Alexey Ivanovich Skurlatov was born on March 30, 1922 in the village of Nalobikha, Kosikhinsky district, Altai Territory. He is a participant in the Great Patriotic War, a scout and signalman, holder of two Orders of the Red Star and many other awards. Alexey Ivanovich Skurlatov became the prototype of the famous monument "Alyosha" to Soviet soldiers-liberators in the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv.

Alexey Ivanovich volunteered for the front, took part in battles near the village of Kryukovo, in battles near Kalinin, Rzhev and other cities. He was injured so badly that his mother was twice buried. In 1944 he took part in the Bulgarian operation, where he met the Bulgarian member of the Bulgarian Resistance Metodi Vitanov, who later told about the Russian soldier Alyosha, found him with the help of Soviet journalists and confirmed the now known fact about the monument.

In 1982, Aleksey Ivanovich was in Bulgaria, where he was greeted as a national hero and was awarded the title of honorary citizen of Plovdiv. The people's love for the heroes of the war and for the monument embodying them was sincere. This is confirmed by the events of the late 90s: local residents obstructed all attempts to demolish the monument as a symbol of the Soviet occupation and defended it.

For 57 years there has been a monument to a Russian soldier on the Bulgarian soil, the prototype of which was our fellow countryman, Aleksey Ivanovich Skurlatov. Alexey Ivanovich died in 2013. In his homeland, the hero is remembered and honored; the Museum of the Great War Soldier Alexei Skurlatov was opened in the Kosikhinsky District.

Photo: Oleg Ukladov (KP-Barnaul), Valery Stepanyuk