home » Garden buildings » Alexey Klimov is blind after the war in Chechnya. How a blind soldier became an officer. ...didn't touch my heart

Alexey Klimov is blind after the war in Chechnya. How a blind soldier became an officer. ...didn't touch my heart

Sergeant Klimov, aka Klim, died in battle. The frog mine exploded a meter away. “Two hundredth,” said the medical instructor. Two days in a refrigerator to Rostov-on-Don. Mom had a funeral.

Alive! - they shouted in the Rostov laboratory when, when the “corpse” was overloaded, it turned out to be warm. Resuscitation. Burdenko. The first Chechen one was on.

Will you stay?

No, mom, I'll go...

From Kaluga directly to Moscow. Tall, strong guy. Physical training. Sent to the Preobrazhensky Regiment. The most elite. But he believed that the elite is born only in battle. 22 reports to Chechnya. He went to great lengths to find himself where it hurt more than Russia.

He arrived in Chechnya as part of the 166th separate motorized rifle brigade. Served under Shali. In March 1996, he was returning in armor from a special operation. They were ambushed. The anti-personnel mine that exploded near the head left no chance. A fragment pierced the skull from temple to temple. How the 19-year-old boy survived is still a mystery. After numerous operations, already in Moscow, Klimov was told that he would never see. Lesha was indignant:

I want to serve!

Thank God that you will walk...

No, I will serve!

Klimov lay all bandaged, in tubes. Where should he serve? I couldn’t even get up. But the colleagues decided to try shock therapy. They pulled out the tubes and barked:

Sergeant Klimov, get up!

My legs found my pants on their own. The guys took Lesha to a cafe and gave him a spoon. Klimov began to eat on his own for the first time.

Two months later, Klimov was discharged. It is clear that the blind sergeant with a titanium skull could no longer return to his unit.

Klimov did not go downhill, did not drink, as happens with hundreds of disabled people returning from that war. He gave up his disability and organized the Rosich charity organization, which helped “Chechen” veterans and families of the victims. Anything has happened. Four attempts were made on Alexey's life. He doesn't like to talk about it. And then a reward found him. Order of Courage.

Two colonels from the General Staff and one major came to see me in Kaluga. They said that they had instructions from the Minister of Defense. They offered help in getting an apartment, a car or money for treatment abroad,” says Klimov. - I say: I want to study, learn military science and become a colonel. They consulted and said that they would give me a junior lieutenant for my military services anyway. And I tell them: I want to study to become a colonel. They just threw up their hands. What should I tell the minister? That’s what you say: I want to serve in the Russian army. And then a summons came to go to the Siberian Military District for a junior lieutenant course. Thus began my service again.

Alexei! How did you pass shooting without sight? Throwing grenades?

The guys helped. I'll throw a snowball at the target. They say where it went. I calculate the trajectory and throw.

But the most incredible thing is that Alexey Klimov entered the Frunze Military Academy in 2008 and graduated from it! Without any concessions!

Sometimes the teacher would call out to me during class: Klimov, where are you looking? Not everyone knew that I was blind. The hardest part was passing the special subjects. At the map with a pointer. Well, here the guys helped.

And you look at them and do as they do. Then they will begin to listen to you.

Klimov was noticed. Many of his legislative initiatives, including those to support military personnel who fought in “hot spots,” were adopted.

Last December, old wounds resurfaced. Klimov urgently flew to St. Petersburg. The doctors were horrified. The plates in the skull have shifted. And everything could have ended very sadly. But here, too, his good health did not fail. New titanium prostheses were installed. And by the New Year they were released to Moscow.

Alexey shows me the certificate that the attending physician issued at his request. "Physical and emotional stress without restrictions. Alcohol within reasonable limits. Practically healthy." And Alexey doesn’t use a white cane. I didn't learn Braille. Uses computer programs that read text. By the way, in addition to the school for junior lieutenants and the Frunze Academy, he graduated from the Moscow Humanitarian-Economic Institute and courses at the Academy of Civil Service under the President at the Faculty of Russian Parliamentarism.

How do you move around and fly airplanes without a cane?

I have friends everywhere. They see you off and meet you. When I was in St. Petersburg and walking along Dvortsovaya, I met my colleague. I recognized him first! It's a small world. I approached the monument to Peter the Great. I touched it with my hand. And it was as if I saw him. You're wrong to think that blind people don't see anything! I have a highly developed spatial imagination. Good hearing. All this helps a lot. Only one thing is bad - I call the control. It takes a long time to deal with the security service. These plates. And even fragments of that damned frog. Well, now have lunch. I won't let you go like that. I just need to change clothes.

