Antonina Leontievna Zubkova (Russian: Антонина Леонтьевна Зубкова; 12 October 1920 — 13 November 1950) was a captain and squadron navigator in the women's 125th Guards Dive Bomber Regiment during World War II who was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.
[1] During her fourth year of university, Zubkova had to pause her studies due to the German invasion of the Soviet Union.
Raskova met with Zubkova and thought she would make a good navigator for bombers due to her mathematics skills, and was accepted into the women's aviation group in October 1941.
In 1944 Zubkova was promoted to squadron navigator, and in mid-March 1945 she was nominated for the title Hero of the Soviet Union for having tallied 56 sorties, resulting in the destruction of three ammunition depots, three trains, twelve tanks, fifty vehicles, and five machine-gun points.
In addition to assisting navigation and bombing targets, Zubkova took high-quality photos showing the results of bombing for reports and reconnaissance of enemy troops; such photos were praised by her superior officers for providing useful information about the state forces on the ground and for the evidence of mission success.