page_title: Nikolai Alexeyevich Kuznetsov
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: Nikolai Alexeyevich Kuznetsov / World War II
caption_attribution_description: English: My grandfather is the pilot of LI-2
context_page_description: Nikolai Alexeyevich Kuznetsov was a Soviet, and later, Kazakhstani aviator. Kuznetsov served in the Soviet Armed Forces during World War II, and later went on to be serve as the director of the Kazakh SSR's Administration of Civil Aviation. Kuznetsov has been called the "father of Kazakhstani aviation".
context_section_description: Upon the outbreak of Operation Barbarossa, Kuznetsov served in the Red Army. He graduated from military school as a pilot in 1942. After being chosen to receive further training in 1943, Kuznetsov began working as a pilot instructor for the Red Army. During this period, Kuznetsov also participated in a number of tasks and battles, such as an operation in the city of Magnitogorsk to eliminate Otto Skorzeny, and his division of Hitler’s army. Skorzeny’s plan was to destroy a steel factory, which produced ammunition for the Red Army. Soviet forces were able to neutralize Skorzeny’s attempt, though Skorzeny himself managed to escape.
caption: Pilot Nikolay Kuznetsov, Li-2 airplane (1951, Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic)
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