One of the greatest Su-25 pilots: The life and heroic death of Vladyslav Rykov
Vladyslav Rykov, a 30-year-old from Luhansk Oblast who became one of the greatest Su-25 ground attack jet pilots and kept the Russian occupiers at bay, lost his life on 7 February when a Russian missile struck his fighter jet.
Source: the Command of Ukraine's Air Force
Details: The future pilot survived an attempt on his life when he was just six years old.
Quote from the Air Forces Command: "Luhansk Oblast, bandits, a shoot-out. The boy was saved by Yurii Pokusaiev, a law enforcement officer. Everyone else was killed: Vlad’s younger brother, their mother, and Yurii’s colleague. Vlad was in intensive care and they weren’t sure he’d make it, but he survived."
More details: When Yurii Pokusaiev learned that the little boy had no other family, he applied for guardianship of him.
"My son and I spent a lot of time together at air bases. We flew a light aircraft when he was still at school. The sky was his passion!
Then I set up the Aviation Training Cadet Centre for Vlad and his friends. It’s still going, and a lot of today’s heroes are alumni. When the time came to choose a university, he didn’t even hesitate because there was only one option for him: the Kharkiv National Aerospace Institute," Yurii revealed.
Vladyslav was 28 when Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began.
"[He fought in] Kharkiv, Kyiv, Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, [destroying] Russian fighter jets and air defence systems. Vlad’s professionalism, resilience and will to win saved him many times!" the Air Command said.
"The Russians were convinced that ‘aviation doesn’t exist in Ukraine anymore’! But they were wrong. Vlad killed occupiers and destroyed their equipment with consummate skill!"
After the full-scale invasion began, father and son worked side by side: Vlad flew a combat fighter jet, while Yurii was in a civilian air patrol. Yurii recalls that they sometimes took off almost simultaneously.
Vladyslav had an interesting alias, Magic, which he earned thanks to his virtuoso piloting style.
"I saw him as a future commander in the event of my death," says Vladyslav’s commander, Hero of Ukraine Lieutenant Colonel Rostyslav Lazarenko. "He had my back, not only in the sky, but also in life: he was always there for me. Any problems, we’d solve them together, and we’d talk to each other dozens of times a day."
Vladyslav Rykov was a full holder of the Order for Courage and one of the greatest Ukrainian ground-attack pilots.
On 7 February, he conducted his 385th and last sortie.
"It was an ordinary day of combat. A typical mission: to destroy the enemy. Vlad and I shook hands. He took off. He only had 17 minutes left to live," Vladyslav's commander recalls.
A missile hit Vladyslav's aircraft.
"It was a R-37 missile, which the occupiers hadn’t used for a long time – he had no chance. It was a split second. Vlad didn’t have time to say anything on the air," Lazarenko continues.
The commander is convinced it was revenge because the pilots had given the Russians a good hammering the day before. He kept on hoping to the last that Vlad had miraculously managed to eject.
"He was very precious to me. I decided a long time ago to protect him, or at least try to. But how can you protect someone in a war?" the commander asks.
The pilot's father, Yurii Pokusaiev, feels regret that Ukrainian pilots will be flying F-16s without Vladyslav. His son had dreamed of these modern aircraft that would better protect Ukraine.
Vlad leaves a wife and a young daughter, Mira. Lazarenko has promised that he will always support them.
"Vlad and I agreed a long time ago that if one of us was killed, the other would take care of his family.
Vlad loved his ‘girls’ very much. For the first 18 months after the [full-scale] invasion, he hardly saw his family and was very upset about it. So he rented an apartment relatively close to the unit's location, and then finally he got to hug them more often," the commander concludes.
Vladyslav Rykov was posthumously promoted to the rank of colonel. He was buried on the Avenue of Glory in Vinnytsia, a city he had never lived in, but dreamed of settling down in with his family after victory.
Read also: "His worst nightmare came true": the story of a soldier who made it out of a burning tank
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