Bagirov's men held the height for more than 24 hours, knocking out three armored vehicles and inflicting up to an additional 250 casualties. On February 22, 1944 Bagirov was made a Hero of the Soviet Union. After his recovery in hospital he rejoined his regiment, fought through to the end of the war and died in 1981. Battles for the Dniepr On September 20 the division was recorded as having a strength of 5,048 personnel, supported by 44 guns of 76mm and 122mm calibre plus 81 medium and heavy mortars. As of September 22 Voronezh Front was attacking along three axes. On the left (south) flank the 4th Guards and 52nd Armies were advancing along a line through the Kozelshchyna Raion in the direction of Kremenchug while the Front's 3rd Guards Tank Army reached the Dniepr at Zarubintsy. 4th Guards also reached the river on September 28 but had to temporarily go over to the defense on the east bank. In a STAVKA directive (No. 30203) issued the next day the 52nd and 4th Guards Armies were transferred to Steppe Front to the south. On October 6 the 69th Guards began its crossing operations in the Svitlovodsk area near Kirovograd. One of the first men over was Guardsman Mikhail Stepanovich Tsyganov, 4th Company, 2nd Battalion of the 208th Guards Rifle Regiment. His unit first had to capture a defended nameless island near the west bank; after helping to secure the German trenches Tsyganov forded the river channel and carried a red flag through heavy small arms and artillery fire before planting it on a small hill just inland, inspiring the comrades of his company to follow his example. On February 22, 1944 Krasnoarmeets Tsyganov would be made a Hero of the Soviet Union. Postwar he worked in several responsible positions until his health forced him to retire in 1955 but he lived until 2001. During the same crossing operation Cpt. Vasilii Alekseevich Zhukov, commander of a battalion of the 204th Guards Rifle Regiment, led his men in the assault on the unnamed island and cleared it before continuing to the west bank. In the battles for the bridgehead that followed over the next days Zhukov led several counterattacks which resulted in the destruction of 10 German armored vehicles and up to one-and-a-half battalions of infantry. This officer also became a Hero of the Soviet Union on February 22. In peacetime