School kids in Severomorsk-3 salute another killed warrior

“In our school we have opened a Hero’s Desk to the honour of Aleksei Mikhailovich Kosteev, holder of the Order of Bravery, who graduated from the school in 2004,” the School No 8 in Severomorsk-3 informs on its VK social media page.

Photos shared on the page show local students dressed up in uniforms of the Youth Army (Yunarmiya) paying tribute to the former graduate.

According to School No 8, Aleksei Kosteev studied eight years in Severomorsk-3. He subsequently became a student at the Murmansk Marine Fish Industry College and then enrolled in the Black Sea Fleet’s 810th Marine Infantry Brigade. He was twice in Syria before he ultimately was sent to Ukraine following the full-scale onslaught on the neighbouring country.

Kosteev is believed to have operated a self-propelled Howitzer.

He was killed in battle over the village of Chkalovo in the Kherson region on the 9th of October 2023 and is buried in Sevastopol, the Crimean city occupied by Russia since 2014, a compiled survey of killed Russian servicemen shows.

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Like in so many other death messages from official Russian authorities, the fighting and decease of Kosteev is presented as heroic and honourable deed for the motherland.

“Courage and bravery, heroism and soldiership are qualities characteristic of the soldiers or our country. In all battles, Russian warriors show themselves as real men and do not spare their own lives for the protection of a peaceful sky over our heads,” the School No 8 writes in a statement.

“Also in our times, soldiers of the Russian Army have to protect the historical memory so that the bravery of our forefathers will never be forgotten,” a statement from School No 8 reads.

Severmorsk-3 is a closed military town located about 30 km east of Murmansk City. It houses a Northern Fleet air base that is home to a fighter aviation regiment, as well as helicopters and other aircraft.

The airbase is located not far from Severomorsk, the headquarter city of the Northern Fleet.

Aleksei Kosteev is not the only warrior honoured in local Severomorsk schools. Among the other killed soldiers that have gotten so-called Heroes Desks is Andrei Paliy, the Deputy Commander of the Black Sea Fleet that was killed in the battles over Mariupol.

In his youth, Paliy was a student at School No 10 in Severomorsk.

It is not clear how many men from the Kola Peninsula that actually have been killed in Ukraine, but the Barents Observer has the names of almost 290 individuals. Among them are at least two warriors from Severomorsk-3.