In order to evacuate the wounded and focus on the decisive battle, one of the units under the command of Vikenty Drozdovich was redeployed to defensive positions. The entire unit was killed in the unequal engagement at the Lavy Forest having destroyed 85 fascists.

Vikenty Drozdovich's commendation list said that "the heroic feat of the young partisans made it possible to evacuate the hospital and repel a sudden attack of the fascists, played a significant role in the wrecking of the punitive expedition by the fascists".

The engagement at Lavy was immortalized in the painting by People's Artist of the USSR Mikhail Savitsky "The Feat by the Seventeen". The plot is based on the events described by V. Yeremenko, commander of Voroshilov Brigade No. 300. The original manuscript is kept in the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus. The document mistakenly indicates that there were 17 partisans, hence the name of Mikhail Savitsky's painting. In fact there were 18 partisans who engaged with the Nazis in the battle on 3 December 1942. The youngest was 15.

"From the first day of December the Germans aggressively pursued the Voroshilov Partisan Brigade. After several marches and attempts to break away from the Nazis, the brigade stopped to rest in the Lavy Forest. The Germans began to surround the forest from three sides. The brigade took up the defense on the edge of the forest. "

Excerpt from the after-action report on details of the engagement

After two weeks of fierce fighting with the German troops, a decision was made to redirect partisans to the village of Lavy where a partisan hospital was located. In order to strengthen their positions, the command ordered to arrange ambushes and send covering forces to prevent the advancement of the German forces. The most crucial was the ambush near the village of Kletishche at the junction connecting the roads leading from the villages of Lotviny, Telyadovichi and Yazviny to the village of Lavy. The ambush operation was led by Vikenty Drozdovich, commander of a platoon of the Kotovsky Partisan Unit.

"On the night of 3 December 1942 the Hitlerites unexpectedly launched a massive attack on the partisan brigade. The brigade commander ordered to dispatch covering forces consisting of partisans from the Vikenty Drozdovich platoon. The partisans found a convenient place for the ambush in the cemetery near the village of Kletishche, Kopyl District, Minsk Oblast. 18 partisans engaged in a battle with a battalion of punitive expeditionary forces and halted their advance."

Excerpt from the commendation list of Hero of the Soviet Union Vikenty Drozdovich

After amassing large forces, the enemy embarked on a major assault in order to encircle and destroy the partisan group. The fascists hoped for an easy victory, because the assault had been preceded by a massive artillery attack during which shells were incessantly fired towards the cemetery. The Nazis took all the roads trying to encircle the partisans. Part of them crossed the bridge near the village of Telyadovichi heading for the cemetery; others made their way to the village. The partisan platoon took up all-round defense. Three comrades – Ivan Zhigalkovich, Sergei Dukhanov and Sergei Petkevich were sent for reconnaissance to the outskirts of the village. The Zhigalkovich group fired at the enemy approaching from the side of the roads Lotviny – Telyadovichi and Lotviny – Kletishche.

"When the heroes became engaged in combat, the Germans had already flanked them and had nearly cut off their way of retreat. Comrade Zhigalkovich, who was sent to deliver the report to the brigade HQ, still managed to reach his destination and deliver a warning about the dire situation: the Germans deployed two battalions against the partisan unit at the forest edge…"

Excerpt from the after-action report on details of the engagement

A striking force was assembled to support Vikenty Drozdovich but it couldn't reach the graveyard because the path of advance had been cut off.

"Supported by mortar and artillery fire, the Nazis attacked the handful of brave fighters eight times and each time they were repelled suffering big casualties. The engagement lasted for four hours. When ammunition was depleted and the partisans became surrounded, Drozdovich took the few partisans, who were still alive, to close-quarters combat with the enemy. That fight took the lives of the partisans on the ambush mission and their commanding officer Drozdovich".

Excerpt from the commendation list of Hero of the Soviet Union Vikenty Drozdovich

That combat action took the lives of three communists, nine Komsomol members, and six young fighters. A machine gun with a note "We are dying for the Motherland… Count us in as Komsomol members" was found in the battlefield.

The names of the heroes are immortalized by the obelisk erected at the communal grave on 3 July 1960.

Mikhail Desyukevich, Vikenty Drozdovich, Alexander Zhdanovich, Aleksei Korol, Frants Klimovich, Pavel Lych, Grigory Nikonovich, Vasily Ostreiko, Eduard Petrashevsky, Nikolai Sinevich, Ivan Tumilovich, Alexander Kharitonovich, Dmitry Titko, Nikolai Tertychny, Konstantin Shityko, Nikolai Yakimovich, Alexander Yasyuchenya, Vladimir Kachanovsky.

By the Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Council, Vikenty Drozdovich received the Hero of the Soviet Union title posthumously.

The handwritten journal National Avenger of May 1944 is a result of hard work of partisans. According to the creators, it was made in the deep rear of the enemy during the moments of lull in battles.

The Song The Engagement At Lavy deserves special attention along with the scrupulous details of the partisan battles. The song is dedicated to 18 hero partisans who died in the fierce battle against the Nazis.

National Avenger handwritten partisan journal, 1944

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