Legendary scout Alexei Botyan. Saving Krakow is the most important thing that I have done in my life Encyclopedias do not write about the latter

The book by Yulian Semyonov and the film "Major Whirlwind" tell about only one episode of the war - about the salvation of Polish Krakow. It is based on true facts from the life of special services. The image of the hero himself, a fearless Soviet intelligence officer, has become collective. However, among several sabotage groups that worked in Krakow in January 1945, the detachment of Lieutenant Botyan was recognized as the most productive.

FROM THOSE FOR WHOM YOU FIGHTED
The prototype of the hero of the film "Major Whirlwind" - Aleksey Botyan - has been "leaving" for the forests for many years in the spring - moving to a dacha in Lyubuchany, in the Chekhovsky district. The locals have no idea who lives next door to them. Not because the former intelligence officer is "encrypted" by virtue of his profession. He just doesn't public person the nature. Modesty did not allow the colonel of state security, who saved thousands of lives in the war and even the whole city - Polish Krakow, to defend well-deserved awards in his time. Twice presented Alexei Botyan to the title of Hero Soviet Union, twice, according to some hasty decisions, the highest state award was replaced by the Order of the Battle, and then - the Red Banner of Labor. Only at the beginning of the 21st century did justice prevail. On May 9, 2007, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the award, and then presented Alexei Botyan with the Star of the Hero of Russia. 62 years after the feat.

VORTEX TRAIL
On the second world war Alexey got there when his native Vilna province, at that time part of Western Belarus, belonged to Poland. He was drafted into the Polish army, served in the air defense and even shot down three Junkers. When the Red Army occupied Eastern Poland in September 1939, he returned to his village Chertovichi, which again became Belarusian. And just before the start of the Great Patriotic War, a young elementary school teacher who graduated from pedagogical courses and was elected secretary Komsomol organization, sent to the capital's NKVD sabotage and reconnaissance school. In November 1941, as part of a special group, Botyan operates behind enemy lines in the Moscow region, participates in the defense of Moscow, then gets into the partisan formations of Belarus and Ukraine, and for many years - to Europe.
- Everywhere I participated in battles, but I'm restless, - says Alexei Nikolaevich. - But for the whole war I was not even wounded. Lucky!
The professional qualities of a personnel intelligence officer are confirmed by victories in the most complex multi-way operations. In September 1943, Aleksey Botyan organized an explosion in an anti-partisan center near Zhytomyr, which killed more than 80 punishers. In January 1945, a group of scouts under the command of Lieutenant Botyan disrupted a major enemy operation to destroy the city of Krakow. The monstrous plan of the Germans became known to Botyan through operational agents and "tongues". In Nowy Sącz Castle there was a huge warehouse of explosives that supplied the German army, including the latest anti-tank grenades - faustpatrons. Krakow, along with other settlements, and two more dams on mountain rivers were destined to become ruins. The agony of the enemy could cost the lives of thousands of Soviet soldiers and civilians. If not for the English mine, skillfully planted in the warehouse by Botyan's group.

FATE OF THE RESIDENT
Botyan in Belarusian means stork. The carrier of this soaring surname, in addition to his native Russian, Polish, German and Czech, was impeccable. In the midst of people and events, he easily assimilated them. Abilities were transferred from his father, who left before the war to work in Germany, and from there on a ship to Argentina. The son saved Krakow during the war, and the father saved his village. The Nazis wanted to burn its inhabitants alive, allegedly for their connection with the partisans, but Nikolai Botyan boldly stepped forward from among the doomed and stood up for the elderly and children in pure German. Managed to convince. About what fell to the lot of Alexei Botyan (and we know only part of the declassified), you can create more than one scenario. Artists would certainly be interested in the ability to transform from one image to another, psychologists - fortitude, motivated by a heightened sense of duty. And how many professions Botyan himself mastered in almost 40 years of intelligence work! Before becoming "Major Whirlwind", he was an anti-aircraft gunner and a teacher. After the war, "returning" as a Czech repatriate from Western Ukraine to Czechoslovakia, he got a job as a mechanic at railway, graduated from a mechanical engineering college, and in Czech, worked as a mechanic, foreman, then in uranium mines ... There were business trips to other countries ...

