in this area, have strangely curved trunks, despite the variety of different species. The researchers examined several cut trees in the Tarnovsky forest. It was discovered that all the trunks had a core that was greatly offset from the center. As Dmitry Savva, one of the expedition participants, explains, this anomaly could have appeared as a result of both a geomagnetic anomaly and a genetic one. Throughout the entire territory, the electromagnetic background does not go beyond the norm.

One of the local residents suggested that these were the consequences of a strong hurricane that passed many years ago and bent the trees. Which doesn’t really fit in with young trees that started growing much later than the hurricane. These anomalous trunks could have been formed under the influence of the terrain, some underwater waters, soil pollution, and other things. Or they could have been after the manifestation of some genetic disease. It is possible that this anomalous area of the forest was formed under the influence of several factors at once. The researchers decided to conduct an experiment. We dug up several birch, aspen and pine seedlings in the anomalous forest. Although they have already observed a small manifestation of the anomaly - a characteristic bend begins to appear near the roots of the seedlings. And then they were planted in the Kovarditsky forest, near Murom, in order to monitor their further growth in other non-native soil.

The Slavs believed that hostile forces were hiding in the dense forests. They saw something completely unkind in the thickets, among the uprooted sparkling roots. The historian Vasily Klyuchevsky argued that the Russian man “never loved his forest”: “Unaccountable timidity took possession of him when he entered its gloomy canopy.”
The sleepy, dense silence of the forest frightened him; in the dull, silent noise of its centuries-old peaks one could sense something ominous; the every-minute expectation of an unexpected, unforeseen danger strained my nerves and excited my imagination. And the ancient Russian man populated the forest with all kinds of fears. The forest is the dark kingdom of the one-eyed Leshy, an evil mischievous spirit who loves to fool around with a traveler who wanders into his domain.

And only skilled hunters, lumberjacks and charcoal burners knew the approach to the forest. They lived in the forest, walked in the forest: the hostile wilderness turned into knowledgeable people into a living complex organism. The centuries-long war ended with the victory of people with a clear advantage. It has been proven that during the times of Kievan Rus, the flooded meadows of the Oka were covered with impenetrable oak groves, in the place of which today there is an endless field. You can see it all the way from Ryazan to Polyany.

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For the trunks twisted into loops, visiting tourists gave the forest an offensive name. Even on the Curonian Spit in the Kaliningrad region, a similar anomaly was called the dancing forest, while the Ryazan pines were nicknamed nothing more than drunken ones. Apparently, not least because a wealthy city dweller is unlikely to discover the Drunken Forest without a guide. Ryazan local historian Andrey Gavrilov knows the right way to the place: we leave Shilovo in the direction of Kasimov, drive through Borok, Inyakino, Seltso-Sergievka and turn left at the sign to Dubrovka, on the outskirts of which we turn south. The road cuts through a forest area, on the right hand of which an amazing picture appears. The pines, as if cut down by their trunks, spread along the ground, bend into an arc and, as if on command, one and a half meters from the surface, rush upward.

Gavrilov said that this planting appeared here not so long ago - pine and birch trees were planted 50 years ago. The forest became drunk in three areas, and, according to the local historian, the locals came up with the simplest and most popular explanation for this - the incredible force of the whirlwind of 1971. But why the hurricane bent and did not break the unfortunate trees, the villagers remain silent. The capital's paranormal seekers also found out about the wonderful forest. Gavrilov remembers how the Moscow guests unsheathed the equipment and busily took out an electronic compass. The upshot, as expected from TV people, was another sensation - as if soberly assessing the mysteries of the Drunken Forest, visiting psychics ordered to clean the energy of this dead place, because supposedly here both the equipment and the head refuse to work. Having collected the cream of history into a hype story, the capital's journalists were not one step closer to solving the mystery.

Meanwhile, the forest continues its curved growth, as if not noticing the arrival of the messengers for sensations. But such a forest would not have gone unnoticed two thousand years ago. In those days, the Ryazan land was inhabited by pagan tribes of Finno-Ugric peoples. It was they who left us a legacy of enduring names of rivers and lakes, and today we pronounce Oka, Pra, Ermish, Moksha, Unzha like a spell, without understanding a single word. These peoples carried on their conversation with the forest, hanging ribbon-knots on the branches of centuries-old birch trees. Today local historian Gavrilov speaks for the ancient Finno-Ugric peoples.
- Tree trunks in the Drunken Forest bend under the influence of quite known reasons“You and I know that Bura Yaga rode in it,” the forest spirit specialist, the leader, smiles slyly.

