Igor Viktorovich Rzhavitin ( December 1, 1968 - August 9, 2008 ) - Russian test navigator, colonel , Hero of Russia .
| Igor Viktorovich Rzhavitin | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of Birth | December 1, 1968 | ||
| Place of Birth | Degtyarsk , Sverdlovsk region , RSFSR , USSR | ||
| Date of death | August 9, 2008 (aged 39) | ||
| Place of death | Gori Municipality , Georgia | ||
| Affiliation |  the USSR Russia | ||
| Type of army |   Air Force | ||
| Years of service | 1986 - 2008 | ||
| Rank | Colonel | ||
| Battles / Wars | Second Chechen War War in South Ossetia (2008) | ||
| Awards and prizes |
| ||
| Retired | died in battle | ||
Biography
Born in Degtyarsk . The family later moved to Revda , where he graduated from high school.
In 1986 he entered the service of the Air Force of the USSR , in 1990 he graduated with honors from the Chelyabinsk Higher Military Aviation Red Banner Navigation School . After graduation, he was sent to the Northern Group of Forces ( Poland ). After the withdrawal of Russian troops from Poland, he served in the Far East ( Primorsky Territory ). He was the navigator of the Su-24 , the navigator of the link, since 1996 - the assistant navigator of the bomber squadron.
In 1997 - 1998 he studied at the Test Pilot Training Center ( Akhtubinsk ), after graduation he remained at the State Flight Test Center as a senior test navigator of the flight test squadron. During his time at the GLIC, he mastered more than 20 types of aircraft, participated in state flight tests of the Su-27IB .
Participation in hostilities
Since 1999, he took part in the Second Chechen War , having completed a number of special tasks. In 2007 he was awarded the Order of Military Merit .
He died during the war in South Ossetia , when on August 9, 2008, as part of a group of three aircraft, he carried out the task of reconnaissance and suppression of Georgian firing points in the region of Tskhinvali . According to a number of sources (in particular, Aviapark magazine [1] , Oblastnaya Gazeta of the Sverdlovsk region [2] and the Heroes of the Country website [3] ), a Su-24 aircraft was hit by an anti-aircraft missile during departure ( presumably Buk air defense missile systems). Both crew members ejected; crew commander Colonel Igor Zinov was captured, Igor Rzhavitin parachute caught fire during ejection, and it crashed. It should be noted that the Russian Ministry of Defense did not officially report the loss of Su-24 aircraft during the conflict in South Ossetia. At the same time, the names of all crew members of four aircraft are known whose loss has been officially confirmed; Rzhavitina and Zinova are not among them [4] .
Rewards
- Hero of the Russian Federation (posthumously) (09/11/2008, Gold Star medal No. 923).
- Order of Merit (2007).
- Medals
Family
He left a mother, father, wife and two children, son Denis and daughter Maria.
Memory
Igor Rzhavitin was posthumously awarded the title of “Honorary Citizen of Revda”; he was named after Revda Secondary School No. 3 [5] .
Notes
- ↑ Air Park. - No. 4 (special issue). - 2008. - P.14.
- ↑ Fourth in the history of Revda
- ↑ Hero of Russia Rzhavitin Igor Viktorovich
- ↑ See Aviation Losses during the War in South Ossetia (2008) #Losses of Russia
- ↑ In memory of Igor Rzhavitin (inaccessible link)
See also
- List of Heroes of Russia (South Ossetia, 2008)
Links
- Rzhavitin, Igor Viktorovich . The site " Heroes of the country ."
- Biography on the website of the Ministry of Defense of Russia