Early Life and Training
Alexey Vasilyevich Tsaryov was born on October 18, 1916, in the village of Derevyanytsy, now a microdistrict of Veliky Novgorod, into a peasant family. He completed ten grades of schooling and graduated from a factory vocational school. Subsequently, he worked as a fitter at the Mendeleev Plant in Leningrad.
In 1940, Tsaryov graduated from the Balashov Military Aviation School of Pilots. He was an active participant in the Great Patriotic War, joining the active army in October 1941.
Wartime Service and Feats
By May 1945, Captain Tsaryov, serving as a squadron commander of the 451st Bomber Aviation Regiment of the 218th Bomber Aviation Division, under the 5th Air Army of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, had completed 203 combat sorties. Of these, 64 were reconnaissance missions combined with bombing.
Among his most successful missions in 1944 were the bombing of the city of Huși and a column of 300 transport vehicles en route to Budapest. In 1945, Tsaryov led a formation of nine aircraft to bomb military trains at Komárno station, resulting in five large fires. In March of the same year, he bombed a concentration of enemy forces in Nitra, Hungary.
In April, he led another group of nine aircraft in an attack on Brno station and conducted reconnaissance with bombing along the Brno-Světlá nad Sázavou-Jihlava-Znojmo-Stockerau route. On May 9, 1945, Captain Tsaryov carried out two combat sorties leading his group to the areas of Velké Meziříčí and Zdirec, where he dropped 400,000 leaflets announcing Germany’s unconditional surrender and appealing to German troops to comply with command decisions.
Post-War Recognition and Later Life
On May 15, 1946, Alexey Tsaryov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. In 1948, he graduated from the Higher Officer Flight-Tactical Courses.
From 1960, Colonel Tsaryov was in the reserve. He resided in Zelenogorsk, Leningrad Oblast, and worked at the Predportovaya station depot of the Oktyabrskaya Railway. He was decorated with the Order of Lenin, two Orders of the Red Banner, two Orders of the Patriotic War 1st Class, two Orders of the Red Star, and various medals.