In the Ryazan epic, Bura Yaga (not to be confused with Baba Yaga) was preserved as an evil and extremely dangerous old woman who spread death by mercilessly devouring the unfortunate alive. She appeared on a fire-breathing horse, whose jumps generated a fiery whirlwind. They say that there is a direct connection between the words “Bura” and “storm”.

The ancient inhabitant of Praryazan region, according to the historian Darkevich, was afraid of the forest and cut down whenever possible, clearing bright clearings in place of dull thickets. They said that in a birch forest it is good to have fun, in a pine forest it is good to pray, and in a spruce forest it is good to hang yourself. The forest provided people with firewood and building materials, but at the same time it was fraught with many dangers. The Slavs attributed witchcraft powers to the forest: they say, the Nightingale the Robber hid in it, wolves prowled, and a clubfoot ruled. The Slavs believed that hostile forces were hiding in the dense forests. They saw something completely unkind in the thickets, among the uprooted sparkling roots. The historian Vasily Klyuchevsky argued that the Russian man “never loved his forest”: “Unaccountable timidity took possession of him when he entered its gloomy canopy. The sleepy, dense silence of the forest frightened him; in the dull, silent noise of its centuries-old peaks one could sense something ominous; the every-minute expectation of an unexpected, unforeseen danger strained my nerves and excited my imagination. And the ancient Russian man populated the forest with all kinds of fears. The forest is the dark kingdom of the one-eyed Leshy, an evil mischievous spirit who loves to fool around with a traveler who wanders into his domain.”

And only skilled hunters, lumberjacks and charcoal burners knew the approach to the forest. They lived in the forest, walked in the forest: the hostile wilderness turned into a living, complex organism for knowledgeable people. The centuries-long war ended with the victory of people with a clear advantage. It has been proven that during the times of Kievan Rus, the flooded meadows of the Oka were covered with impenetrable oak groves, in the place of which today there is an endless field. You can see it all the way from Ryazan to Polyany. The forest was cut down mercilessly: pine for huts, birch for firewood, linden for bast and spoons, oak for furniture, wood was burned into ash - potash, and tar was distilled from butts, which in the era before the discovery of oil served as the ancestor of machine oil. Tar was used to lubricate cart wheel hubs, rub leather boots, and anoint wounds. In the modern age of fine chemistry and synthetic drugs, traditional medicine still penetrates into official medicine - foul-smelling tar gives a special aroma to Vishnevsky’s ointment. One way or another, tar and potash completed the process of total deforestation. In the 20th century appeared grandiose project to straighten the Pra River: it was proposed to dig a single canal for the purpose of trouble-free rafting of wood. And if this plan had been implemented, the amazing river with water the color of strongly brewed tea would have been destroyed forever. After many centuries of attacks and persecution, the Ryazan forest has noticeably thinned out and become younger. In 1388, Metropolitan Pimen described the area in the west of the Ryazan region as a deserted forest, where “there are many animals - moose, wolves, bears, swans, beavers.” In their place today there are completely plowed fields.

Modern science has not ignored the drunken forest. Geographers from the Ryazan State University named after Yesenin began to think and came closer to solving the mystery of the Shilov crooked forest. To understand the essence of the phenomenon, you need to get to know the pine tree better. Pine does not hide its age, and there is no need to saw it for this. It is enough to count the number of whorls, that is, places on the trunk from which branches grow together in all directions. Every year, a pine tree grows a straight section of trunk with a whorl of branches at the top. If you have an artificial “Christmas tree” at home, you can also theoretically calculate its age - it is equal to the total number of levels of branches. As a rule, there are from four to seven of them. True, an artificial Christmas tree has all the spans on the trunk of the same length, which, of course, does not happen in nature. IN natural environment The length of each section of the trunk between the branches is different and strictly depends on the quality of the conditions of a particular year.

