Monument to the Heroes of Khasan

The Monument to the Heroes of Khasan stands on top of Krestovaya Hill, 146.2 meters high, in the village of Kraskino, Khasansky District, Primorsky Krai, in the very south of the region. The memorial was built in 1968 in honor of the Soviet soldiers who died in the summer of 1938 during the fighting near Lake Khasan.

History

The Battle of Lake Khasan in 1938 broke out over a territorial dispute between the USSR and Japan in the area of Lake Khasan and the Tumen River, right where the borders of the USSR, Manchukuo and Korea met. Preparing for a future war with the Soviet Union, the Japanese command aimed above all to seize the Zaozyornaya and Bezymyannaya heights, which dominated the surrounding terrain — it was over these heights that the main fighting took place.

The first clash took place on July 29, 1938, when a group of eleven border guards led by Lieutenant Makhalin engaged Japanese troops trying to take Bezymyannaya Hill. In the following days the fighting grew to involve regular Red Army units and the Pacific Fleet. The conflict near Lake Khasan became a serious test for the Soviet armed forces: for the first time on such a scale, aviation, tanks and artillery were used together, and their use exposed a number of shortcomings in the organization of the troops.

The monument is dedicated to Red Army commander Pyotr Matveyevich Mironov and the soldiers who fell in these battles. A memorial plaque at the base of the stele lists the names of the dead.

What to see

The monument is a stele on a granite pedestal. The pedestal bears an oak-leaf wreath and a soldier's helmet, next to a plaque with the names of the fallen. According to some descriptions of the monument, it also includes a bronze figure of a standard-bearer.

Krestovaya Hill, on top of which the monument stands, rises right above the village of Kraskino and serves as a natural viewpoint, with views over the village and the surrounding valley.

How to get there

The monument stands right in the village of Kraskino, Khasansky District, Primorsky Krai, on top of Krestovaya Hill, and is visible from the surrounding streets. Kraskino can be reached by car along the highway leading to the south of Primorsky Krai toward the border with North Korea and China, or by a regular bus from Vladivostok, followed by a short walk up the hill along a path.