Alexey walks quite confidently towards the exit. Gets into the car. Not behind the wheel, of course. We are driving through Kaluga. He takes on the role of a tour guide.

Here is our administration on the left. And this is the bridge that was built for the arrival of Catherine the Great in Kaluga...

But how??? - I'm very surprised.

I know every pothole in my Kaluga. So there's nothing unusual. Do you want to listen to my songs? I recorded a disc here.

Alexey, what are your plans for life? What's next?

I have a goal. I want to do everything to ensure that future generations live in a country of equal rights and opportunities and that this country of Russia is protected for centuries from internal and external enemies. To do this you need to meet your princess. Raise a family. I want to rise to the rank of colonel. I want to become a State Duma deputy. Again, not because it's cool. Blindness gives you a head start. I don’t particularly need anything like that from material wealth. I won't be distracted by anything. Will work. Day and night. Serve Russia.

And then?

I will work hard. No other options are given. The main thing is that I know how and what to do. As my mentor Sablin said, if you don’t feel confident that you’re right, then you shouldn’t get down to business. I feel right. So this is my business.

Young sergeant Alexey Klimov seemed to have died and been resurrected: he was so terribly wounded at the First Chechen War that his comrades, deciding that he was no longer alive, loaded him into a refrigerator that was leaving for Rostov, carrying the bodies of fallen soldiers. But the soul did not leave the body riddled with shrapnel: when two days later the refrigerator reached its target, someone touched the sergeant and shouted: “Alive!”

Then Sergeant Alexey Klimov, who had recovered from his wounds but had lost his sight forever, was able to return to duty and became the only active officer in Russia who was blind. He studied a lot, in 2008 he entered the Military Academy. M. Frunze, graduated from it and now serves with the rank of major.

His life is generally full of amazing turns. To begin with, when an 18-year-old boy received a summons, the next day he went to the assembly point without hesitation - and this was in 1994, when the majority of our youth had completely different priorities.

I read that you volunteered for the army in 1994, and this surprised me very much: in those years, young people did not at all strive to join the army. As far as I remember, everyone, on the contrary, was concerned about how to “slope down”.

When I turned 18, I lived in Kaluga, earned my own money and was considered a mature personality: I started earning money in the 4th grade, worked in forestry, on collective farms during the summer holidays - life forced me to provide for myself.

And then one morning I woke up, and I received a summons. I worked all day, met friends in a cafe in the evening. Let's go home, stand and say goodbye. “Bye-bye...” “Now we won’t see you for a long time,” I answer. "How long? Why?" - “Tomorrow I’ll go to the army.”

A friend says: “What army, are you stunned?” And in the morning I woke up, saw the summons again, packed my things and went to the military registration and enlistment office. Nobody even knew about it. Neither parents, nor friends.

For me the question is: to serve or not to serve? - didn’t even stand. Because I was, after all, an October boy, and a pioneer, a Komsomol member...

For me the question is: to serve or not to serve? - didn’t even stand. A summons has arrived, which means you have to go to the military registration and enlistment office.

Finished school. I was on an active life search for two years. Have worked. He was young and active. Young people then occupied leading positions in various spheres of influence. A summons has arrived, which means we have to go to the military registration and enlistment office. For me it was natural - well, I don’t know... it’s like listening to the radio or watching TV...

I came to the military registration and enlistment office. The military commissar recognized me - many in Kaluga already knew me. “What,” says Klimov, “will you go to the army?” - “Of course I’ll go! How else?!"

Sorry, but I want to clarify (we live in such times): what motivated you? The desire to serve the Fatherland, to fulfill your duty? Or was it just a natural continuation of life?

There were many temptations in civilian life. There were also many opportunities not to go into the army. But I didn't even think about it. I guess that's how I was raised.

- This is what I wanted to understand. Let's talk about education. Why, for example, did you work from the 4th grade?

It turned out that my parents divorced. They loved each other and still do - it just happened.

And when this happened, my mother called me over and said: “Son, my dad and I divorced. Now you are the eldest in the family, the main one. You are responsible." Her words played their role.

About five years ago, my mother told me: “You became independent too early.” Whether this is good or bad, I don’t know. But it turned out that even when during the summer holidays we went to the forestry to work - they took us there in the morning and picked us up at lunch - after lunch I took the bike and rode back myself to work.

I even have a certificate for labor achievements - I did more work than anyone else. I collected bark and dug potatoes, cultivated beds - I liked it all.

That is, I would not say that I worked out of despair or bad reality - I had an attraction to work, desire, independence, responsibility: I have a sister, I have a mother, and I’m kind of like the eldest, a man. This is what motivated me. And engage in sports and develop in different directions.

