More than just a hobby

Rescuer from Mogilev Stanislav Kolomiychenko devotes his free time to searching for those who died during the war

For 23-year-old Stanislav Kolomiychenko, risking oneself to save others is not a feat, but a job. After a busy shift, he would have to rest and sleep off, and the guy, armed with a metal detector and a shovel, covers kilometres through forests and fields in search of the remains of heroes hastily buried by the war. Because he is convinced that those who gave their lives for the Fatherland cannot lie in unmarked graves and be forgotten. The great-grandson of the Hero of the Soviet Union explains such a reverent attitude to history simply: ‘Patriotism is in my blood’.

He decided to help people 

Stas saw his great-grandfather only in photographs — Hero of the Soviet Union, commander of the 800th Infantry Regiment of the 143rd Infantry Division of the 47th Army of the 1st Belorussian Front Ivan Dmitrievich Kolomiychenko. These photos, like military awards — the Order of the Red Banner, the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, Lenin, the Gold Star medal — are the main family heirlooms.
“My great-grandfather liberated Belarus, Poland, reached Berlin and was wounded. After the war, he served in Mogilev in the military registration and enlistment office, and was buried at the Masheka cemetery. I always come to him on Victory Day. And to my great-grandmother. Many people owe their lives to the front-line nurse Vera Andreevna Kolomiychenko, in peacetime she headed the blood transfusion station,” the guy says.


So the great-grandson decided to help people: four years ago, after the army, he got a job in the fire rescue squad of the Mogilev Regional Department of the Emergencies Ministry. Stas did not even count how many times he had to dive into buildings engulfed in flames, “Danger and destruction are daily routine. I try not to take what is happening hard so that emotions do not interfere with work. Indeed, it is not easy, especially if people die. Thanks to the profession, I realised that there are many of us who will not pass by someone else’s misfortune. One fellow countryman was burned while trying to pull an old woman out of a burning house before the arrival of the rescuers, another swallowed carbon monoxide, saving a neighbour who, due to problems with his legs, would not have gotten out himself.”
Somehow, Stas recalls, a call came in to their unit — a girl fell from the window of the sixth floor onto the visor of the store, “In a T-shirt and shorts, she lay on the snow, choking on blood. We covered her with a blanket, the doctor put on a neck brace. Together with my partner Anton Grakholsky, on a rigid stretcher, the baby, who received a serious spinal injury, was taken to the ambulance. I found out that the recovery process was long, but the main thing is that she is alive!”

Scouting gene

When dealing with the fate of people, we have no right to make a mistake — this is one of the mottos of the Mogilev regional historical and patriotic search club Vikkru, in whose ranks Kolomiychenko joined more than three years ago.
“These words are close to me as a firefighter-rescuer and as a person who is not indifferent to history. My second great-grandfather, Vladimir Martynovich Chadkov, from the village of Radkov, Bykhov District, told how, after the war, three of his friends were blown up by a mine. He was not with them that day — a movie was brought to the village. Sitting in the club, he heard an explosion... The boys were ‘scattered through the trees’, they were collected in parts... I know from him that the villagers used ploughs to pick up shells, the remains of soldiers in the fields and gardens. When I was in the tenth grade, I heard from a peer that her father was engaged in search work. I asked to be introduced. Yevgeny Batsanov brought me to Vikkra,” Stas emphasises.

Kolomiychenko will not forget his first Watch of Memory — he found a soldier’s medallion! 

“Not a single textbook or film will allow you to experience the emotions that you get during the search work. The moment of truth is when, through your efforts, the name of the hero returns from oblivion. The head of Vikkru Nikolai Borisenko, who returned thousands of soldiers to their families, should be erected a monument — he devoted his life to this. And search is a complicated matter: before any excavations, it is necessary to study the archives, conduct preliminary reconnaissance on the ground. I am proud to be part of a friendly search team. I hope my great-grandfather would be proud of me.”

The head of the Vikkru club Nikolai Borisenko, 
“The guys who, like Stas, have an interest in search work at the gene level, are the most active and reliable. They dig deep — literally and figuratively. Recently, in the course of reconnaissance with Aleksander Rutsky in the Buinichi area, he discovered an approximate location of a breakthrough from the encirclement of the group of Colonel Yakov Slepokurov. The commander of the 394th regiment of the 110th rifle division, which defended Mogilev, like many of its soldiers, died in the vicinity of the city in July 1941. Where exactly is still unknown. Finding their remains would be a huge stroke of luck.”


Ivan Kravchenko, Deputy Head of the Fire Rescue Squad of the Mogilev Regional Department of the Emergencies Ministry,
“Rescuers have a stressful job, enough adrenaline, so many choose quiet hobbies. For Stanislav Kolomiychenko, the search is more than a hobby. He is driven by a noble desire to pay tribute to the memory of the heroes who died for the Fatherland. For the sake of this, the continuity of generations, he is ready to spend time, effort, and money. It is a great example for the youth. People are still looking for information about missing loved ones. I also do not know where my great-grandfather laid his head, and I would be happy if someone could help me fill this gap.”

Aleksandr Lukashenko awarded Belarusian rescuers for liquidating earthquake consequences in Türkiye
For skilful, active and bold actions during rescue operations and other kinds of emergency works, employees of the ZUBR Republican Special Response Detachment of the Emergencies Ministry were awarded medals for Excellence in the Prevention and Mitigation of Emergencies, with the corresponding Decree No. 218 signed by the President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, on July 19th – as reported by the Belarusian leader’s press service.
The medals were presented to ZUBR’s commanding officer Igor Zarembo and his second-in-command Andrei Metelsky, section commander with the search and rescue work and firefighting centre Anatoly Ivanchikov, watch commander of the operations control centre Aleksandr Kurochkin, and watch officers of the operations control centre Dmitry Melnik, Yevgeny Vysotsky, and Sergei Novichuk.
From February 8th-15th, the ZUBR unit members as part of the search and rescue team participated in emergency rescue operations to eliminate the consequences of the earthquake in the Turkish city of Kahramanmarash.

By Olga Kislyak

Photos by Andrei Sazonov