Photo of pilot Nikitenko N.M.– Hero of the Soviet Union

The original photo is in excellent collector's condition. The size is 80*118 mm. A photo from a personal file. Guarantee of authenticity.

Nikolai Mikhailovich Nikitenko (1922-1978) was a Soviet assault aviation pilot in the Great Patriotic War, Hero of the Soviet Union (02/23/1945). The lieutenant.

He was born on March 19, 1922 in the village of Shurygino (now in the Cherepanovsky district of the Novosibirsk region) in a peasant family. Russian. His father was a soldier of the Russian army and a full Cavalier of St. George during the First World War, and a red partisan in the rear of Kolchak's army during the Civil War. In 1932, the family moved to the village of Knyaz-Volkonskoye, Khabarovsk Krai. Nikitenko graduated from high school there, worked in a local aviation hydraulic squadron as an apprentice mechanic, then in Khabarovsk as an aircraft mechanic, at the same time graduated from the aero club. He was drafted into the Red Army in November 1940. In 1942, he graduated from the Burma Military Aviation School of Pilots, evacuated to Leninsk-Kuznetsky from the Far East. He served in the 5th Reserve Aviation Brigade and in the 606th Assault Aviation Regiment in the rear.

Senior Sergeant Nikolai Nikitenko has been on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War since January 1944. He spent his entire combat career in the 958th Assault Aviation Regiment. He fought in its ranks on the Volkhov, Leningrad and 3rd Baltic fronts. He received an officer's rank at the front. By October 1944, Second Lieutenant Nikolai Nikitenko, flight commander of the 958th Assault Aviation Regiment of the 280th Mixed Ostrovsky Aviation Division of the 14th Air Army of the 3rd Baltic Front, had flown 115 combat missions, destroyed 12 tanks, 41 vehicles, blew up 6 ammunition depots, sank a boat and two barges, and shot down 1 enemy aircraft. Along with the assault work, he proved himself to be a master of reconnaissance flights. Of the combat missions, 54 were carried out for reconnaissance and aerial photography of enemy positions. In total, he photographed 9 thousand square kilometers of the territory. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated February 23, 1945, Junior Lieutenant Nikitenko Nikolai Mikhailovich was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star Medal (No. 5339) for exemplary performance of combat missions of the command on the front of the struggle against the German invaders and his bravery and heroism. By the end of the war, N. M. Nikitenko had made 187 combat sorties to attack and scout enemy troops, significantly increasing his combat score. Since July 1946, Lieutenant Nikitenko has been in reserve. He lived in Khabarovsk. He worked as an instructor pilot for the Far Eastern Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet. For his conscientious work, he was awarded several badges of Aeroflot and the USSR Ministry of Civil Aviation. He died on February 27, 1978, and was buried in Khabarovsk at the city (Central) cemetery.