There’s another point: I went to school at the age of six and always competed in sports with guys who were a year older than me. What is a year difference in childhood? A whole abyss. They ran faster, jumped better and played stronger.

I always had to reach for them. But in the end... Until the 8th grade I was involved in skiing and every year I won everything that was possible at that time. Then he went into boxing. And the same thing happened there.

It is clear that such young people were always greeted with joy in the army. What happened when you arrived at the collection point?

I walk in: everyone is sitting, some in sweatshirts, some in tarpaulin boots - they don’t go into the army in good clothes! And as I walked the streets - in Italian shoes, pants, and an American fashionable jacket - I showed up. He came up, separated everyone, and sat down in the middle. After all, he is a master of sports, a champion of Russia. And then three servicemen come in: two sergeants and an officer - a captain. Special Forces.

They looked at us. The captain says: “Are there any athletes?” - “Well, I... So what?” - “What sports do you do?”

Named it. And then the military commissar runs in: “Klimov!” - "I!" - "To the exit".

The officer asks: “What is it?” - “But he won’t go to the army.”

I go out, walk down the corridor, and look: mom is standing! “Son, why didn’t you say that, where are you going?!” My sister called me... I made an agreement: you won’t go into the army!”

And I began to talk rudely to my mother, to be rude to her. He said that’s it, I won’t return home.

The officer in the beret watched this entire scene. He says to me: “Come.” I approached: “What do you need?” And he: “Listen to me. Conclusions about a person can be drawn from his attitude towards his parents. Looking at your attitude towards your mother, we can draw unpleasant conclusions about you.” “I don’t care what conclusions you draw about me,” I answered and moved on.

And a month later this officer became my company commander... And then I remembered his words.

- Wow!

Sablin Dmitry Vadimovich, captain. He is a boxer, I am a boxer. We trained and worked out. He became a role model for me.

The year was 1994. Then the officers did not receive wages for six months. And despite this, the last of the family was carried for the fighters. For someone to go on vacation, for someone to buy a gift for their mother - a scarf or something else.

I saw the self-sacrifice of Captain Sablin. How he worked as a security guard at night, and divided the funds he received between his family and fighters...

- That is, while remaining an active army officer, he was forced at night...

He worked illegally at night to feed his family and divided the earnings between his family and his subordinate fighters. I saw this self-sacrifice, such selfless service. It impressed me very much.

I was 18 years old. I thought: I am an established person, but in fact I was just beginning to absorb the world around me.

This example was so important to me that it determined the rest of my life. We had a normal special forces unit. All are masters of sports. There were operations in Moscow, and there were losses.

While serving in the center of Moscow, I saw the shine of Mercedes, diamonds, and mink coats. And at the same time I saw the death of friends.

- In December 1994, the First Chechen War began. And you began to rush to Chechnya. Why?

We didn’t have any romance at that time. We were 19 years old, we shot from all types of weapons, we were trained specialists. And they considered it necessary to be where it was hardest for Russia.

We were eager to go to war because we were specialists and thought: I’m better alone than 10 untrained peers

The principle was this: I’m better alone than 10 unprepared peers. We wrote reports, but they didn’t let us go. We were trained for something else: in Moscow and the Moscow region we had to carry out tasks in the Moscow garrison. There was also a war going on here, so be healthy.

So we had no chance to go to Chechnya at all.

Then, in order to achieve this, the guys began... to do something.

For example, one of our comrades, Lekha Groshev, call sign “Bison,” went on leave, disarmed two riot police, took their machine guns, brought them, and handed them over to the police department. Imagine, this is such an emergency! In the center of Moscow, disarm the riot police, take away their machine guns, hand them over! Lekha was first transferred to the Kantemirovsky division, and from there he went to Chechnya.

Another friend of mine wrote a statement against himself from the soldiers - allegedly he was inciting hazing. On myself. I made everyone sign it. When the investigation began, the soldiers said they were signing blank sheets. Well, etc. and so on.

I actually changed the documents when a number of servicemen from our regiment who did not live up to their trust were sent to other units - to motorized rifle units.

And he ended up in the 166th motorized rifle brigade. Legendary.

I arrived there and was surprised. I am 1 meter 83. I have a leather harness and uniform. And there the guys are puny, 1 meter 65, the uniform is still of the old type.

And I was assigned to command a company. At the age of 19, I commanded a company without a single officer - that’s what happened. And a month later the company became the best in the brigade. For this I received three days of vacation.

Half the brigade is fighting in Chechnya, half the brigade is stationed in Tver. I again wrote reports to Chechnya, they didn’t let me go - because they had to prepare young recruits.

