Yekaterina Vasilyevna Budanova (Russian: Екатерина Васильевна Буданова), nicknamed Katya (Катя) (6 December 1916 – 19 July 1943), was a fighter pilot in the Soviet Air Force during World War II.

Usually credited with five or more aerial victories,[2] along with Lydia Litvyak, she is often considered one of the world's two female fighter aces.

After leaving elementary school with the highest grades, she had to abandon her studies due to her father's death, and began working as a nanny.

[3] At the age of thirteen her mother sent her to join her sister in Moscow, where she began working as a carpenter in an aircraft factory.

[4] It was there that she began an interest in aviation, and she joined an aeroclub's parachutist section, obtaining her flying license in 1934 and graduating to flight instructor in 1937.

On 10 September, Budanova was assigned with Lydia Litvyak, Mariya Kuznetsova, and Raisa Belyaeva to the 437th Fighter Aviation Regiment, based in Verkhnania Akhtuba on the east bank of the Volga river [5] engaged in the fighting over Stalingrad.

[citation needed] According to some historians, she shot down her first opponent — a Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter — on 14 September 1942, combining forces with Lydia Litvyak.

[6] According to regiment archivist Yekaterina Polunina on 2 October 1942 Budanova achieved her two first solo air victories, shooting down a Junkers Ju 88 and a Bf 109.

[8] From October until January 1943 Budanova and Litvyak served in the Stalingrad area with the elite 9th Guards Fighter Regiment, commanded by Lev Shestakov, a Hero of Soviet Union.

[7] On 20 April 1943 Ogonek, a political-literary weekly publication intended for young adults, featured a cover photo of Budanova and Litvyak.

[citation needed] There have been several different versions of Budanova's aerial victory score published, with no widely held consensus about her tally.

[16] The Soviet magazine Smena published a quote from her in an April 1943 issue claiming to have three solo and three shared victories.

[17] [15] Pocket Jacks Comics White Lily series, featured a fictionalized Budanova as the main character of the story which closely follows her relationship with Lydia Litvyak.