La-7 of Sergei Dolgushin, Hero of the Soviet Union. His regiment was stationed in Northern Germany at the end of the war

Dear players! Today we are starting our article series “Weapons of Victory”, dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the Victory in Europe Day. Several unique vehicles will be added to the game as exclusive and we would like to brief you about them!​

A native of the Tula region in the Soviet Union, Sergei Fedorovich Dolgushin’s War began on the 21st of June, 1941, when he shot down an enemy reconnaissance aircraft over Soviet territory. Second Lieutenant Dolgushin was a fighter pilot of the 122nd fighter aviation regiment, he participated in some of the most brutal battles during the early part of the war. On May 5th 1942, Lieutenant Dolgushin was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union title for heroism and courage . In 1943, Captain Dolgushin was the commander of the 32nd guard fighter aviation regiment. In September of the same year Sergei Fedorovich, already ranked as a Major, he went on to became the commander of the 156th fighter aviation regiment, which remained under his command until the end of the war. As a commander he of course received his aircraft with the best performing engine in his regiment.

Hero of the Soviet Union Sergei Dolgushin, Commander of 156. IAP (middle), with pilot colleagues. From left to the right: Kislyakov A., Bayukov V., Dolgushin S., Kleschev A., Schipanov A. Picture taken on an airfield in Germany, April 25th 1945.

The new appointment did not affect the intensity of Dolgushin’s combat operations he continued to fly actively. In September of 1944, Sergei Fedorovich was allocated a La-7 fighter with the identification number 93, his operational record ended in Northern Germany  where Flight Lieutenant Colonel S.F.Dolgushin flew his last combat flight on the 6th of May, 1945.

During the war, Dolgushin achieved over 500 mission sorties and destroyed 17 enemy aircraft personally and 11 shared.