So, taking a closer look at the pines of the crooked forest, the department’s specialists physical geography RSU noticed that from a height of two and a half meters, the bent trunks of the pine trees straighten together, producing a series of thirty-five whorls. From this, scientists conclude that from about 1980, a period of sobriety began in the life of the Drunken Forest. The lower curved part of the trunk contains a record of five or six unusual years in the life of the forest, when an incredible force forced young trees to grow with their tops to the west. Another fact also seemed suspicious: the oldest trees in the crooked forest have healthy, regular, straight trunks. Does this mean that the disaster affected only young trees under five years old? This is exactly the suspicion that scientists voice. Geographers brought up climate data from the late 1970s and the results of geological drilling in the Dubrovka area. And then the doubts disappeared. Several years before the Moscow Olympics, the weather created several abnormally wet years, alternating snowy winters with rainy summers. The drunken forest at that time was a young planting of pines with short roots that were not able to withstand the elements. Under the feet of the pines there is a thick layer of sand, and under it there are clays impenetrable to water. A series of wet years saturated the sand with water, and at one point the sliding began. A patch of forest the size of a football field began to move and began to slowly slide, taking breaks during the dry season. The trunks of young pines leaned to the west. The process was repeated several times. During short periods of rest, the tops of the pine trees managed to point the trunk upward. This is how, according to scientists, the Drunken Forest arose.

The drunken forest is now considered as a candidate for inclusion in the list of objects natural heritage Ryazan region with the status of a natural monument. Lumberjacks are not particularly keen on twisting trunks, from which they cannot lay down a hut or cut a slab. True, this forest can simply be cut down, and a new one, as straight as possible, can be planted in the clearing. That is why scientists are concerned with the issue of protecting the bent pine forest, whose crooked trunks captured information about climate change in the 20th century. If the mysterious forest is given the status of a natural monument, then there will certainly be no need to worry that the Drunken Forest on Shilovskaya Land will ever end up as firewood.

The scientists’ version, of course, is convincing, but it does not fully explain why some people in a drunken forest charge their hopelessly dead phones, their headaches go away, they lose their sense of time and the best shots from the camera disappear. Maybe because for the first time you find yourself among pines bent into a glass, you become a little absent-minded, or maybe there really is something there. The goblin knows him.

The tree trunks in the Drunken Forest bend under the influence of well-known reasons - you and I know that Bura Yaga galloped in it, - the forest spirit specialist, head of the Shilovsky ethnocultural center “Zaryana” smiles slyly.

And only skilled hunters, lumberjacks and charcoal burners knew the approach to the forest. They lived in the forest, walked in the forest: the hostile wilderness turned into a living, complex organism for knowledgeable people. The centuries-long war ended with the victory of people with a clear advantage. It has been proven that during the times of Kievan Rus, the flooded meadows of the Oka were covered with impenetrable oak groves, in the place of which today there is an endless field. You can see it all the way from Ryazan to Polyany. The forest was cut down mercilessly: pine for huts, birch for firewood, linden for bast and spoons, oak for furniture, wood was burned into ash - potash, and tar was distilled from butts, which in the era before the discovery of oil served as the ancestor of machine oil. Tar was used to lubricate cart wheel hubs, rub leather boots, and anoint wounds. In the modern age of fine chemistry and synthetic drugs, traditional medicine still penetrates into official medicine - foul-smelling tar gives a special aroma to Vishnevsky’s ointment. One way or another, tar and potash completed the process of total deforestation. In the 20th century, a grandiose project to straighten the Pra River appeared: it was proposed to dig a single canal for the purpose of hassle-free rafting of wood. And if this plan had been implemented, the amazing river with water the color of strongly brewed tea would have been destroyed forever. After many centuries of attacks and persecution, the Ryazan forest has noticeably thinned out and become younger. In 1388, Metropolitan Pimen described the area in the west of the Ryazan region as a deserted forest, where “there are many animals - moose, wolves, bears, swans, beavers.” In their place today there are completely plowed fields.

Modern science has not ignored the drunken forest. Geographers from the Ryazan State University named after Yesenin began to think and came closer to solving the mystery of the Shilov crooked forest. To understand the essence of the phenomenon, you need to get to know the pine tree better. Pine does not hide its age, and there is no need to saw it for this. It is enough to count the number of whorls, that is, places on the trunk from which branches grow together in all directions. Every year, a pine tree grows a straight section of trunk with a whorl of branches at the top. If you have an artificial “Christmas tree” at home, you can also theoretically calculate its age - it is equal to the total number of levels of branches. As a rule, there are from four to seven of them. True, an artificial Christmas tree has all the spans on the trunk of the same length, which, of course, does not happen in nature. In the natural environment, the length of each section of the trunk between the branches is different and strictly depends on the quality of the conditions of a particular year.