And yet he came to an agreement... and left for Chechnya. And he ended up in our 166th motorized rifle regiment. There I met Lekha Grosheva. He says: “Great, you’re changing me.” He transferred authority to me and five days later he flew to Russia, his homeland, and I served in the platoon of the brigade intelligence chief’s department. In intelligence, in short. That's all.

And there your special injury occurred, when you were mistaken for someone who had already died, but it turned out that you were alive. A real miracle of God. Tell me, did anyone pray for you at home?

I was baptized back in Soviet times, but it was not a conscious action - just a tribute to fashion, so to speak.

But I think that when my mother found out that I was in Chechnya - and she still found out - she, of course, prayed for me.

Mother's prayer raises from the day of the sea. Tell me, Alexey, do you know anything about your great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers?

I will say that I only know about my great-grandmother. It's sad, of course. Not only for me, but for all of Russia: we have lost contact with our ancestors.

There is such a concept - gender. During communist times, it was reduced to the concept of “family.” But family is only a small component of the clan.

Previously, they knew their ancestors up to the seventh generation, but now, God forbid, they know their grandfathers and grandmothers

This is a problem for our entire country. Previously, they knew their ancestors up to the seventh generation. And now, God forbid, grandfathers and grandmothers know - that’s all.

And me too. I know grandmothers, I met one great-grandmother. I remember her... we walked with her through the forest.

I have a goal. There are organizations that, for a fee, conduct investigations about ancestors - and now, if possible, I would like to contact such an organization so that it can try to establish my family tree. And I can’t say anything more about it.

Surely someone besides your mother prayed for you. I understand that this injury is not the only case when you miraculously remained alive.

I will say this: before this there were a number of cases on the brink. Well, for example: we are sitting near the fire, another stop, someone took out a guitar. This was already at the combat stage, at the exit. On three sides there is a guard of soldiers, on the fourth there is a hill. On the hill - ours. We are sitting. Fire, silence, night, playing the guitar. We got up to warm up, then sat down again. As I sat down, I moved, and the one who was sitting to my right sat down in that place. A minute passes. Pooh! And he falls on me. I can’t understand anything, I look: my eyes are rolling. I take off my pea coat and see that the bullet entered under my heart and came out near my tailbone. There's no one nearby! Where did they shoot from?! And the most interesting thing is that I was sitting in this place a minute ago... The guy’s name was Ruslan, he died.

There was another incident. The cleanup was underway. Before this, I wore boots or felt boots. And then it got warmer, so I put on ankle boots. We're going in a group. And hop - I feel like I pulled a stretch. If I were wearing boots, I wouldn't feel it. He shouted: “Get down!” Two steps forward, machine gun under you, heels pressed. Explosion. The grenade exploded - yeah! Got away from it.

Another time we go in a convoy. There is a tank ahead, then an armored personnel carrier, then another piece of armor and then us: the intelligence chief, the deputy brigade commander, me, the snipers. And then someone gave the command to change places. We walk 300 meters and go down into the ravine. The tank descends and comes out. The armored personnel carrier descends and leaves. And the third car, the one with which we swapped places, descends into the ravine - and is blown up by a controlled landmine. Before our eyes, at a distance of 50 meters. Fighting and so on and so on. I begin to pull the guys out of the irrigation ditch: some were crushed, the wounded, the dead. We were at the site of this car literally four minutes before the position change.

- The Lord preserved.

All this happened in a short period of time. Well, then a large-scale planned operation began, for which we had been preparing for two months - an attack on the militants, pushing them into the mountains.

Before this there was a clash, and we took the dominant height. We stayed there for two days - finally the command ordered us to leave. We are building a column.

I, as reconnaissance, had to go forward 5 kilometers before the column of the main forces and inspect the territory.

In principle, nothing suggested any problems - because we had already gone there before, examined it, and met with representatives of the next settlement.

And then we tear off the tripwire with the left caterpillar - explosion!..

Let's go. There are 50 meters left to green spaces. I give the command to fire. And then we use the left caterpillar to tear off the tripwire - the “frog”. She jumped out, explosion. Clash.

I was hurt. I was injected with promedol. I don't remember this.

Then, when the enemy was suppressed, a column of the main forces approached. It was foggy, morning. They began to examine me. I tore the tourniquet on my leg - I had a perforating leg wound. I tore the tourniquet, bleeding, and then, as I was told, I pinched my teeth, swallowed my tongue, and my heart stopped. Sasha, my friend, without thinking twice, opened his teeth with a knife, pulled out his tongue, and started his heart. It seems to work.

The question arose of how to take it out of the mountains. Because there were ambushes everywhere.

The brigade commander formed a column: vehicles, combat escort. We were taken to the plain, and there they already stated that with such wounds we were dead. The head is broken, bloody, fragments. Sanya carried me in his arms and laid me on the table.

