July 13, 2023 is the 51st death anniversary of a young sailor of the then USSR naval forces. We pay obeisance to Yuri Redkin, a 22-year-young Russian who lost his life while working on salvaging the main sea port of the nascent country Bangladesh from mines and sunken ships.
He was working in a floating workshop of the Rescue Mission sent by his Soviet government to their friendly country Bangladesh, which had just earned freedom from a savage genocidal war inflicted upon them by their previous counterparts, Pakistan.
The braveheart's body was put to eternal rest by his comrades and their Bangladeshi counterparts with full military honours at a place, very close to the confluence of Karnaphuli river with the Bay of Bengal. It currently falls under the area of Bangladesh Naval Academy and is aptly named as Redkin Point. The grave is well looked after by the Naval Academy men. Floral wreaths are laid at Redkin point with due honour on the dates of his birth and martyrdom.
Let's peruse a little how it all came about. Why did Yuri have to travel half of the globe from his posting base at Vladivostok in the Far Eastern USSR to the South Asian port of Chittagong in newborn Bangladesh?
Since the inception of the religion based country Pakistan, its two parts, eastern and western, lying 1000 miles apart, grew antagonistic towards each other. Except the religion Islam, they did not have anything else in common. East Pakistan was smaller in area but larger in population. Pakistan was supposedly a democratic country where the ruling class was aristocratic feudals supported by military machinery, and democracy was never practiced. The majority of East Pakistani Bengalis were exploited in a neo-colonial way by their West Pakistani brethren.
Export earnings of the East was more but spending for infrastructure and industrialization was less. Bengalis were discriminated against during recruitment for government and military jobs. They were treated as coming from a lower social origin and inferior to the Western Pakistanis. This, of course, frustrated and infuriated the Bengalis and they were actively demonstrating to get their due share in all spheres of life.
The political controversy came to a culmination when in 1970, during the first ever Pakistani general elections, East Pakistani political party Awami League won majority seats. They were denied political power and met with bullets. Pakistani Genocide started on East Pakistani Bengalis on March 25, code-named Operation Searchlight, the Pak Army started indiscriminate killing of Bengalis and in reply, Awami League supremo Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared independence of Bangladesh in the early hours of March 26.
Muktijuddho, the Liberation War of Bangladesh, continued for the next nine months. It was a do or die situation for the Bengalis. The younger generation drawn from students, workers, peasants, and the general population was joined by a relatively smaller number of Bengalis working for Pakistani Police, military, and other para militia. These freedom fighters had very little supply of modern war equipment, whereas the well trained Pakistan army was equipped with all possible sophisticated weaponry.
Due to the prevailing geo-political situation, the US and Chinese governments were supporting Pakistan. Authorities of the Western world also took the same stance. The UN played a rather passive role. The world was experiencing the Cold War in those days. Since the beginning of the Liberation War, the Government of India led by Indira Gandhi supported our cause and helped Bangladesh all the way up to its freedom from the Pakistani army on December 16, 1971. Her diplomatic maneuvers could win the support of the socialist world led by the USSR in favour of Bangladesh.
We will not go into further details of the Liberation War and related politics to keep the article short.
The Father of our nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was arrested by the Pakistani military on the night between March 25 and 26, and promptly dispatched to Pakistan for trial. The allegation was treason and conspiracy to break the country. In his absence, the Provisional Government in exile, led by Acting President Syed Nazrul Islam and Prime Minister Tajuddin Ahmad played a vital resolute role of steering the country to freedom.
As mentioned earlier, the mukti bahini land forces operations started immediately after the proclamation of independence. Later, with the help of India,a makeshift air wing and a naval commando unit also started functioning after brief training.
The naval commandos got going with Operation Jackpot on August 15, 1971. With limpet mines,the commando boys succeeded in sinking ships docked at Chittagong port. Similar actions were planned for Mongla and Chalna sea ports. The river ports of Narayangonj, Godnail, and Daudkandi were also targets of the naval commandos. Main target was Chittagong, being the principal sea port bringing in all supplies, including military, for the Pakistani occupation forces.
The mukti bahinis' plans were to paralyze Pakistani riverine and sea going communications. They were highly successful. Many ships were sunk fully or partially by commando operations, and the Pakistani supply line was disrupted. This contributed a lot to the overall success of the mukti bahini and later the joint forces of Bangladesh and India during the final assault on Pakistani establishments that surrendered to the joint forces on December 16, 1971. Some ships were damaged and sunk by Indian air attacks too towards the end of the war.
Sensing defeat, the Pakistani navy heavily mined Chittagong port and a large adjacent area. Their intention was similar to ours: To deprive the soon-to-emerge new nation Bangladesh of all supplies.
