Leonid Nikitovich Khrushchev (10 November 1917 – 11 March 1943) was a Soviet

fighter pilot A fighter pilot or combat pilot is a Military aviation, military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, Air-to-ground weaponry, air-to-ground combat and sometimes Electronic-warfare aircraft, electronic warfare while in the cockpit of ...

and the son of

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Chai ...

. Khrushchev served as a fighter pilot in the

Soviet Air Forces The Soviet Air Forces (, VVS SSSR; literally "Military Air Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics"; initialism VVS, sometimes referred to as the "Red Air Force") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Sovie ...

during the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

and the Eastern Front of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Khrushchev's plane was shot down in 1943 but his death was never confirmed and he was listed as

missing in action Missing in action (MIA) is a casualty (person), casualty classification assigned to combatants, military chaplains, combat medics, and prisoner of war, prisoners of war who are reported missing during wartime or ceasefire. They may have been ...

. The exact circumstances of his death remain unknown and the subject of conspiracy theories.

Early life

Leonid Nikitovich Khrushchev was born on 10 November 1917 in Yuzovka (present-day

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; ; ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capita ...

) in the Ukrainian People's Republic, three days after the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

, the second child of

and his first wife Yefrosinia Pisareva. He graduated from high school in 1932 and afterwards went to work in a factory. During high school, he received two reprimands from Komsomol: one for drunkenness and lack of discipline, and the other for failure to pay for membership fees.

Military career

In 1933, Khrushchev joined the

and attended the

flight school Flight training is a course of study used when learning to aviator, pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills. Flight training can be conducted un ...

in Balashov. He graduated in 1937 and completed advanced training courses for Air Force command personnel in

Ulyanovsk Ulyanovsk,, , known as Simbirsk until 1924, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Volga River east of Moscow. Ulyanovsk has been the only Russian UNESCO Ci ...

the next year. He briefly worked as a flight instructor in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

and

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

before enrolling the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy in February 1939. He was transferred to the Engels Military Aviation School in February 1940 and graduated in May. Khrushchev was part of the 134th Bomber Aviation Regiment, 46th Air Division, stationed in the Andreapol, Kalinin Oblast. Following the outbreak of the

in November 1939, he completed over thirty sorties in the Arkhangelsky Ar-2 and bombed the Mannerheim Line. According to Stepan Mikoyan, the son of Anastas Mikoyan, Khrushchev had personally requested to be sent to the frontline. After the Winter War finished in March 1940, he volunteered to stay at the front. Following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in July 1941, Khrushchev's regiment fought on the Eastern Front as part of the 22nd Army. 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 () was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. It was the highest award of S ...

. On July 26, Khrushchev's plane was hit by ''

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

'' fighters near Moscow, forcing him to crash land and hospitalizing him with a broken leg, with the bone protruding through his boot. A doctor wanted to amputate the leg until Khrushchev threatened him with a pistol. During his recovery in Kuybyshev, he associated with Rubén Ruiz Ibárruri. After recovery, his injured leg was shorter than the other. Impatient while idle, Khrushchev would shoot bottles on friends' heads for entertainment, and in one incident he accidentally killed a drunken

Soviet Navy The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare Military, uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with t ...

officer. Although

court-martialled A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the mili ...

, 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 near Zhizdra and he was presumably killed. The pilots of his squadron saw his plane explode and disintegrate in the air after being hit by fire from a German Focke Fw 190, allegedly while attempting to shield another pilot with his own plane. However, even though the area of his approximate crash was under

Soviet partisans Soviet partisans were members of Resistance during World War II, resistance movements that fought a Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla war against Axis powers, Axis forces during World War II in the Soviet Union, the previously Territories of Poland an ...

' 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 highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

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

conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...

about the circumstances of his death. Two months after his disappearance, Khrushchev was posthumously awarded with the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class.

References

Bibliography

* * The Lost Khrushchev: A Journey into the Gulag of the Russian Mind. By Nina Khrushcheva. Tate Publishing; 320 pages; {{DEFAULTSORT:Khrushchev, Leonid Khrushchev family 1917 births 1943 deaths Recipients of the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Aerial disappearances of military personnel in action Aviators killed by being shot down Missing aviators Missing in action of World War II Missing person cases in Russia Unsolved deaths in Russia Soviet Air Force officers Soviet military personnel killed in World War II Soviet World War II pilots Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery

Early life

Military career

Disappearance

See also

References

Bibliography