Manshuk Zhiengalikyzy Mametova was a machine gunner of the 100th Rifle Brigade in the 21st Guards Rifle Division of the 3rd Shock Army on the Kalinin Front during the Second World War. She became the first Kazakh woman to be awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union after the Supreme Soviet posthumously awarded her the title on 1 March 1944.

Nevel is a town and the administrative center of Nevelsky District in Pskov Oblast, Russia, located on Lake Nevel 242 kilometers (150 mi) southeast of Pskov, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: 16,324 (2010 Russian census); 18,545 (2002 Census); 22,472 (1989 Soviet census).