YEREVAN (Realist English). The title of Hero of the Soviet Union — the highest distinction of the USSR — was awarded to 107 Armenians who fought on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. Of these, 38 received the honour posthumously.
The Armenian people justly take pride in having given the Motherland four Marshals of the Soviet Union and one Admiral of the Fleet; more than 60 Armenian generals commanded large formations of the Red Army, and in total 106 ethnic Armenians were awarded the title of Hero.
Twice Heroes: the pinnacle of military valour
In the entire history of the USSR, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to 12,745 people, of whom 154 became twice Heroes. Among them are two Armenians.
Ivan (Hovhannes) Bagramyan — the Marshal who went through the war without a wound
Twice Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Bagramyan went through the entire Great Patriotic War from the first day to the last and did not receive a single wound. At the beginning of the war, he served as head of the operational department – deputy chief of staff of the South‑Western Front.
After the catastrophic failure of the Kharkov offensive operation in the spring of 1942, for which Bagramyan was one of the main planners, Georgy Zhukov personally vouched for him, telling Stalin: “This is not the time to waste generals.” In 1943, commanding the 11th Guards Army of the Bryansk Front, Bagramyan demonstrated a bold and original solution during the Oryol offensive operation.
From November 1943 he commanded the troops of the 1st Baltic Front, under whose leadership the enemy’s 3rd Tank Army was encircled and destroyed during the Gorodok operation.
He distinguished himself particularly in the Belorussian strategic offensive operation, when his front’s troops, together with three Belorussian fronts, defeated Army Group Centre, liberating Belarus, parts of Lithuania and Latvia.
Nelson Stepanyan — the pilot the fascists feared
The second twice Hero of the Soviet Union among Armenians was Guard Lieutenant Colonel Nelson Stepanyan, an ace pilot. Stepanyan was among the six naval pilots awarded this title. The hero of the Baltic skies flew hundreds of combat missions, sinking dozens of enemy ships, for which he earned the nickname “Terror of the Seas”. Stepanyan was killed while on a combat mission in December 1944.
Armenian Marshals and Admirals — the pride of the Soviet Army
Amazasp Babajanyan — the “chief marshal” of tank forces
Amazasp Babajanyan – Chief Marshal of the Armoured Troops, Hero of the Soviet Union. One of the first Armenian military leaders to receive this high rank. At the end of the war, when street fighting was still raging in Berlin on 30 April 1945, Colonel Babajanyan made a bold decision: to advance not only above ground, but also underground – through the metro tunnels.
Such a thing had never been done in tank warfare.
Sergey Khudyakov (Arsenak Khanferyants) — a genius of aerial deception
Marshal of Aviation Sergey Khudyakov went down in history not only as a talented aviator. In 1943, he was the one who ensured the safe flight of the Soviet delegation headed by Stalin to the Tehran Conference, and no intelligence service in the world was able to discover which aircraft the Soviet leader was on.
During the Vistula‑Oder operation, Khudyakov displayed brilliant military leadership: by deploying 800 mock‑ups of aircraft and special equipment at 50 dummy airfields of the 16th Air Army alone, he forced the enemy to drop 660 heavy bombs on them, which allowed the real German airfields to be identified.
Ivan Isakov — the admiral valued by Stalin
Admiral of the Fleet of the USSR Ivan Isakov – the highest naval rank, equivalent to Marshal. Joseph Stalin spoke of him thus: “A real Admiral of the Fleet, Comrade Isakov. A clever man, without a leg but with a head.”
When doctors in hospital were fighting for the admiral’s life and trying to ease his suffering, they asked him what he would like. Isakov asked for… — the continuation of this episode remains one of the legends of military history.
Other Armenian Heroes: immortal names
Gukas Madoyan — the “master of Rostov station”
Lieutenant Colonel Gukas Madoyan received the Hero of the Soviet Union star for capturing and holding for six days, until the arrival of the main forces, the railway station in the city of Rostov‑on‑Don.
A native of the village of Kers in the Kars region, he joined the Red Army as a 15‑year‑old teenager in 1921.
Yeremey Danilyants — a machine‑gunner who fell while crossing the Dnieper
Senior Sergeant Yeremey Danilyants particularly distinguished himself in the autumn of 1943. On 28 September, his machine‑gun crew was the first to reach the western bank of the Dnieper under heavy mortar and machine‑gun fire and opened fire, ensuring the crossing of the squadron.
The next day, in a battle near the Galka farmstead, his crew suppressed German firing points, destroying two machine guns and thirty enemy soldiers. Danilyants fell in that battle.
On 15 January 1944, he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Varazdat Abrahamyan — full cavalier of the Order of Glory
Varazdat Abrahamyan – one of the 2,671 full cavaliers of the Order of Glory in the USSR, who were granted the same rights as those awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. A gun layer, he replaced a fallen commander and routed a large column of retreating enemy forces in December 1942.
After the war, he became an Honoured Coach and Honoured Master of Physical Culture and Sports of the Armenian SSR.
Nerses Simonyan — the 17‑year‑old volunteer
Nerses Simonyan went to the front as a volunteer at the age of 17, straight from school, adding an extra year to his age. He took part in the liberation of the Caucasus and Crimea, fighting a long combat path.
Sergey Galadzhev (Sarkis Aladzhyan) – the highest‑ranking Armenian political commissar
Lieutenant General Sergey Galadzhev rose to become head of the political administration of a front. He took part in the Battle of Moscow (awarded the Order of the Red Banner), the Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of Kursk.
107 Armenian names are inscribed in the rolls of Heroes of the Soviet Union – this is not just a figure. It is testimony to how a small people, every second adult man of which went to the front and every second did not return, made an invaluable contribution to the defeat of fascism.
Marshals and rank‑and‑file soldiers, pilots and infantrymen – all of them gave their lives and strength for the common Victory. Their memory must live forever — especially since today barely more than 40 veterans of that war live in Armenia itself.