So, taking a closer look at the pines of the crooked forest, specialists from the Department of Physical Geography of the Russian State University noticed that from a height of two and a half meters, the bent trunks of the pine trees straighten together, producing a series of thirty-five whorls. From this, scientists conclude that from about 1980, a period of sobriety began in the life of the Drunken Forest. The lower curved part of the trunk contains a record of five or six unusual years in the life of the forest, when an incredible force forced the young trees to grow with their tops to the west. Another fact also seemed suspicious: the oldest trees in the crooked forest have healthy, regular, straight trunks. Does this mean that the disaster affected only young trees under five years old? This is precisely the suspicion that scientists voice. Geographers brought up climate data from the late 1970s and the results of geological drilling in the Dubrovka area. And then the doubts disappeared. Several years before the Moscow Olympics, the weather created several abnormally wet years, alternating snowy winters with rainy summers. The drunken forest at that time was a young planting of pines with short roots that were not able to withstand the elements. Under the feet of the pines there is a thick layer of sand, and under it there are clays impenetrable to water. A series of wet years saturated the sand with water, and at one point the sliding began. A patch of forest the size of a football field began to move and began to slowly slide, taking breaks during the dry season. The trunks of young pines leaned to the west. The process was repeated several times. During short periods of rest, the tops of the pine trees managed to point the trunk upward. This is how, according to scientists, the Drunken Forest arose.

The drunken forest is today considered as a contender for inclusion in the list of natural heritage sites of the Ryazan region with the status of a natural monument. Lumberjacks are not particularly keen on twisting trunks, from which they cannot lay down a hut or cut a slab. True, this forest can simply be cut down, and a new one, as straight as possible, can be planted in the clearing. That is why scientists are concerned with the issue of protecting the bent pine forest, whose crooked trunks captured information about climate change in the 20th century. If the mysterious forest is given the status of a natural monument, then there will certainly be no need to worry that the Drunken Forest on Shilovskaya Land will ever end up as firewood.

In the Battle of Voronezh, as in other battles of the Great Patriotic War, bridgeheads played a big role in achieving success, i.e. areas of terrain captured and held during combat (military) operations by troops (forces) in the interests of carrying out subsequent combat missions. One of these bridgeheads was Shilovsky. Carrying out the Voronezh-Voroshilovgrad strategic defensive operation, Soviet troops systematically retreated to the Don and fought heroically at all intermediate lines, often surrounded, isolated from each other. The rearguards of the 40th Army, using advantageous positions, offered stubborn resistance to the advancing enemy. Showing courage and heroism, soldiers and officers did everything to delay the enemy and thereby provide the necessary conditions for the withdrawal of the main forces of the 40th Army. Through stubborn holding battles on advantageous defensive lines, army units exhausted and bled the advancing enemy to death. Every inch of Soviet land in the Voronezh direction went to the enemy at the cost of colossal efforts and losses. However, the enemy with the 57th and 168th infantry divisions, 3rd and 29th motorized divisions, having broken through the defenses of Red Army units in the Kastornoye area by July 3, 1942 and pushing back units of the 40th Army, advanced units approached to the western bank of the river. Don. Intending to enter Voronezh from the south, the enemy partially infiltrated onto the eastern bank of the river on July 4, 1942. Don on the Petino-Malyshevo section and started fighting for the Shilovsky bridgehead. Fighting immediately took on a fierce character, since none of the warring parties wanted to lose a bridgehead that was advantageous in all respects. The shortest road from the Don crossing at Malyshev to the southern outskirts of the right bank part of Voronezh passed through the bridgehead. The Shilovsky forest provided good opportunities for the discreet concentration of reserves, camouflage of warehouses, and deployment of rear services and units. And Shilovo, located on a high mountain, ensured a dominant position over the left bank. From the village, especially from the church bell tower, even without binoculars, Soviet defensive positions at Maslovka, Tavrovo, and Berezovka were clearly visible. Dirt roads and railroad tracks were easily visible.

