Nikolai Olovyannikov

Nikolai Yefimovich Olovyannikov (; 22 December 1922 – 15 April 2021) was an officer of the Soviet Air Force. Over his time in service, he reached the rank of polkovnik, the Soviet equivalent to colonel. In 1944 he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Olovyannikov's interest in flying began in childhood, and he attended a flying club during his high school studies. Called up for service in the armed forces shortly after the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, he was assigned for further training at the Voroshilovgrad military aviation school. Despite only completing 13 of the 150 flying hours usually required, Olovyannikov was quickly pressed into service flying the Ilyushin Il-2 attack aircraft. He was assigned to the , and spent the rest of the war with this unit. His first combat sorties took place during the Battle of Kursk. He went on to see action in many of the important battles as the Red Army advanced through the war, fighting at the Battle of Smolensk, Operation Bagration, the East Prussian offensive, and the Battle of Königsberg. In 1944 he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and ultimately flew 212 sorties, without once being shot down.

Olovyannikov remained in the air force after the war, reaching the rank of polkovnik before his retirement from military service in 1962. He was then employed by the Moscow Institute of Petrochemical and Gas Industry, where he worked in the military department and took an interest in training. In retirement he settled in Moscow, where he died in 2021 at the age of 98, having received a large number of awards and honours over his lifetime.

Early life and career Olovyannikov was born into a Russian peasant family on 22 December 1922 in Medvenka, Kursky Uyezd, then part of Kursk Governorate, in the Russian Soviet Socialist Federative Republic. Following the death of Nikolai's father when he was three years old, his mother moved the family, consisting of herself and three children, to Kostiantynivka in 1930. He was told "It's okay, you will finish your studies at the front."

Awards Over his career Olovyannikov had received numerous honours and awards, besides the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and the award of the Order of Lenin on 26 October 1944. He held three Orders of the Red Banner, from 2 February 1944, 28 February 1945 and 25 May 1945, two Orders of the Patriotic War First Class from 12 July 1944 and 11 March 1985, two Orders of the Red Star from 8 October 1943 and 30 December 1956, the Medal "For Battle Merit" from 19 November 1951, the Medal "For the Capture of Königsberg", and a number of other medals of the USSR and Russia.