And the guys drank to me on the fortieth day. A year later we met with them.

And then there were a lot of situations in life that make us think about the Forces that, being next to us, preserve our bodies for those actions that we still have to do. After Chechnya, I have already survived four assassination attempts, been in intensive care several times and, thank God, am alive and well.

- How did you come to faith?

Each person comes to God on his own path. After I arrived, I began to discuss with the clergy about missionary work that should be carried out among citizens. He cited Islam and Catholicism as examples. They say: “No. Everyone comes to God in their own way. We carry out our explanatory work, but not so aggressively. Because Orthodoxy has a clear position: everyone comes to God in their own way.”

I was baptized as a child. And when I was in the hospital in Rostov after that injury, the priests came. They gave crosses. I was losing them... And somehow... this...

-...didn’t touch your heart?

Yes. I was always busy with some things. He was running somewhere. There were other priorities. And then, by chance, I met Abbot Georgy (Evdachev). He tells me: “Come to me on Saturday for worship in the city of Obninsk.”

Well, he said and said. I didn't intend to go anywhere.

I still can’t understand how it all turned out. Saturday. I wake up and think that I need to go.

What drew me to it? And as luck would have it, no driver, no car. No one.

I called people I hadn’t seen for three months and made a request. They arrived, of course: “What happened?” Nothing seems to have happened.

All this was unusual. That I decided to go, although I didn’t seem to be planning to, and that there was neither security nor a car, and I called my close people, and they canceled their plans, rushed over and helped.

We went to the monastery. We stood at the service. Then Father George saw me. He invited me to his cell.

He communicated with me in a language that I, then an unenlightened person, understood. He spoke... you know, like they say at the table with friends. And he gave me a silver cross and a silver chain. And it must be so that I never took off this cross. And in those rare cases when I took it off, I always returned it if I forgot it at home, which happened extremely rarely.

Father George restored the monastery of St. George the Victorious - the only one in Russia, and I took part in this

Then, thanks to Abbot Georgy, I joined the business. He took upon himself the heavy cross of restoring the 13th century monastery of St. George the Victorious. This is the only monastery in Russia in honor of the Great Martyr George the Victorious - there are many churches dedicated to him, but there is only one monastery. It is located in the city of Meshchovsk.

There was nothing there - only the foundation remained. And so Father George restored the monastery, and I took part in this.

- You see how. After all, Saint George the Victorious is the patron saint of the army!

Yes, everything happens for a reason. Hegumen George, who met on my way, a monastery in honor of St. George... Even when it was restored, I went there more than once when I had a need to communicate with Hegumen George. There is a list of the Athonite icon of St. George the Victorious.

- What are you doing today?

I am the deputy commander of a military unit. I am an officer, I can’t say everything, but I am an active officer. I lead one of the military formations of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the city of Kaluga. I submit only to the commander, deputy. district commander. My responsibilities include the selection, training and direction of permanent combat readiness of military personnel on a contract basis.

Then tell me how to properly educate young people? So that these young people don’t think about how they can sit in an office and get a big salary, but so that they want to serve the Fatherland.

I'll say this. I think that much of what I did and what is now assessed positively, I did, one might say, unconsciously, simply because I was raised that way.

I always said that personality is 7 percent, and 93 percent is the mother who gave birth, the father who raised, the kindergarten teacher, teachers at school, coaches, commanders and those people who are now with me, who shape my inner the world and everything else.

They say what kind of company you get into... who you hang out with is how you gain. I've been lucky in my life. I had very good friends and the same enemies, equal to my friends.

So, in fact, there is no need to invent anything. Answers to any questions of the modern world can be found in history. You just need to follow the behests of your ancestors.

Today we are witnessing a certain substitution of values, a substitution of concepts.

We are now talking about patriotism, about the patriotic education of youth, about people who are called patriots. But you ask at least one official: can he define the word “patriot”, “patriotism”? No. And why? Yes, because the country’s senior leadership has not clearly defined these concepts. And therefore, each official understands them in his own way.

Here is a clear example of the need to give clear definitions of what should become an alternative to Western, European values.

For some reason, everyone treats the phrase “European values” with some special reverence. In my understanding, if they are European, this does not mean they are true. Vice versa.

Where did Orthodox Rus' come from? There was Byzantium, which achieved splendor and prosperity in everything - in spiritual life, culture, economics, politics. In all areas of activity. When it fell, 70 percent of it all went to Russia. And cultural values, and traditions, and religion, and science.

We must educate teenagers by our own example. According to the army principle: do as I do

We just need to carry out explanatory work. This is the first. The second one concerns teenagers. I declare with full responsibility that today a huge number of teenage children truly believe in correct values and strive to live in accordance with them. I see such examples before my eyes every day. Today's guys are no worse or better than previous generations.

