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Vasilij KojnashPilot, squadron commissar, Hero of the Soviet Union
Date of Birth: 18.01.1911
Country:  Ukraine |
Content:
Biography of Vasily Koinash
Vasily Koinash was a pilot, squadron commissar, and Hero of the Soviet Union (awarded on March 21, 1940). He was born in a working-class family in Ukraine. After completing seven years of school and a vocational school at a locomotive repair plant in Dnepropetrovsk, he worked as a copper worker and then as an instructor of vocational training at a vocational school. He later became the head of a school for young workers. Koinash joined the Communist Party in 1931 and joined the Red Army in 1932. He graduated from the Kharkov Military Aviation School in 1934 and the military commissar courses in 1939. He participated in the Soviet-Finnish War and served as the military commissar of the 50th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the 18th Fighter Aviation Brigade, Air Force of the 7th Army of the Northwestern Front.
Heroic Actions
In the citation for the award of the Hero of the Soviet Union to Senior Political Officer Koinash, it was stated: "He was dedicated to the cause of Lenin's party and the socialist homeland until the end of his life. As a young and growing political worker, he excellently organized political work and mobilized his squadron to execute combat missions. He was highly respected by his personnel. He was an excellent pilot himself, having destroyed 38 enemy targets while demonstrating courage and heroism. On January 30, 1940, in extremely adverse weather conditions (heavy snowfall), despite intense anti-aircraft and machine gun fire, he fearlessly led his unit with 500-kilogram bombs and successfully attacked enemy fortifications in the Sumy area. On February 3, 1940, the squadron conducted two combat sorties. Comrade Koinash, despite the fierce anti-aircraft fire, successfully completed the mission with his unit. Comrade Koinash's aircraft had several shrapnel holes, but in all his sorties, he displayed boundless heroism as a true warrior of the Red Army and a patriot of the Socialist homeland. On March 1, 1940, while performing a reconnaissance mission to observe enemy troop concentrations and fire points in the area of Vyborg at an altitude of 1300 meters, the squadron came under artillery fire. As a result, the lead aircraft in the formation, piloted by Senior Political Officer Koinash, with navigator Kornilov and radio operator Akkuratov, was shot down and caught fire. Koinash managed to extinguish the fire, but the aircraft did not reach friendly territory and made an emergency landing in enemy-held territory near the village of Kyakheri. Without leaving the aircraft, the crew, under the leadership of the commissar, defended themselves against the advancing enemy until their last bullet, destroying the Finnish bandits. The radio operator was killed, and Koinash and Kornilov, remembering that a Red Army soldier does not surrender alive, heroically ended their lives with their last bullet, fulfilling their duty as warriors of the Red Army and to their Motherland and Party."
Tribute and Funeral
According to military correspondent Polyakov, "Near Vyborg, the Finns shot down the aircraft of the squadron commissar, Comrade Koinash. A shell hit the plane and it caught fire. Koinash glided and extinguished the fire, landing on Finnish territory, three kilometers from our troops. The Finns did not hesitate to open fire on the plane. Koinash and his crew fought back. When the radio operator ran out of ammunition, the commissar ordered him to go towards our troops. Crawling through the snow, the radio operator tried to reach safety, but enemy bullets caught up with him... The navigator, Lieutenant Kornilov, ran out of ammunition. The commissar ordered him to try to reach our troops, while he stayed with the plane. Koinash still had ammunition, and he continued to fight. On his way to our troops, Kornilov was killed. Commissar Koinash was wounded three times. The situation was hopeless. After a short time, our units advanced and rescued the three comrades from the snow. The planes brought them to the brigade's airfield. On March 10, in Sestroretsk, the heroes were buried. The workers of Sestroretsk followed the coffins of the heroes with tears in their eyes. The weather was not suitable for flying, and the pilots asked for permission to attend the funeral of their comrades. General Naneyshvili said, 'We will bury them in our own way.' When the funeral procession moved towards the cemetery, high-speed bombers flew low over it. They were heading to Vyborg. And when the first clods of frozen earth hit the lids of the coffins, 500-kilogram bombs fell on the enemy's fortifications, military factories, and oil depots in Vyborg. And the colossal glow illuminated the darkened snow."
Posthumous Recognition
On March 21, 1940, Senior Political Officer Vasily Vasilyevich Koinash was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. He was buried in Sestroretsk, Leningrad Oblast.
