The dirk presented in the exhibition belonged to the military engineer, Hero of Socialist Labor Aleksey Alekseyevich Makarychev. Makarychev was born on June 21, 1941. In 1963, he graduated from the Faculty of Industrial and Civil Engineering of the Moscow Institute of Civil Engineering, after which he was drafted into the Soviet Army. Makarychev began his service as a master of the construction site of the Military Construction Department of the Northern Fleet of the Soviet Navy. Later he became the chief engineer and head of Severovoenmorstroy (Northern Fleet’s construction organization). Makarychev participated in the construction of the most important defensive installations. He was one of the leaders of the construction of a large early-warning radar station capable of detecting ballistic missile attacks, which employed over 6,000 people. He also supervised the construction of a base for nuclear submarines at the Gremikha site.

In 1986, Makarychev was transferred to the city of Leninsk (now Baikonur) of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic. He assumed the post of head of the Main Special Military Construction Department of the USSR Ministry of Defense. Under Makarychev, Soviet engineers built a 153-kilometer-long water pipeline, roads, power and communication lines, and a camp for fly-in fly-out workers. In addition, he supervised the drilling of 15 wells. Aleksey Makarychev actively participated in the preparations for the launch of the Energia super-heavy lift launch vehicle and the Buran spaceplane.

On the 30th of December, 1990, Major General Aleksey Alekseyevich Makarychev was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor with the Order of Lenin and the “Hammer and Sickle” medal for “great achievements in the development and testing of a reusable rocket and space system ‘Energia — Buran’”. From 1990, Makarychev served in Moscow and headed the Main Military Construction Department “Center” of the USSR Ministry of Defense. In 1992, he was appointed Deputy Head of Construction and Quartering of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

In 1993, Makarychev retired with the rank of Lieutenant General. Currently, he lives in Moscow, works as the technical director of an architectural bureau, and engages in social work. Makarychev is an honored engineer of the RSFSR.