Yak-9D Fighters Patrol the Skies Over Sevastopol – May 1944

June 17, 2025 - Reading time: 4 minutes

Four Yak-9D fighters of the 6th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment patrol over Sevastopol. Pilots include Grib, Belozyorov, Voronov, and Akulov.

Soviet Yak-9D aircraft flying over Sevastopol May 1944 photo

Sevastopol, May 1944.
The sky above the Crimean fortress roars with power as Yak-9D fighters of the 3rd Squadron, 6th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Black Sea Fleet Air Force sweep across the battlefield. These are no rookies — these are Soviet aces, hardened by dogfights, and backed by steel resolve.

Flying low and tight over liberated soil, the pilots shown here are legends in the making:

  • №22 — Hero of the Soviet Union Mikhail Ivanovich Grib, credited with 17 individual air victories

  • №31 — Vladimir Ivanovich Voronov

  • №26 — Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Pavlovich Belozyorov, with 8 confirmed kills by April 1944

  • №30 — V. Akulov, steady hand in the air

The aircraft — Yak-9D — was a long-range variant of the famed Yakovlev fighter line, capable of escort missions deep behind enemy lines. Fast, maneuverable, and well-armed, these machines were designed for one thing: destroy the Luftwaffe and rule the sky.

This photo, taken by legendary war photographer Yevgeny Khaldei, immortalizes a rare clean sweep of Soviet aviation confidence. Below them, the ruins of Sevastopol smolder as the Wehrmacht and Axis forces flee Crimea. Above, Stalin’s falcons fly in tight formation — a victory parade with guns loaded.

📷 Technical photo data:
📸 Photographer: Yevgeny Khaldei
📅 Date: May 1944
📍 Location: Sevastopol, Crimea, USSR (now Russia)

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