Ivan Kornienko Participant of the Great Patriotic War, pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union. Date of Birth: 21.12.1917 Country: Ukraine

Biography of Ivan Kornienko

Ivan Kornienko was a participant of the Great Patriotic War, a pilot, and a Hero of the Soviet Union. He was born on December 8, 1917, in the village of Gryaznovka, now in the Krasnosulinsky District of the Rostov Region, in a peasant family. He studied in Chernetskaya and Bozhkovskaya schools, completing 7 grades. In 1933, he became a student at the Flight Training School, and later worked as a fitter at the depot and an assistant locomotive engineer in Kamensk. He graduated from the aeroclub.

In 1938, Kornienko joined the Red Army. He graduated from the Borisoglebsk Military Aviation Pilot School in 1939. He served on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War from December 1941. He became a member of the CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union) in 1943.

As the commander of the squadron, Captain Ivan Kornienko had completed 225 combat missions and shot down 14 enemy aircraft in 77 aerial battles by August 1943. On September 15, 1944, Guards Major Kornienko was shot down by enemy anti-aircraft artillery. By that time, he had completed 418 combat missions, engaged in 118 aerial battles, and personally shot down 24 enemy planes and 2 in pairs. He was held captive until March 17, 1945, before returning to his unit.

After the war, Ivan M. Kornienko continued his service in the Soviet Air Force. He worked as a technical pilot inspector in the Far East, helping young pilots to master new aircraft. Tragically, he died during the testing of a jet plane near Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on March 17, 1948.