645 night combat missions define the service record of Yevgeniya Maksimovna Rudneva, a navigator within the 46th Guards Night Bomber Regiment. A former astronomy student at Lomonosov Moscow State University, she transitioned from academic research to aerial warfare, eventually earning the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for her contributions during the Second World War.
Early Life and Academic Path
Born in Berdiansk in 1920, Rudneva was the only child of a telegrapher. She attended secondary school in Moscow before enrolling in the faculty of mechanics and mathematics at Moscow State University. Her academic interests centered on astronomy, leading her to serve as the head of the Solar Department for the Moscow branch of the Astronomical-Geodesical Society of the USSR.
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In October 1941, she volunteered for military service, graduating from the navigators courses at the Engels Military Aviation School. By May 1942, she joined the 588th Night Bomber Regiment on the Southern Front. Flying the Polikarpov Po-2, she operated across the Transcaucasian, North Caucasian, and 4th Ukrainian fronts. Her missions targeted enemy equipment, troop trains, and river crossings during the battles for the Kerch and Taman peninsulas.
Final Mission and Legacy
Rudneva attained the rank of senior lieutenant and became a Communist Party member in 1943. On 9 April 1944, she was shot down while navigating for pilot Praskovya Prokofyeva over Kerch. Posthumously awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin, she is buried in Kerch. Her name is memorialized by the asteroid 1907 Rudneva and various monuments in Moscow, Kerch, and Saltykovka.
Fast facts
- Born: 1920, Berdiansk
- Died: 1944, Kerch
- Education: Lomonosov Moscow State University
- Military Rank: Senior lieutenant
- Combat Missions: 645
- Primary Aircraft: Polikarpov Po-2
- Key Award: Hero of the Soviet Union
- Burial Site: Kerch
Questions readers ask
What was Yevgeniya Rudneva's profession before the war?
She was an astronomer and served as head of the Solar Department of the Moscow branch of the Astronomical-Geodesical Society.
What aircraft did Rudneva use during her combat missions?
She flew the Polikarpov Po-2, a biplane used for night bombing operations.
Achievements
- Order of the Red Banner
- Order of Lenin
- Hero of the Soviet Union
- Order of the Patriotic War
- Recorded as aircraft pilot, navigator and military personnel
