Photo of Red Army Air Force Major S.D. Lugansky, twice Hero of the Soviet Union

The original wartime photo is in good collector's condition. The size is 74*89 mm. There are traces of pasting into the album on the back. Guarantee of authenticity.

Sergey Danilovich Lugansky (1918-1977) — squadron commander of the 270th Fighter Aviation Regiment (203rd Fighter Aviation Division, 1st Assault Aviation Corps, 5th Air Army, Steppe Front), twice Hero of the Soviet Union, writer.

In 1939-1940, Second Lieutenant Lugansky participated in the Soviet-Finnish war, during which he flew 59 combat missions and shot down 1 enemy aircraft, for which he was awarded the Order of the Red Star.

During the first period of the Great Patriotic War, Sergei Lugansky flew a LaGG-3 to attack enemy troops, shot down 4 aircraft near Bataysk and Rostov-on-Don, for which he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, and 4 aircraft near Belgorod, for which he received another Order of the Red Banner.

On September 14, 1942, Captain Lugansky led the eight LaGG-3s in a frontal attack against superior enemy forces, covering the Volga River crossing for the 13th Guards Rifle Division. He began to get closer to the leader of the Me-109 group. The German tried to avoid the collision, but Lugansky blew off the Messerschmitt stabilizer with a propeller blow, and the enemy aircraft lost control and went to the ground. Later, Captain Lugansky boarded a Yak-1B aircraft on the Kursk Bulge and near Kharkov.

On September 2, 1943, for 221 combat missions, 18 personally and 1 in a group of downed enemy aircraft, Captain Lugansky Sergey Danilovich was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star Medal (No. 1493). In one of the battles, Lugansky repelled an attack by enemy fighters on an Il-2 aircraft of the future Twice Hero of the Soviet Union Talgat Begeldinov, an attack aircraft pilot.

On September 27, 1943, during the crossing of the Dnieper River near the village of Mishurin Rog (Kirovograd region) Sergei Lugansky, at the head of the squadron, covered the Soviet attack aircraft with the troops of the Steppe Front. His squadron met a group of Ju-88s and He-111s at the ferry under the cover of Me-109s and engaged in battle. The attack of the Junkers was repulsed, but the Heinkels broke through to the crossing. Lugansky attacked the enemy flagship and blew off its elevator with a propeller, which caused it to lose control and collapse to the ground. Lugansky was able to land safely on the damaged plane at his airfield.

In June 1944, he was appointed commander of an aviation regiment. On July 1, 1944, Major Lugansky was awarded the second Gold Star Medal (No. 1981). In Romania, he flew over the Oder on a personalized airplane, a gift from the Komsomol members of Alma Ata[2].

He finished his military career in Berlin. By the end of the war, he had flown 390 sorties, personally shot down 37 and 6 in a group of enemy aircraft, according to other sources, he shot down 34 personally and 1 in a group. The mechanic of the planes flown by Sergey Danilovich Lugansky, Hero of the Soviet Union, was Senior Sergeant Ivan Ivanovich Lavrinenko.

In 1949, he graduated from the Air Force Academy, after which he served in command positions in the Air Defense forces. He joined the reserve in 1964 with the rank of Major General of Aviation. He wrote the books "On deep turns", "The sky remains clear". He died on January 16, 1977. He was buried in Alma Ata at the Central Cemetery.