Photo by Senior Lieutenant of the Red Army Air Force K.A. Ryabov– Hero of the Soviet Union

An original and rather rare photograph in very good condition. The size is 92*130 mm. There are traces of pasting into the album on the back. Guarantee of authenticity.

Konstantin Andreevich Ryabov (February 26, 1923, Volsk — November 2, 2001, Moscow) was a deputy squadron commander, a participant in the Great Patriotic War, Hero of the Soviet Union. He was born on February 26, 1923 in the city of Volsk, now in the Saratov region. In the Red Army since 1941. He participated in the Great Patriotic War in the North Caucasus, the 4th Ukrainian and 2nd Baltic fronts. He was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal on October 26, 1944, "for 126 combat sorties on an Il-2 attack aircraft, causing great damage to the enemy and showing valor and courage." He finished the war with the rank of major and squadron commander. In 1945, Ryabov retrained as a fighter pilot. After graduating from the Air Force Academy in 1952, Ryabov commanded the aviation regiment for 8 years, then the 303rd Fighter Aviation Division. It was his division that had the honor of being the first to master the newest Su-7 aircraft at that time. For his achievements, Ryabov was awarded the rank of Major General and, as the most promising officer, was sent to the Military Academy of the General Staff. After the academy, he held the positions of Head of the Combat Training Department of the Air Force of the Southern Group of Forces, Deputy Commander of the Air Army, Deputy Chief of the Air Force General Staff for Flight Service. Ryabov was twice a military adviser to the commander of the Syrian Air Force. Moreover, the second time I went there was at the personal request of Syrian President Hafis Assad, who highly appreciated Konstantin Andreevich for his deep knowledge of flight operations. Major General K. A. Ryabov has been retired since 1979. He was Deputy head of the House of Aviation and Cosmonautics, and headed the Council of Veterans of the 214th Assault Aviation Division. Honored Military Pilot of the USSR, military pilot 1st class.He has been retired since 1979. He lived in Moscow. Honorary citizen of the cities of Volsk and Temryuk. He died on November 2, 2001. He was buried at the Troekurovsky cemetery (plot 4).