[1] The family struggled after the death of the father, so he began working in agriculture from an early age.

He then worked at a mine and at a steam engine construction facility before graduating from the Voroshilovgrad aeroclub and subsequently entering the military in 1937.

In October 1940 he was transferred to the 211th Close-Range Bomber Aviation Regiment, and immediately once Nazi Germany began invading the Soviet Union in June 1941 he started flying combat sorties on the Su-2.

After he was released from the hospital he became a squadron adjutant in the 686th Attack Aviation Regiment, during which he saw combat in the Battle of Stalingrad.

During the war he led many successful missions that inflicted heavy losses on enemy equipment and personnel.