Tank KV-1 with a dead crew - a find of Rostov search engines

In early July, in the Rostov region, search engines from the “Mius-front” association discovered a Soviet heavy tank KV-1 with the remains of a dead crew. According to the search engines, the tank was killed in the summer of 1943 during the breakthrough of the German defense in depth.

Then, after heavy fighting, the troops of the Southern Front under the command of Marshal Fyodor Tolbukhin managed to cross the River Mius and seize a bridgehead 10 kilometers wide. However, the Soviet troops were not allowed to consolidate and continue the offensive - the Germans transferred elite tank divisions from the Kursk Bulge, which, with the massed support of aviation, stopped the offensive.

As the head of the search association, Andrei Kudryakov, said, judging by the detected parts, the found KV-1 first hit an anti-tank mine, the crew tried to repair it, but at that moment they were destroyed by German dive bombers.

Andrei Kudryakov is sure that the tank was part of the 62nd heavy tank breakthrough brigade and was destroyed on August 18, 1943. According to the documents, on this day the Soviet tank brigade lost 15 heavy tanks from the strikes of enemy aircraft and artillery fire.

But one way or another, the search engine concludes, from the found details, they will be able to more accurately restore the history of the car and, of course, bury the remains of the dead heroes with honors.