Vitaly Ivanovich Popkov (Russian: Виталий Иванович Попков; 1 May 1922 – 6 February 2010) was a Soviet fighter pilot who became a flying ace during the Second World War.

Upon seeing one of the LaGG-3 aircraft used by the regiment parked at the airfield he became very excited and jumped into the plane to check out the cockpit, but was stopped by a soldier on duty and told to wait for his shift.

[3][4] Popkov quickly rose through the ranks of his unit, reaching the position of flight commander by the time he was first nominated for the title Hero of the Soviet Union in August 1943 for having shot down 17 enemy aircraft over the course of 168 sorties.

At the time he was nominated for his second gold star in February 1945 he had reached the position of squadron commander in addition to having just gained his first aerial victories on the La-7 earlier that month.

[6] Throughout the conflict he participated in Rzhev-Sychev, Little Saturn, Luhansk, Izyum-Barvenkovo, Belgorod-Kharkov, Donbas, Zaporizhia, Dnepropetrovsk, Lvov-Sandomierz, Sandomierz-Silesian, Lower Silesian, Berlin and Prague battles.

[8] [4] He was an honorary citizen of Moscow Magadan, Sochi, Kiev, Odessa, Dnepropetrovsk, Gagry, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Bratislava, Parndorfa and Krasnika.