World War II veteran Yuri Shastin shared the secret of longevity.

      Every fourth resident of the republic is an elderly person. There are 294 long-lived people in Tatarstan. These days they are given special attention and care. Today guests were received by Great Patriotic War veteran Yuri Shastin. He recently turned 101. He shared the story of his life and the secret of his longevity with Zlata Zakharova.

      Flipping through his albums, Yuri Shastin shows only the most precious items. On his chest are orders and medals: for bravery and combat merits. He went to the front after finishing school, at 18. Only inner strength helped him survive all the horrors.

      Yuri Shastin took part in the battles on the Kursk salient. On the left-bank Ukraine he served as a machine-gun aimer and then as commander of a Maxim machine-gun crew; he fought his way through all of East Prussia. He was seriously wounded before the Dnieper. A fragment from an enemy mine the military surgeon did not dare to remove, and Yuri Nikolayevich lived with it for the rest of his life.

      "We had a one- or two-barrel [weapon], and they had a six-barrel mortar — like this. They fire it all at once — and six shells cover an entire kilometer of territory. I was lying nearby, and all those fragments were flying — one fragment hit me, and I still carry that fragment in my chest," says Great Patriotic War veteran Yuri Shastin.

      And after the war another life began. Yuri Nikolayevich continued his military service. Having risen to the rank of colonel, he decided that his experience should be passed on to the young and taught at the military department at an institute.

      "Such people are an example for us, an example of a positive life stance. Here he is — he doesn't get discouraged," says Layla Garifullina, director of the Sofia Gubaidulina Center for Contemporary Music.

      In September Yuri Nikolayevich turned 101. He gathered all his relatives and close ones around a large table for his birthday. A venerable age, but the veteran is always glad to receive guests. Today he was congratulated on the International Day of Older Persons.

      "Thank you for remembering people like us," says Great Patriotic War veteran Yuri Shastin.

      More news about the event:

      Kazan City Duma deputy Layla Garifullina visited 101-year-old veteran Yuri Shastin

      Layla Garifullina, a deputy of the Kazan City Duma from United Russia and director of the Sofia Gubaidulina Center for Contemporary Music, visited Great Patriotic War participant, Colonel Yuri Shastin, 15:16 02.10.2025 United Russia - Kazan

      WWII veteran Yuri Shastin shared the secret of longevity

      Every fourth resident of the republic is an elderly person. There are 294 long-lived people in Tatarstan. 13:25 02.10.2025 GTRK Tatarstan - Kazan

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