THE WHOLE WORLD REMEMBERS THEM IN FACE
Alexey Nikolaevich does not give up to age. Every week he plays volleyball with the veterans. Shoots at a target without a miss. Meets with schoolchildren, cadets, cadets. At one time, Botyan participated in the creation of the Vympel anti-terrorist special unit. Recently, great-grandson Alexei tried on a soldier's beret in the military-patriotic center. Now he serves in the Presidential Regiment, and Colonel Botyan, looking at him, sometimes recalls the film “Officers”, where the cadet granddaughter also wanted to be like his grandfather ... He himself was always eager to go to the front. At one time, already at a very respectable age, he wrote a report about his readiness to serve in Afghanistan, offering his own experience in partisan work. The family protested. For many years, on May holidays, according to tradition, Aleksey Nikolayevich has met with veterans of OMSBON - a separate motorized rifle brigade for special purposes, in which he had a chance to fight. There is also the Partisan Glade, where veterans gather, and the Presidential Reception in the Kremlin, where a combat intelligence officer is always invited. When Botyan was presented with the award of St. Andrew the First-Called, he came out to thank for the high award, and the speech came down to one thing - if the Motherland calls, he is ready to get back into line.

Dossier
Alexey Nikolaevich Botyan - Soviet intelligence officer, veteran of the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945, Hero of Russia, one of the saviors of the city of Krakow. In 1940 he was sent to serve in the NKVD of the USSR, in 1941 he graduated from intelligence school. In July 1941, he was enlisted in the Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade for Special Purposes, subordinate to the 4th Directorate of the NKVD of the USSR (Head of Directorate - P. A. Sudoplatov). In November 1941, as commander of a reconnaissance and sabotage group, he was transferred to the front line. Participated in the defense of Moscow. In 1942 he was sent to the deep rear of the enemy, to the western regions of Ukraine and Belarus. He acted there both independently and as part of large partisan detachments. He was deputy for intelligence of the commander of the partisan unit of the Hero of the Soviet Union Viktor Aleksandrovich Karasev.

A holiday in the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation - colleagues congratulate the legend domestic special services Alexey Nikolaevich Botyan Happy anniversary. On February 10, he turns 100 years old!

He was born in the village of Chertovichi, 78 km from Minsk. After the Polish-Soviet war, the village ended up on the territory of Poland. On September 1, 1939, for the Belarusian Aleksey Botyan, non-commissioned officer of the anti-aircraft division of the Polish Army, World War II began. On the same day, his crew managed to shoot down the first Junkers. “I fought for several months, but Soviet troops occupied our region, preventing the Nazis from capturing it, and I suddenly became a citizen of the USSR. taught at primary school, but in 1940 I was sent to Moscow to study. And since I already knew Polish, Belarusian, Russian, German languages, offered to enter the intelligence school. In November 1941, I was transferred behind the front line as part of a special group, ”recalls Aleksey Nikolaevich.

For many years his life was a state secret. Only in the XXI century. declassified only a small part of it. And then the country found out that the legendary Major Whirlwind was not fiction. writer Julian Semyonov. He has a prototype. True, not one - the Polish Krakow in 1945 was saved by several groups, and the image of the Whirlwind is a collective one.

Scout A. Botyan, October 1941 Photo: From the family archive

"Partizan Alyosha"

“In the spring of 1944, when the front was moving to the West, it was decided to move a number of partisan detachments and special groups to the occupied territory of Poland. My group crossed the border as part of a detachment fathers Karaseva. They called me “partisan Alyosha,” says Botyan. The group had the task of ensuring the unhindered offensive of the Red Army. They set up ambushes, blew up trains. “Polish partisans helped us. At the end of 1944, my group captured a cartographer from the headquarters of the rear units of the Wehrmacht - a Pole Zygmund Ogarek. With him - maps of the fortifications of Nowy Sącz. It turned out that in the Jagiellonian castle, the ancient residence of the Polish kings, the Germans set up a huge ammunition depot. Explosives, shells, faust cartridges were brought in wagons. It was alarming that stocks were hastily replenished. The war was coming to an end, and the Nazis, it was felt, were preparing some kind of serious action. The Germans were going to mine the bridges over the Dunajec River, the Rozhnov Dam and the cultural monuments of Krakow in order to blow them up during the retreat. “Then the group carried out an operation to mine the warehouse. The explosion in the castle thundered on January 18, 1945 at 5:20. Thus, the destruction of Krakow was prevented, and our army entered the city along the surviving bridges.

