Despite being promoted to very high posts, Zh.Ya. Kotin did not restrict his work to the office and visited the front lines frequently. On October 7th, 1942, he dropped by the 1st battalion of the 3rd Guards Tank Brigade to check up on KV tanks.
"October 7th, 1942.
The battalion is in the same location, continuing to repair materiel.
At 17:00 the designer of the KV tank, Hero of Socialist Labout, Major General of the Engineering Forces Kotin arrived with the commander of the 7th Tank Corps, and the commander and commissar of the 3rd Guards Heavy Tank Brigade.
Major General Kotin talked with the crews and asked about issues of preserving and using the vehicles. He was surprised by the state of affairs where the tanks have been running for 250-300 hours and many of them are still in service.
At 18:00 the commanders left."