Sergei Ignatievich
Postevoy
1921-2000
Sergei Ignatievich Postevoy was the commander of a mortar platoon in the 204th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 69th Guards Rifle Division, part of the 4th Guards Army of the 2nd Ukrainian Front. He was the Guards Lieutenant and Hero of the Soviet Union. Later he rose to the rank of Colonel in the Internal Service. He was born on October 7, 1921, in the village of Glybochka, the Trubchevsky District, the Bryansk Governorate, in a peasant family. Postevoy was ethnically Russian. After completing seven years of schooling, he was drafted into the Red Army in 1939. Following his discharge, he worked in the fire service. In 1941, he graduated from Leningrad Fire Protection School and served as a watch commander in Moscow’s fire department. Recalled to the army in 1943, he completed Ryazan Machine Gun School and was sent to the front in August of that year, taking command of a mortar platoon in the 204th Guards Rifle Regiment. His combat journey began during the liberation of Akhtyrka in the Sumy Region. On January 25, 1944, during the Battle of Korsun-Cherkassy, Postevoy found himself encircled while attempting to capture a prisoner. After the death of battery commander Captain Zakalin, he armed himself with a submachine gun and anti-tank grenades, setting up an ambush. Alone, he destroyed two enemy tanks and up to 42 soldiers, forcing German forces to abandon the village of Ositnyazhka. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on September 13, 1944, Postevoy was awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union, receiving the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. He ended the war in Austria and was discharged in 1947. Returning to Moscow’s fire service, he served as a watch commander and later headed the 4th Fire Station. From 1972 to 1988, he commanded the training fire regiment of the Moscow Main Directorate of Internal Affairs’ Fire Protection Unit. After retirement, he worked as a junior researcher at the Fire-Technical Centre and chaired the Veterans Council. Since April 18, 2000, the Moscow Training Centre of the Federal Fire Service has borne his name. He was the author of the memoir «Calling Fire on Ourselves» (Moscow, 1998).
Address: Moscow, Golubinskaya St., 6A
