Yekaterina Zelenko

Zelenko was born in 1916 to a Russian family in the village of Koroshchine, then part of the Volhynian Governorate of the Russian Empire. She completed seven grades of school in Kursk before moving with her mother to Voronezh, where she entered the Voronezh Secondary Flying School. In October 1933 she graduated from the Voronezh Flying Club and was sent to the 3rd Orenburg Military Flying Academy named after Kliment Voroshilov.

In December 1934, she graduated with honors and was posted to Kharkiv on assignment to the 19th Light Bomber Brigade. From January 1936 until April 1938, she was assigned to the 14th Squadron of the Kharkov military district, after which she was assigned to the 4th Light Bomber Regiment, and from February to March 1940 she participated in the Winter War as a R-Zet pilot in the 11th Light Bomber Regiment. She flew eight missions during the conflict, for which she was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.[1]

On the eve of the German invasion of the Soviet Union Zelenko was taking part in the retraining of the leading personnel of seven aviation regiments in use of the Sukhoi Su-2.[2]

According to the official version of events in 1990, the events leading to her death went as follows: On 12 September 1941, Zelenko's Su-2 was attacked by seven Bf 109s. After shooting down two of them she ran out of ammunition so she launched a downward ramming which tore a Messerschmitt Bf 109 in two as the propeller of her plane hit the German aircraft's tail. According to some accounts the Su-2 exploded, leading to the breakup of the cockpit, Zelenko, either unconscious or dead, experienced rotation on all three axes. The pilot's shoulder harnesses was unable to prevent trauma to her upper body. The helmet was not conformal to the pilot's head, allowing head injuries to occur inside of the helmet. The neck ring of the helmet may have also acted as a fulcrum that caused spine and neck injuries. The physical trauma to the pilot, who could not brace to prevent such injuries, could have also resulted in her death.

The pilot also likely suffered from significant thermal trauma. Hot gas entered the disintegrating cockpit, burning the pilot, whose body was still somewhat protected by her leather uniform. Once the cockpit fell apart, Zelenko was violently exposed to windblast and a possible shock wave, which stripped the suit from her body. The woman's remains were exposed to hot gas and molten metal as she fell away from the Su-2.

After separation from the aircraft, the body of the pilot entered an environment with almost no oxygen, very low atmospheric pressure, and both high temperatures caused by deceleration, and extremely low ambient temperatures. Ultimately, her body impacted the ground with lethal levels of force. As recounted from the German pilot who was rammed that bailed out and parachuted safely.

Her husband Pavel Ignatenko died in an aviation accident in 1943.[3]

While it is undisputed that she flew 40 missions on the Su-2 and engaged in 12 aerial combats, many aviation historians from both Russia and the US strongly doubt or outright disagree with the claim that Zelenko actually committed an aerial ramming, pointing out major discrepancies in the accounts describing her alleged ramming. Her first nomination for the title Hero of the Soviet Union did not mention an aerial ramming at all; claims about the location of the ramming itself, the location of her final resting place, and the evidence that was used to conclude that she conducted the ramming have been brought into question. For flying 40 missions she qualified for the title Hero of the Soviet Union, but because she went missing she was initially just awarded the Order of Lenin.[4][5]

2014 Russian postage stamp depicting Zelenko and an aerial ramming credited to her

Awards

• Hero of the Soviet Union (5 May 1990)
• Two Orders of Lenin (29 December 1941 and 5 May 1990)
• Order of the Red Banner (19 May 1940)

Memorials and recognitions

• The minor planet 1900 Katyusha was named in her honor.[6]
• Her portrait appeared on a Soviet envelope in 1983 before she was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union, and later on a 2014 postage stamp of the Russian Federation. (pictured)[7][8]
• There are streets bearing her name as well as various monuments and statues in her honor throughout Russia and Ukraine.[5]

• List of female Heroes of the Soviet Union