The commander of the Su-24M front-line bomber Alexander Antonov and navigator Vladimir Nikishin flew out to perform a combat mission near Bakhmut on December 2, 2022.

One of the pilots' colleagues, who saw them on the day of departure, told RT that both of them were in a great mood.

“Literally 30-40 minutes before the sortie they came to me: with smiles on their faces, positive.

Alexander Sergeevich, as always, is joking, Vladimir Nikolaevich is similar.

I never noticed behind them that they were sad and went to work.

Always with enthusiasm, in a good mood, ”recalls the soldier.

  • Alexander Antonov.

  • © Photo from personal archive

The command set the task for the pilots - to hit the enemy armored column.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine began to accumulate armored vehicles in the area in order to recapture the positions that the Russian military had recently occupied.

“There was an accumulation of enemy manpower and military equipment in the area.

It was, as we say in aviation, a “fat target”.

The crew flew out with the maximum bomb load, ”added the interlocutor of RT.

The Su-24M was supposed to fly several kilometers beyond the line of contact, into enemy territory, in order to work on the target.

When the bomber was turning on a combat course, it was hit by a man-portable air defense system (MANPADS).

Instead of ejecting, the crew commander and navigator sent the burning aircraft into the column of enemy armored vehicles.

  • Su-24M bomber commander Alexander Antonov (left) and navigator Vladimir Nikishin.

  • © Photo from personal archive

“The observation post of one of the (Russian) assault detachments reported to the commander that he saw an aircraft blown up in the air and its descent into the area of ​​​​the enemy column.

From the burning Su-24M, the phrase "Meet, bitches, dad ..." was heard on the radio, and after five to seven seconds the plane crashed into a cluster of armored vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, ”said war correspondent Alexander Simonov.

This information was later confirmed in the official social networks of the Wagner PMC, in which the pilots served.

As a result of the actions of Antonov and Nikishin, an armored breakthrough planned by the enemy was prevented.

The positions of our forward assault groups have been preserved.

According to a colleague of the pilots, the enemy lost at least several dozen combat vehicles.

“It is difficult to say how much equipment was destroyed and how much was damaged, but it’s several dozen cars for sure.

And in terms of manpower - I think, no less than a few dozen people, ”said the soldier.

In December, by decree of Vladimir Putin, Alexander Antonov and Vladimir Nikishin were posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Russia for their courage and heroism in the course of combat missions.

When information about the feat of the military was made public on the net, the media compared their actions with the feat of Captain Nikolai Gastello, who in June 1941, together with three crew members, sent a downed burning aircraft to an enemy mechanized column in the Minsk region of Belarus.

"He defended his land"

As it became known to RT, both military pilots were retired, but volunteered to participate in a special operation.

“Alexander Sergeevich literally recently quit, this year.

Vladimir Nikolaevich several years ago.

They came here out of patriotic feelings.

They are both people with a great sense of responsibility.

Alexander Sergeevich said: "The Motherland called me in a dream."

Cheerful, highly educated, professionals with a capital letter in their field, ”their colleagues described the heroes in this way.

Alexander Antonov at the time of the feat was 50 years old.

In 1995 he graduated from the Barnaul Higher Military Aviation Pilot School.

From the aerospace forces, he retired from the post of deputy regiment commander for flight training.

Vladimir Nikishin was born and raised in the village of Makarovo, Luhansk region.

His fellow countryman and best friend Igor Romanov said that in the village of Nikishin they knew him as a cheerful, smiling person who always helped his fellow villagers.

“He was a holiday man: curly-haired blond, constantly smiling, there were never any rude words, whining from him.

Helped always.

We have never participated in any fights, in any unpleasant moments that happen in village life, ”Romanov shared in an interview with RT.

According to him, Nikishin’s childhood and youth were happy and he was attached to rural life: “The most vivid memories are when we burned a fire in summer and autumn evenings, sang songs with a guitar, baked potatoes on coals.

Starry nights, clean air, good mood always, friends.

The girls came, had fun, danced, told jokes to each other.

After leaving school in 1983, Nikishin entered the Voroshilovgrad Higher Military Aviation School for Navigators.

In the 1990s, he performed combat missions during the counterterrorist operation in the North Caucasus.

  • Vladimir Nikishin in his youth.

  • © Photo from personal archive

When in 2014 the DPR and LPR refused to recognize the “Euromaidan” and the Armed Forces of Ukraine began to bomb the cities and villages of Donbass, Makarovo fell under the control of the Kyiv authorities.

According to Romanov, Vladimir Nikishin was already sure at that time that sooner or later his native village would be liberated from Kyiv bandit formations.

On June 13, 2014, a Ukrainian shell fell near the house where Volodymyr grew up, and then his niece began to live.

“On the first day we got closer to the market, and on the second day here.

We lived peacefully, we didn’t think that it would affect us, Nikishina’s sister recalls.

“Shards hit the house, there was a blast wave.

We didn’t show Volodya, we only talked in general terms.

He would drop everything and come.

He reproached himself so much that he was retired and could not help us.”

Vladimir asked his sister and mother to burn his old military uniform and photographs from the flight school.

The man was afraid that if the Armed Forces of Ukraine found these things, then his relatives could be killed for complicity with the Russian army.

For eight years Nikishin could not visit his relatives in the village.

They rarely saw each other - when the sister and mother managed to pass the Ukrainian checkpoint and end up on the territory of the LPR.

So, Vladimir was able to see his elderly mother a year and a half before her death, they did not meet again.

The village of Makarovo was liberated in the first week of the special operation, but the Armed Forces of Ukraine continued to shell the village.

In the summer, three meters from Vladimir's house, a shell fell - the blast wave knocked out the windows and seriously damaged the roof.

Sister Nikishina says that this, among other things, influenced the pilot's decision to return to service.

  • Navigator Vladimir Nikishin.

  • © Photo from personal archive

“We talked on the phone, he was very painful about all this, he said: “How can I not fix anything?

Who if not me?

He also said that it is difficult for young pilots: “They still do not have the experience that we have,” recalls the interlocutor.

A friend of Nikishin notes that in the army the pilot felt himself a useful and necessary person.

“That's why he decided that he would go to defend the Motherland.

These are not just pretty words.

He defended his land where he grew up: the village of Makarovo, his street, his niece, sister.

And his position was - what needs to be done to the end.

And so it happened, ”adds the best friend of the deceased navigator.

Nikishin's nephews learned about his death from messages on the network.

At first, they did not dare to tell the truth to their mother, because they were afraid that the woman would not bear the loss of her brother.

However, she felt that a tragedy had occurred, because Vladimir did not get in touch with her for a long time.

“When I found out about what they did on the plane, at first there was a thought: why is this all?

And now I understand that he could not do otherwise, - says the woman.

- They were not going to use a parachute, they knew that they could not catapult into enemy territory.

I think this way: if the plane was shot down, then they decided that they had no choice and that they had to fulfill their duty.

To be honest, I still can't fully comprehend it.

As far as I understand, pilots don't die, they fly away."

The bodies of the dead pilots were returned to their homeland on December 13 as a result of negotiations.

The enemy returned the coffins with the bodies covered with Russian flags and the flags of Wagner PMC.

Vladimir Nikishin was buried on December 22 in Balashikha at the Fraternal Cemetery.

On December 25, farewell to Alexander Antonov took place in Chelyabinsk.