Grave of Soviet Junior Lieutenant Nikolai Smyslov, Killed in Action near Voronezh, 1942

June 24, 2025 - Reading time: 3 minutes

Soviet soldiers stand beside the grave of Junior Lieutenant Nikolai Ivanovich Smyslov, killed in action on August 28, 1942. His name is partially visible on the grave marker.

Voronezh, August 1942.
The battlefronts had shifted. The land was scarred by shell craters, the air choked with dust, smoke, and the scent of cordite. But amidst the destruction, a moment of solemn stillness — captured forever in this photograph.

A small group of Soviet infantrymen stand beside the freshly dug grave of a fallen comrade. The wooden cross bears a name: Junior Lieutenant Nikolai Ivanovich Smyslov. Born in 1920. Killed in action on August 28, 1942.
He served as a platoon commander in foot reconnaissance with the 333rd Rifle Regiment, 6th Red Banner Rifle Division. According to archival sources (obd-memorial.ru), he fell during heavy combat in the Voronezh sector and was buried in the district of Pridacha, a working-class suburb of the city.

His brothers-in-arms — muddy, battle-worn, and visibly exhausted — gather for a final goodbye. No ceremony. No speeches. Just respect, and the silent promise to keep fighting.

The barely legible inscription on the cross, weathered even in this early stage, reads partially:
“…лейтенант Смыслов Н. И.” and beneath it, likely:
“Погиб смертью храбрых 28/VIII-42”
— “Fell a hero’s death, August 28, 1942.”

This image reminds us that every great war is made up of individual losses. That for each breakthrough, each advance, there was a name, a face, and comrades left to mourn.

📷 Technical photo data:
📸 Photographer: Unknown Soviet front-line photographer
📅 Date: August 1942
📍 Location: Pridacha district, Voronezh, USSR