Vladimir Ilyich Sharpatov (russian: Влади́мир Ильи́ч Шарпа́тов, born March 21, 1940, Krasnogorkiy village of

Zvenigovsky District Zvenigovsky District (russian: Звени́говский райо́н; mhr, Провой кундем, ''Provoj kundem'') is an administrativeLaw #22-Z and municipalLaw #15-Z district (raion), one of the fourteen in the Mari El Republic, Russia ...

Mari El The Mari El Republic (russian: Респу́блика Мари́й Эл, ''Respublika Mariy El''; Meadow Mari: ; Hill Mari: ) is a republic of Russia. It is in the European Russia region of the country, along the northern bank of the Volga Rive ...

) is a civil aviation pilot and

Hero of the Russian Federation Hero of the Russian Federation (russian: Герой Российской Федерации, Geroy Rossiyskoy Federatsii), also unofficially Hero of Russia (russian: link=no, Герой России, Geroy Rossii), is the highest honorary title ...

(1996). An Ilyushin

Il-76 The Ilyushin Il-76 (russian: Илью́шин Ил-76; NATO reporting name: Candid) is a multi-purpose, fixed-wing, four-engine turbofan strategic airlifter designed by the Soviet Union's Ilyushin design bureau. It was first planned as a commer ...

cargo plane under his command made a forced landing at the airfield near

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a List of cities in Afghanistan, city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population ...

, Afghanistan, in August 1995. All seven Russian nationals on board were subsequently held captive by the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

for a year until they successfully escaped by flying their own plane out of Afghanistan in August 1996. Russian actor Alexander Baluyev played Vladimir Sharpatov in the 2010 film ''

Kandagar ''Kandagar'' (russian: Кандагар; also known as ''Kandahar'') is a 2010 Russian historical action film detailing the escape of a Russian crew from Afghanistan at the hands of Taliban fighters on August 16, 1996. The film stars some of Ru ...

''.

Biography

Sharpatov took evening classes at the

Kazan Aviation Institute Kazan National Research Technical University (KNRTU-KAI, full name in Russian language, Russian: ''Казанский национальный исследовательский технический университет имени А. Н. Т ...

, and attended a local flying club, where he became a glider pilot. He then entered the .

External links

*
Sharpatov, Vladimir Ilyich

Phil Reeves,

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

, 19 August 1996
Afghan Escape Film ‘Kandahar’ Pulls in Crowds
Alexander Bratersky, The St. Petersburg Times, February 9, 2010 1940 births Living people People from Zvenigovsky District Heroes of the Russian Federation A Just Russia politicians 21st-century Russian politicians {{Russia-bio-stub