Oleg Alexandrovich
Losik
1915-2012
Oleg Aleksandrovich Losik was the commander of the 4th Guards Tank Brigade of the 2nd Guards Tank Corps of the 31st Army of the 3rd Belorussian Front, a Guard Colonel, the Hero of the Soviet Union. He was in the Red Army since November 1935. In 1938 he finished the 1st Saratov Red Banner Armored School. He was a participant of the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-1940. Since April 1941 he was the Assistant to the Chief of the Operational Department of the headquarters of the 43rd Tank Division of the Kiev Special Military District. During the Great Patriotic War, O.A. Losik served in the active army since June 1941. In March 1943, he was appointed the commander of the 119th separate tank regiment on the Western front, and in December 1943 – the 4th Guards Tank Brigade. In August-September 1943, the 119th Separate Tank Regiment (10th Guards Army, Reserve Front) under the command of Colonel O.A. Losik participated in the Yelnya offensive operation and in the liberation of the city of Yelnya, for which the regiment was awarded the honorary name “Yelninsky” by order of Supreme Commander I.V. Stalin. He became famous in the Belarusian strategic offensive operation (codenamed “Bagration”). On July 2, 1944, the 4th Guards Tank Brigade under the command of Guard Colonel O.A. Losik broke the enemy’s resistance near the village of Gorodishche in the Minsk district of the Minsk region (Byelorussian SSR) and on July 3, 1944, at three o’clock in the morning, he was among the first to enter the capital of the Byelorussian SSR, Minsk. For the exemplary performance of combat missions of the command at the front of the struggle against the German invaders and the courage and heroism shown at the same time, by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated July 4, 1944, Colonel Oleg Alexandrovich Losik was awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. In March 1945, he was recalled from the front and sent to study at the Military Academy of Armored and Mechanized Troops of the Red Army named after I.V. Stalin, but in May 1945 he was transferred to Higher Military Academy named after K.E. Voroshilov. In December 1948, he was re-sent to study at the Academy. In 1951 he graduated from Voroshilov Higher Military Academy. Since April 1951 he was the Commander of the 26th Guards Mechanized Division in the Northern Group of Troops (Poland), since May 1954 – the Assistant Commander of the 7th Mechanized Army for tanks in the Belarusian Military District. He was the author of a number of scientific, theoretical, tactical and journalistic works. Since January 1987 he was a Military Inspector-adviser to the Group of General Inspectors of the Ministry of Defence of the USSR. Since May 1992, Marshal of the Armored Forces O.A. Losik was retired. He continued his active work as a leading analyst (Inspector General) of the Service of Inspectors General of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, was a chairman of the Council of the Club of Knights of the Order of Zhukov at the Moscow House of Veterans of War and Military Service. He lived in the hero city of Moscow. He was awarded 2 Soviet Orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, 4 Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of Suvorov of the 3rd degree, 2 Orders of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, 2 Orders of the Red Star, the Order “For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR” of the 2nd and 3rd degrees, medals “For Military Merit”, “For the defence of Kiev”, “For the defence of Stalingrad”, “For the Victory over Germany and other awards, including foreign ones. He was an honorary citizen of Minsk, Slavyansk, Yelnya and Yartsevo. He was an honorary soldier of the military unit. He was the last marshal of the armored troops of the USSR.
Address: Moscow, 1st Krasnokursantsky ave., 3/5, bldg. 2
