In the village of Altai, on August 26, the bust of Vasily Atyunin, a full cavalier of the Order of St. George, was unveiled for the first time in Russia. He was born in the neighboring village of Sarasa. A significant contribution to the commemoration of the Altai warrior was made by his great-grandson Vladimir Shumilov. He did not know Vasily Stepanovich in life and pieced together his history bit by bit.

Vladimir managed to convince relatives and sponsors to erect a monument to Vasily Atyunin in Altai, where the hero lived. The bust was crafted at the Krasnodar sculptural workshop 'Alley of Russian Glory', known for creating numerous sculptures of heroes from 1812 and 1941-1945, as well as outstanding citizens of Russia. Now the name of Vasily Atyunin stands alongside such figures as Ermak, Peter the Great, Suvorov, Brusilov, Solzhenitsyn, Gagarin, and Shukshin. The installation of the bust was initiated by numerous descendants of Atyunin, the head of the Altai district administration Viktor Korshunov, the director of the local history museum Pyotr Tyryshkin, representatives of the Cossacks, and the district council of war and labor veterans.