Vasiliy Kolesnichenko Fighter pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union Date of Birth: 04.04.1915 Country: Ukraine

1. Biography of Vasily Kolesnichenko
2. Early Life and Education
3. Military Career
4. Heroic Act and Death
5. Posthumous Honors

Biography of Vasily Kolesnichenko

Vasily Yefremovich Kolesnichenko was a Soviet fighter pilot and a Hero of the Soviet Union. He participated in the Great Patriotic War from June 1941. He flew a total of 93 combat missions. The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was posthumously awarded to Vasily Yefremovich Kolesnichenko on February 14, 1943.

Early Life and Education

Vasily Yefremovich Kolesnichenko was born on April 4, 1915, in the village of Kropivnitskoye, currently located in the Novoukrainsky District of the Kirovohrad Oblast in Ukraine. He was born into a working-class family. He completed six grades of school and attended vocational school. In 1936, he graduated from the Kirovohrad Construction Technical School. After graduation, he worked as a technician-builder in Stalingrad.

Military Career

In August 1937, Vasily Yefremovich Kolesnichenko joined the Red Army. In July 1941, he completed his training at the 7th Stalingrad Military Aviation School for Pilots. He served in the Air Defense Forces and participated in the Great Patriotic War from June 1941. During his military service, he flew a total of 93 combat missions.

Heroic Act and Death

On July 1, 1942, during an unequal aerial battle near Voronezh, Vasily Yefremovich Kolesnichenko, despite being severely wounded in both legs and his plane being on fire, rammed an enemy bomber that was intending to bomb an important military target. He managed to parachute to the ground but succumbed to his injuries and burns after 10 hours in the hospital.

Posthumous Honors

Vasily Yefremovich Kolesnichenko was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on February 14, 1943. He was also honored with the Order of Lenin. He was buried in a mass grave in the Yunatov Park in Voronezh. A memorial plaque was erected in his honor on the territory of a military unit. One of the streets in Voronezh and a pioneer group at School No. 7 in Kirovohrad were named after him. He was forever enlisted in the lists of the Kirovohrad Regional Komsomol Organization and the T.G. Shevchenko Collective Farm in the Novoukrainsky District.