On April 25, 1966, a Su-7B fighter bomber took off from the Vozdvizhenka airbase situated 9 km from Ussuriysk. After gaining a height of 100-150 meters the military engine failed. 

Ahead of the aircraft’s flight path were a number of residential buildings and a school. Having the order and opportunity to eject, the pilot nevertheless remained in the cockpit and stayed at the aircraft’s controls long enough to change the fighter-bombers flight path to a territory in which no buildings were situated.

The delay meant he lost the chance to eject and save his life. The courageous pilot hero was buried in the village of Vozdvizhenka. For his courage, the pilot was posthumously awarded the Order of Lenin. The name of the aviation colonel was Vladimir Ivanovich Surovikin.

Five and a half months later, on October 11, 1966, the colonel’s widow gave birth to his son, Sergei. He would later be called General Armageddon. In October 2022, Vladimir Putin recently appointed Sergei Surovikin commander of the Russian group of troops in the zone of the special military operation.