Over 5,000 Soviet soldiers fought in Italy during WWII, and some of them were even decorated with the highest Italian honors. How did they end up on the Apennine Peninsula, far from the Motherland?
Memory of Fyodor Poletaev honored in Italy and Russia
06.02.2021
Photo credit: facebook.com
The memory of Fyodor Poletaev, who was awarded the highest military awards of the Soviet Union and Italy, was honored in Italy and Russia. The memorial ceremony took place on February 2. It was held in Cantalupo Ligure, where the legendary partisan is buried, and in Ryazan, in his homeland. The laying of flowers was timed to the anniversary of the death of Fyodor Poletaev. This was reported by the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Milan on its page on the Facebook social network.
Fyodor Poletaev, the hero of the Italian Resistance, became famous for his bravery under the pseudonym Poetano. A native of Ryazan, he was captured, was in a camp in Italy, and fled twice. He got into a partisan detachment, was a participant in many battles with the Nazis. Poletaev died near Genoa three months before the end of the war. Italy awarded the Soviet soldier with the gold medal For milita