311:
1951 he served as commander of the 925th
Fighter Aviation Regiment until May 1954, after which he commanded the 24th Guards Fighter Aviation Division until December 1955. From then until 1956 he served as assistant commander of the Air Force of the 4th Navy. He then became the assistant commander of the Baltic Fleet Air Force, and in 1958 he assumed the role of deputy commander. That same year he was promoted to the rank general-major, but it was not until 1962 that he entered the Military Academy of General Staff, which he graduated from in 1964 with honors.
124:
104:
241:, which he flew for most of the war and gained most of his shootdowns on, having flown it in "free-hunting" missions. Popkov quickly rose through the ranks of his unit, reaching the position of flight commander by the time he was first nominated for the title Hero of the Soviet Union in August 1943 for having shot down 17 enemy aircraft over the course of 168 sorties.
38:
245:
aircraft under his command and make a safe landing at their destination airfield; later that month he was promoted to the rank of captain. At the time he was nominated for his second gold star in
February 1945 he had reached the position of squadron commander in addition to having just gained his first aerial victories on the
310:
Until March 1946 Popkov remained a squadron commander in his wartime regiment, during which he was stationed in
Austria and Hungary. He then briefly served as squadron commander in the 721st Fighter Aviation Regiment until July that year when he left to join the Air Force Academy. After graduating in
215:
Glider School in 1938 he returned to Moscow, where he went on to graduate from his tenth grade of school and aeroclub training before entering the military in
September 1940. Upon graduating from the Chuguev Military Aviation School of Pilots in September 1941 he began further training at the Batay
314:
From 1964 to 1966 Popkov headed a department at the
Directorate of the General Staff, and from then until 1980 he served as inspector-general of Aviation for the Air Force Naval Inspectorate. He then became the head of faculty for training foreign specialists, and from 1987 until he retired he was
244:
On 16 August 1944 Popkov was again injured in combat after his plane was hit by an anti-aircraft shell during a mission to attack an enemy airfield. Wounds to his right hand and right leg forced him to steer his plane with his left hand, but nevertheless he managed to issue instructions to the
249:
earlier that month. By the end of the war he was credited with 345 sorties, 85 aerial engagements, and an estimated 40 aerial victories (one of which was an enemy aircraft rammed during a mid-air collision); seven of the aircraft he shot down were multi-engined. Throughout the conflict he
232:
aircraft used by the regiment parked at the airfield he became very excited and jumped into the plane to check out the cockpit, but was stopped by a soldier on duty and told to wait for his shift. Soon he had a turn to fly it, and on 10 June he shot down his first enemy aircraft, a
237:. On 3 August 1942 he was shot down, but survived the incident with severe burns and shrapnel wounds having parachuted out. The next month he gained his third and last aerial victory while flying the LaGG-3 before moving on to flying the
816:
279:
406:
216:
Military
Aviation School of Pilots, which had been relocated to Azerbaijan due to the war. After graduating in March he was posted to the 4th Reserve Aviation Regiment based in
806:
211:
Popkov was born on 1 May 1922 to a working class
Russian family in Moscow; he grew up in Sochi from 1930 to 1934 before moving to Abkhazia. After graduating from the
199:
who became a flying ace during the Second World War. During the war, he was credited with around 40 aerial victories for which he was twice awarded the title
796:
335:. After retiring from the military with the rank of general-lieutenant in 1989, he lived in Moscow where he died on 6 February 2010 and was buried in the
781:
460:
He was an honorary citizen of Moscow
Magadan, Sochi, Kiev, Odessa, Dnepropetrovsk, Gagry, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Bratislava, Parndorfa and Krasnika.
791:
203:. After the war he remained in the military and reached the rank of general-lieutenant, retiring in 1989. He died in 2010 at the age of 88.
444:
71:
801:
786:
811:
761:
592:
529:
267:
228:
In May 1942 Popkov arrived at the warfront as a pilot in the 5th Guards
Fighter Aviation Regiment. Upon seeing one of the
776:
766:
746:
360:
771:
251:
706:
430:
287:
229:
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head of special faculty at the
Zhukovsky Air Force Academy. During his career he flew many aircraft including the
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380:
437:
423:
354:
291:
200:
172:
374:
324:
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20:
400:
756:
751:
336:
8:
712:
702:
701:]. Moscow: Russian Knights Foundation and Vadim Zadorozhny Museum of Technology.
678:
668:
598:
588:
525:
128:
817:
Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union alumni
299:
295:
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524:(in Russian). Voronezh: Центрально-Черноземное книжное издательство. p. 323.
544:
519:
690:
367:
316:
246:
238:
716:
740:
682:
602:
521:Твои герои, Курская Дуга: документальные очерки о Героях Советского Союза ...
332:
328:
234:
196:
407:
Order for Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR 3rd class
193:
162:
109:
37:
661:Герои Советского Союза: краткий биографический словарь II, Любовь – Яшчук
275:
626:
624:
729:
664:
217:
621:
609:
564:
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552:
259:
699:
Combat pilots - twice and three times Heroes of the Soviet Union
636:
271:
91:
87:
67:
549:
499:
212:
545:Журнал «Авиация и космонавтика» №8 от 1968 год (стр. 9–12)
485:
Sources differ as to if he had 40 or 41 aerial victories
695:Боевые лётчики — дважды и трижды Герои Советского Союза
370:(26 August 1942, 8 August 1943, and 28 September 1956)
807:
Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 3rd class
738:
689:
642:
630:
615:
570:
558:
505:
587:(in Russian). Moscow: Yauza. pp. 961–962.
