Vasily Efimovich Bondarenko

Vasily Efimovich Bondarenko was born on April 23, 1922, in the village of Myakenkovka, Poltava Governorate. He was raised in an orphanage in Kyiv. He completed ten years of school, an aeroclub, and in 1941, graduated from the Kachin Military Aviation School.

Early Combat Career

He was in combat from the very first day of the war. On the Southern, Southwestern, and Stalingrad fronts, he completed 6 combat sorties in an I-16 and 30 in a LaGG-3, shooting down 4 enemy aircraft (He-111, Me-110, 2 Me-109) in 8 engagements. In 18 sorties in a Yak-1, he shot down another Me-109.

In 1943, after retraining on “Aircobras” (P-39 Aircobra), he began combat operations with the 45th Fighter Aviation Regiment (later the 100th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Division, 6th Guards Fighter Aviation Corps, 2nd Air Army). He participated in battles in Kuban, and in the Perekop, Iași-Chisinău, Lvov-Sandomierz, and Berlin operations. Vasily Efimovich had the opportunity to fight in two brotherly regiments – the 100th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment and the 16th “Pokryshkin” Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment – which together destroyed over a thousand enemy aircraft in the air.

Distinguished Service and Legacy

Guards Senior Lieutenant Bondarenko completed 330 combat sorties during the war, engaged in 68 aerial battles, and personally shot down 24 aircraft (23+1). He was wounded four times in combat, three times severely. In 1953, Lieutenant Colonel Bondarenko was demobilized. He graduated from the Kyiv Institute of National Economy and lived and worked in Kyiv. He is the author of the book “There Are No Unknown Soldiers.”

He passed away on February 20, 2001.

He was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union title on June 27, 1945. He was decorated with the Order of Lenin, 3 Orders of the Red Banner, 2 Orders of the Patriotic War 1st Class, the Order of the Red Star, and various medals.