Yekaterina Budanova

Yekaterina Budanova

Yekaterina Vasylievna Budanova (Cyrillic: Екатерина Васильевна Буданова), also known as Katya Budanova (Катя Буданова), (6 December 1916 – 19 July 1943), was a fighter pilot in the Soviet Air Force during World War II. With 11 air victories, along with Lydia Litvyak, she was one of the world's two female fighter aces. She was shot down by Luftwaffe's aces Georg Schwientek of JG 52 or Emil Bitsch, of JG 3.