Mikhail Vasilyevich Vodolazhsky
Soviet fighter pilot (18 September 1924 – 21 September 1944)
Key Facts
From Petrovskoye to the Skies over Slovakia
Mikhail Vasilyevich Vodolazhsky was born on 18 September 1924 in the village of Petrovskoye, in the Stavropol region of southern Russia. In 1965, the settlement was renamed Svetlograd. Some historical military records give his year of birth as 1922. However, according to information obtained directly from his family, Mikhail stated that he had been born in 1922 before entering military service in order to appear older. His actual year of birth was 1924.
He grew up in the family of Vasily Fyodorovich (1899–1946) and Marfa Matveyevna (who died in 1981). He was the second youngest of four children. His siblings were his two older brothers, Fyodor (1908–1942) and Vasily (1920–1985), and his younger sister, Anna (1926–2014).
He developed an interest in aviation at an early age. His surviving personal diary also reveals his artistic talent. In July 1941, he volunteered for military service. His older brother Fyodor was killed in April 1942. Anna last saw Mikhail in the spring of 1944.
By the autumn of 1944, Mikhail was serving as a fighter pilot with the 153rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (153rd GIAP), part of the 12th Guards Fighter Aviation Division (12th GIAD). The unit took part in fighting on the Eastern Front, including operations in the area of the Carpathian-Dukla campaign.
On 21 September 1944, Mikhail was killed during an aerial engagement in the area of Brusnica, in northeastern Slovakia, just three days after his twentieth birthday. According to the information presented on the memorial panel, he was flying a Yakovlev Yak-1B fighter aircraft. The wreckage and his body were found by partisans from the Majorov detachment, led by Grigory Petrovich Lebiga.
According to the memorial panel, on 27 September 1944 he was temporarily buried at Košarovce alongside three other Red Army soldiers. In 1946, his remains were exhumed and reburied in a collective grave at the Central Military Cemetery of the Red Army in Michalovce. For his military service, he received the Medal for Courage on 9 June 1944 and the Order of the Patriotic War, First Class, on 6 August 1944.
Today, two memorial sites in the area around Brusnica commemorate Mikhail's life and sacrifice. They honour the memory of a young pilot who lost his life during the Second World War in what is now Slovakia.
Two Memorial Sites in Brusnica
Two memorial sites dedicated to Soviet fighter pilot Mikhail Vasilyevich Vodolazhsky are located in the area around Brusnica, in the Stropkov District of northeastern Slovakia. They were officially unveiled on 20 September 2024, marking the 80th anniversary of his death and the centenary of his birth.
The first memorial stands between Brusnica and Kolbovce and commemorates the Soviet fighter pilot who lost his life during the Second World War in what is now Slovakia. The second memorial is located in the forest above Brusnica, at the site where his Yakovlev Yak-1B aircraft crashed.
Both memorials preserve the memory of Mikhail Vasilyevich Vodolazhsky and commemorate the events of September 1944 that forever connected his life with this region.
Unveiling of the Memorials
The two memorial sites were officially unveiled on 20 September 2024. The ceremony was attended by representatives of the Slovak Union of Anti-Fascist Fighters, the Union of War Veterans, the Union of Soldiers of the Slovak Republic, the Gvardia Military History Club from Hencovce, representatives of neighbouring municipalities, and residents of Brusnica.
The initiative to establish the memorials was undertaken by Pavol Horňák of Košice, who researches wartime stories and documents the lives of servicemen who fought or lost their lives in the territory of present-day Slovakia. The project was prepared in cooperation with the municipality of Brusnica and its mayor, Tatiana Szabóová.
The unveiling commemorated two significant anniversaries: the centenary of Mikhail Vasilyevich Vodolazhsky's birth and the 80th anniversary of his death. Today, the memorials preserve his story in the very landscape where the final chapter of his life unfolded.
Memorial Locations
Photo Gallery
