Print: Black Sea Brigade C.L. Kunikov

Size 50x46m / 19.6 '' x 18.''

Orgin: Praporprint, reprint of orginal Soviet Poster.

Showing War Hero Ceasar Lvovich Kunikov and his troops. Kunikov who heroically defended the motherland in the great war being part of the Black Sea Forces and died February 14 1943 at age of 33 on wounds he recieving wounds from a stray mine on Malaya Zemlya.

Awarded hero of the Soviet Union post mortem.

81 years ago, a landing party under the command of Major Caesar Lvovich Kunikov left Gelendzhik for immortality. It was he who founded a bridgehead on the southwestern outskirts of Novorossiysk that went down in the history of the Great Patriotic War under the name "Small Land".

The history of the formation and subsequent combat operations of the landing force is connected with Gelendzhik.

On January 10, 1943, in accordance with the combat order of the Novorossiysk Naval Base of the Black Sea Fleet, classified "Top Secret", a special forces detachment was formed in Gelendzhik to land on enemy-occupied territory in the fishing village of Stanichka on the southwestern outskirts of Novorossiysk.

The purpose of the landing: to land on the shore, distract enemy forces and thereby facilitate the landing of the main landing force.

The detachment was formed on the basis of a reconnaissance and sabotage detachment exclusively from volunteers. Major Ts. L. Kunikov was appointed commander, captain F. E. Kotanov was appointed chief of staff, and senior lieutenant N. V. Starshinov was appointed deputy for political affairs. The detachment's structure ensured maximum mobility, ease of control and self-government in combat. The detachment was divided into 5 combat groups, which in turn were divided into squads.

A medical group headed by military doctor Yu. S. Starikov was created at the detachment headquarters.

In total, 190 Red Navy sailors, 70 senior officers and sergeants, and 15 command and political personnel were enrolled in the detachment.

Inside the Novorossiysk naval base, the combat areas of anti-landing defense, which were included in training according to the same program as the Kunikovites, served as a reserve for reinforcing the landing force.

The reinforcement groups were commanded by senior lieutenants I. V. Zhernovoy, V. A. Botylev, I. M. Yezhel, P. I. Dmitryak, and I. E. Lukashov.

The training and education of the paratroopers, which took place in Gelendzhik and False Gelendzhik, were merciless.

Embarkation and disembarkation from boats were initially practiced on dry land. For this purpose, a life-size model of a patrol ship's deck was marked with pegs on a flat surface and lightly dug in, adding real gangways. This "earth boat" helped everyone to remember their place on the deck in advance and to polish the general order of movement to automaticity. Then the training took place on combat boats, when the Kunikovites in full force with weapons and equipment disembarked from the boats into cold water and, firing, climbed out in the dark onto a steep bank similar to the one they had to recapture from the enemy.

The commander of the 4th division of patrol boats of the Black Sea Fleet's Naval Base, Captain-Lieutenant N. I. Sipyagin, was appointed as the landing commander.

The floating craft allocated include sea hunters, sea boats, minesweepers and two torpedo boats.

The slow-moving raiding minesweeper Skumbria was used to provide fire support for the landing force. A battery of launchers for 82-mm rockets was installed on the deck of the minesweeper.

On February 3, 1943, in an old building on Tonkiy Mys, the Kunikovites took an oath:

"We received an order from the command - to strike at the enemy, to overthrow and defeat him. Going into battle, we give an oath to the Motherland, to the great Stalin, that we will act swiftly and boldly. We will give our will, our strength, our blood, drop by drop, for the life and happiness of our people, for you, dearly beloved Motherland...".

On the day of landing the weather was typical for February: a gusty north-east wind was blowing, and it was drizzling at times.

On February 3 at 21:43 the detachment boarded the boats at the Tonkiy Mys pier. The sea passage to the tactical deployment site was carried out covertly. By 24:00 the detachment arrived at the deployment area in Tsemesskaya Bay near Cape Doob (Kabardinka village) and lay in drift with the lights extinguished. On February 4 at 0:51 N. I. Sipyagin fired green and red flares into the air – a conditional signal for the boats to advance to the landing site. At 1:00 the coastal defense artillery of M. S. Malakhov struck a two-kilometer section of the coast between Capes Lyubvi and Myskhako (Sudzhuk Spit). Ten minutes later the fire was transferred deep into the enemy defense.

At 1:03, two torpedo boats crossed the detachment's course and laid a smoke screen between it and the shore. At 1:11, the boats approached the shore. At 1:13, the detachment's landing was complete. Scattered along the shore in small groups, the detachment began a furious and merciless night battle, terrifying for the enemy. That same night, the boats that landed the assault detachment transferred the second echelon - the combat groups of Botylev, Zhernovoy, and Yezhel - to the occupied bridgehead from the 9th km of the Novorossiysk-Sukhum highway. In total, 860 fighters and commanders were landed in Stanichka on the night of February 4.

Kunikov's detachment, with reinforcements, recaptured from the enemy a bridgehead about 3 km wide along the coastline and up to 2.5 km deep.

Due to the unsuccessful landing of the main force in the village of Yuzhnaya Ozereyka, the demonstration landing becomes the main one.

In the following days, units and formations of the 18th Airborne Army land here. The bridgehead expands to 25 square kilometers. It went down in the history of the war under the name "Small Land".

On the 9th day after the landing, Kunikov was seriously wounded. He was transported to Gelendzhik by torpedo boat, to the 43rd naval hospital, but they could not save the life of the legendary commander. On February 14, 1943, Kunikov died, and on February 15, 1943, his funeral took place at the city cemetery on Kladbischenskaya Street, now Gornaya.

By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of April 17, 1943, Kunikov Caesar Lvovich was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. After the end of the Great Patriotic War, Kunikov's ashes were reburied in Novorossiysk on Heroes' Square, where a monument with a memorial plaque was erected to him.

The detachment continued to conduct combat operations, but without its commander. On March 27, 1943, the detachment was withdrawn from Malaya Zemlya to rest and reform in Gelendzhik.

From April to August 1943, the detachment provided ammunition and food to the landing troops of Malaya Zemlya. In August 1943, after the arrival of reinforcements from the marine battalions, the detachment was reformed. The formed unit was called the 393rd separate marine battalion of the Black Sea Fleet named after Kunikov. Captain-Lieutenant V. A. Botylev was appointed battalion commander.

On the night of September 9-10, 1943, the 393rd separate marine battalion was among the first to land in the Novorossiysk port, where it fought fierce battles until the complete liberation of Novorossiysk from the Nazi invaders. By order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of September 16, 1943, the 393rd battalion was awarded the honorary title "Novorossiysk". The personnel were awarded orders and medals of the USSR.

From the archive of the newspaper "Priboy"