Vera Bailak, 82, and Kyrgys Chamzyryn, 86, are the only Tuvan war veterans who lived up out of the legendary Tuvan Cavalry Squadron numbering 206.
Tuvan People's Republic, since 1921 an independant state, took the Hitler's agression against the Soviet Union as its own disaster. Tuvan Great Khural which incidentally gathered on the same day as the agression started declared that Tuva would participate in the fight of the Soviet Union against fascism with all its might. Tuvan military commissions were piled with hundreds of letters from volunteers who wanted to fight in the Red Army against German troops. People began to gather money, cattle, horses for the Soviet Army. But the Soviet Union was not willing to engage the soldiers from other states relying on its own forces. Only in 1942 the Tuvans were let into the Red Army.
The first group of Tuvan volunteers made a part of the 25th tank Russian regiment (Ukraine front) in May, 1943. Khomushku Churgui-ool, comander of the Tuvn tank crew, for his heroic behaviour was awarded with the Heroe of the Soviet Union star.
Official farewell to the 206 fighters of the Tuvan Cavalry Squadron took place on the 1st of September, 1943, on the main square of Kyzyl. One fourth of the squadron was made up of the Oyun clan.
The Tuvan volunteers passed a necessary military course in the village of Snegiri (Smolensk region) and then walked to Ukraine. 'We were going at nights. In a knee-high mud. Artillery men were in the poorest position having to pull very heavy canons. Very scarce food. We took care first of the horses feeding trhem and then ate ourselves.'- Vera Bailak remembers.
The Tuvan squadron took part in the liberation of a number of Ukraine villages and the town of Rivno, where up to now a street carrying the name of Tuvan Cavalry Squadron exists.