Claim: As a 15th Guards Assault Aviation Regiment pilot, Aleksey Prokhorov befriended Vladimir Aleksenko, a regimental commander twice awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Evidence: Soon arriving at the warfront in March 1943 as a pilot in the 15th Guards Assault Aviation Regiment he rose up through the ranks and became close friends with Vladimir Aleksenko, another future twice Hero of the Soviet Union. Vladimir Avramovich Aleksenko (Russian: Владимир Аврамович Алексенко; 27 January 1923 – 16 June 1995) was a ground-attack aviation squadron and regimental commander during World War II who was twice awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.