Mikhail Vasilyevich Kuznetsov (; – 15 December 1989) was a regimental commander flying ace in the Soviet Air Forces during the Second World War who was twice awarded the title

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union () was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society. The title was awarded both ...

. After the war he became a general-major.

Early life

Kuznetsov was born on to a Russian family in Agarino village, located within the present-day borders of the Moscow oblast. Having moved to the city of Moscow in 1921, he went on to complete his seventh grade of school in 1930, after which he worked as an electrician at a

tannery Tanning, or hide tanning, is the process of treating skins and hides of animals to produce leather. A tannery is the place where the skins are processed. Historically, vegetable based tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound derived fr ...

until 1932. From then until he entering the military in mid 1933 he worked for the

Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, usually known as Komsomol, was a political youth organization in the Soviet Union. It is sometimes described as the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), although it w ...

of Kirovsky district of the city, serving as deputy chairman of a bureau of young pioneers, secretary of a university Komsomol committee, and secretary of a factory Komsomol committee. After graduating from the Yeisk Military School of Marine and Observer Pilots in December 1934 he was assigned to the 6th Light Bomber Aviation Squadron as a pilot. Later he transferred to the 106th Fighter Aviation Squadron, and in August 1938 he became adjutant and assistant squadron commander in the 15th Fighter Aviation Regiment. In that position he saw combat during the

Soviet invasion of Poland The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military conflict by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Second Polish Republic, Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Polan ...

and later the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

with Finland, during which he flew sorties on the

I-153 The Polikarpov I-153 ''Chaika'' () is a late 1930s Soviet sesquiplane fighter. Developed from the I-15 with a retractable undercarriage, the I-153 fought in the Soviet-Japanese combats in Mongolia and was one of the major Soviet fighter types ...

. After leaving the warfront he attended training for squadron commanders in Lipetsk.

World War II

Almost immediately after completing training to become a squadron commander in June 1941 he was deployed with his previous regiment to combat the German invasion of the Soviet Union; before leaving the unit in March 1942 he had been promoted to navigator; after briefly serving as deputy commander of the 1st Reserve Fighter Aviation Regiment he took command of the 814th Fighter Aviation Regiment in June that year. Despite holding the high post of regimental commander he frequently flew combat sorties and participated in aerial battles, resulting him tallying enough shootdowns of enemy to be nominated for the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 2 August 1943 for having totaled 245 sorties, entered 53 dogfights, and gained 17 solo aerial victories. That month his regiment was awarded the guards designation and renamed as the 106th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment. Later in the war on 22 February 1945 he and his comrades flying in a group of six Yak-1s participated in an intense aerial battle with a large group of German FW-190s; during the engagement Kuznetsov personally shot down two of them. In April he was nominated for a second gold star, which was awarded after the surrender of Nazi Germany. Throughout the war he fought on the

Northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, Kalinin,

West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

Southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

, 1st Ukrainian, and 3rd Ukrainian fronts, participating in the battles for

, the

Baltics The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

Kursk Kursk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur (Kursk Oblast), Kur, Tuskar, and Seym (river), Seym rivers. It has a population of Kursk ...

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, and

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. During the conflict his unit was one of the highest-performing fighter regiments in the Soviet Air Forces, tallying 296 enemy aircraft shot down in addition to 18 destroyed on the ground. By the end of the war he totaled 344 sorties, participating in 73 aerial battles, tallying 19 solo and one shared shootdown while flying the

MiG-3 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 () is a Soviet fighter- interceptor used during World War II. It was a development of the MiG-1 by the OKO (opytno-konstruktorskij otdel — Experimental Design Department) of Zavod (Factory) No. 1 in Moscow to rem ...

Yak-1 The Yakovlev Yak-1 () was a Soviet fighter aircraft of World War II. The Yak-1 was a single-seat monoplane with a composite structure and wooden wings; production began in early 1940.Angelucci and Matricardi 1978, p. 239. The Yak-1 was a man ...

, and

Yak-9 The Yakovlev Yak-9 (; NATO reporting name: Frank) is a single-engine, single-seat multipurpose fighter aircraft used by the Soviet Union and its allies during World War II and the early Cold War. It was a development of the robust and successful ...

Postwar

Kuznetsov remained in command of the 106th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment until July 1945. From then until February 1946 he served as the deputy commander of the 11th Guards Fighter Aviation Division; afterwards he attended the Air Force Academy in Monino. Upon graduation from the academy in 1951 he headed the Chernigov Military Aviation School of Pilots until December 1955, for the next four years afterwards he headed the 10th Military Aviation School. Earlier in 1959 he had been promoted to the rank of general-major. From December 1959 to October 1961 he was deputy commander of 69th Air Army, after which he became deputy commander of the 37th Reserve Air Force where he remained until December 1969. He then served as deputy commander of the Air Force of the Moscow Military District until he retired from the military in February 1974; in 1972 he was featured in the Soviet magazine "Aviation and Cosmonautics" in an article about his wartime exploits as well as his status as a general.Журнал «Авиация и космонавтика» № 6 от 1972 (стр 16-18)
/ref> After retiring from the air force he worked as a senior engineer, sector head, and eventually lead engineer at the Scientific Experimental Center for Air Traffic Control Automation. Having retired in 1988, he lived in Moscow, where he died on 15 December 1989 and was buried in the

Troyekurovskoye Cemetery The Troyekurovo Cemetery (), alternatively known as ''Novo-Kuntsevo Cemetery'' (), is a cemetery in Moscow, Russia. The cemetery is located in the former village of Troyekurovo on the western edge of Moscow, which derives its name from the Troye ...

Awards

* Twice

(8 September 1943 and 27 June 1945) *

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

(8 September 1943) * Four

Orders of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner () was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. It was the highest award of Sovi ...

(26 February 1942, 28 February 1943, 24 April 1945, and 3 November 1953) * Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, 2nd class (23 September 1943) *

Order of the Patriotic War The Order of the Patriotic War () is a Soviet Union, Soviet military Order (decoration), decoration that was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to Partisan (military), partisans for heroic deeds in the Easte ...

, 1st class (11 March 1985) * Two Orders of the Red Star (3 December 1941 and 20 June 1949) *

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour () was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the Soviet state and society in the fields of production, science, culture, literature, the arts, education, sports ...

(22 February 1968)

Footnotes

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuznetsov, Mikhail Vasilyevich 1913 births 1989 deaths People from Kashirsky Uyezd People from Moscow Oblast Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Heroes of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky (Soviet Union), 2nd class Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Soviet Air Force generals Soviet major generals Soviet military personnel of the Winter War Soviet World War II flying aces Burials in Troyekurovskoye Cemetery