When Nazi Germany attacked the USSR, the Military Council of the Northern Fleet decided to form a volunteer detachment of sailors. The future Hero of the Soviet Union and writer Vasily Pavlovich Kislyakov served as an assistant commander of the detachment. Within a few weeks of service, Kislyakov accomplished his most famous feat. According to Andrey Suldin, the author of the book “The Great Heroes of the Great War. Chronicle of a National Feat. 1941–1942”, in July 1941, Soviet troops landed in the Arctic. The squad commander Kislyakov and his soldiers took high ground. Initially, the sailors had to defend their position only with rifles, as it turned out that the only light machine gun they had was defective.

As indicated in the collection “The Fiery Years: Youth during the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union 1941–1945”, Vasily Kislyakov managed to repair the machine gun, opened fire on the enemy, and then threw a couple of grenades. After a long firefight, the ammunition began to run out, the squad commander Kislyakov ordered the surviving sailors to leave. He lay down behind the machine gun to provide cover. Vasily Pavlovich kept firing alone until the reinforcements arrived. During the battle, he killed up to 100 enemy soldiers.

By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated August 13, 1941, Senior Sergeant Kislyakov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union with the additional Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.

Vasily Kislyakov distinguished himself in other engagements as well: he participated in battles, repeatedly led reconnaissance teams into the enemy’s deep rear, and raided German strongholds along the Barents Sea coast. He served throughout the Great Patriotic War, which concluded for him on the 9th of May in Austria. As the commander of a submachine gun company, Kislyakov was involved in the Vienna Offensive Operation and the capture of a bridge over the Danube.

After the war, Kislyakov continued to serve in the army. From 1946 to 1948, he served in Moscow, then for seven years he was a company commander in the contingent of Soviet troops in Finland. Vasily Pavlovich Kislyakov died in 1990 and was buried at the Moscow Troyekurovskoye Cemetery.