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| Vasilev, Konstantin |
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| Written by А. М. Душенко, Н. Я. Липакина, Наталья Прилюк (жена) | |||||||||||||
| Суббота, 25 Октябрь 2003 | |||||||||||||
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Age 35; Russia, Yeysk city.
Kostya was baptized as an adult. I know that it was a conscious decision. We grew up together during the Soviet time that is now subject to historical reevaluation, but in those days our lives were structured communally. There were always many children in the apartment’s commons, and never a day passed that we did not gather together and play. Kostya from early on had this feel for justice: if the boys were fighting he tried to play the role of peacekeeper. When he grew up it remained with him. He was always trying to extinguish conflict. We went to school together. He was the perfect student. We had one course called ‘outside reading’ — not everyone liked it, but Kostya loved reading from the school bookshelf, especially books about the Great Patriotic War (WW II). He soaked up their atmosphere of achievement, and, as a result, this set him on the path of his life. After school Konstantin entered one military academy, and I entered another. In the summer of 1986, when we were both in our second year of the academies, we got together while on vacation. Kostya, like any young man, was trying to become stronger in order to protect the Motherland. During my school years I was studying unarmed combat, and was a good athlete. But then Kostya said to me: “You know, it’s all nonsense. There’s this Alexey Alexeevich,” and he started to explain to me something I never learned in school. As I understood it, it was the addition of ‘goodness’ to the martial arts, and I was very interested. We did not meet very often, mainly only during school vacations. I wrote to him in Irkutsk where he was serving at the time. During the last few years we had been meeting in Moscow to attend seminars, and he introduced me to this Alexey Alexeevich. I remember how, during fourth grade, Natalya Yakovlevna (Lipakina) came and invited us to join an orchestra of folk instruments. We played well, but later when she had to leave on business the orchestra was without a director. There was a school holiday and the parents were coming, so we decided that we would play. We got out the instruments and we played “Ach, my porch, my porch!” and what a cacophony it was! We screwed it up, but at least we were the center of attention. Kostya was a cadre officer. His profession was to defend the Motherland. Whenever we met we talked how to set up units and conduct training. There was talk an officer’s duty as the defender of the nation. Kostya was the lively one in any group he was in, and attracted people with his ideas and compassion for what was happening in our Native Land. I remember once he was invited him to be a witness at a wedding, and he came from faraway Irkutsk at his own expense. Even at the wedding, after congratulating the young people, he acknowledged his love of the Motherland. In Sarov, Irkutsk, Chita, wherever he lived during his life, they started these youth community organizations – I remember one summer these boys came to Kostya at home and they got together by the river, and did some training out in a meadow. Kostya’s mother liked fishing, but his father by this time had passed away. So we went fishing while the boys worked out, and discussed various topics. We kept returning to the topic of Russia’s situation, and what could be done to defend it. Nadezhda Stepanovna, Kostya’s mother, was a retiree, and she had worked on an assembly line in the military industries her whole life. Her work was noted with government awards. Kostya’s parents’ relationship to work made a definite impression on him. He leaves behind a daughter, He loved to write to people. We often exchanged letters when we were far from each other. One time he wrote on the envelope: “Great Russia, Powerful Sarov” and the address – and the letter got to me. You get something like that and right away your mood is elevated. He would buy books on the street that were being sold by libraries, including religious publications. I would very much like that the work Kostya began continue. Let there be a ‘Konstantin Vasilev Library’, or named anything else, but let it carry the cargo that he put into it. Written by military officer Andrey Mikhailovich Dushenko. Kostya’s attraction to the folk arts continued throughout his entire life. As an adult, after finishing the academy and becoming a lieutenant colonel, he exclaimed: “I wish I could learn to play the balalaika!” Moreover, this was after he had already mastered the accordion and could play any song people wanted at parties. He had a very good ear for music. Fate separated Kostya and I, but I remember very well his hands and his piercing blue eyes. He was incisive, but in a good sense: whatever he took up, he took up in a serious way. It was easy to talk with him; he was accessible, yet very deep. His character was apparent since childhood. Over the years he began to demonstrate the true Russian soul. There was great internal strength in Kostya. He was one of few people with whom I was not afraid to be myself. I was not afraid to be stupid or funny or naïve. I could cry, sob, and laugh around him. When talking with him I could feel myself growing stronger. Kostya and I had a break in our communion. We met again after he was already grown up and had finished the military school. It was at a function in Sarov where I also lived and worked. Watching Kostya, I could say that he had grown into a unique person. A deep interest in the Orthodox religion and its Russian roots had developed within him. Oh how he loved Russia, how he worried about her! He felt inseparable from her. He spoke about Russia, about her destiny, and he perceived it to be something very significant. He made a contribution to the understanding of what Russia is. It was impossible to talk with him on an everyday level. He carried in himself something larger. I am convinced that all who knew Kostya still feel his presence. It turns out that we are just now starting to collate our thoughts about our time about Kostya. Kostya had so much sincerity, and so much goodness! Anytime, day or night, he we was ready to help. One could always count on him. Kostya was very rational: he had three degrees, and all with honors. He read a lot, and was up to date on the economic and political problems of Russia. All the knowledge he received and stored within himself, he shared. Konstantin was an absolute patriot. He believed that it was good to adopt the experience of the West, but forbidden to lose that huge potential, the human, natural, and scientific potential, that Russia possessed. He was convinced that if all Russia owned was developed and adopted, Russia would become a mighty nation. Konstantin was an Orthodox man and often talked with the priests and read spiritual literature. He believed that the most important thing of all was to properly educate our coming generation. We are rich in our traditions and our history. We must educate the children, and make books and movies about these. Written by Natalya Yakovlevna Lipakina, his former teacher. PS: In the Cathedral of the Shrine of Nikolai in Podkopiya, the abbot is Father Savva (Molchanov). Close friends and comrades of Konstantin Vasilev gathered there to speak about him and donate his library to patriotic youth groups. Now the youth group at that cathedral bears the name of this hero: Konstantin Ivanovich Vasilev, a person who did not begrudge his life “for others”. (From materials in an article by Marina Vasileva: ‘The life and achievements of a Russian warrior’, 2003.)  Add as favourites (109) | Views: 4421 |
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I knew Kostya since childhood.
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