Island of Memory

      On March 16, 2021, on his social media page Sergey Plaksin shared with friends the joy of his little son's first victory: "Lev has started walking." And exactly one year later Sergey died in the area of the special military operation...

      In honor of the Dzerzhinsk resident Sergey Plaksin a "Hero's Desk" was opened. School No. 2 became the first educational institution in the city to join the project of the same name. It was launched at the initiative of the United Russia party. Its goal is to tell schoolchildren about fellow townsmen who have shown personal courage and carried out a heroic deed.

      "The Hero's Desk is a symbol of pride, fidelity, and great service to the Fatherland," said the school's principal Elena Lushina at the ceremonial assembly. "I hope, children, that this desk will inspire you to new feats and achievements. Be worthy of the memory of our hero — Sergey Plaksin."

      Serezha was an ordinary Dzerzhinsk boy. Cheerful, mischievous, a little bit of a hooligan. His mother, Elena Nikolaevna, who worked as a teacher at the same school her son attended, recalls how he would jokingly complain: "You can't even skip a lesson — you'll be recognized right away." An activist and community figure: contests, concerts, festivals, hikes — not a single school event went by without his participation.

      After finishing nine grades Sergey enrolled in a pedagogical college to become a physical education teacher. And in 2006 he was drafted into the army. He served as a signalman not just anywhere, but on the border ship named, like his hometown, after "Iron Felix" — the Dzerzhinsky. Igor Krasheninnikov, a member of the School No. 2 museum council, said that during a visit by a delegation from Dzerzhinsk to the ship its captain conveyed his deep respect to Elena Nikolaevna for raising her son.

      Later Sergey graduated from the Dzerzhinsk Chemical College named after the Red Army with the specialty of technician-mechanic. And in 2016 he finally fulfilled his long-standing dream: he went to serve under contract in a tank unit. He was in the special military operation from the very beginning — senior mechanic-driver of a motor rifle company. For the bravery he displayed Sergey Plaksin was awarded the Order of Courage. Posthumously...

      "Comrades told me about the last minutes of his life," Elena Nikolaevna says, wiping the tears that would not stop. "First his APC was knocked out, he managed to get out of it, he fired back... Terrible. Painful. But I am proud that my boy grew up to be a real man, worthy of the memory of his grandfather — a tanker, a participant in the Great Patriotic War."

      His mother was Sergey's best friend. During the school concerts she hosted, he could arrive with a huge bouquet of flowers. And he was always the first to congratulate her on her birthday — at 00:01 — sending touching and heartfelt poems.

      The family endured three agonizing weeks of uncertainty that felt like an eternity: Elena Plaksina learned of her son's death on April 4, 2022.

      In honor of Sergey Plaksin a memorial plaque has been installed on the façade of the Dzerzhinsk Chemical College. Now School No. 2 has his named desk. The right to sit at it will be awarded for academic success, achievements in olympiads and competitions, and for active participation in the school's public life. It will "move" from class to class. And its first "place of residence" will, of course, be the office of the hero's mother — Elena Nikolaevna, teacher of Russian language and literature.

      "One boy in my class dreams of sitting at my son's desk," Elena Nikolaevna smiles. "And he constantly asks, 'I'm doing well in my studies and behavior, right?' I nod and agree. I am proud that my son's desk will become a kind of incentive for today's schoolchildren. And a remembrance that Sergey fulfilled his military duty to the end..."

      Ekaterina KOZLOVA. Photo by Yulia Volkova

      More news about the event:

      "Hero's Desk": in a Dzerzhinsk school they immortalized the memory of a father who did not see his son learn to walk

      09:32 October 18

      News Service

      The memory of the hero lives in hearts and classrooms

      On March 16, 2021 Sergey Plaksin shared on social media the joyful event: his little son Lev took his first steps. 10:29 18.10.2025 ProDzer.Ru — Dzerzhinsk

      Islet of Memory

      On March 16, 2021 on his social media page Sergey Plaksin shared with friends the joy of his little son's first victory: "Lev has started walking." 09:51 18.10.2025 Dzerzhinsk Vedomosti — Dzerzhinsk

      News from neighboring regions on the topic:

      In the stanitsa Nizhnebakanskaya they opened a "Hero's Desk"

      In School No. 11 of the Krymsky District a solemn ceremony was held to open the "Hero's Desk" dedicated to the memory of a participant in the special military operation, Anton Borisov. 15:43 17.10.2025 Kuban Cossack Host — Krasnodar

      In the village of Samarskoye they planted a Garden of Memory in honor of SVO heroes

      Local residents laid a Garden of Memory in honor of fellow countrymen who died during the special military operation. 11:35 17.10.2025 Azovsky District — Azov

      Museum specialists held intellectual games for schoolchildren

      On October 15 pupils of class 7 "V" of City School No. 1 and class 6 "B" of Kulotinskaya Secondary School, under the guidance of form teachers Ksenia Nikolaevna Petrova and Larisa Nikolaevna Zelenenko, 11:10 16.10.2025 Committee of Culture and Tourism — Okulovka