Southern suburbs of Voronezh on a military topographic map of 1942.

By this time, in this direction the enemy could only be resisted by units of the 232nd Rifle Division (SD) of Lieutenant Colonel I.I. Ulitin and the 3rd Air Defense Division Colonel N.S. Sitnikov, since the rest of the Red Army was on the way to Voronezh. Units of the 232nd Infantry Division stubbornly defended their lines, often launching counterattacks. In particular, on July 5, the division commander brought the division's reserve into battle - the 3rd battalion of the 498th rifle regiment (regiment) and the 2nd company of the training battalion with the task of restoring the situation. The battalion, supported by divisional artillery fire, was commanded by Senior Lieutenant P.I. Zaitsev, on the move, knocked the enemy out of the grove, captured Shilovo and successfully advanced to Malyshevo. But this success was not developed. The enemy brought in fresh infantry forces with tanks. An unequal fight ensued. For six hours, the soldiers and battalion commanders fought off attacks by enemy tanks one after another. While repelling another attack, battalion commander P.I. was killed. Zaitsev. He was posthumously awarded the Order of the Red Banner. Battalion commander D.K. fought until the last bullet. Chernomyrdin. He was carried out from the battlefield, seriously wounded.

Battalions of the 498th joint venture of Major A.A. Ermolaev, supported by fire from the division of Senior Lieutenant I. Kogan from the 425th Artillery Regiment and a company of quadruple installations of Captain G.P. Orlov from the 4th anti-aircraft machine gun regiment, fought with exceptional dedication at the crossing, at the edge of the forest and in its depths, on the road and the adjacent hills. The Nazis had a huge numerical superiority, but soviet soldiers they fought heroically and did not give up an inch of land without a fight.

In general, the soldiers of the 232nd Infantry Division fought steadfastly and bravely, covering the approaches to Voronezh. In two days of continuous battle they killed about 13 thousand German soldiers and officers, 63 tanks, 160 vehicles with troops and cargo were blown up.

The tankmen of the 110th Tank Brigade (tbr) provided great assistance to the formations of the 232nd Infantry Division. One of the brigade’s counterattacks was personally led by the commander of the 18th Tank Corps (tk), Major General I.D. Chernyakhovsky. Guard Captain A.P. Ivanov later recalled: “The tank crews of the 110th brigade, together with other troops, suffering heavy losses, continued to hold back the enemy, and in some battles counterattacked him.” In particular, on July 5, the 110th Tank Brigade destroyed and burned 36 enemy tanks and destroyed 22 anti-tank guns along with their crews. The A.P. company inflicted the greatest damage on the enemy. Ivanov, and he himself burned and knocked out five enemy tanks. Alexander Petrovich was awarded the Order of Lenin. In subsequent battles he received a second Order of Lenin and the Gold Star of Hero of the Soviet Union.

The chief of the general staff of the ground forces of Nazi Germany, F. Halder, was forced to admit “that after a relatively easily successful breakthrough into the enemy’s location, he began to put up very stubborn resistance in places, which had to be suppressed.”

For four days the battle raged without abating on the Ostrogozhskaya road and the adjacent plain, in the Shilovsky forest, in Trushkino and in Shilovo. Only great numerical and technical superiority on the ground and in the air allowed the enemy to break through to the southern outskirts of the right bank part of Voronezh. But this promotion came at a high price.

On July 7, the firefight in Shilovo stopped. Of the village’s defenders, who fought the enemy to the last possible opportunity, there were no survivors. Once in Shilovo, the enemy immediately rushed to the Voronezh River, where they crossed it at the site of the old ferry crossing. A battalion of German machine gunners moved towards Maslovka. But during the counterattack of the Soviet units, the Nazis were almost completely exterminated.

On July 9, the Supreme Command Headquarters ordered the commander of the 60th Army, Lieutenant General M.A. Antonyuk “no later than the morning of July 11 to deliver a decisive blow between the river. Don and R. Voronezh from the Sevryukovka - Ramon area to the south in the direction of Podgornoye, Malyshevo with the task of completely clearing the eastern bank of the river during July 11 and 12. Don in the area Podkletnoye - Semiluki - Malyshevo - Voronezh and the entire space between the river. Don and R. Voronezh from the enemy and firmly gain a foothold on the river. Don, securing crossings across it.” Commander of the 40th Army, Lieutenant General M.M. Popov, in turn, received an order “to simultaneously support a strike from the north with a strike from units of the 40th Army defending the city of Voronezh, with the involvement of the 18th Tank Corps for this purpose.”

