Ilya Pavlovich Mazuruk

Ilya Pavlovich Mazuruk (; 20 July 1906 – 2 January 1989) was a Soviet pilot and polar explorer. Hero of the Soviet Union.

Mazuruk briefly served in the Soviet Air Forces during the late 1920s and then became a Civil Air Fleet pilot. After becoming a polar aviator, he commanded a modified Tupolev TB-3 during the North Pole-1 drifting ice station mission, it was the first such mission. For his actions Mazuruk was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. He became head of the Glavsevmorput Polar Aviation Directorate. After rejoining the Soviet Air Forces, Mazuruk flew combat missions in the Winter War and World War II. Between 1942 and 1944, he successively led the Krasnoyarsk Air Route and the 1st Ferry Aviation Division, both responsible for ferrying Allied Lend-Lease aircraft from Alaska to Siberia. Mazuruk reached the rank of major general after the end of the war and continued to participate in polar expeditions, retiring from the Air Forces in 1953. He worked at the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute after his retirement and died in 1989.

Early life Mazuruk was born in Brest-Litovsk on 20 July 1906. In 1915, he moved to Lgov. Mazuruk graduated from primary school and until 1919 studied at a higher primary school. Between 1919 and 1920 he worked as a laborer at the Lgov railway station. In the summer of 1920 he and his family moved to Rivne, which soon became part of Poland. Mazuruk worked as a laborer at the railway station and as a night watchman at the hospital. In April 1923, he illegally crossed the border and immigrated to the Soviet Union. In 1928, he graduated from the Leningrad Air Force Military-Theoretical School. In 1929, Mazuruk graduated from the Borisoglebsk Air Force Pilot School. In November 1929, he was demobilized. Between 1930 and 1932 he worked as a GVF (Civil Air Fleet) pilot in Central Asia. From April to June 1930, Mazuruk participated in the fighting against the Basmachi movement. In 1932, he became a pilot and detachment commander in the Far Eastern Directorate of the GVF. He was one of the first pilots to master a number of new air routes. In 1936, Mazuruk graduated from courses at the Bataysk GVF Flight School. He was decorated as a Hero of the Soviet Union and awarded the Order of Lenin for his participation in this historic mission In August 1942, he became head of the Krasnoyarsk Air Route, responsible for ferrying United States Lend-Lease aircraft. From June 1943 to June 1944, Mazuruk commanded the 1st Ferry Aviation Division, also responsible for ferrying aircraft. During the war over 8,000 aircraft were delivered to the USSR via this route. In late May 1944, Mazuruk met American Vice President Henry A. Wallace on the latter's Siberian visit. In June 1944, he became deputy head of Glavsevmorput and head of polar aviation again, a position he held until March 1947.

Awards and decorations Hero of the Soviet Union, 2 Orders of Lenin, 3 Orders of the Red Banner, 3 Orders of the Patriotic War 1st degree, 2 Orders of Red Banner of Labour, 3 Orders of Red Star.