This and other operations of Alexei Nikolaevich are included in textbooks for the training of special forces. The archives of the Foreign Intelligence Service contain a lot of materials about Alyosha's sabotage. What is worth the explosion of the SS headquarters in the Zhytomyr region - almost a hundred officers who gathered (irony of fate!) for a meeting on the fight against partisans were destroyed. "We were helped by a man named Yakov Kapluk who served there as a stoker. The Germans trusted him. For weeks, he and his wife transported explosives to the Gebitskommissariat - only 150 kg. Laid in 3 places. The explosion thundered on the night of September 9, 1943. Having disrupted the operation to clean up several regions of Ukraine, Botyan saved tens of thousands of lives of civilians.

Scout

After the Victory, the Center decided that Botyan would make an excellent illegal immigrant. “I was given the task of “returning” from Western Ukraine to the Sudetenland, transferred to Czechoslovakia after the war, as a Czech repatriate. Get an education there, make a career and infiltrate the Western intelligence services, which showed great interest in uranium ore deposits. Under the name Leo Dvorak Botyan arrived in the city of Ash. He studied at a mining technical school, got a job at a uranium mine. “In Asha, I met a local beauty Helena Vinzel. We fell in love and got married. With the help of Czech connections in the uranium industry, I infiltrated one of the Western intelligence services and began to supply information.

The career of an illegal intelligence officer almost ended in 1953 - Botyan was unexpectedly summoned to Moscow. Then they were repressed head of the 9th (reconnaissance and sabotage) department of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs P. Sudoplatov began to fire his subordinates. Upon learning that a career intelligence officer had a foreign wife, Botyan was also fired. “With the help of intelligence friends, I had to illegally smuggle my wife and daughter from Czechoslovakia Irina. Only then did Helena find out who I really was. According to Soviet documents, she became Galina Vladimirovna Botyan". Alexey Botyan got a job as a dotel in the Prague restaurant, where his excellent knowledge of languages ​​came in handy. “And a year and a half later, when passions subsided, the leadership returned me to the service. Galina Vladimirovna also underwent special training. My wife and I returned to Czechoslovakia. The operation was continued. Then there were business trips to other countries ... "

But this period of the life of Alexei Nikolaevich is still labeled “Owl. secret”: in what countries, under what names the Soviet illegal immigrant appeared, it is still impossible to tell. It is only known that Colonel Botyan "settled" in the Union in 1985. He took part in the creation of the legendary, passed on experience. By the way, he trained the fighters who in 1979 stormed Amin's palace in Kabul. “I myself asked several times to work in Afghanistan - they didn’t let me in.” Botyan retired in 1989.

Hero

The merits of the scout were not immediately appreciated. Alexei Nikolaevich was twice presented to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. But both times, instead of a star, they were given the Order of the Red Banner: the authorities were embarrassed by his short non-commissioned officer in the Polish army. Justice triumphed only on May 10, 2007: by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, retired colonel Alexei Botyan was awarded the title of Hero of Russia. Giving him the "Gold Star", Vladimir Putin said: "The most beautiful city in Europe - ancient Krakow was preserved for Poland and for the entire world culture largely thanks to your personal courage."

So long has the Star been looking for him. Photo: Foreign Intelligence Service

“A few years ago, while my legs allowed, I met with my younger comrades at least once a week. We played volleyball and table tennis. And I still love to play chess.” Botyan does not give up for years: back in 95, having arrived at a meeting with the fighters of one of the airborne units, he shot 29 points out of 30 possible from a pistol in the shooting range! So Alexey Nikolayevich meets his 100th birthday in a fighting mood, as if confirming the thesis that "there are no former intelligence officers."

Polish period

Alexey Nikolaevich Botyan grew up in peasant family, who lived on the territory of Western Belarus, which in March 1921 went to Poland. After graduating from school, he was drafted into the Polish army, in which, commanding the calculation of an anti-aircraft gun, in September 1939 he participated in battles with the Germans. He shot down three Junkers planes near Warsaw.

When the eastern regions of Poland were occupied by Soviet troops, he became a citizen of the USSR and taught at an elementary school.

• In 1940 he was sent to serve in the NKVD of the USSR, in 1941 he graduated from intelligence school. In July 1941, he was enlisted in the Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade for Special Purposes, subordinate to the 4th Directorate of the NKVD of the USSR (Head of Directorate - P. A. Sudoplatov).
• In November 1941, as commander of a reconnaissance and sabotage group, he was transferred to the front line. Participated in the defense of Moscow.
• In 1942 he was sent to the deep rear of the enemy in the western regions of Ukraine and Belarus. He acted there both independently and as part of large partisan detachments. He was deputy for intelligence of the commander of the partisan unit of the Hero of the Soviet Union Viktor Aleksandrovich Karasyov.

