it was handed over. the sniper's name was gordienko, afanasy emelyanovich, a famous sniper, he was awardedrders of the red star and a medal for defense stalingrad, and he was a friend of nikolai ilyin. with this rifle, afanasy gordienko reached kharkov, where on august 18 he died in a battle outside the city from a shell fragment. the same fragments mutilated his signature rifle. fight with this rifle already. it is forbidden. the division's political department decided to send the weapons to the central museum of the red army for eternal burial in memory of the three famous heroic snipers. on august 23, kharkov was liberated. as a result of the kurdish battle, the soviet union inflicted a crushing defeat on nazi troops and completed a radical change in the course of the war. the red army defeated 30 german divisions, including seven tank divisions. in august 1943, the mius front already consisted of three lines of german defense, up to 50 km deep. the bank of the mius river, which the germans occupied, was very beneficial and convenient for them. they built such structures there, bunkers,