Nelson Stepanyan

Nelson Georgievich Stepanyan (, ; – 14 December 1944) was an Armenian Il-2 pilot and regimental commander in the Soviet Air Force who was twice awarded with the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union.

Early life Stepanyan was born on in Shushi, Elisabethpol Governorate to an Armenian family. Nelson's father Gevorg Stepanyan was originally from Yerevan, and lived in a house on what is now Yekmalyan street in Yerevan. Nelson's mother originally was from Shushi. In 1911, Gevorg temporarily moved to Shushi, then the center of Artsakh, where he ran the Shushi office of the Singer sewing company. Soon after Nelson was born, the Stepanyan family moved back to Yerevan. There Nelson attended the Transcaucasian Preparatory Military School, graduating from in 1930. He continued his studies at the Bataysk Military Aviation School, where he graduated in 1935 and became a flight instructor at the school from then until 1938.

World War II Stepanyan was teaching at another military flight academy when Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941. He volunteered for combat and participated in a number of battles as a pilot of an Ilyushin Il-2 fighter bomber. Stepanyan took part in defensive battles at Poltava, Zaporozhye, Odessa, Kakhovka, and Mykolaiv. During his 20th departure Stepanyan was wounded by shrapnel flak. He defended the skies over Leningrad while he was a pilot in the 2nd Aviation Squadron, part of the 57th Regiment in the Baltic Fleet's 8th Aviation Brigade. On 23 October 1942, the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union conferred upon Stepanyan the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

After Stepanyan's promotion to the rank of major in 1943, he became the commander of the 47th Assault Aviation Regiment. With his unit, he took part in the Soviet offensives around Sevastopol, Theodosia, and Sudak (in the Crimea); for its efforts, the 47th Regiment was given the honorific title of Theodosia. Stepanyan was also shot down over enemy lines, although friendly partisans aided him to reach back Soviet lines. Stepanyan was called "Storm Petrel of the Baltic Sea." He died along with navigator of the 47th Regiment, Captain Aleksandr Rumiantsev. Stepanyan's loss devastated the rest of the men in the squadron. His fellow pilots sent the following letter to his parents after his death:

He was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union title a second time posthumously for his sacrifice.

Soviet sources assert that Stepanyan undertook no less than 239 combat sorties, sunk 53 ships thirteen of which he did alone, destroyed 80 tanks, 600 armored vehicles, and 27 aircraft. He also has streets named after him in Sevastopol and Feodosiya and schools named after him in Yerevan and Kirovabad. The statue in Shusha has been destroyed by the Azerbaijani government following the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war.

Awards Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (23 October 1942 and 6 March 1945) Two Order of Lenin (9 June 1942 and 23 October 1942) Three Order of the Red Banner (24 November 1941, 21 October 1942, and 26 June 1944) Medal "For 300,000" kilometers in the air" of the GVF (6 December 1940) Medal "For the Defence of Leningrad" Medal "For the Defence of Odessa"