Under his direct leadership, an operation was carried out to blow up the German Gebietskommissariat in the city of Ovruch, Zhytomyr region, Ukrainian SSR, when an inspection from Germany was there. As a result of this operation, on September 9, 1943, 80 Nazi officers were destroyed. For this operation, Alexei Botyan was presented to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, but then he was not awarded.

• In May 1944, on the instructions of the Center, at the head of a group of 28 people, he crossed over to Poland, with the task of organizing reconnaissance of the location and movement of the enemy in the region of the city of Krakow.

Thanks to a good knowledge of the Polish language and the culture of the local population, as well as his organizational skills, Aleksey Botyan managed to organize interaction and joint military operations with such different political forces as units of the Krainova Army, the Ludova Army and the Khlopsky peasant battalions. For example, he carried out a daring operation to capture the city of Ilzha, together with units of the Ludova Army, during which arrested Polish patriots were released from prison, captured a large number of weapons and equipment. Now in the city of Ilzha there is a monument to the heroes of that glorious battle, on which, along with the names of the Poles, the names of the Soviet fighters of the group of A. N. Botyan are also engraved. Aleksey Botyan's group managed to settle in the Krakow region and launch extensive reconnaissance and sabotage activities. At the end of 1944, the fighters of the group captured the engineer-cartographer Zygmund Ogarek, an ethnic Pole who was mobilized into the Nazi army and served in the rear units of the Wehrmacht. Ogarek gave valuable evidence about the explosives warehouse in the Jagielon Castle, which was supposed to be used to destroy the historical center of Krakow, the Rozhnov dam and bridges over the Dunajec River. Aleksey Botyan managed to introduce a Polish patriot into the castle under the guise of a loader, who set up a time bomb. In the midst of the offensive of the Red Army on the morning of January 18, 1945, the mine was activated. A huge enemy warehouse flew into the air. The enemy was unable to mine and destroy the objects planned for the explosion in Krakow. And on January 19, advanced units of the 1st Ukrainian Front under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union I.S. Konev entered Krakow.

• In the last months of the war, the group of Alexei Botyan operated behind enemy lines in the occupied territory of Czechoslovakia.
• Since 1945, he served in the operational staff of the 1st Directorate ( foreign intelligence) People's Commissariat state security USSR (since 1946 - the Ministry of State Security of the USSR, since 1954 - the State Security Committee under the Council of Ministers of the USSR).

Repeatedly went on foreign business trips in various European countries to perform complex and responsible tasks, which the time has not yet come to talk about. Engaged to advise group members special purpose"Pennant".

• In 1983, with the rank of colonel, he was retired due to age.
• Until 1989, he continued to work in the KGB of the USSR as a civilian specialist.

Speaks German, Polish and Czech. Wife - Galina Vladimirovna, nee Helena Ginzel (Czech).

Decree of the President Russian Federation dated May 10, 2007 "for the courage and heroism shown during the operation to liberate the Polish city of Krakow and prevent its destruction by the Nazi invaders during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945", retired colonel Aleksey Nikolaevich Botyan was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation with awarding the Gold Star medal.

Lives in Moscow.

Awards

• Hero of the Russian Federation (May 10, 2007)
• Order of Courage
• Two Orders of the Red Banner
• Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class
• Order of the Red Banner of Labor
• Order of the Virtuti Military (Poland)
• Medal "For Military Merit"
• Medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War" I degree
• Other medals of Russia, USSR, Poland
• Honorary State Security Officer

Answer: No. After all, I was an employee of the 4th Directorate of the NKVD. It was created during the war years to conduct partisan and sabotage and reconnaissance operations behind enemy lines. It was headed by the legendary Chekist Pavel Sudoplatov. Yulian Semenov wrote his story based on the materials of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff, and not on ours. The film is undeniably great. Major Whirlwind is a collective image; several groups participated in the salvation of Krakow. Both mine and Yevgeny Bereznyak (another prototype of the Whirlwind, now lives in Kyiv. - Izvestia). We were faced with a single task - to ensure the rapid advance of Soviet troops to Krakow. It can be said that Major Whirlwind and I did a common thing.

