- Georgi Beregovoi
Infobox Astronaut
name =Georgi Timofeyevich Beregovoi
type =Cosmonaut
nationality =Soviet
date_birth =April 15 ,1921
date_death =June 30 ,1995
place_birth =Donetsk Oblast ,Ukrainian SSR
place_death =Moscow ,Russia
occupation =Pilot
rank =Lieutenant General ,Soviet Air Force
selection =Air Force Group 2 Supplemental
time =3d 22h 50m
mission =Soyuz 3
insignia =|Georgi Timofeyevich Beregovoi ( _ru. "Георгий Тимофеевич Береговой";
April 15 ,1921 , Fedorovka,Poltava Oblast ofUkrainian SSR –June 30 ,1995 ) was a Soviet cosmonaut of Ukrainian descent. He flew on a single space mission,Soyuz 3 .He joined the Soviet air force in 1941, and was soon assigned to a ground-attack unit flying the
Ilyushin Il-2 "Shturmovik". He flew some 185 combat sorties during the course ofWorld War II and rose quickly through the ranks, finishing the war as a Captain and Squadron Commander. He was decorated asHero of the Soviet Union .Following the war, he became a test pilot, and over the next sixteen years test-flew some sixty different aircraft, rising to the rank of Colonel and the position of Deputy Chief of the air force's flight testing department. In 1962, he applied and was accepted for cosmonaut training.
Beregovoi's flight in
Soyuz 3 was less than successful, and he was never selected to fly another mission. OnJanuary 22 ,1969 , Beregovoi survived anassassination attempt onLeonid Brezhnev , undertaken by a Soviet Army officerViktor Ilyin . He eventually took up a position at the Centre for Cosmonaut Training, and in 1972 was made Director of that facility.After retirement Beregovoi became a Soviet parliament member representing his native
Donbas region ofUkrainian SSR . As such, he reportedly was helpingViktor Yanukovych , then a local young criminal, to start a new life. In 2000s Yanukovych became the Prime Minister of modern independentUkraine .He died in 1995 of natural causes and is buried in the
Novodevichy Cemetery inMoscow .Georgi Beregovoi was awarded two Orders of Lenin, two Orders of the Red Banner,
Order of Alexander Nevsky ,Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky (3rd Class),Order of the Patriotic War (1st Class), two Orders of the Red Star, and numerous medals.
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