The main monumental building in Volgograd is a memorial complex on the Mamaev Kurgan dedicated to the heroes who fell in the Battle of Stalingrad. But in the city there are many other no less significant places directly related to the feat of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War. One of these can be called a monument to Panikache, perpetuating the glory of a simple soldier who gave his life for the freedom of his homeland.
Fiery heroism
The battles on the fields of the Battle of Stalingrad lasted a long 200 days. Each episode of this bloody event was riddled with suffering, pain and desperate courage of people who stood in the way of a cruel enemy, whose name is fascism. In October 1942, a detachment of Soviet fighters defended the approaches to the Red October factory. A column of enemy tanks moved to the position of one of the trenches.
Mikhail Panikakha rushed to the head car with two Molotov cocktails. A bullet pierced the glass of a vessel with a flammable liquid, clothes flashed on the soldier. The hero, as if not feeling pain, ran right up to the tank, broke a second bottle on his engine compartment. The enemy machine was stopped, the flames that burned took the life of a soldier - deputy commander of the 1st company of the 883 rifle regiment Mikhail Averyanovich Panikikha.
Eternal memory of honor and valor
The soldier’s selfless act did not go unnoticed. The description of this episode is given in his book "From Stalingrad to Berlin" by Marshal V. I. Chuykov. The soldier was posthumously presented to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and on the feat in 1975, on the eve of Victory Day, a monument was erected to Mikhail Panikha, a native of the Dnipropetrovsk region, who had given his life to defend the city on the Volga. The monument was created by sculptor R.P. Kharitonov, the composition project was developed by architect Yu. I. Belousov. The exact location on the map where the monument to Panikache is located is Volgograd, address: Metallurgov Ave. and ul. Tarashchentsev (Krasnooktyabrsky district).
Specifications and description of the sculpture
A figure with the palms extended forward, a man frozen in a desperate throw, ready at any moment to repel an enemy attack, not to let the enemy go to his land. So in general terms looks like a monument to Panikah. The height of the sculpture made of forged copper is 6.3 meters. The sculpture is mounted on a rectangular reinforced concrete pedestal with sides of 8 x 13 meters.
Restoration and maintenance of the monument
Regrettably it sounds, but the monument to Panikakha, starting from the 90s, turned out to be practically unowned. No one allocated funds for the maintenance of the memorial. Natural disasters partially destroyed the base of the monument, the copper sculpture was covered with a coating of mud, and in some places it was oxidized.
Only in 2012, the Council of Veterans took care of the monument with the support of the administration of the Red Army District. For the charitable donations collected by activists, the monument was restored in the same year. During the restoration work, the pedestal was strengthened and repaired, the copper figure was cleaned and covered with a special protective compound.
In addition, the district authorities allocated funds for the improvement of the territory near the memorial. Pedestrian paths were paved with paving slabs, benches and lighting lamps were installed, a decorative lawn and shrub plants were planted.
The governor of the region during an inspection trip to the districts of the city visited the updated monument to Panikache. Volgograd, like the whole of Russia, in the past few years has been preparing to receive the football world cup 2018. In this regard, the authorities of the cities where the Championship games will be held, began to clean up the streets and squares. But I want to believe that the cultural heritage of the past will not remain without attention at all times, not for the sake of ticks in the reports, but as a tribute to the selfless courage of the heroes, one of which Mikhail Panikakha is rightfully considered.