Poyushchev Aleksey Ivanovich (1923–1944) — squadron commander of the 118th Guards Kursk Assault Aviation Regiment (225th Assault Aviation Division, 15th Air Army, 2nd Baltic Front), Guards Captain.
Born on March 23, 1923, in the selo of Yablonka, now part of Vadskiy District, Nizhny Novgorod Region, into a peasant family. Russian. At the age of 10 he lost his mother. From 1937 he lived in the City of Gorky, where his father had relocated. He completed nine years of school and trained at a flying club.
In 1940 he was conscripted into the Red Army and sent to a flight school. He was a cadet at the Engels Military Aviation Pilot School when the Great Patriotic War broke out, graduating successfully in 1942. He mastered the Il-2 ground-attack aircraft. In the spring of 1943 he joined the 614th (from September 1943, the 118th Guards) Assault Aviation Regiment.
He saw combat from May 1943, serving on the Bryansk and 2nd Baltic Fronts. He took part in the Battle of Kursk and participated in the liberation of Belorussia and the Baltic states. He became a member of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) in 1944.
The fame of the youngest squadron commander spread throughout the front. On March 8, 1944, he led his squadron in detecting a concentration of enemy tanks and attacked them. His aircraft was shot down in the engagement, and for two days he and his radio gunner made their way back to friendly lines. In July 1944, together with his squadron, he destroyed a concentration of enemy equipment, and a few days later, twenty railroad fuel tankers. At Sinezyorka railway station, Poyushchev destroyed an enemy train, and while pulling out of the attack also destroyed a bridge over the Revna River, which was packed with enemy transport and troops.
By September 1944, Guards Captain Poyushchev had flown 93 combat sorties, including 53 as flight leader of assault groups, inflicting heavy losses on the enemy in manpower and equipment. The squadron under his command flew 425 successful combat sorties. On September 7, the regimental commander signed the recommendation for awarding him the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
In September, the intense operational pace continued. From September 14, the regiment's pilots flew several sorties a day. On the morning of September 22, Guards Captain Poyushchev led a flight of six Il-2s in a strike against a concentration of tanks, motor vehicles, and infantry near the town of Ogre (Latvia). During this sortie his aircraft was shot down by anti-aircraft artillery: a shell hit split the Il-2 in two; the gunner was thrown clear and saved himself by parachute, but the pilot had no chance of survival.
He was buried 10 km southwest of the town of Ergli (Latvia), in the locality of Indriteni, in a mass grave cemetery. He was later reinterred in the town of Ergli.
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated August 18, 1945, for exemplary fulfillment of combat assignments on the front against the German-fascist invaders and the courage and heroism demonstrated in doing so, Guards Captain Poyushchev Aleksey Ivanovich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
He was decorated with the Order of Lenin, two Orders of the Red Banner, and the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st Class.
Streets in the city of Nizhny Novgorod and the settlement of Vad have been named in honor of the Hero.