In memory of the pilots of Krasnoyarsk Air Route (ALSIB)

The first deputy chairman of the Legislative Assembly of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Alexei Kleshko, together with veterans and schoolchildren, opened 2 memorial signs in Krasnoyarsk on the house with address Vavilova st., 35.

This first stone house on the right bank, built in 1934, is known as the "Aviadom" ("aviahouse"). During the Great Patriotic War, pilots and technical personnel of the Krasnoyarsk Air Route (more widely known as Alaska-Siberia Air Route) lived in this house. Memorial signs will remind the citizens of Krasnoyarsk of two heroes:

Ilya Pavlovich Mazuruk worked as a pilot of the polar aviation. In 1937 he was awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union for his participation in the establishing of the first drifting scientific station "North Pole-1". During the war he commanded the First Ferrying Division, was in charge of the Krasnoyarsk Air Route which was used to deliver the lend-lease airplanes. After the war he worked in Glavsevmorput (Northern Sea Route Authority), and in January 1956 he became the first pilot to land an AN-2 plane on top of an iceberg in Antarctica.

Georgy Mikhailovich Beriev was the chief designer of the Taganrog aircraft factory and the head of the central design bureau of marine aircraft construction. During the Great Patriotic War, the plant and the design bureau were evacuated to Krasnoyarsk. Here Georgy Beriev continued his work on the "flying boat". In 1943, the LL-143 project was developed, and in 1944 the layout of the cargo-passenger PLL-144 was developed.

The installation of memorial signs in the towns and villages of the region became possible thanks to the project "Heritage of the Krasnoyarsk Territory". Each sign has a QR-code, which you can use to access the biographies of outstanding people. 

"We came up with the project several years ago, when we were preparing for the anniversary of the Krasnoyarsk Territory," Alexei Kleshko said. "Today, such memorial signs are opened all over the region: in the Arctic Norilsk and Igarka, in the southern Minusinsk and Shushenskoye, even in remote villages. In this house on Vavilova street lived pilots who worked on the air route of courage. Lyceum №11has a museum devoted to Krasnoyarsk Air Route, where the pupils restore its history. Several search units went on expeditions to the sites of the alleged crashes of the aircraft ferried from Alaska to Siberia, and from Siberia to the front. These memorable signs are dedicated to 2 people, one of whom worked on the creation of aircraft here in Krasnoyarsk, and the other was in charge of the supply of aircraft within lend-lease program. It is important to remember the name of each hero, remember their personal life stories. And the urban space, thanks to such signs, streets, named after outstanding people, helps to preserve this memory in our hearts."​