Pavel Rychagov

Pavel Vasilievich Rychagov (; 2 January 1911 – 28 October 1941) was the Commander of the Soviet Air Forces (VVS) for a brief time from 28 August 1940 to 14 April 1941. He was removed from that position shortly before Operation Barbarossa and the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, and was executed in a purge of the Red Army several months later.

Early life and education Rychagov was born on 2 January 1911 in the village of Nizhnie Likhobory, which forms part of present-day Moscow. In 1928, he joined the Red Army, trained at the Leningrad Military College of the Air Forces, from which he graduated in 1930. In 1931, he enrolled for further training at the 2nd Military College for Pilots. Rychagov's fighter group saw their first action on 4 November. On that day, they shot down two Junkers Ju 52s and two Fiat CR.32s over Madrid, while no losses were reported among the Soviet pilots. During the next two days, Rychagov's pilots claimed 12 more victories, at the cost of two aircraft lost. In the case of Rychagov specifically, he was punished for referring to Soviet planes as "flying coffins". Rychagov was exonerated posthumously in 1954.