Forever with his soldiers: the grandson of Marshal Vasily Chuikov shared stories about his grandfather on the podcast of the National Centre RUSSIA

The National Centre RUSSIA continues its new project — a series of podcasts "Tell Me About the Victory," dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War and the heroes whose feats have remained in the memory of generations.

In the fourth episode, the guest of the podcast was Nikolai Chuikov, the grandson of Marshal, two-time Hero of the Soviet Union Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov. During the Great Patriotic War, he became famous for commanding the 62nd Army, which heroically defended Stalingrad for six months.

"My grandfather started the war with the Battle of Stalingrad. The situation was difficult, and we had to counterattack the Germans. He came up with the idea of assault units, which later greatly annoyed the German forces. Since then, they called him 'General-Assault.' These Chuikov's units were spread across all armies and used during offensives," shared Nikolai Chuikov.

Marshal Chuikov met the Victory in Germany. It was under his command that the storming of the Reich Chancellery in Berlin took place, and he accepted the surrender of the Berlin garrison at the command post.

In addition to his grandfather's military career, the grandson of Marshal shared the story of how Vasily Chuikov met his wife Valentina and their life journey.

"This is a story of a lifetime love. They were together for 56 years. She wanted to become an actress, but for the sake of her husband, she gave up that dream. My grandmother didn’t look like a village person; she took great care of herself, was intelligent and well-read. She supported him in everything," noted Nikolai Chuikov.

Marshal of the Soviet Union Vasily Chuikov was buried at the Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd and remained forever with his soldiers, as it was his wish and request.