A German-made shell pierced the turret of Lieutenant Luzenko's tank, the vehicle lost its ability to fire, but the battle had to go on, and no one gave up the task. So the tank commander made a bold decision to ram Hitler's Stug III (assault gun No. 3). As a result of the impact, both vehicles could not move, and the bloodied Germans crawled out of the assault guns.
This was one of many heroic events that occurred at the end of 1941 when Soviet tank brigades launched a surprise attack on Kalinin. For example, the tank driven by regiment commander Lukin was hit by the Germans and lost mobility, and in order to cover the safe departure of his comrades, he continued to fight on his fixed tank until he ran out of ammunition, and then died heroically.
The photos you see are from a personal album of Germans. It was photographed immediately after Dmitry Grigorievich Luzenko commanded Soviet tanks to ram German tanks.
Fight until the last minute
In this photo, the Nazis surrounded the T-34, whose crew was still in the car. On the turret of the tank, traces of being hit by German shells were clearly visible.
The hatch of the T-34 tank has been pried open
By this time, the Germans had already opened the hatch cover. The man with a bandage on his head, a member of the crew of the hit StuG III Stug III (assault gun number three).
This photo shows how a Soviet tank crew member was pulled out of the car. The wounded Germans took an active part in it.
The photo is very blurry, but we can see two members sitting on the slope of the ravine in the lower left corner of the photo. The other was pulled out right away. It is not clear where the fourth is, maybe still in the car, maybe he died.
Soviet tank after impact, track shoes raised high. The number of the tank is clearly visible.
Captured Lieutenant Dmitry Grigorievich Luzenko
Presumably, this is Lieutenant Luzenko himself. There is a lot of controversy about his fate. This is because his name is mentioned twice in casualty reports. He died in hospital on March 5, 1942 as a platoon commander of the 13th Tank Brigade. On September 21, 1942, he was removed from the Red Army as a missing platoon leader of the 13th Tank Brigade. The fate of the rest of the crew is currently unknown.