797:Recipients of the Order of Alexander Nevsky
782:Recipients of the Order of Honour (Russia)
445:Order of the Flag of the People's Republic
36:
792:Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner
723:
658:
403:(30 December 1956 and 27 December 1982)
390:1st class (23 May 1943 and 11 May 1985)
739:
470:
192:; 1 May 1922 – 6 February 2010) was a
582:
517:
479:
154:5th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment
361:Honoured Military Pilot of the USSR
357:(8 September 1943 and 27 June 1945)
13:
14:
828:
802:Recipients of the Medal of Zhukov
476:Some sources indicate 358 sorties
431:Order of Merit for the Fatherland
787:Recipients of the Order of Lenin
122:
102:
812:Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery
762:Soviet World War II flying aces
652:
585:Все асы Сталина. 1936 – 1953 гг
377:(30 July 1943 and 6 April 1955)
223:
576:
538:
511:
388:Orders of the Patriotic War of
146:General-Lieutenant of Aviation
1:
726:Дважды Герои Советского Союза
693:; Bodrikhin, Nikolai (2017).
492:
206:
643:Simonov & Bodrikhin 2017
631:Simonov & Bodrikhin 2017
616:Simonov & Bodrikhin 2017
571:Simonov & Bodrikhin 2017
559:Simonov & Bodrikhin 2017
506:Simonov & Bodrikhin 2017
463:
7:
412:campaign and jubilee medals
19:For Ukrainian cyclist, see
10:
833:
777:Soviet lieutenant generals
767:Soviet World War II pilots
747:Heroes of the Soviet Union
394:Order of the Patriotic War
305:
18:
16:Soviet Union fighter pilot
772:Soviet Air Force generals
452:Order of 9 September 1944
381:Order of Alexander Nevsky
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150:
142:
134:
115:
97:
77:
54:
44:
35:
28:
724:Vukolov, Viktor (1973).
447:2nd class (4 April 1985)
375:Orders of the Red Banner
355:Hero of the Soviet Union
201:Hero of the Soviet Union
173:Hero of the Soviet Union
583:Bykov, Mikhail (2014).
433:4th class (20 May 2002)
396:2nd class (29 May 1945)
190:Виталий Иванович Попков
182:Vitaly Ivanovich Popkov
49:Виталий Иванович Попков
30:Vitaly Ivanovich Popkov
21:Vitaly Popkov (cyclist)
659:Shkadov, Ivan (1988).
440:3rd class (6 May 2005)
401:Orders of the Red Star
518:Isaev, S. I. (1990).
135:Years of service
337:Novodevichy cemetery
633:, pp. 260–262.
618:, pp. 259–260.
573:, pp. 258–259.
454:(14 September 1974)
288:Sandomierz-Silesian
409:(17 February 1976)
92:Russian Federation
594:978-5-9955-0712-3
531:978-5-7458-0009-2
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383:(17 August 1944)
268:Belgorod-Kharkov
264:Izyum-Barvenkovo
250:participated in
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129:Soviet Air Force
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26:
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691:Simonov, Andrey
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368:Orders of Lenin
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284:Lvov-Sandomierz
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81:6 February 2010
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645:, p. 262.
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438:Order of Merit
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424:Order of Honor
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280:Dnepropetrovsk
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85:(aged 87)
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708:9785990960510
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363:(8 July 1967)
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256:Little Saturn
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426:(9 May 2007)
417:other states
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252:Rzhev-Sychev
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224:World War II
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163:World War II
159:Battles/wars
110:Soviet Union
83:(2010-02-06)
757:2010 deaths
752:1922 births
450:Bulgaria –
45:Native name
741:Categories
728:. Moscow:
717:1005741956
674:5203005362
663:. Moscow:
493:References
443:Hungary –
436:Ukraine –
276:Zaporizhia
207:Early life
98:Allegiance
65:1 May 1922
61:1922-05-01
730:Voenizdat
683:247400113
665:Voenizdat
603:879321002
464:Footnotes
429:Russia –
422:Russia –
302:battles.
218:Morshansk
138:1940–1989
116:Service/
306:Postwar
260:Luhansk
186:Russian
175:(twice)
715:
705:
681:
671:
601:
591:
528:
366:Three
353:Twice
348:Soviet
343:Awards
331:, and
325:MiG-17
321:MiG-15
300:Prague
296:Berlin
272:Donbas
230:LaGG-3
194:Soviet
169:Awards
118:branch
107:
88:Moscow
68:Moscow
697:[
333:An-24
329:Tu-16
317:Yak-9
235:Ju 88
213:Gagra
72:RSFSR
713:OCLC
703:ISBN
679:OCLC
669:ISBN
599:OCLC
589:ISBN
526:ISBN
399:Two
386:Two
373:Two
298:and
247:La-7
239:La-5
151:Unit
143:Rank
78:Died
55:Born
743::
711:.
677:.
667:.
623:^
597:.
551:^
339:.
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90:,
70:,
732:.
719:.
685:.
605:.
534:.
184:(
63:)
59:(
23:.
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