Ivan Kozhedub

Ivan Kozhedub

Marshal of Aviation Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub (Russian: Иван Никитович Кожедуб, Ukrainian: Іван Микитович Кожедуб; June 8, 1920 — August 12, 1991) was a Soviet Ukrainian military aviator and a World War II fighter ace. Kozhedub took a part in the Korean War as a commander of the 324th Fighter Air Division. He is credited with 64 +2 (P-51) individual air victories, most of them flying the Lavochkin La-5. He is one of the few pilots to shoot down a Messerschmitt Me 262 jet. He was made a Hero of the Soviet Union on three occasions (4 February 1944; 19 August 1944; 18 August 1945).