The troops involved in the operation were greatly weakened by heavy July defensive battles with superior enemy forces. The lack of full-blooded formations in the army, its poor supply of material and technical means, the stubborn resistance of the fascists, who had already managed to prepare well-equipped defensive positions - all this made organizing an offensive extremely difficult.

According to reconnaissance data and observations on July 10, the command of the 40th Army established: the enemy was creating resistance centers of motorized infantry with anti-tank guns in the eastern part of the city, pulling heavy guns to the central bridge on transporters, as well as concentrating enemy tanks and infantry in the forests south of the city, Shilovo and Trushkino. The enemy in the Shilovo area carried out sapper work and measurements of the river, which were disrupted by army artillery fire.

July 10 acting Commander of the Voronezh Front, Lieutenant General F.I. Golikov in order to create a stubborn defense along the eastern bank of the river. The Don ordered in the depths: “1. The commanders of the armies in the zone of action of their troops to carry out field equipment of the area along the front edge of the defense, completing the work of the first stage: rifle, machine gun, mortar, grenade launcher and anti-tank rifle trenches, gun platforms and observation posts by the end of July 13, 1942. 2. Along the entire front edge defense to create a continuous strip of anti-tank and anti-personnel barriers 0.5-1.5 km deep. 3. Further improve the defense system by creating wood-earth structures with reinforced ceilings, developing anti-tank barriers to the entire depth of the defense.” Units of the 40th Army began to carry out the order.

At that time, in the Maslovka - Semilukskie settlements (now Berezovka) section, the Soviet defense had a very disabilities. However, the situation required active action until reinforcements arrived. It was necessary to take advantage of the fact that the main enemy forces were bogged down in battles for the right bank part of Voronezh and drive them out of Shilovo.

The first to cross to the right bank of the river were the scouts of the 111th separate rifle brigade (OSBR) of Lieutenant Colonel I.F. Dremova. They captured the “patch” opposite Shilov and entrenched themselves on it. The scouts were followed by riflemen and expanded the bridgehead to the base of the heights. Units of the 23rd separate pontoon-bridge battalion of Captain A.P. appeared on the river bank. Tikhonov. On the night of July 11, 1942, pontooners set up a crossing. Operating under enemy fire, platoon commander F. Korneev, driver A. Shkuratov, senior sergeant M. Gubarev and others completed a difficult task in a short time and ensured the transfer of reinforcements and ammunition to the bridgehead.

The 111th Special Brigade at that time was small in number, as it suffered heavy losses during defensive battles west of the Don. On July 13, 1942, there were 1254 people in the 111th Special Brigade, of which: 173 people. – command staff, 220 people. – junior command staff and 861 people. - rank and file. The brigade was armed with 374 rifles and carbines, 8 heavy machine guns, 3 light machine guns and 29 PPD and PPSh. Having now captured an important bridgehead, she had difficulty repelling enemy attacks. Therefore, the main role in capturing Shilovo was assigned to the 206th Infantry Division.

Ruins of the church bell tower in Shilovo. Marks from bullets and shells are visible.
Photo by Savchenko A.A..

July 10, 1942 206th Infantry Division under the command of Colonel F.M. Kishkina-Ivanenko, having come under the control of the 40th Army from the Bryansk Front, without the 722nd joint venture with the 16th fighter brigade (IBR) of anti-tank guns (PTO) concentrated in the Pridacha - Tavrovo - Semilukskie Vyselki - Maslovka area. Researcher A.I. Grinko noted that after the enemy’s bridgehead on east coast Don in the Petropavlovka area and Korotoyak was liberated, the situation in this area stabilized. The front commander had the opportunity to transfer two infantry divisions: the 100th and 206th - from the 6th Army zone to Voronezh. Together with the 111th Infantry and 16th Fighter Brigades, both divisions fought with part of their forces to expand the Shilovsky bridgehead.

