Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
#FacesOfVictory
🌟 On February 8, 1945 — exactly 8️⃣0️⃣ years ago — a group of ten Soviet prisoners of war led by Mikhail Devyatayev carried out one of the most daring escapes from Nazi captivity.
In July 1944, Devyatayev’s plane was shot down near Lvov, and he was captured unconscious. A month later, the senior lieutenant attempted to escape, but was caught and sent to the Sachsenhausen death camp.
The pilot managed to swap his death row inmate patch for a penal prisoner’s number, assuming a new identity. Under a false name he went to a different concentration camp on the Usedom Island, near the Peenemünde rocket centre in the Baltic Sea, where German scientists were testing V-2 rockets.
On February 8, Devyatayev and his comrades were taken out for repair works at a local airfield. The Germans were unaware that they had a highly experienced Soviet pilot among the prisoners. Before his capture, the fighter pilot had completed nearly 200 sorties, took part in dozens of aerial battles, and shot down multiple enemy aircraft.
✈️ Seizing the opportunity, Devyatayev and nine other Soviet prisoners stealthily killed a guard and hijacked a German Heinkel bomber. The Soviet pilot broke away from the pursuit and flew beyond enemy lines.
Upon returning to the Soviet Union, Devyatayev provided valuable intelligence on the location of missile installations, which were later destroyed in an airstrike. The Peenemünde testing site was captured by Soviet forces in March 1945.
🎖 On August 15, 1957, Mikhail Devyatayev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
#Victory80
In July 1944, Devyatayev’s plane was shot down near Lvov, and he was captured unconscious. A month later, the senior lieutenant attempted to escape, but was caught and sent to the Sachsenhausen death camp.
The pilot managed to swap his death row inmate patch for a penal prisoner’s number, assuming a new identity. Under a false name he went to a different concentration camp on the Usedom Island, near the Peenemünde rocket centre in the Baltic Sea, where German scientists were testing V-2 rockets.
On February 8, Devyatayev and his comrades were taken out for repair works at a local airfield. The Germans were unaware that they had a highly experienced Soviet pilot among the prisoners. Before his capture, the fighter pilot had completed nearly 200 sorties, took part in dozens of aerial battles, and shot down multiple enemy aircraft.
✈️ Seizing the opportunity, Devyatayev and nine other Soviet prisoners stealthily killed a guard and hijacked a German Heinkel bomber. The Soviet pilot broke away from the pursuit and flew beyond enemy lines.
Upon returning to the Soviet Union, Devyatayev provided valuable intelligence on the location of missile installations, which were later destroyed in an airstrike. The Peenemünde testing site was captured by Soviet forces in March 1945.
#Victory80
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