"They called me" partisan Alyosha "

- Q: How did you end up in the occupied Polish territory?

A: In the spring of 1944, the front moved west. It was decided to move there and several partisan formations. The border was crossed on April 4 with a detachment of partisan "father", chief of staff Viktor Karasev. I was his assistant. Because of the continuous bombing, they went at night. Problems arose when someone was injured: they had to turn to the locals, mostly priests, for help. It was easier for me - I knew the language, literature, history, the realities of the country. I was called "partisan Alyosha" in Poland. Sometimes he put on the uniform of a railway worker - they didn’t touch me. Karasev had 400 fighters. We broke up into three groups and so, having dispersed, at the end of April we reached vast swampy forests.

- Q: And how did you get to the vicinity of Krakow?

A: On May 1, Karasev received a command from the Center to send me to this area with a small group. I picked up 28 people, including two radio operators. Once we stumbled upon the Akovtsy (a detachment of the Craiova Army, which was subordinate to the London government of Stanislav Mikolajczyk. - Izvestia). We were received very unfriendly. Their commander, lieutenant, hearing the Polish speech from my lips, did not believe that I was a Belarusian. "We don't need you," he repeated. "We'll get rid of the Germans without you." Then he softened. Akovtsy even shared bread and cigarettes. But much more loyal to us were the partisans of the BH - the Khlopsky peasant battalions. Not to mention the fighters of the communist-led People's Army ...

Q: Did you help them?

Best of the day

O: It happened. The German garrison was located in the regional town of Ilzha. People from the People's Army asked us to help free the underground members who were imprisoned in the local prison. At first I doubted: the group had the task of reaching Krakow without loss. They carried out reconnaissance, cut off the telephone connection to the Germans and entered the city at nightfall. With machine-gun fire, my guys locked the Nazis in the barracks. And the Poles pulled their comrades out of prison, smashed the post office, the bank, devastated warehouses. The whole night the city was in our hands. Then we moved on - to Częstochowa. In the 20th of May, the group crossed the Vistula. In Ilzha, by the way, there is an obelisk. On it is a bronze plaque mentioning the group of "Lieutenant Alyosha".

- in: You were preparing an operation to destroy the Gauleiter of Krakow Hans Frank, the "executioner of Poland" ...

A: We managed to recruit his valet - Józef Puto. He was handed a pistol with a silencer and an English chemical mine. But literally on the eve of the assassination attempt, units of the Red Army broke through the front, and Frank hastily fled to Czestochowa. Lucky Gauleiter. My reconnaissance group moved to Nowy Sanch, a city in the Polish Tatras. It was called "the key to Krakow".

"A historical monument, of course... But what else was left?"

- Q: How did the plan to save Krakow come about?

A: Initially, the task was different. It was necessary to ensure the unimpeded advance of the Red Army. Every day the Germans were attacked, ambushed, trains blown up wherever possible - south and east of Krakow. Polish partisans helped us. At the end of 1944, my group accidentally captured a cartographer from the headquarters of the rear units of the Wehrmacht - Pole Zygmund Ogarek. With him - maps of the fortifications of Novy Sącz.

It turned out that in the local Jagielon castle, the ancient residence of the Polish kings, the Germans had set up a huge ammunition depot. Explosives, shells, faustpatrons were brought in wagons. They were going to mine the bridges across the Dunajec River, the Rozhnov Dam and the cultural monuments of Krakow. And when retreating - blow up. As a result, everything would have been flooded, and the Red Army would not have passed.

- in: In a word, you decided to destroy the castle itself?

A: A historical monument, of course... But what else was left? Ogarek, who was recruited by us, found a Polish communist who, under the guise of a loader, brought a mine into the castle and put it in piles of shells. The explosion took place on January 18, 1945 early in the morning. Hundreds of Nazis died. On the surviving bridges, on the unflooded terrain, the Red Army entered Krakow without hindrance. Saving him is the most important thing I have done in my life.

"Party workers were embarrassed that in 1939 I was a non-commissioned officer in Pilsudski's army"

- in: But you were never awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Why?

A: The first time I was introduced to the Star back in 1943. That summer, the Nazis decided to create a powerful anti-partisan center. A group of "specialists" arrived from Berlin to the town of Ovruch in the Zhytomyr region. The punishers stopped in the building of a well-guarded gebitskommissariat (in German, "gebit" means region. - "Izvestia"). We were helped by a man named Yakov Kapluk, who served as a stoker there. The Germans unconditionally trusted him. For weeks, he and his wife transported explosives to the Gebitskommissariat - only 150 kilograms. Laid in three places. The explosion took place on the night of September 9th. More than 80 Nazis died under the ruins - entirely representatives of the command staff.