After the surrender of the Pakistanis, the liberated Bangladesh did not have its harbour facilities at Chittagong and Mongla sea ports in operating condition. The war ravaged country needed to first creep on all four limbs from its flattened to the ground position and then to stand on its two feet.
For all that they needed supplies. All sorts of food, construction materials and equipment, agricultural products, industrial products and equipment, medicines and medical equipment, and whatnot. The country had to export jute, its golden product in those days. Tea was exportable too. The young country did not have the capacity or know how to clear the seaports from debris of ship wreckage. Neither did they have the expertise and equipment for mine disposal.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman appealed to the UN and the whole world to come help Bangladesh in this regard. The UN responded positively but intimated that they require considerable time to talk to member states and form a rescue group to be dispatched.
During his epoch-making maiden Moscow visit in March 1971, Bangabandhu appealed to the Soviet leadership for help. On March 2, the Prime Ministers of the two countries, Bangabandhu and Comrade Alexi Kosygin, met at the Kremlin. Bangabandhu took the floor first and took the whole first half of the day. He started by profusely thanking the Soviet leadership for all their support during the War of Liberation and at the UNSC, blocking Western and Chinese moves to prevent or at least delay the birth of Bangladesh.
Next he embarked on the issue of atrocities of the occupation army in its scorched earth policy, causing genocidal mass killings, destruction of properties, economy, infrastructure, and leaving behind a war ravaged country. He asked for economic, technical, geo-political and every other possible help from the USSR in putting Bangladesh back on its feet.
The Soviets took one day to mull over the requests and, on March 3, an agreement was signed and a communique released outlining the lines of help and assistance promised by the Government of USSR to its friendly nation Bangladesh. The all important issue of clearing the Chittagong and Mongla ports of sunken ships and disposal of mines planted by retreating Pakistani armed forces was taken up positively by the USSR.
The Soviet leadership understood the gravity of the situation and acted with lightning speed. A negotiating team was sent to Bangladesh almost immediately. On March 21, the negotiations started and almost in no time, an agreement of Rescue Expedition by the Soviets was signed whereby the USSR undertook to clear the seaports completely within two years and totally free of any costs.
On April 2, 1971, Rear Admiral Sergei Zuenko led the first 100 members of the rescue team to Bangladesh who got to work immediately. Within a month the whole team of around 800 USSR seamen were at work in Bangladesh in 22 different vessels. They were sent from the Soviet Pacific Fleet base of Vladivostok.
Within 3 months, a navigable channel to the Chittagong port docks was made operable. Bangladesh shipping did not have to suffer anymore. By August 15, 1971, the Soviets declared Chittagong port safe for navigation of large vessels. The operations were on and by mid 1973 work was almost over.
The Rescue Expedition, as was popularly known amongst the Soviets, was over as per the agreement and the team wanted to leave by the end of 1973. But the Bangladesh government requested them to extend their stay to salvage six more sunken ships. The USSR government obliged. In all, about 30 different sunken or semi sunken vessels were salvaged and carried to safe ship breaking zones, about 1900 tons of metallic debris were excavated from the port channels,and about 1000 sq miles of area around the port was cleared of mines.
The Soviet sailors had to work in extremely negative climatic conditions. Water in the river Karnaphuli is almost always muddy and visibility is very low. Water was often contaminated. Current was always very high. Divers could not remain long under water in each go. Diving again and again had its effect on their health. Due to local conditions, some modern technologies could not be adopted. So they had to stick to slower, older technological solutions. Still the team achieved its goal in record time.
By June 1974, the last team members were gone. In an emotionally charged send off party, Bangabandhu paid the richest tributes to the team.
We note with extreme grief that not all the team members could go back. Young Yuri Victorovich Redkin, a senior seaman of a floating workshop, died a heroic death on July 13, 1973 in the line of duty. As already mentioned in this article, he is sleeping forever at Redkin Point confluence of the mighty Karnafuli. His grave is befittingly decorated, respected and well looked after. But it is no more open to public since the area falls inside Bangladesh Naval Academy.
Taking the above fact into consideration, the Chittagong City Corporation and the Honourary Consul General of Russia's office in Chittagong has recently taken a decent worthwhile step. At the heart of the city, on the bank of Laldighi (a city park around a small lake),a spectacular memorial structure has been erected in the memory of Yuri Redkin. The memorial itself is an architectural beauty lying in a picturesque setting. The story of the Rescue Mission and Yuri's supreme sacrifice is thus portrayed and shall remain immortal.
Long live Bangladesh-Russia (USSR) friendship!
Long live Admiral Zuenko!
Long live Yuri Redkin!
Pradip Kumar Dutta is currently engaged in the campaign for a global recognition of the 1971 genocide.