In less than four years, 12 monuments to the Soldier-Liberator were erected in the regions of Smolensk region. The initiator of the project “Dedicated to the Defenders of the Fatherland …” is a member of the Supreme Council of the United Russia party Franz Klintsevich.
One of the monuments to the Soldier-Liberator was transferred to the Crimea, to Alushta. “Crimeans also want to make a gift for us, to install a bust of General Lukin in Smolensk,” said Igor Lyakhov, chairman of the Smolensk Regional Duma.
The monument is planned to be installed in May at the intersection of Kutuzov and Lukin streets. Mikhail Fedorovich Lukin was a participant in the First World War. On July 3, 1941, Lukin was ordered to urgently arrive in Smolensk and lead the actions of the army. In the Great Patriotic War, the defense of Smolensk for two weeks was largely his merit.
Before the start of the German offensive on Moscow, Lukin commanded the 19th Army, which was surrounded at Vyazma. Lukin was taken prisoner on October 15, 1941, and was released in 1945. Stalin reinstated Lukin in the military rank.
In 1969, Mikhail Lukin visited Smolensk, where he opened the Shtyk obelisk. The museum “Smolensk region during the Great Patriotic War” keeps awards and personal belongings of the hero. In 1988, Lieutenant General Lukin was awarded the title of “Honorary Citizen of the Hero City of Smolensk.” At the request of the Smolyan in 1993, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation, posthumously.
Thanks to the project “Dedicated to the Defenders of the Fatherland …”, in addition to the monument to Lukin, two more monuments will appear in Smolensk this year: the first Russian pilot Mikhail Nikiforovich Efimov and the medical officer of the Marine Corps reconnaissance Ekaterina Illarionovna Demina.