Zhukov Leonid Stepanovich (1925–2021) — a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, a veteran of the airborne forces, a retired captain, and an Honorary Citizen of Nizhny Novgorod. He had close ties to Sormovsky District, where he spent a significant part of his life and carried out community work.[1]

Military career

At the start of the Great Patriotic War, Zhukov lived in Leninsky District of Nizhny Novgorod, where he and his peers dug trenches and fought fires. In 1942 he was conscripted into the army and assigned to the airborne forces.[1] In late 1943, as part of an airborne brigade, he parachuted behind enemy lines, crossed the Dnieper, and took part in the fighting for Kyiv — including the famous Dnieper airborne operation (September 1943).[2] He subsequently served in an airborne division during the liberation of Hungary, Austria, and Czechoslovakia, rising from private to officer, and was wounded in action.[1]

Postwar activities

After the war he worked in the district executive committee and then at the Krasnoye Sormovo Plant, where he worked for a total of a quarter of a century.[2] In the 1950s he organized the construction of housing using the "people's build" (narodnaya stroyka) method.[2] Leonid Stepanovich Zhukov served as the prototype and central figure of the book Unopened Parachutes by A. V. Opryshko and Yu. F. Garipov.[1] In his later years he conducted educational and patriotic outreach among the youth of Sormovsky District.[2]

Awards and titles

He was awarded the Order of Glory, 3rd Class; the Order of the Red Star; the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd Class; and the medals "For Valor," "For Victory over Germany," and "For Labor Valor."[1] He has been honored with the titles "Honorary Veteran of the Airborne Forces" and "Distinguished Sormovite," as well as "Honorary Veteran of the City of Nizhny Novgorod" and "Distinguished Veteran of Nizhny Novgorod Region."[1] The title "Honorary Citizen of the City of Nizhny Novgorod" was conferred by a decision of the City Duma on June 23, 2020; the award was presented by the acting head of the city, Yury Shalabayev.[2][1] That same year, in September, Zhukov celebrated his 95th birthday.[2]

In May 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, Zhukov took part in Victory Day celebrations in a remote format: he appeared as a guest of the "Kremlin Media Center" 3D studio, which broadcast from the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, via video link — together with fellow Great Patriotic War veteran Vasily Ivanovich Rassypnov.[3]

Sources

  1. Vremya N — In May 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, Zhukov took part in Victory Day celebrations in a remote format: he appeared as a guest of the "Kremlevsk 3D studio (archive)
  1. gordumannov.ru — Zhukov Leonid Stepanovich — City Duma of Nizhny Novgorod (archive)
  2. dengoroda-nn.ru — Honorary Citizen of Nizhny Novgorod Leonid Zhukov celebrates his 95th birthday (archive)