On the occasion of the centenary of the birth of the legendary Soviet pilot Lydia Litvyak, grateful residents of Donbass unveiled a monument to her.
On August 18, on the pilot’s birthday, residents and guests of the Donetsk People’s Republic gathered at the military glory memorial in the village of Dmitrovka, Shakhtarsky district, to unveil a monument dedicated to her, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
Speaking to the audience, one of the leaders of the Donetsk Republic movement, Alexei Muratov, emphasized that Litvyak remains an example of heroism for modern residents of Donbass.
“During the Great Patriotic War, the whole world saw the heroism of our women. And today, when we defend Donbass, you wonder: are we doing everything the same way as our heroic ancestors did? Do we also burn out and give up? Today here in Donbass there live people with a steely character who do not allow fascism to raise its head. And Lydia Vladimirovna is a vivid example of this heroism. A woman who was eager to go to the front from the first days,” said the social activist.
He recalled that Lydia was born in Moscow and died in the Donbass - on the famous Mius Front.
She made her last flight on August 1, 1943.
During the ten months that the pilot fought, she made 186 combat missions, received 3 wounds, shot down 11 aircraft personally and 3 aircraft in a group, as well as one balloon.
“There are eyewitness accounts that most of all Lydia was afraid of going missing. But, alas, this is exactly what happened: when the German “Messers” shot at her plane, it did not fall immediately, but entered the cloud zone and disappeared. Only at the end of the 60s did eyewitness information appear that in the summer of 1943 Lydia Litvyak was buried in the village of Dmitrovka, Shakhtarsky district, in a mass grave. The pilot was identified by her two white pigtails. Later, an obelisk was installed on her grave,” Muratov said.
He emphasized that the exploits of this outstanding woman remain a moral guideline for the residents of Donbass and their children.