Damansky Island on the Ussuri River is less than a square kilometer of land located 230 km south of Khabarovsk. In the spring of 1969, the most severe armed confrontation between the USSR and the PRC occurred here.

The roots of the dispute lie in the Beijing Treaty of 1860: the border ran along the Chinese bank of the Ussuri River, rather than along the fairway as international practice suggested. While Moscow and Beijing were allies, the issue was not raised; after the ideological split of the 1960s, the disputed islands became a point of contention, and border provocations became routine.
On the night of March 2, about three hundred Chinese soldiers secretly occupied the island. In the morning, a group of border guards led by Lieutenant Ivan Strelnikov approached the intruders and was shot at close range. The battle lasted several hours, and the situation was saved by the arrival of Vitaly Bubenin's outpost. 31 border guards were killed.

On March 15, a second confrontation occurred - this time with artillery and tanks. Colonel Demokrat Leonov was killed, and his damaged T-62 was left on the ice and later taken by the Chinese side: today, the vehicle is displayed in a museum in Beijing. The outcome of the battle was determined by a volley of Grad rockets - the first combat use of the BM-21 struck the rear on the Chinese bank.

The Soviet side suffered 58 dead and about 94 wounded; Chinese estimates range from the official 68 people to several hundred. Five participants in the battles were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, three posthumously.

An open war did not occur: in September 1969, Kosygin and Zhou Enlai agreed to a ceasefire right at Beijing airport. In fact, the island remained with the PRC, while legally it was transferred to China by the agreement of 1991. The consequences went far beyond the border dispute: Moscow seriously considered the threat of a two-front war, while Beijing accelerated its rapprochement with Washington, leading to Nixon's visit in 1972.