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Petr KovacFighter pilot
Country:
 Ukraine |
Content:
Early Life and Career
Petr Semenovich Kovets was born in 1913 to a peasant family in the village of Zakharovtsy (now part of Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Ukraine).
After completing three years of evening rabfak (workers' faculty), he worked as a lumberjack. In August 1934, he joined the Red Army and graduated from the 8th Odessa Military Aviation School of Pilots in 1936.
Khalkhin-Gol and World War II
Kovets fought in the Battles of Khalkhin-Gol in 1939, where he shot down three enemy aircraft and earned the Order of the Red Banner. He also attended advanced command courses in Lipetsk in 1940.
Joining the Great Patriotic War in July 1941, Kovets flew 78 combat missions and shot down three enemy planes in 26 aerial engagements within a month.
Tragic Heroism
On August 21, 1941, while accompanying ground attack aircraft, Kovets encountered a superior force of enemy fighters near Dukhovshchina (Smolensk Oblast). To protect the ground troops, he bravely rammed two enemy aircraft, sacrificing his own life in the process.
Posthumous Honors
Petr Semenovich Kovets was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on April 12, 1942. He was also honored with the Order of Lenin and a second Order of the Red Banner. A monument in his honor stands in his hometown, and his name graces a school and a pioneer organization.
