Ivan Kozhedub

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Soviet aviator, thrice Hero of the Soviet Union (1920-1991)

PoliticiansLived 1920 to 1991 · aged 71

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Fame59.6

Momentum14.9

Languages27

In century#5,342

Also inDeutsch

Photos 6

Lavochkin La-5, operated in 1943-1944

Lavochkin La-5FN, operated in 1944

Kozhedub on a 2020 stamp of Russia

Monument to Ivan Kozhedub in the city of Kyiv

Bust of Ivan Kozhedub in his native village Obrazhiivka

Awards 39

1990Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR", 2nd class

1985Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class

1985Order of the Red Banner

1978Order of Lenin

1975Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR", 3rd class

1975Patriotic Order of Merit in Bronze

1973Knight of the Order of Polonia Restituta

1970Order of the Red Banner

1968Order of the Red Banner

1955Order of the Red Star

1951Order of the Red Banner

1950Medal "For Battle Merit"

1945Hero of the Soviet Union

1945Order of the Red Banner

1945Order of Alexander Nevsky

1944Hero of the Soviet Union

1944Order of Lenin

1943Order of the Red Banner

Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin"

Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"

Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"

Jubilee Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"

Jubilee Medal "Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"

Medal "For the Capture of Berlin"

Medal "For the Liberation of Warsaw"

Medal "Veteran of the Armed Forces of the USSR"

Medal "For Strengthening of Brotherhood in Arms"

Jubilee Medal "30 Years of the Soviet Army and Navy"

Jubilee Medal "40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"

Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"

Jubilee Medal "60 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"

Jubilee Medal "70 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"

Medal "In Commemoration of the 800th Anniversary of Moscow"

Medal "In Commemoration of the 1500th Anniversary of Kyiv"

Medal "For Impeccable Service", 1st class

Order of the National Flag

Sino-Soviet Friendship Medal

Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Mongolian People's Army"

Order of the National Flag, 3rd class

Connected to Ivan 6

Alexander LebedAlso won Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR", 2nd class

Vasily DzhugashviliAlso won Medal "For the Liberation of Warsaw"

Gherman TitovAlso won Medal "In Commemoration of the 1500th Anniversary of Kyiv"

Alexander ZinovievAlso won Medal "For the Capture of Berlin"

Adem JashariAlso won Order of the National Flag

Yumjaagiin TsedenbalAlso won Order of the National Flag

About this person

Marshal of Aviation Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub was a Soviet aviator who first came to prominence as a World War II fighter ace. Universally credited with over 60 solo victories, he is considered to be the highest scoring Soviet and Allied fighter pilot of World War II. Kozhedub is one of the few pilots confirmed to have shot down a Messerschmitt Me 262 jet, and the first Soviet pilot to have done so. He was made a Hero of the Soviet Union on three occasions. After World War II, he remained in the military and went on to command the 324th Fighter Aviation Division during Soviet operations in the Korean War.