Yevgeny Pepelyaev

Yevgeny Pepelyaev
Native name
Евгений Георгиевич Пепеляев
Born(1918-03-18)18 March 1918
Bodaybo, Irkutsk, Soviet Union
Died4 January 2013(2013-01-04) (aged 94)
Moscow, Russia
Allegiance Soviet Union
Branch Soviet Air Force
RankColonel
Unit300th Fighter Aviation Regiment
330th Fighter Aviation Regiment
196th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment
Commands196th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment
Battles / warsWorld War II
Korean War
AwardsHero of the Soviet Union

Yevgeny Georgievich Pepelyaev (Russian: Евгений Георгиевич Пепеляев; 18 March 1918 – 4 January 2013) was a Soviet fighter pilot in the Korean War; most Russian sources credit him as the second-highest scoring pilot in the war with 19 shootdowns, placing him only below Nikolai Sutyagin. However, some Western sources indicate him to be the top ace of the war, and he claimed to have 23 victories in his memoir, which would put him above Sutyagin's 22 shootdowns.