“Yuri Nikolayevich Volkov was born in the village of Mikhailovitsa, Pyshchug District, Kostroma Oblast, on 9 June 1927. Volkov divided his lifetime into five 17-year periods. At the end of first period he joined the Red Army. The second, “aviation”, period included his participation in the Korean War and graduation from the Kharkov Higher Military Engineering School. In the third, “missile”, period Volkov was at the origin of the creation of the Missile Division in Kostroma: he held the rank of colonel when he retired. Volkov’s fourth period is related to his work in the communications industry. He organized and headed the State Communications Oversight Office for the Kostroma Region of the Russian Federation. Yuri Volkov began his fifth, writer, period at the age of 73. He authored 12 books on local history, military issues and biographies of his soldier countrymen. He was also a corresponding member of the Academy of Military Historical Sciences, public figure and honorary member of the Veterans’ Council in the city of Kostroma.”

“The year drew to a close, and all those, who had turned 17, had long been drafted for military service. But these three boys still studied in the 10th grade: they were told in the military commissariat of an order to allow them to finish school... That was true, but it was a village where people knew each other and the existence of such an order was hard to explain to the locals. It was unbearably difficult for us to continue living in our villages. We were supposed to take part in the war like our classmates. After our repeated requests we were finally told that the decision had been taken to send us all to the military school”.

„... at the Victory Parade in June 1945, we marched in the troops of the Moscow garrison. The columns of WWII frontline soldiers were built on Red Square, while the units of the Moscow garrison – on Manezhnaya Square.”

“Soon after World War II, a ‘break’ began to appear in the relationship between the former allies, the Soviet Union and the United States. Five years later, armed clashes erupted on the Korean peninsula in the Far East. No formal talks were held on this. All actions took place under great secrecy for some time.”

A few days later, we were summoned to General Headquarters, where they explained that the three of us were going on a mission as advisers to the Korean Army. Our positions were to be determined by the Air Force Headquarters. No one was supposed to know about that. We were to deposit our Komsomol membership cards with the Komsomol Central Committee and our identity cards – with General Headquarters. I was given a certificate that I was a member of the "Spartacus" sports association. I was also explained that if anything happened on a business trip, I had to claim that I was a Spartacus fan and had nothing to do with the Soviet Army”.

“I’m thankful to the fate for leading me to this road. In 34 years of service, I never regretted it and I now believe that the situation has helped me to make the right choice”.