In Moscow, they began to check all this. They dragged on for a long time and eventually gave the Order of the Red Banner. The second time, in 1965, a group of former partisans and military leaders addressed the KGB with a collective request about me - a total of 200 signatures. And I again received the Order of the Red Banner. Our party workers were embarrassed that in 1939 I was a non-commissioned officer in Piłsudski's army. By the way, in the winter of 1941, as part of the OMSBON (a separate motorized rifle brigade for special purposes. - Izvestia), I participated in the defense of Moscow. Took language.

"The Poles are more likely to be friends with the Germans, but against Russia"

- in: The current Polish authorities do not like Russia too much ...

A: It has been like this for centuries. They are more likely to be friends with the Germans, but against Russia. They see us as the only culprits for the division of Poland under Catherine II.

- in: In Estonia, they are going to demolish a monument to a Soviet soldier ...

A: Barbarians. I would deal with them like a partisan. Like bandits.

Q: What are you doing now?

A: In 1983, I retired from the authorities, but until 1989 I helped, collaborated. I thought to go to someone as a referent. I decided: "Why? The pension is not bad, enough to live on." Now I play volleyball twice a week. I'm afraid to fall - you never know what? And so, when necessary, I will take the ball, I will pass it ... Tempering has been preserved. In 1978 they invited me former partisans to Ukraine, to Cherkassy - to hunt ducks. Grabbed a gun, 25 rounds. They settled on an island, and they put me in the reeds. I beat them all, these hunters. 25 ducks shot down. And during the war he used a 9mm parabellum, not a TT, too heavy. For me, the main thing is accuracy, aiming shooting.

Alexey Nikolaevich Botyan

Born on February 10, 1917 in the Belarusian village of Chertovichi, Vilna province (80 kilometers west of Minsk). In March 1921, this part of Western Belarus was ceded to Poland. After graduating from school, Botyan was drafted into the Polish army, in which, commanding the calculation of an anti-aircraft gun, in September 1939 he participated in battles with the Germans. Shot down three Junkers near Warsaw. When the eastern regions of Poland were occupied by Soviet troops, Botyan became a citizen of the USSR. He worked as a teacher in an elementary school. Then he was sent to study at the intelligence school of the NKVD. In November 1941 he was transferred to the front line. On the territory of Belarus and Ukraine, his special group conducted reconnaissance and sabotage work behind enemy lines.

After the end of the war, Botyan worked in the central apparatus of foreign intelligence. He was repeatedly involved in performing assignments abroad, in particular, in the Czech Republic. Advised employees of the special forces "Vympel". He was awarded two Orders of the Red Banner and the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, medals, and the badge "Honorary State Security Officer".

Speaks German, Polish and Czech. Alexei Nikolaevich has two great-grandchildren - 12 and 4 years old.

Botyan Aleksey Nikolaevich - Soviet intelligence officer, during the Great Patriotic War - commander of the sabotage group of the 4th Directorate of the NVKD of the USSR, retired colonel.

Born on February 10, 1917 in the village of Chertovichi, Volozhin volost, Oshmyany district, Vilna province (now the territory is part of the Vololzhinsky village council of the Volozhinsky district, Minsk region of the Republic of Belarus) into a peasant family. Belarus. He lived with his family in his native village, which since 1921 turned out to be on the territory of Poland, graduated high school.

In 1939 he was drafted into the Polish army, served in anti-aircraft artillery units in Vilna, rose to the rank of non-commissioned officer. He took part in the battles against the Nazi troops in September 1939. According to some reports, he shot down three German aircraft as an anti-aircraft gun crew commander. After the occupation of Poland by the Nazis military unit went out to meet the units of the Red Army and surrendered. He returned to his native village, completed teacher training courses and worked as a teacher in an elementary school, received Soviet citizenship.

In May 1940, he was sent to serve in the NKVD of the USSR and enrolled in an intelligence school. In July 1941, he was enlisted in the Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade for Special Purposes, subordinate to the 4th Directorate of the NKVD of the USSR (Head of Directorate - P.A. Sudoplatov).

