December, 15, the commander of legendary mine-thrower detail WWII veteran Alexander Terentievich Shumov celebrates his 99^th birthday. Six brothers Shumov, Tuvan strong men, have entered all artillery encyclopedias of the world for their feats, fearlessness, accuracy and speed of shooting.

Alexander Prokofiev wrote the poem "Rossiya" about them - this work was awarded Stalin's Prize. The heroes spoke in their own "Tannu-Tuva" language, as the military journalist Pavel Luknitskiy, who spent time at the Leningrad front where the Shumovs fought, noted in his reportage. We present some fragments from it to the attention of our readers.