Marshal of Aviation Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub was a Soviet aviator who first came to prominence as a World War II fighter ace. Universally credited with over 60 solo victories, he is considered to be the highest scoring Soviet and Allied fighter pilot of World War II. Kozhedub is one of the few pilots confirmed to have shot down a Messerschmitt Me 262 jet, and the first Soviet pilot to have done so.
He was made a Hero of the Soviet Union on three occasions. After World War II, he remained in the military and went on to command the 324th Fighter Aviation Division during Soviet operations in the Korean War.
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