Rusanov, Ivan Efimovich

Born on September 7, 1915 in the village of Obukhov, Kiev region, in a peasant family. Ukrainian. Member of the CPSU since 1944. He graduated from a seven-year school and the Kharkov Aviation College. He worked at the Aktobe airport as a technician.

In 1939, drafted into the ranks of the Red Army . In the battles of World War II from June 22, 1941. He was a shooter-scorer, then an observer pilot. He fought on the Southwest, Kalinin, 1st Baltic and 3rd Belorussian fronts.

On August 25, 1941, the nine bombers, in which I.E. Rusanov was, bombed the enemy crossing on the Dnieper and the bridge. Now it was necessary to strike at the accumulation of enemy troops and equipment on the banks of the Dnieper.

We hit the target. Near the shore, where parts of the enemy had accumulated, a flame of explosions soared. The panic began. Enemy fighters appeared and took the plane of I.E. Rusanov into the pincers. Suddenly the gap stunned him. The cabin was filled with smoke. The plane began to decline. Crossing the tops of roadside trees, the car slid down and, bouncing on bumps, stopped. The pilot, rising in his seat, looked back. Seeing that blood was dripping down the face of I.E. Rusanov, the pilot pulled the sergeant from the cockpit.

Farmers ran to them. The plane landed near the city of Bakhmach, a few kilometers from its airfield. I.E. Rusanov was sent to the hospital by car. Doctors counted forty-two wounds on his body. All of them, fortunately, were easy. The sergeant quickly recovered.

From the hospital he was sent to the aviation unit, and from there to the school of aviation intelligence. This profession is not easy. There was not enough experience, but the comrades-in-arms eagerly shared their knowledge with him. Every day, "loopers" rose from the airfield and left for tasks.

On one of these days, the crew, in which I.E. Rusanov was an observer, also went on a mission. The front line passed in the clouds at an altitude of 3000 meters and soon they were already in the given square. Intelligence was drawing to a close. It remained to make the last call to photograph another lane. And at this time two “Focke-Wulfs” emerged from the clouds. Bullet routes passed near the fuselage "Petlyakova".

Two Soviet fighters, barring aside, rushed to attack the enemy. An air battle ensued. Sergeant I.E. Rusanov took advantage of this and completed aerial photography. The plane ducked into the clouds and in half an hour was already at its airfield. Intelligence was very valuable. The commander of the air army personally thanked the crew, and the regiment commander called the air scouts air trackers.

Soviet troops successfully advanced. The air scouts were tasked with making aerial photographs of the enemy’s defensive line in the region of the city of Smolensk. Passed over the front line. Two minutes later, the plane was supposed to enter a given square. Ahead were the white caps of anti-aircraft explosions. The fragments of the plane, the fuselage, and the tail were pierced. However, the scout continued to carry out the combat mission.

Following the anti-aircraft guns, the aircraft was attacked by enemy fighters. Fascist vultures rushed from all sides on a lone Soviet plane. They clogged, fluttered the fiery tongues of enemy machine guns, hit the guns. "Petlyakov" winced, as if he had come across something. Flames burst into the cockpit. The plane crashed.

Knocking off the flames with his hands, I.E. Rusanov pushed back the lantern of the cockpit and, throwing the body overboard, flew down towards the evening twilight, parachuted into a forest glade. For two nights I.E. Rusanov went east through the territory occupied by the enemies, listening to the distant hum of guns. Going with every step became more and more difficult. The burned face and hands ached unbearably.

Only at dawn the next day, a haggard man crawled into the location of our military guard. The infantrymen were surprised: as soon as he did not explode in the minefield. His hands were covered with blisters. The fingers were bleeding. He named his part and asked to be delivered soon to his own.

By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of February 23, 1945, for 215 successful sorties with courage and bravery, Captain Ivan Yefimovich Rusanov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal .

After the end of World War II, he continued to serve in the Air Force. In 1952 he graduated from the navigator courses of the Krasnodar military united school of pilots. In 1955, I.E. Rusanov retired. He worked as the head of the laboratory at the Agricultural Academy. He lived in Kiev. He died on April 9, 1995.

He was awarded the Order of Lenin , 2 Orders of the Red Banner , Orders of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, Red Star , and medals.

• Battle stars of Kiev. Kiev: Political Publishing House of Ukraine, 1983.
• Heroes of the Soviet Union: A Brief Biographical Dictionary / Prev. ed. collegium I. N. Shkadov . - M .: Military Publishing , 1988. - T. 2 / Love - Yashchuk /. - 863 s. - 100,000 copies. - ISBN 5-203-00536-2 .

Ivan Efimovich Rusanov (Russian) . The site " Heroes of the country ." Date of treatment May 17, 2014.