Photo by Senior Lieutenant of the Red Army Air Force N.I.Zaitsev– Hero of the Soviet Union

The original photo is in good collector's condition. The size is 72*110 mm. Guarantee of authenticity.

Nikolai Ilyich Zaitsev (1918-1995) — senior lieutenant of the Soviet Army, participant of the Great Patriotic War, Hero of the Soviet Union (1946). Nikolay Zaitsev was born on July 30, 1918 in the village of Starovskresenovka (now Borisoglebsky city district of the Voronezh region). After graduating from the factory apprenticeship school, he worked as a locksmith at the carriage depot of the Sarepta station. In 1938, Zaitsev was drafted to serve in the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. He graduated from the Stalingrad Military Aviation School of Pilots in 1940, and from the Krasnodar Military Aviation School in 1942. Since October 1943, he served on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. By the end of the war, Senior Lieutenant Nikolai Zaitsev was deputy squadron commander of the 208th Assault Aviation Regiment of the 227th Assault Aviation Division of the 8th Assault Aviation Corps of the 8th Air Army of the 4th Ukrainian Front. By that time, he had flown 166 combat missions to attack and bomb enemy concentrations of troops and military equipment, as well as his important facilities. He personally destroyed more than 30 enemy tanks, about 90 vehicles, 11 warehouses, and suppressed the fire of 4 artillery batteries. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated May 15, 1946, Senior Lieutenant Nikolai Zaitsev was awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. In 1948, Zaitsev was discharged. He lived in the city of Rivne. He was also awarded four Orders of the Red Banner, the Orders of the Patriotic War of the 1st and 2nd degrees, and a number of medals.