It's not as bad as some people think. There are vivid examples of the so-called “golden youth” who appear in the reports of television, radio, and so on, but in fact there are many teenagers who want to serve, and go in for sports, and win Olympics, and accomplish feats. There are a lot of such examples, thousands of specific people, boys, girls. We just need to do more explanatory work. Give examples from the past, and educate teenagers by your own example. Do you know what the basic principle of education for a commander is? Do as I do.

Miraculously surviving and losing his sight in battle, he remained in service. Our comrade Alexey Klimov gave an interview to Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
Sergeant Klimov, aka Klim, died in battle. The frog mine exploded a meter away. “Two hundredth,” said the medical instructor. Two days in a refrigerator to Rostov-on-Don. Mom had a funeral.
- Alive! - they shouted in the Rostov laboratory when, when the “corpse” was overloaded, it turned out to be warm. Resuscitation. Burdenko. The first Chechen one was on.

When Lesha Klimov received the summons, he went to the military registration and enlistment office. He could have "slipped". Mother came to the collection point. She begged me to stay. Lesha wanted to become the director of a state farm. Since childhood, I have been digging on the site. And the war was raging in Chechnya.
- Will you stay?
- No, mom, I'll go...
From Kaluga directly to Moscow. Tall, strong guy. Physical training. Sent to the Preobrazhensky Regiment. The most elite. But he believed that the elite is born only in battle. 22 reports to Chechnya. He went to great lengths to find himself where it hurt more than Russia.
He arrived in Chechnya as part of the 166th separate motorized rifle brigade. Served under Shali. In March 1996, he was returning in armor from a special operation. They were ambushed. The anti-personnel mine that exploded near the head left no chance. A fragment pierced the skull from temple to temple. How the 19-year-old boy survived is still a mystery. After numerous operations, already in Moscow, Klimov was told that he would never see. Lesha was indignant:
- I want to serve!
- Thank God that you will walk...
- No, I will serve!

Text: Yuri Snegirev

Klimov lay all bandaged, in tubes. Where should he serve? I couldn’t even get up. But the colleagues decided to try shock therapy. They pulled out the tubes and barked:
- Sergeant Klimov, get up!
My legs found my pants on their own. The guys took Lesha to a cafe and gave him a spoon. Klimov began to eat on his own for the first time.
Two months later, Klimov was discharged. It is clear that the blind sergeant with a titanium skull could no longer return to his unit.
Klimov did not go downhill, did not drink, as happens with hundreds of disabled people returning from that war. He gave up his disability and organized the Rosich charity organization, which helped “Chechen” veterans and families of the victims. Anything has happened. Four attempts were made on Alexey's life. He doesn't like to talk about it. And then a reward found him. Order of Courage.
- Two colonels from the General Staff and one major came to see me in Kaluga. They said that they had instructions from the Minister of Defense. They offered help in getting an apartment, a car or money for treatment abroad,” says Klimov. - I say: I want to study, learn military science and become a colonel. They consulted and said that they would give me a junior lieutenant for my military services anyway. And I tell them: I want to study to become a colonel. They just threw up their hands. What should I tell the minister? That’s what you say: I want to serve in the Russian army. And then a summons came to go to the Siberian Military District for a junior lieutenant course. Thus began my service again.
- Alexei! How did you pass shooting without sight? Throwing grenades?
- The guys helped. I'll throw a snowball at the target. They say where it went. I calculate the trajectory and throw.
But the most incredible thing is that Alexey Klimov entered the Frunze Military Academy in 2008 and graduated from it! Without any concessions!
- It used to be that the teacher would call out to me during class: Klimov, where are you looking? Not everyone knew that I was blind. The hardest part was passing the special subjects. At the map with a pointer. Well, here the guys helped.