In November 1941, as a commander of a reconnaissance and sabotage group, he was transferred to the front line. Participated in the defense of Moscow. In January 1943 he was again sent to the deep rear of the enemy in the western regions of Ukraine and Belarus. He acted there both independently and as part of large partisan detachments. He was deputy for intelligence of the commander of the partisan unit of the Hero of the Soviet Union V.A. Karasev. Under the direct supervision of A.N. Botyan, an operation was carried out to blow up the German Gebietskommissariat in the city of Ovruch, Zhytomyr region, Ukrainian SSR, when an inspection from Germany was there. As a result of this operation, on September 9, 1943, 80 Nazi officers were destroyed. For this operation, A.N. Botyan was presented to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, but was not awarded.

In May 1944, on the instructions of the Center, at the head of a group of 28 people, he crossed to Poland, having the task of organizing reconnaissance of the location and movement of the enemy in the area of ​​​​the city of Krakow. Thanks to his good knowledge of the Polish language and the culture of the local population, as well as his organizational skills, he managed to organize interaction and joint military operations with such different political forces as parts of the Krainova Army, the Ludowa Army and the Khlopsky peasant battalions. For example, he carried out a daring operation to capture the city of Ilzha, together with units of the Army of the People, during which the arrested Polish patriots were released from prison, a large amount of weapons and equipment were seized. Now in the city of Ilzha there is a monument to the heroes of that glorious battle, on which, along with the names of the Poles, the names of the Soviet fighters of the group of A.N. Botyan are also engraved.

The group of A.N. Botyan managed to settle in the Krakow region and deploy extensive reconnaissance and sabotage activities. At the end of 1944, the fighters of the group captured the engineer-cartographer Zygmund Ogarek, an ethnic Pole who was mobilized into the Nazi army and served in the rear units of the Wehrmacht. Ogarek gave valuable testimony about the explosives warehouse in the Jagielon Castle, which was supposed to be used to destroy the historical center of Krakow, the Rozhnov dam and bridges over the Dunajec River.

A.N. Botyan managed to introduce a Polish patriot into the castle under the guise of a loader, who set up a delayed-action mine. In the midst of the offensive of the Red Army on the morning of January 18, 1945, the mine was activated. A huge enemy warehouse flew into the air. The enemy was unable to mine and destroy the objects planned for the explosion in Krakow. And on January 19, advanced units of the 1st Ukrainian Front under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union I.S. Konev broke into Krakow. In the last months of the war, the group of A.N. Botyan operated behind enemy lines in the occupied territory of Czechoslovakia.

Since 1945, he served in the operational staff of the 1st Directorate (foreign intelligence) of the People's Commissariat of State Security of the USSR (since 1946 - the Ministry of State Security of the USSR, since 1954 - the State Security Committee under the Council of Ministers of the USSR).

He repeatedly went on business trips to various European countries to perform complex and responsible tasks, which the time has not yet come to talk about. It is known that in the 1940s and 1950s he worked illegally in Czechoslovakia and the Federal Republic of Germany. He was involved in advising employees of the Vympel special forces group. In 1983, with the rank of colonel, he was retired due to age, but until 1989 he continued to work in the KGB of the USSR as a civilian specialist.

In the post-war period, he was twice presented for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union in 1965 and in 1974, but even then he was not awarded. Along with the Hero of Ukraine E.S. Bereznyak (1914-2013) and the writer O.A. Gorchakov (1924-2000), he became one of the prototypes of the protagonist of Y. Semenov’s novel “Major Whirlwind” and the three-episode feature film of the same name in 1967 (director E .I.Tashkov).

By Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 614 of May 9, 2007, for the courage and heroism shown during the operation to liberate the Polish city of Krakow and prevent its destruction by the Nazi invaders during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, to a retired colonel Botyan Alexey Nikolaevich was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation with the Gold Star medal.

Lives in the Hero City of Moscow.

Colonel. He was awarded the Orders of Merit for the Fatherland, 4th class (2017), Courage, 2 Orders of the Red Banner (1943, 1965), Orders of the Patriotic War, 1st class (03/11/1985), Red Banner of Labor, medals, including "For Military Merit" and "Partisan of the Patriotic War" 1st degree, the badge "Honorary State Security Officer", as well as foreign countries, including the Order "For Military Valor" ("Virtuti Militari", Poland), medals of Poland and Czechoslovakia.

Honorary citizen of the city of Ilzha (Poland).

Speaks German, Polish and Czech.