Nikolai Ilyin (sniper)
{{Short description|Soviet World War II sniper}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = Nikolai Ilyin
| native_name = Николай Яковлевич Ильин
| image = Nikolai Yakovlevich Ilyin.jpg
| birth_date = 25 June 1922
| death_date = 4 August 1943
| death_cause = Machine Gun Burst
| birth_place = Chernukhino, Ukrainian SSR
(located in present-day Perevalsk Raion, Luhansk Oblast)
| death_place = Yastrebovo, Kursk Oblast, RSFSR, USSR
| placeofburial = Mamayev Kurgan
| allegiance = {{flagicon|Soviet Union}} Soviet Union
| branch = Red Army
| serviceyears = 1942–1943
| rank = Starshina
| battles = World War II{{KIA}}
| awards = Hero of the Soviet Union
}}
Nikolai Yakovlevich Ilyin ({{langx|ru|Николай Яковлевич Ильин}}; 25 June 1922 — 4 August 1943) was one of the top Soviet snipers of World War II. Awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 8 February 1943 for his first 216 kills, by the time he was killed in action later that year his tally reached 494.{{Cite web|title=Ильин Николай Яковлевич|url=http://soviet-aces-1936-53.ru/snipers/abc/i/ilien_n.htm|access-date=2021-11-03|website=soviet-aces-1936-53.ru}}
Early life
Ilyin was born to a Russian family in Chornukhyne village on 25 June 1922. After graduating from secondary school, he worked as a mechanic at the Debaltsevo-Sortirovochny depot in Donbass.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=essz5xVhqZYC&pg=PA83|title=Сталинградская битва: хроника, факты, люди|language=ru|publisher=ОЛМА Медиа Групп|year=2002|page=83|isbn=978-5-224-03719-3 }}
{{Cite book|title=Герои Советского Союза: краткий биографический словарь I, Абаев - Любичев|editor-last=Shkadov|editor-first=Ivan|editor-link=Ivan Shkadov|year=1987|publisher=Voenizdat|location=Moscow|page=|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8f3TAAAAMAAJ}}
Sniper feats
He entered the Red Army in 1941 soon after the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, and started off as a machine gunner before mastering his sniper skills. He fought in the intense battle of Stalingrad, and became a deputy political commissar in the 50th Guards Rifle Regiment.{{cite web|url=http://soviet-aces-1936-53.ru/snipers/abc/i/ilien_n.htm|title=Ильин Николай Яковлевич|website=soviet-aces-1936-53.ru|language=ru}} He showed himself to be a skilled sniper, killing 95 Nazis during eleven days of battle. He was awarded his first military award, the Order of the Red Banner on 29 September 1942,{{Pamyat naroda|10652009|archive=TsAMO|fund=33|inventory=682524|case=994}} and on 8 February 1943 he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for killing a total of 216 Nazis, including 95 that he killed in the course of eleven days.{{Pamyat naroda|12050191|archive=TsAMO|fund=33|inventory=682525|case=12}}{{cite web|title=Ильин Николай Яковлевич|last=Vorobyev|first=Valery|website=warheroes.ru|language=ru|url=https://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=2789}} For his work as a sniper he was awarded a personalized sniper rifle named after Hero of the Soviet Union Khusen Andrukhaev.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cJsCAAAAMAAJ|title=Юность мужала в боях: статьи, очерки, документы|date=1966 |publisher=Voenizdat|language=ru|page=53}}
Death
On 4 August 1943, Ilyin was killed by a machine gun burst near the City of Yastrebovo, outside Belgorod.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t0cyAQAAIAAJ|title=Через реки, через горы|language=ru|last=Saifullin|first=Gani|publisher=Tatarskoe knizhnoe izd-vo|year=1973}} He finished with a tally of 494,{{efn|name=number|Some sources report he killed 459 Nazi soldiers and officers, including 70 enemy snipers.{{cite news|work=Altai Pravda|title=Действующая армия|date=3 October 1943|page=4|language=ru|url=http://irbis.akunb.altlib.ru:81/pm/pm000035/1943201.pdf}}}} making him one of the best snipers of World War II.{{cite journal|journal=Argumenty I Fakty|title=Жизнь после котла|year=2015|issue=26|page=7}} His personal sniper rifle was given to sniper Afanasy Gordienko.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2zdLAAAAMAAJ|title=Воинские ритуалы|language=ru|publisher=Voenizdat|year=1986|page=160}} He was buried in Nikolskoye in present day Belgorodsky District, Belgorod Oblast.
Footnotes
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References
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{{WWIISniper}}
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Category:Heroes of the Soviet Union
Category:Recipients of the Order of Lenin
Category:Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner