Order of the Patriotic War, 1st Class nr. 72620 was awarded by Order of the 49th Rifle Corps of December 30, 1943 to 38-year-old Guards Lieutenant Nikolai Georgiyevich Stepachov, rifle company commander in the 233rd Guards Rifle Regiment, 81st Guards Rifle Division, 49th Rifle Corps, 7th Guards Army, 2nd Ukrainian Front.

Nikolai Stepachov was born in the Smolensk Province on December 6, 1905. He joined the Red Army in March 1942, was sent to the front in July 1942, and was given a battlefield commission in November 1942, while serving with the 64th Army, just south of Stalingrad. He started out as a rifle platoon leader, but before long he was given command of a company. Following his service at Stalingrad, he fought at Belgorod right at the height of the battle of Kursk and was awarded an ORS there, advanced through Ukraine and Romania, and then moved northwest toward Hungary.

Apparently Stepachov usually emerged from battle unscathed, since records show that the wound mentioned in his first OPW1 citation - sustained in November 1943 - was his only one. Eventually his luck ran out, though, and he was killed in battle less than a year after this OPW1 was awarded.

Stepachov's final attack occurred on December 5, 1944, one day before his 39th birthday, and the day Budapest was encircled. His regiment took part in the pincer movement around the Hungarian capital. As Stepachov's regiment enveloped the city from the northeast, Stepachov was given orders to take the northern slopes of height 241. The company accomplished its orders and captured the height, killing up to a platoon of enemy infantry, but Stepachov didn’t survive the battle. That same day he was buried at the divisional cemetery in the village of Ecsйd, northeast of Budapest.

Stepachov had been awarded all of his decorations in a fairly short span of time. He was awarded an ORS in July 1943, a Medal for Courage in September 1943, and an OPW1 in December 1943. A few days after he had died, he was awarded another OPW1 posthumously, but it seems it never made it to his wife Ksenia.

Last name: Stepachov
First name: Nikolai
Patronymic: Georgiyevich
Rank: Guards Lieutenant
Position and unit: Rifle company commander in the 233rd Guards Rifle Regiment, 81st Guards Rifle Division

Awarded:

Home address: Village of Kamenka, Smolensk Oblast. 49th Rifle Corps, 2nd Ukrainian Front

1. Year of birth: 1905
2. Place of birth:
3. Party membership and period: Member of the Communist Party
4. Nationality: Russian
5. Period of service in the Red Army:
6. Award documents are located in file nr.:

Awards issued:

Other remarks:

1. Last name, first name, and patronymic: Stepachov, Nikolai Georgiyevich
2. Rank: Guards Lieutenant
3. Position and unit: Rifle company commander in the 233rd Guards Rifle Regiment, 81st Guards Rifle Division

Nominated for: Order of the Patriotic War, 1st Class

4. Year of birth: 1905
5. Nationality: Russian
6. Party membership and period: Member of the Communist Party
7. Participation in the Civil War, the subsequent combat actions to defend the USSR, and the Patriotic War (where and when): Stalingrad Front since July 1943
8. Wounds and contusions received during the Patriotic War: Wounded on November 20, 1943
9. Since when in the Red Army: Since March 10, 1942
10. Drafted by which military commissariat: Military Commissariat of the Yelets Raion, Smolensk Oblast
11. Previous awards (for which achievements): Order of the Red Star by Order of the 81st Krasnograd Guards Rifle Division nr. 42/N of July 26, 1943 and Medal for Courage by Order of the 81st Guards Rifle Division nr. 52/N of September 28, 1943
12. Permanent home address (of the prospective awardee or his family): _______________

Brief, concrete description of his feat of arms or achievements:

Order of the Patriotic War, 1st Class nr. 72620, obverse and reverse