Sosnina, Nina

Sosnina, Nina Ivanovna

 

Born Nov. 30, 1923, in the village of Kukhari, in what is now Ivanokovsk Raion, Kiev Oblast; died Aug. 31,1943, in the city of Malin, Zhitomir Oblast. Leader of the Komsomol underground in Malin during the Great Patriotic War (1941–45). Hero of the Soviet Union (May 8, 1965; awarded posthumously). Member of the Komsomol from 1937.

Sosnina was the daughter of a physician. In the autumn of 1941 she organized an underground group that merged with a city underground organization in early 1942. She initially served as secretary, but beginning in January 1943, she became head of the organization, which had more than 60 members. She established contacts with the partisan unit of S. F. Malikov to act on the unit’s orders.

Surrounded by fascists from a punitive expedition, Sosnina committed suicide by exploding a grenade.

REFERENCES

Tron’ko, P. T. “Bessmertie iunykh.” In the collection Sovetskie partizany, 2nd ed. Moscow, 1963.
Krestovskii, I. “V polesskom gorodke.” In the collection Liudilegend, issue 3. Moscow, 1968.
Denisenko, G. I. “Tak velelo serdtse.” In the collection Geroi podpol’ia, 3rd ed., issue 2. Moscow, 1972.