Korolev, Vitaly Ivanovich

Born on April 22 (May 5), 1916 in the village of Bogolyubovo, now Kyzylzhar District, North Kazakhstan Region ( Kazakhstan ). From 1920 he lived in the village Ilyinka ( Kazansky district of the Tyumen region ). In 1934 he graduated from 7 classes of school in the village of Elizavetopolskoye, Kartalinsky district of the Chelyabinsk region , in 1935 - 1 year of mining and technical college in the city of Kopeisk ( Chelyabinsk region ) ^[1] .

In the army since August 1935. In 1939 he graduated from the Stalingrad Military Aviation Pilot School (Volgograd). He served in the Air Force combat units (in the North Caucasus and Odessa military districts); was a pilot, navigator of the air regiment and navigator of the air squadron ^[1] .

Member of the Great Patriotic War : in June 1941 - February 1944 - flight commander, air squadron commander, navigator and deputy commander of the 146th (from September 1943 - 115th guards) fighter aviation regiment. He fought on the South , South-West , West , Bryansk and the 1st Baltic fronts. He participated in defensive battles in Central Ukraine and on the Rostov direction, Barvenkovo-Lozovskaya (January 1942), Orel (July-August 1943), Nevelskoy (October 1943) and Gorodok (December 1943) operations ^[1] .

In February-May 1944 - commander of the squadron of the 89th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment ( 1st Baltic Front ). Participated in the Vitebsk operation (February-March 1944) ^[1] .

On January 17, 1944, being drunk, he shot at the airfield from a TT pistol an assistant commander of the 115th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment in the air-rifle service, Major Murat Desyatnichenko. On February 14, 1944, the military tribunal of the 1st Baltic Front was sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment in a forced labor camp without loss of rights. Sent to the army before the end of hostilities. Subsequently, on August 27, 1944, the military tribunal of the 1st Baltic Front completely removed his conviction ^[1] .

From May 1944 - Deputy Commander of the 482nd Fighter Aviation Regiment ( 3rd Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts). Participated in Vitebsk-Orshanskaya (June 1944), Vilnius (July 1944), Kaunas (July-August 1944), Sandomir-Silesia (January-February 1945), Lower-Silesia (February 1945), Upper-Silesia (March 1945), Berlin (April-May 1945) and Prague (May 1945) operations ^[1] .

During the war, made 455 combat missions on fighters I-16 , MiG-3 , Yak-1 , Yak-7B , Yak-9 , La-5 and La-7 , in 77 air battles he personally shot down 17 and in group 4 aircraft the enemy ^[2] .

After the war, until December 1947, he was deputy commander of the 482nd and 41st Guards Fighter Aviation Regiments (in the Central Group of Forces ; Czechoslovakia and Hungary ). In 1948 he graduated from Lipetsk Higher Officer Flight Tactical Improvement Courses for the Air Force ^[1] .

In February-July 1949 - deputy commander, from July 1949 - commander of the 304th Fighter Aviation Regiment (in the Primorsky Military District ) ^[1] .

In November 1950 - September 1951, he was on a special mission in China as the commander of the 304th Fighter Aviation Regiment . The regiment's pilots carried out retraining of Chinese pilots on La-9 fighter jets and covering China’s facilities from enemy air raids during the Korean War ^[1] . From February 1952, he was again in a special assignment in China (details not yet established) ^[1] .

From October 1954 - Deputy Commander of the 17th Fighter Aviation Division of the Air Defense for flight training (the city of Rzhev, Tver Region). Since May 1957, Colonel V.I. Korolev has been in reserve ^[1] .

He lived in the city of Smolensk . He died on November 4, 1957. He was buried at the Blade Cemetery in Smolensk ^[1] .

• Hero of the Soviet Union (06/27/1945);
• Order of Lenin (06.27.1945);
• 3 orders of the Red Banner (03/12/1942; 08/08/1943; 12/30/1956);
• 2 orders of the Red Star (11/06/1941; 11/15/1950);
• Medal "For Military Merit" (November 5, 1946);
• other USSR medals ;
• Czechoslovak military cross of 1939-1945 (February 23, 1947).

• In the name of V.I. Korolev, a street was named in the village of Ilinka, Kazan district of the Tyumen region .

• Bodrikhin N.G. Soviet aces. - M .: Tamp, 1998. - p. 106. - 272 p. - ISBN 5-89883-001-4 .
• Heroes of the Soviet Union: A Brief Biographical Dictionary / Prev. ed. College I. Shkadov . - Moscow : Military Publishing , 1987. - T. 1 / Abaev - Lyubichev /. - 911 s. - 100 000 copies - ISBN SEC., Reg. Number in the PSC 87-95382.
• Bykov M. Yu. Soviet Aces 1941-1945. - M .: Yauza, Eksmo, 2008. - p. 257. - 608 p. - ISBN 978-5-699-30919-1 .
• Vorobyov EZ. Thirty-three heroes. - M .: DOSAAF, 1977. - P. 109-120. - 192 s.

• Korolev, Vitaly Ivanovich (Russian) . The site " Heroes of the country ."
• Photo, biography on the site "Corner of the sky . "