However, already on July 9, units of the 737th rifle regiment of the 206th infantry division began a battle with German machine gunners who approached the Semiluksky settlements. Komsomol organizer of the 3rd battalion of the 737th joint venture N.A. Chaikin wrote in his diary: “Our fascists were knocked out of the thickets and crossed the river on the move. Voronezh. We settled on the right bank. Our companies are heavily hit by enemy mortars. Mines explode all over the area with an ominous dry crack.”

July 11, 206th Infantry Division, carrying out the task of capturing Shilovo, Trushkino on the western bank of the river. Voronezh, began crossing the river with the 748th rifle regiment (without the 2nd rifle battalion (sb)) and the 737th rifle regiment. The enemy put up stubborn resistance and stopped the offensive with heavy fire from machine guns, machine guns and mortars.

The enemy, stubbornly defending the northern and northeastern outskirts of Voronezh with the forces of the 3rd motorized division, improved its defense along the western bank of the river. Voronezh in engineering terms and at the same time continued to pull motorized infantry and tanks into the forest north of Shilovo, where, according to a Soviet pilot from a downed TB-3 bomber in the Malyshevo area, up to 1 tank and 1 infantry divisions were pulled together.

During the night of July 13, the crossing of reconnaissance units to the western bank of the river continued. Voronezh. In the battles of July 13, the division destroyed enemy machine-gun and mortar batteries. The division's losses were: killed, wounded and missing - 487 people, rifles - 400 pieces, heavy machine guns - 7 pieces, anti-tank guns - 16 pieces, 82mm mortars - 1 piece, PPSh machine guns - 16 pieces.

Such large losses of the advancing units were explained by the fact that the enemy occupied a very advantageous position: both day and night he controlled almost all directions of possible attacks by Soviet units. This is how N.A. describes the German defense. Chaikin: “The positions we occupy are not profitable for us. The Germans are firing at us with intense mortar and machine-gun fire from the heights. Our positions are 30-40 meters from the river bank... The river is half under fire, and the second part of the river is protected from German shelling by a steep bank. All night the Germans illuminate the front line with flares. In our country, as I recall last year, in battles in Ukraine, we only had signal missiles. And the enemy hangs up flares all night, endlessly, one after another.”

Despite the unsuccessful actions, the division still achieved its goal. The enemy was forced to build up his forces in this area, somewhat weakening the onslaught in Voronezh. Reconnaissance established the presence of up to a regiment of motorized infantry in the Shilovo area; Tanks arrived in Malyshevo, the number of which was not determined. From Malyshevo itself to the forest 3 km northeast of the village, up to 12 vehicles with infantry were observed moving during the night.

In a combat report dated July 15 to the commander of the Voronezh Front, Lieutenant General N.F. Vatutin, commander of the 40th Army, Lieutenant General M.M. Popov wrote: “... 3. I decided at 23.00 on July 15, the 206th Infantry Division without one regiment with two divisions of the 45th GMP (Guards Mortar Regiment - E.Sh.) to cross the river. Voronezh on the Peschanka - Tavrovo section, and advance in the direction of the railway. booths, 2 km west of the city of Voronezh, and together with the troops of the 60th Army, destroy the Voronezh enemy group. On the rest of the front, use active reconnaissance units and fire to pin down the enemy.”

On the same day, the division, with two RS divisions attached to it from the 45th GMP, completed the regrouping of troops and occupied the starting line on the front with the 737th and 748th rifle regiments. Gerbil - claim. Tavrovo. The advancing units were supported from the air by units of the 2nd air aviation through night bombing of the Shilovo and Malyshevo districts.

On July 17, the first flight on pontoons and other transport means departed to the western bank of the river. Voronezh. However, as before, the crossing was disrupted by organized enemy fire. In addition, the enemy disabled 6 A-3 boats. The repeated forcing was also unsuccessful. During the night, the division demonstrated false crossings in the Tavrovo areas and to the north. The division's losses on July 17 were killed and wounded: average command personnel - 24 people, junior command personnel - 42 people. and rank and file - 422 people.

By the end of the month, parts of the division were still able to transport the main forces, but their progress was insignificant.

