Photo by Senior Lieutenant of the Red Army Air Force L.V. Rassokhin, Hero of the Soviet Union, 1943

An original and very colorful picture in excellent collector's condition. Photo by N. Solovyov. The size is 115*170 mm. Guarantee of authenticity.

Hero of the Soviet Union Leonid Vasilyevich Rassokhin was born on 08/23/1921 in the village of Chusovaya, Perm province (now the city of Chusovoy, Perm Krai). He graduated from the 7th grade in Perm and the factory training school at the Motovilikhinsky plant. He worked as a milling operator at this factory. Graduated from the aero club on the job. He was drafted into the army in 1939. He graduated from the Molotov Military Pilot School in 1940. He served on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War since June 1941. At the beginning of his combat career, he flew a TB-3 bomber as a co-pilot. Since September 1942, on a Li-2 transport aircraft adapted for bombing. Participated in a number of major strategic operations. During the Battle of Stalingrad, he flew 55 combat missions, for which he was awarded the Order of Lenin.

By November 1943, Leonid Vasilyevich Rassokhin had flown 274 combat missions. He dropped 259 tons of bombs on military-industrial facilities and enemy troops, delivered 51 tons of ammunition, fuel, medicines and food to the encircled units of the Red Army and the partisans. He took out the wounded from the front. He threw 59 paratroopers with a special mission and 1,750,000 Soviet leaflets behind enemy lines. In total, during the war, he made 321 sorties with a total flight time of 1770 hours.

He flew his last combat missions to bomb Berlin and the port of Swinemunde in April 1945. He was wounded twice. After the war, he continued to serve in the Air Force. Since 1976, Colonel Rassokhin has been in the reserve of the Guards. He lived in the city of Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg). He worked at Pulkovo Airport. He died on November 21, 1998.