South Ossetian serviceman Tamerlan Magkoev, who took part in the defense of the Donbass republics, was awarded the Order of St. George. He is among those who, along with other guys from countries friendly to the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, are fighting shoulder to shoulder for a peace without Nazism and violence during a special military operation to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine.
Serviceman who distinguished themselves in the battles against the Nazis, as a rule, are presented high awards. One of them is Tamerlan Magkoev, a serviceman of the 4th military base of the Russian Federation stationed in South Ossetia. At 23, the young man was awarded the Order of St. George - the highest military award of the Russian Federation.
I am a serviceman, that means I have to do my duty
As Magkoev himself, who arrived in his hometown after his injuries, told the “Res” news agency, he was simply fulfilling the duties assigned to him as a military man.
Magkoev was serving in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation for three years, his term of service expired just in March of this year, when contract servicemen of the 4th military base of the Russian Federation in South Ossetia went to maintain peace in the Donbass.
When asked why he extended his term of service, Tamerlane replies that everyone should do their job.
“If a person comes to a surgeon, and he says that he will not operate, what kind of surgeon is he? So, the soldier must do his duty,” Magkoev believes.
On May 9, while in the combat zone, the fighter was injured again and ended up in a hospital in Volnavakha, from there he was sent to a hospital in Dokuchaevsk, then to Donetsk, from where he was already evacuated by helicopter to Rostov.
There he was registered and sent to Novocherkassk, after five days of treatment he was transferred to Mozdok. And after treatment in Mozdok, Magkoev was discharged from the hospital. About a week he is at home in South Ossetia.
Miraculously managed to survive
Magkoev told IA “Westabout the incidents that happened to him during the military operation, during which he miraculously survived.
“Our military had to take control of the plant in Mariupol. My comrade-in-arms, Chermen Tekhov, and I, covering each other, were moving forward to the designated place in order to take up a position. We were followed by one of the volunteers Pilta, without body armor or helmet. We did not see him, - said Magkoev. - After some time, when the shelling from the Ukrainians subsided, Tekhov saw him, wounded, lying in the middle of the plant. Since I was the deputy commander, I had a walkie-talkie, but the battery was dead, and we could not call for help for him. From the place where we initially moved out, where the main part of the military was located, he was not visible, therefore, there was nowhere to wait for help.
According to him, “it was pointless to approach the wounded man, since he was in full view of the enemy, and we would have been shot too.”
“We were being fired upon from the second floor of the plant, but in addition, a sniper was also firing. Tekhov remained in the position, I moved back to the starting point, to call for help, - said Magkoev. - There were iron motors there, I made my way among them to our guys. It remained to go through the place that the sniper was firing at, and I would be among my comrades. But it was there that the sniper hit the back of the helmet on my head.
The helmet changed the trajectory of the bullet, and it bounced off, the head was not hurt, but I fell face forward, losing consciousness. Literally a meter remained to the location of my comrades. They dragged me inside, brought me back to consciousness, my head was very dizzy, I felt sick.
After some time, when I came to my senses, I asked if anyone had gone to help the guys. I was told that not yet, but they called a doctor on the radio, who was supposed to arrive in a special transport where they could be picked up.
For a comrade in fire and water
The thoughts that Chermen Tekhov, who remained at the plant, could run out of cartridges, forced Tamerlane to return back.
“I could not leave him, because we went on a combat mission together, together we had to return.
Through the place where the sniper hit me, I quickly ran, apparently, he did not expect to see me again and did not react, - explains Magkoev. - And again, moving from engine to engine, I came under fire of Ukrainians. I also opened fire on them, but the sniper hit me again. This time the bullet hit the right side of my head - the temple area. I fell without showing signs of life.
The place where he fell was visible both from the position of Chermen Tekhov and from the deployment of his other comrades, but they did not see each other.
“Then they told me that they had already reported on the radio that I had died,” the soldier recalls. - For about ten minutes I was unconscious, then raised my head, and passed out again. My comrade Ruslan Kozaev saw that I was alive and ran up to me. By that time a doctor had arrived in the infantry fighting vehicle and they had taken away a wounded volunteer, Pilta. And we returned to the original place of deployment.
I was coming to my senses for a while, I could not move.
After some time, we decided to go around the building and seize it from the other side. Having bypassed the facility, I threw a grenade to the first floor and followed on, the second soldier was following me, who was supposed to throw a grenade to the second floor, then I again, and so on in turn.
But when he was about to throw a grenade on the second floor, a grenade was also thrown from there. It exploded and shrapnel hit us. It was in April. They wanted to send me back to Tskhinval, but I stayed because the injuries were not serious.”
Helpful medical skills
Tamerlan Magkoev also spoke about how he helped his commander by providing him with the necessary medical assistance.
“We freed one of the streets in Mariupol from Ukrainian Nazis. Several houses were entrusted to the fourth company, a number of others to the fifth company, and a few more to our sixth company.
The location of the ompanies was separated by about 300 - 400 meters. Our commander was wounded, his radio was broken, and we were left without communication, we could not call for medical assistance for him,” Magkoev recalls. “His left leg was completely shattered, and his right leg was shot through, fragments hit his lungs, in a word, he was not in the best condition.”
When preparing for a special military operation, Tamerlan managed to watch videos on providing medical assistance in emergency cases.
“I bandaged the commander’s leg with a tourniquet, stopped the bleeding and gave an anesthetic injection, but I urgently needed to call a doctor,” said Magkoev. – In order not to waste time, I went to the fifth company, where they told me that a serviceman Inal Kortiev had died. We called the doctor and I returned to the commander. The doctor was on time, fortunately, he was saved.”
To clean the field of anti-tank mines
Magkoev also spoke about how he had cleared the field from anti-tank mines.
“There was a field in front of us, there was an asphalt road between two forest belts. On the left was the 136th brigade, on the right - the reconnaissance battalion, and in the middle - the 4th military base, that is, we, - explained Magkoev. - The field was mined in front of us, and we were waiting for the sappers.
Our comrades on the right and left moved forward, but we could not. There were no sappers for a long time, we heard on the radio about the losses of our guys. I, along with my two comrades, decided to take these anti-tank mines.
The company commander explained to me that there could be an infantry mine under the anti-tank mine, which would explode as soon as I raised the first one. The anti-tank mine itself will not explode if even stepped on with a weight of less than 80 kilograms. But there was no choice. I took the mines, the guys were covering me, and each time I lifted it, the heat covered me more and more (he is smiling), since there could have been an infantry mine under it, but with God's help, it worked out.
According to Magkoev, there was a case when, having fallen under fire, he lay down on his comrade.
“After the shelling stopped, I got up, glad that I was not hurt, however, the guy who was lying under me was wounded by shrapnel. Probably fate ...”, - he noted.
On May 9, the serviceman once again came under fire in an infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), hit his head and lost consciousness. A day later, at the insistence of the doctor, he was sent for examination to the hospital in Volnavakha to take a picture.
“I was dizzy, my eyes were dark, I could not stand firmly on my feet,” says Magkoev. “I had a contusion and a closed craniocerebral injury.”
The fighter notes that situations in life are various, “and you don’t know what should be expected”
“Ordinary simple guys, finding in an extreme situation, show courage, bravery, and those who in ordinary life, seem to be brave, give in. This is life…”, said Tamerlane, who had become a knight of the Order of St. George at the age of 23.
