Category
page 1Soviet Air Force officers
Yuri Gagarin
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who, aboard the first successful crewed spaceflight, became the first person to journey into outer space. Travelling on Vostok 1, Gagarin completed one orbit of Earth on 12 April 1961, with his flight taking 108 minutes. By achieving this major milestone for the Soviet Union amidst the Space Race, he became an international celebrity and was awarded many medals and titles, including his country's highest distinction: Hero of the Soviet Union.
Valery Chkalov
Soviet aviator, Hero of the Soviet Union (1904-1938)
Alexander Rutskoy
Russian politician, Former Vice President of Russia (born 1947)
Marina Raskova
Founder of three Soviet Russian all-female air regiments (1912-1943)
Lydia Litvyak
Soviet flying ace
Georgy Dobrovolsky
Soviet cosmonaut (1928-1971)
Gennady Padalka
Russian Air Force officer and an RSA cosmonaut
Igor Volk
Soviet test pilot, cosmonaut (1937-2017)
Yuri Malenchenko
Russian cosmonaut
Georgy Flyorov
Soviet physicist (1913-1990)
Salizhan Sharipov
Russian cosmonaut
Anatoly Berezovoy
Soviet cosmonaut (1942–2014)
Yury Romanenko
Soviet cosmonaut (born 1944)
Toktar Aubakirov
Soviet cosmonaut
Amet-khan Sultan
Crimean Tatar WWII flying ace, test pilot, and twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1920-1971)
Viktor Afanasyev
Soviet and Russian cosmonaut and military pilot
Leonid Kadeniuk
Ukrainian cosmonaut (1951-2018)
Polina Osipenko
Soviet aviator
Vyacheslav Zudov
Soviet cosmonaut (1942–2024)
Aleksandr Viktorenko
Russian cosmonaut (1947–2023)
Vasily Lazarev
Soviet cosmonaut (1928–1990)
Yury Vasilyevich Malyshev
Soviet cosmonaut (1941-1999)
Valentina Grizodubova
Soviet aviator (1909-1993)
Alexander Zinoviev
Russian philosopher and writer (1922–2006)
Pyotr Klimuk
Soviet cosmonaut
Gennadi Sarafanov
Soviet cosmonaut (1942–2005)
Yury Glazkov
Soviet cosmonaut (1939-2008)
Vladimir Titov
Soviet and Russian cosmonaut
Yekaterina Budanova
Soviet fighter pilot (1916-1943)
Valery Korzun
Russian cosmonaut
Viktor Belenko
Soviet MiG-25 pilot who defected to the West
Anatoly Artsebarsky
Soviet cosmonaut
Anatoly Yakovlevich Solovyev
Soviet and Russian cosmonaut
Sergei Zalyotin
Russian cosmonaut
Valentin Bondarenko
Soviet cosmonaut (1937–1961)
Vladimir Dezhurov
Russian cosmonaut
Anatolii Levchenko
Soviet test pilot and cosmonaut (1941-1988)
Endel Puusepp
Estonian pilot (1909–1996)
Gennady Manakov
Soviet and Russian cosmonaut (1950-2019)
Musa Gareyev
Soviet aviator, twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1922–1987)
Yekaterina Zelenko
Soviet Su-2 pilot
Yevgeniya Rudneva
Heroine of the Soviet Union and WWII bomber navigator (1920-1944)
Mikhail Devyatayev
Hero of the Soviet Union (1917–2002)
Viktor Talalikhin
Hero of the Soviet Union (1918–1941)
Natalya Meklin
Hero of the Soviet Union (1922-2005)
Nadezhda Popova
Heroine of the Soviet Union
Mariya Dolina
Soviet WWII dive bomber pilot and Heroine of the Soviet Union (1922–2010)
Anna Yegorova
Soviet female air force officer (1916–2009)
Sergey Gritsevets
Soviet aviator (1909–1939)
Marina Popovich
Soviet pilot, writer and ufologist (1931-2017)
Tatyana Makarova
Russian aviator and Hero of the Soviet Union (1920–1944)
Raisa Aronova
Soviet aviator (1920-1982); Hero of the Soviet Union
Nikolai Gastello
Hero of the Soviet Union
Mariya Smirnova
Squadron commander in the "Night Witches", Hero of the Soviet Union
Vera Belik
Soviet Air Force navigator, Heroine of the Soviet Union (1921–1944)
Talgat Bigeldinov
Soviet aviator (1922-2014)
Viktor Alksnis
Latvian-Russian politician and military officer (1950–2025)
Boris Safonov
Soviet aviator (1915–1942)
Kanamat Botashev
Russian major general who was the commander of the military unit 23326 of the Western Military District and the commander of the Baltimor airbase near Voronezh
Grigori Nelyubov
Ukrainian soviet pilot & cosmonaut (1934–1966)