Russian Defense Ministry: Russian Su-35 pilot saved his wingman from an enemy missile
MOSCOW, March 4. /TASS/. Russian Su-35 fighter pilot Alexey Vedyashchev saved his wingman during an aerial combat mission from a missile fired by the enemy. The pilot quickly and accurately explained to his subordinate exactly what maneuvers should be performed, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported.
“I [saved] my wingman and prevented him from being hit. We were flying at night, I saw that a missile was flying at him, I told him, he performed the appropriate maneuvers, the missile went astray and did not hit him,” Vedyashchev said in the video published in the Telegram channel of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation noted that for performing combat missions in the zone of a special military operation, Vedyashchev was awarded the medal “For Services to the Fatherland, 1st degree with swords.”
According to Vedyashchev, relatives of pilots worry every time when pilots are sent on a combat mission. “Naturally, they are worried. <...>. And of course, they wait, look at the time. <...> She [the wife] understands perfectly well that I am a military man, I myself chose this path, this job, I chose plane. <...> She understood me without words, the only thing was that she told me to return home as soon as possible,” the pilot added.