Background
KIochkov-Diev, Vasilii was born in 1911.
KIochkov-Diev, Vasilii was born in 1911.
Joined the Bolshevik Party, 1939. Drafted into the army, 1941. According to his official biography, wounded during the battle for Moscow, 1941, and lay down with his grenades under an advancing German tank.
To him are attributed the words (which were later extensively used as a slogan): ‘Russia is large, but there is nowhere to retreat — Moscow is behind us’.