Vasyl Nikiforov
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Vasyl Nikiforov | |
|---|---|
_Lt._Gen._Vasyl_Nikiforov,_second_from_right,_the_deputy_commander_of_the_UAF,_welcomes_U.S._Air_Force_pilots_to_Mirgorod_Air_Base,_Ukraine,_July_17,_2011,_in_preparation_for_Safe_Skies_110717-F-VN486-005.jpg) Vasyl Nikiforov during the international maneuvers "Safe Sky" (2011) | |
| Native name | Василь Нікіфоров |
| Birth name | Vasyl Semenovych Nikiforov |
| Born | 4 August 1954 Pavlivka, Khmilnyk Raion, Vinnytsia Oblast |
| Died | 7 March 2015 (aged 60) |
| Allegiance |  Ukraine |
| Branch |  Ukrainian Air Force |
| Rank | Lieutenant general |
| Conflicts | Russo-Ukrainian War |
| Awards | Order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi |
| Alma mater | Chernihiv Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots, Gagarin Air Force Academy, National Defense Academy of Ukraine |
Vasyl Semenovych Nikiforov (4 August 1954, Pavlivka, Khmilnyk Raion, Vinnytsia Oblast – 7 March 2015, Vinnytsia) was a Ukrainian serviceman and a lieutenant general.[1] 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.[2] He mentored Fedir Tyshchuk.[3]
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).[2]
He held positions from a pilot of a fighter aviation regiment[2] 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.[4]
In 2008, Vasyl Nikiforov flew Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko into the sky on a Su-27.[5] He personally supervised the actions of Ukrainian aviation during the joint Ukrainian-American-Polish exercise "Safe Skies 2011" in Myrhorod.[2] 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.[6][7][8]