Kalashnikov, Victor Vasilievich

Viktor Vasilievich was born on January 29, 1917 in the village of Korostovo, Zvenigorod district, Moscow province (now the Krasnogorsk district of the Moscow region). Having lost his parents during the Civil War, he was adopted and raised by his aunt. In 1931 he graduated from the 7th grade of a secondary school in Moscow, in 1932 - a factory-apprenticeship school. He worked as a mechanic and electrician at the Moscow plants "Moselectric" and "Splinker". Successfully graduated from evening high school and flying club. In 1938, Kalashnikov was drafted into the Red Army, served as a radio operator in an aviation regiment in the city of Borzya, Chita Region. There he submitted a report asking him to send his military aviation school to pilots, his request was granted and in 1941 Kalashnikov successfully graduated from the Chernigov military aviation school of pilots . He served in the Air Force of the Far Eastern Front. At the end of 1941, Viktor Kalashnikov underwent retraining at the Saratov Aviation School, where he mastered the Yak-7 fighter .

In April 1942, Senior Sergeant V.V. Kalashnikov was sent to the 291st Fighter Aviation Regiment . He flew on the Yak-7, Yak-1 and Yak-9. He participated in air battles over the Kuban in the spring of 1943, in one of which he was shot down on May 29. Leaving the plane with a parachute , he nearly died. Continued participation in hostilities on the North Caucasus, South, 4th Ukrainian, 3rd Belorussian and 1st Belorussian fronts. On April 18, 1945, Captain Kalashnikov immediately shot down 3 enemy Fw-190 aircraft ^[2] .

He participated in operations and battles:

• Demian operation (1942) from April 1942 to May 20, 1942
• Battle of Stalingrad from September 19, 1942 to November 25, 1942
• The air battle in the Kuban from April 17, 1943 to June 7, 1943
• Donbass operation from September 1, 1943 to September 22, 1943
• Melitopol operation from September 26, 1943 to November 5, 1943
• Nikopol-Kryvyi Rih offensive operation from January 30, 1944 to February 29, 1944
• Crimean operation from April 8, 1944 to May 12, 1944
• The Belarusian operation "Bagration" from June 23, 1944 to August 29, 1944
• Vilnius frontal offensive operation from July 5, 1944 to July 20, 1944
• Kaunas offensive operation from July 28, 1944 to August 28, 1944
• Vistula-Oder operation from January 12, 1945 to February 3, 1945
• Warsaw-Poznan offensive operation from January 14, 1945 to February 3, 1945
• East Pomeranian operation from February 10, 1945 to March 20, 1945
• Berlin offensive operation from April 16, 1945 to May 8, 1945

By the end of the war, the commander of the squadron of the 291st fighter aviation regiment of the 265th fighter aviation division of the 16th Air Army, Captain V. V. Kalashnikov completed 207 sorties ^[2] , personally shot down 17 enemy aircraft in air battles. In 1945 he was introduced to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

After the war he continued his service in the Air Force, mastered the MiG-15 fighter jet. In 1953, Lieutenant Colonel V.V. Kalashnikov went into reserve. He lived in Moscow. By decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 472 of May 12, 1997, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation, medal No. 399. In 2000, he was awarded the military rank of Colonel of the reserve.

Viktor Vasilyevich died on August 30, 2010. He was buried at Butovo cemetery in Moscow.

• Star of the Hero of the Russian Federation;
• three orders of the Red Banner ;
• Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree ;
• Order of the Red Banner of Labor ;
• Order of the Red Star ;
• medals .

• M. Yu. Bykov. All Asa of Stalin 1936-1953 .. - Popular science publication. - M .: LLC Yauza-Press, 2014. - S. 480. - 1392 p. - (Elite Air Force Encyclopedia). - 1,500 copies - ISBN 978-5-9955-0712-3 .

• Kalashnikov, Victor Vasilievich (Russian) . Site " Heroes of the country ".
• Kalashnikov page on the site Soviet aces