Anatoly Kokorin was born in the town of Borovichi, Novgorod Region. In 1940, he graduated from a medical college and was drafted into the army. In the spring of 1941, he wrote a letter to his parents,

Those who knew Anatoly Kokorin preserved their memories of him. He had a unique instinct for helping the wounded. He would find them literally everywhere and provide immediate aid even in the most difficult of conditions. In the last days of his life, Kokorin carried dozens of wounded away from the battlefield. He was not merely a medical instructor, but a fighter in every sense of the word.

Anatoly Kokorin always followed the soldiers going into attack. He killed up to a dozen of enemy soldiers. Whenever one of his fellow servicemen was wounded, Kokorin would get to him, carry him to a safe position, and render the necessary aid. The fiercer the battle got, the braver and faster Kokorin became.

In the last hours of his life, Anatoly Kokorin rendered first aid to many soldiers and carried six severely wounded soldiers away from the battlefield. Later, he came for the regiment’s political instructor Rudenko who had suffered a wound, and bandaged up his arm. Finnish troops noticed the two Soviet soldiers in front of them and decided to capture them alive.

Kokorin was going to carry Rudenko to a safe place when he saw the enemy approaching. He ran to the side, grabbed a rifle, and took aim. Gunfire began. One of the enemy soldiers dropped dead, then another, and a third one. Kokorin kept shooting as long as there were bullets available. When Rudenko regained consciousness, he heard the Finnish soldiers shouting,

Kokorin and Rudenko were attacked by over a dozen enemy soldiers. Kokorin stabbed three of them with a bayonet, and Rudenko shot another three with a pistol. All of a sudden, Rudenko was shot in the abdomen. He fell face down. Enemy soldiers ran up close. Someone grabbed Kokorin from behind by the shoulders, knocking the rifle out of his hands. He saw the barrel of an enemy machine gun in front of his chest.

Kokorin had only one thing left: a grenade which he had been saving as a last resort. He shoved the enemy soldiers away from him, grabbed the grenade, and swinging the grenade in the air threw it under his feet. There was an explosion. The Finns were killed along with Anatoly Kokorin.