Belarus honors Nikolai Gastello's crew on 85th anniversary of their heroic deed

June 26 marks the 85th anniversary of Captain Gastello's famous "fiery ramming" during the Great Patriotic War.

On June 26, 1941, the crew of a Soviet bomber flew their aircraft into a convoy of German military vehicles traveling along the Molodechno-Radoshkovichi road.

The enemy suffered massive losses, and the entire crew—four courageous pilots: Nikolai Gastello, Grigory Skorobogaty, Anatoly Burdenyuk, and Aleksey Kalinin—were killed instantly.

The heroes are buried in the village of Belaruchi in the Logoisk District. Relatives of Gastello's crew members live in Russia. In honor of this memorable date, Belarus invited them to participate in events marking the 85th anniversary of the start of the Great Patriotic War.

"The ramming took place in this area, and now we are at the burial site of a previously unknown soldier. But thanks to the search team, we learned that the ashes of our ancestors are now here. This has been proven, documented, and this is very significant for us. Today is such an event—an anniversary—when we have the opportunity to attend this burial site with our relatives," said Yevgeny Burdenyuk, the great-nephew of navigator Anatoly Burdenyuk.

Navigator Anatoly Burdenyuk's grand-nephew

"Alexei Kalinin, to put it briefly, had a huge family: 13 children. Seven went to war, and five went missing. The notice of Alexei's death arrived a month after his death. We continue to cherish the memory of this heroic deed. We are very glad we were invited here," shared Lyudmila Zhukova, the grand-niece of radio operator Alexei Kalinin.

Great-niece of radio operator Alexei Kalinin

"It's nice that here in Belarus, Nikolai Frantsevich and his heroic deed are so revered, because everyone's slowly starting to forget. But Belarusians still remember and preserve this memory. I've lived with this heroic deed all my life, I've been proud of it all my life, and I try to live up to it. We mustn't forget this heroic deed. We need to tell our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren about it," noted Elena Gastello, great-niece of Hero of the Soviet Union Nikolai Gastello.

Great-niece of Hero of the Soviet Union Nikolai Gastello

A memorial service was held in memory of the fallen heroes. From the burial site, the participants visited the Orthodox Church of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Belaruchi, where they prayed and lit candles for the repose of their heroic grandfathers and for all the heroes and victims of the Great Patriotic War.