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Upon initiative of Investigative Committee, valour classes take place in all Russian regions in commemoration of deceased young heroes

On December 9, Russia celebrated a significant date, Motherland Heroes Day. This is a very special day celebrating the courage, dedication, and patriotic qualities of people rightfully bearing this title. We remember tragic pages of our history, countless heroic deeds of our ancestors, unwavering will, fortitude and unity of the people. And with that, we remember the feat of young heroes who fearlessly went to fight and gave their lives along with adults.

Unfortunately, even in this peaceful time children sometimes have to face acts of incredible cruelty, blatant murderers who threaten not only their lives, but also the lives of their loved ones.

Today, the town of Severodvinsk in Arkhangelsk Region hosted a farewell ceremony for 16-year-old Ivan Krapivin who had found himself in a situation like that and bravely gave his life for his mother, protecting her from a drunken neighbour. Doctors had been fighting for the boy’s life for over a year, but the injuries were too severe to hope for recovery. Ivan Krapivin passed away on December 4, 2018. Despite his tragic fate, Vanya’s feat will live in the hearts; his act of courage will be a model not only for boys and girls, but also for adults. Vanya Krapivin was posthumously awarded with the medal “Valour and Courage” of the Investigative Committee of Russia.

 Upon initiative of the Investigative Committee of Russia, schools, cadet schools, and other educational institutions held “valour classes”, where they remembered not only Ivan, but also other boys - Zhenya Tabakov who protected his sister from burglars; Danil Sadykov who saved a child; Andrey Kasimov who rushed to save his sister from a rapist.

For instance, the Yamalo-Nenets Regional Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia held a valour class for cadets of the Salekhard school No. 4. The fates of the deceased children touched the string in the cadets. “We have to remember and convey stories about those who passed away with dignity, protecting the most precious thing in the world - this way their feat will be unfadable,” said an investigative officer at the event.

Investigators of the Moscow Regional Main Investigations Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia held valour classes in Khimki Cadet School and in Balashikha Urban District School. They noted in the classes that the children’s deaths signalled of their qualities extraordinary for their age - love for the neighbour, dedication, courage, sympathy. Here they are - the very young true heroes of our time.

In Tyumen Region, they invited to the valour class Grigory Grigoryev, the Chairman of the regional public airborne veteran organisation “Airborne Force Union”. He told the children about the boys’ feats and hosted a marching lesson.

In the valour class in Altai Territory, they discussed not only the heroic deeds of Vanya, Zhenya, Danil, and Andrey, but also that of Pavel Chernikov from Pavlovsk Region, who had saved an 11-year-old girl. Passing by a transformer substation in Novye Zori settlement in Pavlovsk Region, he had heard children’s screaming and rushed to help. Upon seeing the girl under an electrical cable, pushed back by electric shock, he had risked his life to take the victim out from the substation and deliver her to a medical facility.

In the valour class in the Republic of Bashkortostan, schoolchildren were reminded how to act in prospectively dangerous circumstances to avoid becoming a victim of a crime; who to contact for help; and what to do when witnessing a crime.

In Kalmykia, investigators of the Investigative Committee of Russia also held the valour classes for students of Elista and Gorodovikovsk towns and Sadovoe and Troitskoe settlements. Moreover, officers of the Khabarovsk Regional Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia together with students of a local cadet class offered a moment of silence for Ivan Krapivin. Representative of the Investigative Committee of Russia in Novosibirsk Region, Krasnoyarsk Territory, and Astrakhan Region held the valour classes for schoolchildren. At every class, officers explained to children that Vanya acted as an adult despite his age. He had wanted to stop the cruelty with all his heart. And he did - his mother is alive. Vanya Krapivin is not just a boy, now it’s a symbol of a true man, a guardian and defender of his family.