Fate connected me with the author of these poems a long time ago. I married his daughter and therefore a good half of his life passed before my eyes. Although my relationship with him was not easy, I can firmly say that he was the most honest person in the world. His family was subjected to political repression, his father was shot in 1938, and he himself almost died of hunger. And despite this, when the time came to defend the Motherland, which had treated him so harshly and unfairly, he did it honestly. Nikolai Yaroshenko never enjoyed any privileges. The soldiers never built him a dacha, which he never had. He never lied and did not allow anyone to do this, which is why he only rose to the rank of colonel, although he had more military awards than anyone else. "Oder" is a documentary story in verse from an eyewitness and participant in those heroic events. I believe every line of this poem, because it was written by the most honest person in the world. Alexander Sayan.