Leonid Nikitovich Khrushchev (10 November 1917 – 11 March 1943) was the son of

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

, former leader of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, and served as a fighter pilot in the

Soviet Air Forces The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...

during the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He was shot down and killed in 1943, but the exact circumstances of his death remain unknown.

Early life

Leonid Khrushchev was born to Nikita Khrushchev and his first wife, Yefrosinia Pisareva. He graduated from high school and afterwards went to work in a factory. During high school, he received two reprimands from

Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (russian: link=no, Всесоюзный ленинский коммунистический союз молодёжи (ВЛКСМ), ), usually known as Komsomol (; russian: Комсомол, links=n ...

(the youth division of the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

): one for drunkenness and lack of discipline, the other for failure to pay for membership fees.

Air force career

In 1935, Leonid Khrushchev joined the

Soviet Air Force The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...

as a fighter pilot. During

, Khrushchev was part of the 134th Bomber Aviation Regiment, 46th Air Division, stationed in the

Andreapol Andreapol (russian: Андреа́поль) is a town and the administrative center of Andreapolsky District in Tver Oblast, Russia, located on the Valdai Hills on the left bank in the upper course of the Western Dvina. Population: 12,000 (19 ...

Kalinin Oblast Tver Oblast (russian: Тверска́я о́бласть, ''Tverskaya oblast'', ), from 1935 to 1990 known as Kalinin Oblast (), is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Tver. It was named after Mikhai ...

. He saw action in the

Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

against

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, in which he completed over thirty combat missions and bombed the

Mannerheim Line The Mannerheim Line ( fi, Mannerheim-linja, sv, Mannerheimlinjen) was a defensive fortification line on the Karelian Isthmus built by Finland against the Soviet Union. While this was never an officially designated name, during the Winter War it ...

; after the war was finished on 13 March 1940, he volunteered to stay at the front. During the summer of 1941, he completed twelve combat missions and was presented with the

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner (russian: Орден Красного Знамени, Orden Krasnogo Znameni) was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of th ...

. On July 26, Khrushchev's plane was hit by German fighters near Moscow forcing him to crash land. He was hospitalized with a broken leg wherein the bone protruding through his boot. A doctor wanted to amputate until he threatened the doctor with a

pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, an ...

. After recovery, his injured leg was shorter than the other. During his recovery in Kuibyshev, he associated with

Rubén Ruiz Ibárruri Rubén Ruiz Ibárruri ( rus, Рубе́н Руи́с Иба́ррури; January 9, 1920 – September 3, 1942) was a Spanish military officer and Soviet commander of the 100th Machine Gun Company of an independent training battalion of the 35th ...

. Impatient while idle, he would shoot bottles on friends' heads and killed one drunken naval officer by accident. Although court martialled, he was allowed to return to be a fighter pilot again.

Disappearance

On 11 March 1943, Khrushchev's plane, a YaK-7B fighter, was shot down, with Khrushchev presumably being killed. The pilots of his squadron saw his plane explode and disintegrate in the air after being hit by Focke Fw 190's fire, allegedly while attempting to shield another pilot with his own plane. However, even though the area of his approximate crash was under partisans control, and several planes attempted to locate his plane's wreckage on the next night, his body was never found. This, together with the fact that his father was already a member of the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...

and one of the most important political figures in the country, gave birth to a number of

conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

about the circumstances of his death. Two months after his disappearance, he was posthumously awarded with the

Order of the Patriotic War The Order of the Patriotic War (russian: Орден Отечественной войны, Orden Otechestvennoy voiny) is a Soviet military decoration that was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to partisan ...

References

Bibliography

* * The Lost Khrushchev: A Journey into the Gulag of the Russian Mind. By Nina Khrushcheva. Tate Publishing; 320 pages; {{DEFAULTSORT:Khrushchev, Leonid 1917 births 1943 deaths Aviators killed by being shot down Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery Missing in action of World War II Missing person cases in Russia Khrushchev family Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Soviet Air Force officers Soviet military personnel killed in World War II Soviet World War II pilots Unsolved deaths Aerial disappearances of military personnel in action

Early life

Air force career

Disappearance

See also

References

Bibliography