Alexey returned to Kaluga. He began to serve in the military registration and enlistment office. Became a deputy of the regional Legislative Assembly. Everyone probably has a person who can be called their teacher. For Klimov, this is Colonel Sablin from the Preobrazhensky Regiment. He was the first to visit Klimov when he was in the Burdenko hospital. He instilled in him that he should not give up, and led him through life by his example. And when Klimov found himself among the deputies, here too the advice of his senior comrade helped him establish himself.
- And you look at them and do as they do. Then they will begin to listen to you.
Klimov was noticed. Many of his legislative initiatives, including those to support military personnel who fought in “hot spots,” were adopted.
Last December, old wounds resurfaced. Klimov urgently flew to St. Petersburg. The doctors were horrified. The plates in the skull have shifted. And everything could have ended very sadly. But here, too, his good health did not fail. New titanium prostheses were installed. And by the New Year they were released to Moscow.
Alexey shows me the certificate that the attending physician issued at his request. "Physical and emotional stress without restrictions. Alcohol within reasonable limits. Practically healthy." And Alexey doesn’t use a white cane. I didn't learn Braille. Uses computer programs that read text. By the way, in addition to the school for junior lieutenants and the Frunze Academy, he graduated from the Moscow Humanitarian-Economic Institute and courses at the Academy of Civil Service under the President at the Faculty of Russian Parliamentarism.
- How do you move around without a cane and fly airplanes?
- I have friends everywhere. They see you off and meet you. When I was in St. Petersburg and walking along Dvortsovaya, I met my colleague. I recognized him first! It's a small world. I approached the monument to Peter the Great. I touched it with my hand. And it was as if I saw him. You're wrong to think that blind people don't see anything! I have a highly developed spatial imagination. Good hearing. All this helps a lot. Only one thing is bad - I call the control. It takes a long time to deal with the security service. These plates. And even fragments of that damned frog. Well, now have lunch. I won't let you go like that. I just need to change clothes.

Alexei himself changes into a civilian suit. He put on a military uniform for the photo. In May 2014, by personal order of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Major Klimov was appointed to a position in the Kaluga garrison, where he is directly involved in the selection, training and deployment of citizens for military service under a contract in terms of constant combat readiness. Despite the fact that he graduated from the academy, he has no complaints about his service, and has held the rank of major for 10 years. Is anyone really playing it safe? And a civilian suit, because I’m on vacation.
Alexey walks quite confidently towards the exit. Gets into the car. Not behind the wheel, of course. We are driving through Kaluga. He takes on the role of a tour guide.
- Here is our administration on the left. And this is the bridge that was built for the arrival of Catherine the Great in Kaluga...
- But how??? - I'm very surprised.
- I know every pothole in my Kaluga. So there's nothing unusual. Do you want to listen to my songs? I recorded a disc here.
A pleasant voice sounds from the speakers. The songs, of course, are about military brotherhood and the past war. She will never let Klimov go.
- Alexey, what are your plans for life? What's next?
- I have a goal. I want to do everything to ensure that future generations live in a country of equal rights and opportunities and that this country of Russia is protected for centuries from internal and external enemies. To do this you need to meet your princess. Raise a family. I want to rise to the rank of colonel. I want to become a State Duma deputy. Again, not because it's cool. Blindness gives you a head start. I don’t particularly need anything like that from material wealth. I won't be distracted by anything. Will work. Day and night. Serve Russia.
- And then?
- I will work hard. No other options are given. The main thing is that I know how and what to do. As my mentor Sablin said, if you don’t feel confident that you’re right, then you shouldn’t get down to business. I feel right. So this is my business.

When Alexey Klimov was wounded in the war in Chechnya, he was sent to Rostov with a “load of 200”. But he survived, although he completely lost his sight. Moreover, blindness did not prevent Alexey from returning to duty. Alexey Klimov, a tall and strong 35-year-old man, meets me in his office. His head is crossed by a scar as thick as a finger - a mark from a craniotomy. Alexey confidently moves around the office without a cane, but his gray eyes, which look somewhere into emptiness, betray his complete blindness.

I got into the war by deception

“I don’t use a cane - I don’t want to get used to it,” the officer explains. “I believe that someday my vision will return: my eyes are intact, only the optic nerve is damaged - after the explosion, so much iron got into my head...

Alexey survived and got back on his feet thanks to doctors, of course, but also to his health and strong character formed in childhood. He was born in the Irkutsk city of Zima, and when he went to school, his family moved to the village of Tovarkovo, Kaluga region. But every summer the boy went to his grandfather in Siberia, helped him with housework, swam in the river and did push-ups on the horizontal bar, which he made himself. It was then that he learned a lot from the sedate and reserved Siberians.

In the Kaluga village, Alexey skied and boxed from the first grade, often winning competitions at various levels.

After finishing school, he chose an experimental class with a military focus. Lyosha was delighted with the stories of the teacher-officers about serving in the army, and when, after graduating from school, they brought him a summons, he showed up at the recruiting station without hesitation.

An excellent student in physical training and a master of sports in boxing, Klimov was taken into the elite 154th separate commandant regiment in Moscow. When a military conflict began in Chechnya in 1994, Alexey and his friends immediately wrote reports about being transferred to a hot spot. They were refused, and they wrote again. After another refusal, the guys simply replaced the lists with the names of those soldiers who went to Chechnya, adding their data to them. So, by deception, Alexey ended up in the war in 1995, which ultimately made him disabled.

