Zarovnyaev, Anatoly Ivanovich

Born on January 11, 1922 in the village of Syudumar now in the Mari-Turek district of the Republic of Mari El in a peasant family. Russian. In 1930, the family moved to the city of Izhevsk. In 1937, he graduated from a seven-year school and entered the work as a turner student at the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant . Since December 1940 he studied at the Izhevsk flying club , which he successfully graduated from.

In May 1941, the Pastukhov District Military Commissariat of Izhevsk, Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, was drafted into the army. He was sent to the Balashov Aviation Pilot School , which he graduated in 1943 with the rank of junior lieutenant. For six months, in a reserve training regiment, he mastered the piloting technique and tactics of combat use of the Il-2 attack aircraft .

In the army - from April 1944 . He began to fight on the 4th Ukrainian front , liberating the Crimea . The first combat flight as part of the 76th Guards Assault Aviation Regiment made May 7, 1944 to attack the front line of the enemy’s defense near Sapun-Gory, the Germans’s strongest line on the outskirts of Sevastopol. Departures followed one after another. A German tank was hit, 2 cars were burned, the attacks of four Focke-Wulfs were repelled, dozens of soldiers were destroyed.

After the liberation of Sevastopol, the regiment in which Zarovnyaev served was relocated to the 3rd Belorussian Front , which on June 23, 1944 went on the offensive in the Vitebsk, Orsha and Minsk directions. After the bombing and artillery bombardment, tanks and infantry broke through the breached holes with the support of attack aircraft. The deeply layered defense of the enemy collapsed.

The next step was the city of Orsha . The attack aircraft were tasked with preventing the Germans from exporting factory equipment, military equipment and material resources from Orsha. Stealthily approaching the target, attack aircraft bombed the head train with a sudden blow. A traffic jam has formed on the highway. Not a single train left Orsha.

On the 3rd Belorussian Front, Zarovnyaev made 114 sorties. Despite the fierce anti-aircraft fire to which attack aircraft are exposed over the target, his plane has never been hit.

In September 1944, Soviet attack aircraft smashed the enemy in East Prussia. Zarovnyaev already in the rank of guard of the lieutenant led a pair and a link. Often, especially in “blind” weather, he flew on a “free hunt”, independently choosing targets for bombing and shelling — convoys of tanks and vehicles, accumulations of infantry, artillery positions.

At the end of October 1944, the attack aircraft were tasked with destroying the artillery and tanks of the Nazis in the Stalupenen area. Zarovnyaev was part of the six attack aircraft that flew out on a mission. At the time of the turn on the target, attack aircraft were attacked by four enemy fighters. Zarovnyaev with a mark in line shot down one and immediately dropped bombs on the target.

In January 1945, Zarovnyaev, as part of a regiment, attacked in the areas of Tutshen , Brudzhen and Dragupenen . An ammunition depot was blown up, a lot of equipment was destroyed. Two tanks were knocked out in the Brujen area, and at Dragupenen, having dropped to 50 meters, he completed six approaches to the target, incapacitating the self-propelled gun and two mortar crews.

On February 5, attack aircraft were given the task of destroying the enemy’s self-propelled artillery near the city of Kreizburg . When approaching the target, they met a dense fire of anti-aircraft artillery. The commander ordered Zarovnyaev to crush anti-aircraft guns. Zarovnyaev dropped to 100 meters and at point-blank range he shot anti-aircraft gunners, providing further effective combat work of the entire group.

February 17 , being the leading couple in the group, attacked tanks and artillery in the Melzak region. As he approached the target, he noticed three camouflaged guns firing. After the first approach, two guns were hit, the second call - the third gun was hit and the servant was destroyed.

On February 18, in the Pinten area, Zarovnyaev destroyed three cars and disabled a tank. Three days later, a self-propelled gun exploded and destroyed a mortar battery.

On March 13, Zarovnyaev was appointed the flight commander, and on April 2 he was awarded the rank of senior lieutenant. At the same time he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. This was his fourth combat award.

At the end of April, as part of a large group of attack aircraft, Zarovnyaev attacked the enemy’s fighter airfield in the area northwest of Fishhausen. During the attack, some enemy fighters tried to take off and repel a raid. Zarovnyaev shot down one of the fighters, who tried to attack the plane of Captain Protchev.

In three visits, the enemy airfield was completely destroyed, four enemy aircraft were destroyed in the air, 22 on the ground.

By April 4, he had completed 120 sorties (all on the same plane).

By May 4, 1945, Zarovnyaev had 40 wrecked tanks, 8 burned aircraft on the ground and 2 in the air, 2 vehicles sunk in the Baltic Sea, a large number of destroyed vehicles, artillery pieces, and enemy manpower.

Participated in the historic Victory Parade on June 24, 1945 in Moscow on Red Square.

In 1946 he was discharged to the reserve. He worked at the aircraft factory, then left for Kamchatka, then returned to Izhevsk. Here he worked as a turner at an engineering plant, a driver, and the head of a motorcade.

He died on September 13, 1977 . He was buried at the Khokhryakovsky cemetery in Izhevsk.

• The Gold Star Medal (Decree of June 29, 1945, No. 7470);
• Order of Lenin ;
• two Orders of the Red Banner ;
• Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree;
• Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd degree;
• medals.

• Zarovnyaev Anatoly Ivanovich // Encyclopedia of the Republic of Mari El / Otv. ed. N. I. Saraeva. - Yoshkar-Ola, 2009 .-- S. 367. - 872 p. - 3505 copies. - ISBN 978-5-94950-049-1 .
• Mochaev V.A. Zarovnyaev Anatoly Ivanovich // Mari Biographical Encyclopedia / Auth. V.A. Mochaev. - 2nd ed. - Yoshkar-Ola : Mari Biographical Center, 2017 .-- S. 155. - 606 p. - 1,500 copies - ISBN 978-5-905314-35-3 .
• Zarovnyaev Anatoly Ivanovich // History of the Mari Territory in persons. 1941-1945 The Great Patriotic War. - Yoshkar-Ola : MARNIYALI , 2015 .-- S. 88—90. - 374 p. - 500 copies. - ISBN 978-5-94950-070-5 .

• Zarovnyaev, Anatoly Ivanovich (Russian) . Site " Heroes of the country ".
• Zarovnyaev Anatoly Ivanovich .