A more favorable situation developed in the defense zone of the 100th Infantry Division. Guard Lieutenant N. Proshutinsky later recalled the following about the combat operations of the 472nd Infantry Regiment of the 100th Infantry Division: “On July 26, at dawn, the Nazis began processing our front line, located 800 meters from the village of Shilovo in a lowland overgrown with sparse bushes with young oak trees. . Everything was roaring around us. The Germans spared neither mines nor shells. With the help of mortars, this attack was repulsed relatively easily, but the enemy attacked again and again.

During the third attack, our riflemen faced a difficult situation. The platoon commander and others were killed. two from the department. Soldier Anton Popov replaced the light machine gunner and took command of the squad. With precise bursts, he pinned the German machine gunners to the ground. Many remained there forever.

After the Katyusha salvo, the companies were raised to counterattack. In front of the squad, Popov ran in wide leaps, pouring lead on the enemy from a light machine gun. It was a victory! Small, but a victory."

During the capture and retention of the bridgehead, our units suffered significant losses. For example, in the regiments of the 100th division, 791 people were killed and wounded. Taking into account the current situation, the commander of the 40th Army, Lieutenant General M.M. On the night of August 2, Popov withdrew the 100th Infantry Division from the bridgehead. Its section was transferred to units of the 206th Infantry Division.

In August, the position of the Soviet units changed slightly. The center of the main struggle moved to the Stalingrad area and the Germans near Voronezh switched to a tough defense. By this time, our aviation began to gradually gain air supremacy.

ON THE. Chaikin recalled one of the attacks of the 737th Regiment of the 206th Infantry Division in August 1942: “August 10, 1942. Early this morning the entire battalion was raised to attack. Before the signal was given by rockets for the battalion companies to attack, powerful volleys of Katyusha rockets were fired at the enemy. The mines fired by our Katyushas whizzed like a fiery tornado over our heads, and then rumbled and burst with explosions over the fascist trenches. Our attack aircraft approached from Maslovka at low altitude, bombed and stormed enemy positions. Our artillery struck the fascist positions from the Maslovsky forest. Ahead of our advancing lines, a hurricane of explosive fire raged. A series of red rockets towards the enemy raised our units to attack. And again, as has happened many times before, the enemies came to their senses, used their deeply echeloned defense, and along our attacking chains due to settlements Shilovo and Trushkino were hit by large-caliber mortars, artillery, and then frantic machine-gun fire. All this mowed down our advanced advancing chains of fighters. Our attack has once again failed, we retreated with huge losses to our previous positions, taking the wounded with us.”

By the end of August, Soviet troops, just like in July, were unable to break through the German defenses and completely occupy the Shilovsky bridgehead.

Memorial complex "Shilovsky Bridgehead"
Photo by Savchenko A.A.

At the beginning of September, the command of the Voronezh Front was preparing a new offensive operation. The 206th Infantry Division was given the same task. The issues of interaction between different types of troops were carefully developed and previous mistakes were taken into account. ON THE. Chaikin recalled: “Early in the morning our artillery fired through our positions at the fascists, our Katyushas fired several salvos from different positions, and then we saw how across the river, where the Germans were, our attack aircraft were pecking at the front line. They say that the Nazis call our planes the “Black Death.” And indeed, our planes go to low altitude because of Maslovka and like kites they pounce on the fascist positions. First they bomb, and then they dive and hit with heavy machine guns. Now the Nazis have no advantage in the air." But, as before, the advancing units were not successful.

The 206th Infantry Division fought here until mid-September, and then transferred its positions to the 141st Infantry Division. The division's losses from July to September were enormous. In particular, the 3rd rifle battalion of the 737th rifle regiment of the 206th infantry regiment, numbering about 700 people at the beginning of July. and received 300 people during the battles. replenishment, at the time of transfer of positions to other units, there were only 47 people.

Thus, the active actions of Soviet units in the Shilov area pinned down large enemy forces and diverted their attention from the Chizhov bridgehead, where favorable conditions were created for the offensive of the 40th Army. In addition, he lost an important tactical line and could no longer use the Don crossing at Malyshev and the highway leading to Voronezh with impunity. The Shilovsky bridgehead is one of the most important memorable places battles for Voronezh. Stubborn battles for the villages of Shilovo and Trushkino and for the forest were associated with heavy losses of our units.

Shendrikov E.A.
Fighting on the Shilovsky bridgehead in July - September 1942
scientific journal "Bereginya - 777 - Owl", 2010, No. 2(4)