Three days among the dead

In March 1996, an anti-personnel mine exploded two meters from the armored vehicle in which Sergeant Klimov and his fighters were, after which a protracted battle with the militants began. Four crew members were injured from the powerful explosion, and Alexei had half his head torn apart. Doctors later counted 49 fragments in it. When Alexei was pulled off the armor, he was unconscious. Klimov’s close friend Sasha Kabanov gave him a painkiller injection and started his stopped heart.

Taking Klimov on board the helicopter, the doctors told his fellow soldiers that the wounded man would be taken to Grozny, but it was unlikely that he would pull through. The company held a wake for Klimov and vowed to avenge his death. From the capital of Chechnya, Alexei was sent as “cargo 200” into a refrigerator car along with the bodies of other dead guys. So, in the “team” of the dead, he arrived in Rostov.

Three days later, the orderlies, freeing the carriage from the terrible load, noticed that Klimov’s body had not ossified. Really alive?! He was placed on the operating table, and the surgeons, surprised by the unthinkable event, performed a craniotomy. When Alexey woke up after the operation, he did not immediately understand what had happened to him - his head was tightly bandaged. His roommates wrote to Alexei’s mother in Kaluga that her son was alive. The woman received good news the day after the funeral from the unit, in which it was written that soldier Klimov died heroically in Chechnya.

Alexey was transferred from Rostov to Moscow, to the Burdenko Military Hospital.

There wasn’t a day when one of the guys didn’t come to me,” says Alexey. - My commander Dmitry Sablin visited me first, and two weeks later he gave me shock therapy. One day I heard his voice: “Relaxed?!” Climb! I give you 45 seconds!” I automatically got up, found my uniform, and got dressed. They took me out of the room arm in arm, put me in a car, brought me to a cafe, sat me down at a table, and gave me a fork. Sablin commanded: “Eat.” And for the first time after being wounded, I ate and drank myself.

It took Klimov two months to get back on his feet. But the vision could not be saved. Alexey resigned from the army and returned to Kaluga to his parents - young, but already disabled, without a civil education and without money. Probably, someone else in his place would have drunk out of hopelessness and gone downhill, but Klimov was able to get a job as the head of the security service of one of the Kaluga enterprises.

Young guys like him, scorched by Chechnya, immediately began to gather around the brave and sociable guy. Together they organized a mutual aid fund, supported each other and helped parents whose sons died in the Chechen war, and later established the Kaluga regional public organization of combatants and the Rosich children's and youth patriotic club, headed by Alexey Klimov.

Young, free, promising

In 1999, three colonels appeared in Klimov’s office. They explained that they had come on the orders of the Minister of Defense - to find out what the blind hero needed.

What do you want: a car or an apartment? - asked people in uniform. - Or maybe you should be promoted to the rank of lieutenant?

I can earn my own money for the apartment, but I don’t just need titles,” Klimov snapped. - I want to learn.

Alexey was sent to advanced training courses in the Siberian Military District. A year later he received a red diploma and the rank of lieutenant. Klimov was sent to the Kaluga military registration and enlistment office, where he so vigorously campaigned for tomorrow's conscripts that they forgot about the shortages.

In 2005, Klimov ran for the regional parliament and won the elections by a large margin. In the Legislative Assembly he worked on the economic policy committee. Three years ago, Alexey was invited to Voronezh to the All-Russian Conference of Veteran Organizations. While making a toast at the festive table, Alexey let slip that he dreams of rising to the rank of colonel general. The words of the “impudent man” were heard at the General Staff of the Armed Forces, and soon a letter from Defense Minister Serdyukov arrived in Kaluga with the words: allow a blind officer to study at one of the most prestigious military universities - the Frunze Academy. This year, Alexey graduated brilliantly and continued serving in his native 154th Separate Commandant Regiment in a leadership position.

Alexey Klimov is in excellent physical shape, several times a week he boxes a punching bag and does bench presses, and he is also an excellent shooter with four types of weapons. At shooting ranges, his colleagues tell Alexey what degree to move the barrel, and he unerringly hits the target. He also shoots “by sound” very well.

Klimov sleeps four hours a day, the rest of the time he works - he still heads the patriotic club in Kaluga. But Klimov has not yet arranged his personal life.

Young, free, promising,” he jokes. Alexey is sure that he will meet his beloved, who will give birth to a beautiful daughter, the future Miss Russia, and four boys - they will certainly follow their father along the military path.

Next you will find the incredible story of Sergeant Alexei Klimov, who lost his sight in the first Chechen war, but managed to continue his service and rose to the rank of major. Lack of vision did not prevent Alexey Klimov from achieving success in many other ways, so in addition to his service, he was involved in important public affairs, charity, and even parliamentary activities.