About the retired Ukrainian Air Force squadron leader Oleksandr Okshansenko, who at the age of fifty-three again wore the uniform of a pilot and found himself in the cockpit of a Ukrainian front-line fighter to defend his country from Russian invaders, the information comes with a drop they are also confused. What we do know for sure is that Squadron Leader Okshanenko was shot down and killed instantly while defending the airspace over Kyiv on the night of Friday, February 25, 2022, when it was hit by a Russian missile, some talk of an S-400, but its kind has not been officially confirmed by the Ukrainian authorities. We also do not know what type of aircraft he was operating with when it was shot down.
Known by the nickname “Gray Wolf”, Squadron Leader Oksandr Okshansenko, who was posthumously honored with the title of “Hero of Ukraine” by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, was known in the West for his involvement in Europe. one of the world’s best demonstration pilots flying Russian-made fighter jets, the Sukhoi Su-27.
In the summer of 2017, flying a sophisticated Sukhoi type, the “Su-27P1M” in the United Kingdom deservedly won the “FRIAT Trophy” award for the best overall air show. In the summer of 2018, he returned to the air shows, while at the same time he was a consultant and trainer in the air force of his country.
One of the undeniable witnesses of the legendary course of the Ukrainian ace in the European ethers is Mr. Paschalis Palavouzis, author of a special press, who mentions in the APE-MPE:
“Afternoon Thursday 12 July 2018 and the arrivals of aircraft and helicopters for the largest air show in Europe, the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) in Fairford, England continued with undiminished intensity… It was about 15:15 when a closed formation appeared at low height. A beastly Ilyushin II-76MD tanker was flying in the center with two “large” Sukhoi Su-27 fighters on its left and right, a single-seater and a two-seater. The aircraft belonged to the Ukrainian Air Force. When they “broke” the formation for landing, the audience was particularly impressed by the daring approach of the two-seater Su-27UB “blue 71” – approach from a direction perpendicular to the runway, hard turn right at a very low height at the last moment and contact with the threshold of the corridor. Exclamations of excitement and admiration! “
“Later it was learned”, Mr. Palavouzis continues, “that at the controls of the two-seater fighter was Squadron Leader (I) Oleksandr Okshansenko, a favorite acquaintance of RIAT, but also of other air shows in Europe. Okshanenko was flying at the time as an organic member of the 831st Tactical Air Brigade based at the Mirorod (or Mirgorod) base east of Kiev. The unit was designated the “Guards” in its title, an honorary distinction for the units of the former Soviet Union that had excelled in the Patriotic War. The Ukrainian squadron leader had already gained a reputation as a demonstration pilot by participating in the Malta Air Show, the Slovak Air Show, and the Czech International Air Fest. He was distinguished for his handling skills, especially at low altitudes, a fact that had already earned him the honorary distinction “As the Crow Flies” from the numerous Friends of RIAT (FRIAT) last year (2017). His participation in the 2018 shows was to confirm his reputation. It was also the last one, since at the end of 2018 he went to the reserve, training new pilots in the press (Su-27) “.
“Not just beautiful maneuvers, but elements of a real battle”
Squadron Leader Okshanko, with more than 2,000 flight hours as a demonstration pilot, often explained that the figures he performed to entertain spectators at air shows were not merely maneuvers, but elements of real battle.
“Awards, recognition are such small things … We have to invest in aviation, regardless of the huge cost …. To understand that, you just have to study history,” he used to say.
Oleksandr Okshansenko was the trainer of many Ukrainian pilots. One of them, Lieutenant Commander Yuri B., states that such people are counted on the fingers of one hand. “I hoped that the teacher would strictly evaluate all my maneuvers in heaven for a long time … He taught us that skill and responsibility are synonymous. “He was convinced that our aviation and the professionalism of our pilots is a serious argument for the security of the country.”
The road to heaven
Born in 1968 in a village in the central Ukrainian province of Dnipropetrovsk, Oksandr Okshansenko grew up with the stories of Soviet pilots during the Patriotic War, but also of female pilots who had enlisted in the air force with Stalin’s permission and had become Germans who called them the “witches of the night”. The story of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who on April 12, 1961, became the first man to travel in space and orbit the Earth, often came to mind. Gagarin was killed in an accident in 1968, the year Alexander was born.
In 1989, shortly before it was over for the Soviet Union, he joined the Soviet Air Force, having graduated from the Kharkiv Military Aviation Academy. In 1991 he enlisted in the Ukrainian Air Force, when Ukraine was now an independent state, and later placed as an instructor in the 831st Tactical Air Force Brigade in Mirrorod, east of Kiev.
In February and March 2014, when the Russian Federation annexed Crimea from Ukraine, it was at a base near Sevastopol. From 2013 to 2018, flying at air shows throughout Europe, he “raised” the Ukrainian flag at every opportunity high in the sky. At the end of 2018 as a squadron leader he said goodbye to military life and joined the ranks of the reserve. He will return to active duty on February 24, 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, to “take the kiss in the plane”, defending his homeland a day later. Tragic irony: The flag of Ukraine consists of the colors of the flag of the former Soviet Air Force…
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