1941 The feat of Nikolai Gastello

75 years ago, on June 26, 1941, Captain Nikolai Frantsevich Gastello, as the official Soviet version says, sent his wrecked DB-3F bomber into a cluster of enemy vehicles and tanks on the Molodechno-Radoshkovichi road. For this, he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

In 1951, the remains of his partner, Captain Alexander Spiridonovich Maslov and members of his crew were found at the site of the alleged crash site of Gastello's plane. However, the plane crashed 170 meters from the highway and could not ram anyone. In 1996, Maslov and his crew members were posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Russia. The plane of Gastello crashed in the Matskovsky swamp, and one of the crew members, most likely Gastello himself, escaped and was taken prisoner by the wounded.