Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd Class nr. 166374 was posthumously awarded by Order of the 5th Shock Army of October 9, 1943 to 26-year-old Captain Aleksei Yakovlevich Dubrovin, commander of the 3rd Rifle Battalion, 988th Rifle Regiment, 230th Rifle Division, 9th Rifle Corps, 5th Shock Army, Southern Front.

Aleksei Yakovlevich Dubrovin was born in the village of Mikhailovka in the Krasnodar Krai, not far from the coast of the Black Sea, on October 4, 1916. He left high school at the age of 15 and started working as a mechanic. On November 18, 1937 Dubrovin enlisted in the Red Army. After half a year of service as a Private he was promoted to Sergeant and given command of a platoon. In March 1940 he enrolled at the Red Banner Moscow Infantry School and that same year he was accepted as a member of the Communist Party. He also got married around this time. Dubrovin graduated in April 1941, after which he was assigned to the 595th Rifle Regiment as a platoon leader with the rank of Lieutenant.

Dubrovin then attended a Tactics Course for infantry officers and until early 1943 he was stationed in the Volga Military District, commanding a rifle battalion of the 229th Rifle Brigade. In the spring of 1943 Dubrovin, now a Senior Lieutenant, was transferred to the front line and given command of one of the battalions of the 50th Rifle Division, deployed in the Donbass in Southeastern Ukraine. Two months later he was assigned to the 988th Rifle Regiment of the 230th Rifle Division, fighting in the same area.

Dubrovin was promoted to Captain on September 2, 1943. Two weeks later, on September 16, Captain Dubrovin was killed in action east of Stalino in Eastern Ukraine. The fighting here was severe. On the 15th and 16th alone, in addition to numerous enlisted men and junior officers, the 988th Rifle Regiment lost four commanding officers: battalion commanders Vinograd and Dubrovin and company commanders Gilmanov and Krotov.

Just one day before he died, Dubrovin was awarded an Order of the Red Star; the decoration was never issued. On September 9, 1943, while his Red Star recommendation was still being processed, Dubrovin was nominated for yet another decoration, the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd Class in question. Before the recommendation reached the desk of the division commander, Dubrovin had died, and the nomination was turned into a posthumous one. The award was approved and eventually, on September 23, 1944, presented to Dubrovin's wife back in Moscow, Iraida.
 
 

1. Last name, first name and patronymic: Dubrovin, Aleksei Yakovlevich
2. Rank: Senior Lieutenant
3. Position and unit: Commander of the 3rd Rifle Battalion, 988th Rifle Regiment, 230th Rifle Division

Nominated for: Order of the Red Star

4. Year of birth: 1916
5. Nationality: Russian
6. Party affiliation: Member of the Communist Party
7. Participation in the Civil War, the subsequent combat actions to defend the USSR, and the Patriotic War: Has been taking part in the Patriotic War, serving on the Western Front for one month and on the Southwestern Front for seven months
8. Wounds and contusions received during the Patriotic War: Wounded twice and contused once
9. Since when in the Red Army: Since 1937
10. Drafted by which military commissariat: Military Commissariat of the Kaganovich Raion, city of Kiev
11. Previous awards (for which accomplishments): No
12. Permanent home address of the prospective awardee and his family's address: _______________

Award citation [for his Order of the Patriotic War]

1. Last name, first name and patronymic: Dubrovin, Aleksei Yakovlevich
2. Rank: Senior Lieutenant
3. Position and unit: Commander of the 3rd Rifle Battalion, 988th Rifle Regiment, 230th Rifle Division

Nominated for: Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd Class

4. Year of birth: 1916
5. Nationality: Russian
6. Party affiliation: Member of the Communist Party since August 1940, membership card nr. 3518354
7. Participation in the Civil War, the subsequent combat actions to defend the USSR, and the Patriotic War (where and when): Has been taking part in the Patriotic War, serving on the Western Front from June 26, 1941 through June 30, 1941, on the Southwestern Front from January 27, 1943 through July 31, 1943, and on the Southern Front since September 1, 1943
8. Wounds and contusions received during the Patriotic War: Severely wounded on June 30, 1941 on the Western Front, slightly wounded on July 25, 1943 on the Southwestern Front, and slightly wounded on September 3, 1943 on the Southern Front
9. Since when in the Red Army: Since November 1937
10. Drafted by which military commissariat: Career officer
11. Previous awards (for which accomplishments): No
12. Permanent home address of the prospective awardee and his family's address: _____ Ladozhskaya Street, city of Moscow

Short, concrete description of his feat of arms or accomplishments:

The Table of Organization and Equipment shown below provides an overview of a regular rifle battalion, showing its theoretical strength in September 1943 as per Table of Organization and Equipment (Russian: shtat) nr. 04/551, which was established in December 1942. The overview below is based on this TOE; it does not take into account any combat losses or unit-specific irregularities.

Aleksei Yakovlevich Dubrovin

Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd Class nr. 166374, obverse and reverse