Alexander Koldunov (1923-1992) was a Soviet military leader and a statesman, the Air Chief Marshal of the USSR, a Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, the most effective ace among those who fought on Yak fighters.
Since May of 1943, Koldunov was at the front as a pilot of the 594th Assault Aviation Regiment. He won his first victory on June 21, 1943, over the Seversky Donets River. He mostly distinguished himself in such military operations as the Battle for the Dnieper, liberation of the Right-Bank Ukraine, the Jassy-Kishinev operation, the Budapest operation, liberation of Austria, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania and Yugoslavia.
By early May of 1944, Captain Koldunov, a squadron commander of the 866th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the 288th Fighter Aviation Division of the 17th Air Army of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, made 223 mission sorties, conducted 45 air battles, shot down 15 enemy planes personally and 1 plane in a group. In total, during the war years, Koldunov made 412 combat sorties and conducted 96 air battles.
Since November of 1970, Aleksander Koldunov was the Commander of the Moscow Air Defense District. Since July 28, 1978, he was the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Defense Forces of the USSR. On October 31, 1984, Alexander Koldunov was promoted to the rank of Air Chief Marshal.
The commemorative stamp provides an image of the emblem of celebration of the 80th Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945; the main illustration features fighter pilot Aleksander Koldunov against the background of Yak-3 planes.
| Denomination |
Paper |
Printing method |
Format of the envelope |
Edition |
| Letter “A” |
High Whiteness Modified (HWM) |
Offset |
110 × 220 mm |
0,5 million copies |