Captured Soviet Fighter Ace and Hero of the USSR Yakov Antonov, August 1942

November 20, 2025 - Reading time: 4 minutes

Soviet fighter ace Yakov Antonov captured by German forces near Mozdok, 25 August 1942.

This wartime photograph shows Maj. Yakov Ivanovich Antonov — a Soviet fighter pilot and Hero of the Soviet Union — shortly after being captured by German forces in the Caucasus on 25 August 1942. Antonov, an ace of the 25th Fighter Aviation Regiment, was officially listed as killed in action in Soviet documents, but in reality he survived being shot down and fell into enemy hands.

On that day, Antonov was escorting Soviet ground-attack aircraft during a strike on a German airfield near Mozdok. His fighter was intercepted and brought down by Maj. Gordon Gollob, commander of the German JG 77 fighter wing and one of the Luftwaffe’s top-scoring aces. Antonov bailed out successfully and landed safely, only to be taken prisoner by German troops operating in the area.

Sources differ regarding the next stage of his captivity. Some accounts indicate that Antonov was sent to a prisoner-of-war camp near Mozdok. Others claim that he managed to escape shortly afterward. What happened to the Soviet ace after this moment remains one of the unresolved mysteries of the air war on the Eastern Front. No definitive record of his fate has ever surfaced.

The photograph stands as a rare visual testimony to the uncertain and often tragic circumstances faced by downed pilots on both sides of the conflict. Antonov’s story — from being declared dead, to surviving a shoot-down, to disappearing in captivity — continues to raise questions that historians have yet to answer.

Technical Photo Data:

📍 Location: Caucasus, USSR
📅 Date: 25 August 1942
📝 Subject: Soviet fighter ace and Hero of the USSR Maj. Yakov Antonov in German captivity
📷 Photographer: Unknown

• Soviet fighter pilot shot down
• Mozdok air battles
• POW escape legends WWII
• 25th Fighter Aviation Regiment
• Luftwaffe–Red Army encounters