Vasyl Semenovych Nikiforov (4 August 1954, Pavlivka, Khmilnyk Raion, Vinnytsia Oblast – 7 March 2015, Vinnytsia) was a Ukrainian serviceman and a lieutenant general.Decree of the President of Ukraine from 20 August 2008 year № 741/2008 "Про присвоєння військових звань " (in Ukrainian) He was the Deputy Commander of the Air Force for Aviation – Chief of Aviation of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, a military sniper aviator. He accumulated over 3300 hours of flight time. He mentored Fedir Tyshchuk.
Biography Nikiforov graduated from the Chernihiv Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots (1975), the Gagarin Air Force Academy (1989) and the National Defense Academy of Ukraine (2008).
He held positions from a pilot of a fighter aviation regiment to the Deputy Commander of the Air Force for Aviation – Chief of Aviation of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He was a member of the interdepartmental working group on improving the training of flight personnel, ensuring the proper level of technical condition and safety of state aviation aircraft.Розпорядження КМУ від 22 October 2008 year N 1342-р Про утворення міжвідомчої робочої групи з питань поліпшення підготовки льотного складу, забезпечення належного рівня технічного стану та безпеки польотів повітряних суден державної авіації
In 2008, Vasyl Nikiforov flew Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko into the sky on a Su-27. He personally supervised the actions of Ukrainian aviation during the joint Ukrainian-American-Polish exercise "Safe Skies 2011" in Myrhorod. Since 2014, he fought in eastern Ukraine, became ill and after being examined in a military hospital, where he was diagnosed with cancer, was treated in Israel. On 7 March 2015 he died in the Vinnytsia Military Medical Clinical Center.
Awards Order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, 1st (2015, posthumously),Decree of the President of Ukraine from 9 April 2015 year № 213/2015 «Про відзначення державними нагородами України» 2nd (2013)Decree of the President of Ukraine from 6 December 2013 year № 669/2013 «Про відзначення державними нагородами України» and 3rd (2009)Decree of the President of Ukraine from 28 August 2009 year № 687/2009 «Про відзначення державними нагородами України з нагоди Дня авіації» class
Honoring the memory On 30 December 2015, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, taking into account the special services to the Motherland of Lieutenant General Vasyl Nikiforov and taking into account the exemplary performance of tasks by the personnel, decided to name the 299th Tactical Aviation Brigade of the Air Force of Ukraine after Lieutenant General Vasyl Nikiforov.Decree of the President of Ukraine from 30 December 2015 year № 730/2015 «Про присвоєння імені генерал-лейтенанта Василя Нікіфорова 299 бригаді тактичної авіації Повітряних Сил Збройних Сил України» Президент присвоїв ім'я генерал-лейтенанта Василя Нікіфорова 299 бригаді тактичної авіації Повітряних Сил ЗСУ , Офіційне інтернет-представництво Президента України, 31 грудня 2015
On 10 February 2016, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, in order to honor the memory of Lieutenant General Vasyl Nikiforov, taking into account his courage and heroism, unbreakable spirit in the struggle for an independent Ukrainian state and taking into account his high professionalism, exemplary performance of assigned tasks by the personnel of the 831st Guards Tactical Aviation Brigade of the Air Force of Ukraine, he decided to name the Su-27 aircraft (tail number 50) of the 831st Guards Tactical Aviation Brigade of the Air Force of Ukraine after Vasyl Nikiforov.Decree of the President of Ukraine from 10 February 2016 year № 43/2016 «Про присвоєння імені Василя Нікіфорова літаку Су-27 (бортовий номер 50) 831 гвардійської бригади тактичної авіації Повітряних Сил Збройних Сил України»
On 6 December 2016, a memorial plaque to Vasyl Nikiforov was unveiled at the secondary school No. 3 in Kalynivka.
References