Photo of Hero of the Soviet Union P.P. Khrustalev

The original photo is in good collector's condition. The size is 50*82 mm. There are traces of pasting into the album on the back. Guarantee of authenticity.

Pavel Pavlovich Khrustalev (November 7, 1917, village Rozhevka, Pskov province — December 31, 1975, Moscow) — navigator of the USSR Long-range Aviation, colonel of the Guard of the Soviet Army, participant in the Great Patriotic War, participant in the first bombing of Berlin in August 1941, Hero of the Soviet Union (1943). He was born on November 7, 1917 in the village of Rozhevki (now a village in the Opochetsky district of the Pskov region). In 1936, Khrustalyov was drafted to serve in the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. In 1939, he graduated from the Krasnodar Military Aviation School of Navigators. Since the beginning of the Great Patriotic War — on its fronts. By April 1943, Guard Captain Pavel Khrustalev was the navigator of the squadron of the 8th Guards Aviation Regiment of the 8th Guards Aviation Division of the 2nd Guards Long-range Aviation Corps of the USSR. By that time, he had carried out 216 sorties to bombard enemy concentrations of military equipment and manpower, his important facilities, inflicting heavy losses on him. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated July 27, 1943, Captain Pavel Khrustalev was awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal number 1058 for "exemplary performance of combat missions of the command at the front of the struggle against the German invaders and the courage and heroism shown at the same time." After the end of the war, he continued to serve in the Soviet Army. In 1954, he graduated from the Central Tactical Flight Training Courses for officers. He received the Second Order of Lenin for his participation in the first test of a thermonuclear bomb at the Novaya Zemlya test site. In 1973, he was discharged from the reserve with the rank of colonel. He lived in Moscow. He died on December 31, 1975, and was buried at the Kuntsevo Cemetery in Moscow. He was awarded two Orders of Lenin, three Orders of the Red Banner, the Orders of Alexander Nevsky and the Red Star, and a number of medals.