The Moscow metro station "Ploschad Revolyutsii" is a kind of hymn to the Soviet people. There are 76 bronze sculptures on the pedestals in the corners of the pylons. Each sculpture has its own story. And some have real prototypes. According to urban legend, the famous paratrooper Ivan Volkorez served as a model for the paratrooper cast in bronze.
TRUNK HEAD
This name is well-known among parachutists. You can still hear about Ivan Volkorez today in the Saratov rocket school, the Ryazan Airborne Forces school (they call him the "flying Ryazan"), in the former air force academy near Moscow. In fact, the legend about Ivan Volkorez was born in the city of Pushkin near St. Petersburg. In the 30s of the 20th century, one of the first airborne brigades in the USSR was formed in the yellow buildings of the Naval Engineering Institute on Kadetsky Boulevard. The paratroopers made jumps in the area of the Gatchina airfield. Among them, the reckless Ivan Volkorez attracted attention. He allowed himself more than others. When descending, the shape of the canopy of the parachute must be stable so that the parachutist does not swing in the air. Otherwise, the landing will be unpleasant and sometimes unsafe. Ivan ignored all the rules and deliberately rocked the parachute canopy. He dangled in the air so that the instructors grabbed their heads. At the last moment, the mischievous man flattened the canopy and landed properly. It seemed that he became akin to a parachute.
Wolf-cutter practiced long jumps. He stayed in the air for the longest time, without opening the parachute, and a few seconds before the inevitable fall he tore the ring and landed first, and this was appreciated among parachutists. Those who watched his jumps at the training ground were breathtaking: the guy was playing with death in the airborne roulette. Ivan was damn lucky for the time being.
On the edge of the training field there was an abandoned church, on the bell tower of which the command and observation post was located. Once Ivan argued with friends that he would open the parachute at the height of this bell tower and land safely. Like most of his Komsomol peers, he believed neither in God nor in devil. Before making his risky flight, he swore before his comrades: "I will jump as I said, otherwise I will not set foot on this land."
Said it suddenly and bluntly. To jump, he jumped, but flew like a stone to the ground, and when a white dome blazed at the height of the cross, a terrible wind blew, and the daredevil suddenly flew into the sky. His comrades only opened their mouths in surprise. Nobody saw Ivan Volkorez again.
And then, here and there, they began to talk about a black parachutist who helps his brothers in trouble. Many were brought back to life by the ghost of Wolf-Cutter: he warned someone about the danger, told someone in time what to do in a desperate situation, pointed out to someone where it is better to land. In gratitude for this, parachutists remember him with a kind word.
Promotional video:
IN THE ELBRUS MOUNTAINS
The excitement around the mysterious parachutist began with a publication in one of the central newspapers. In particular, the correspondent cited testimonies of famous skydiving athletes about their encounters with a ghost. So, parachutist Vasily Krasikov shared his story: “We jumped on Elbrus at night. Those who have practiced this sport know that the most difficult thing in the mountains is to find a comfortable landing site. I was carried to the rocks so that I understood: a little more, and you will not collect bones. And I can’t do anything - I lost my reference point. With my guts I felt: I'm about to kill myself. Suddenly I see someone flying ahead of me. I could see him very well - the silhouette is black, the parachute is white, how can you not notice this? "Come after me!" - he yells and shows with a gesture that I should fly after him. I pulled on the slings, flew where they said. I decided that it was one of ours. And now he leads me to a tiny patch between the rocks on one side and an abyss on the other. I sit down exactly on the site. And the dome was so successfully opened that it did not have to be extinguished, it even resisted on its feet. And my guide glided straight into the abyss. Only I saw the white top of his parachute. All ours landed successfully nearby. Then I told the guys what happened to me, and they say - it was a ghost parachutist who saved you”.
BAKER'S DOZEN
Honored Master of Sports of the USSR Vitaly Cheredichenko from Ukraine shared his story: “I went to break the record for a long jump. A kilometer before the parachute deployment point I heard a desperate cry: "Rip the ring!" I pulled as hard as I could. The satchel opened. Of course, I didn’t break the record, but I saved my life, because the altitude machine turned out to be faulty. There was no one in the sky except me. More precisely, it shouldn't have been. But from somewhere a parachutist in all black was carried away. I caught sight of him when I raised my head to inspect my dome. Nobody saw him from the ground."
There are many such stories in the professional environment. One of the last, this paratrooper allegedly saved the Hero of Russia, the commander of the assault aviation regiment Sergei Borisyuk in the Argun gorge in Chechnya. From 1994 to 1996, he took part in the first Chechen war. Borisyuk flew on a combat mission to the Argun Gorge on December 13, at 13 o'clock in the afternoon, and even on Monday. An unguided S-13 projectile ignited spontaneously in the rocket launcher. The fellow soldiers were firmly convinced that the trouble with their comrade occurred precisely because of the neglect of superstition. And Sergei Borisyuk was saved thanks to a paratrooper-ghost.
And here is another case: “We jumped with the Il-86 in four streams. I was one of the last to leave the car, when most of my people were already extinguishing the domes on the ground. I fly - everything is in order, the mood is good. Suddenly I hear a cry from behind me: "Go to the right!" Without hesitation, I pulled on the lines and went to the right, and immediately a fighter with a half-opened parachute flew past me. Another second, and he would have landed in my dome. True, the paratrooper managed to open the spare tire, and everything worked out. I turned around to shout "Thank you!" And saw a parachutist in a black overalls a hundred meters away. He slowly … climbed up! This is rare, but it happens when a paratrooper gets into a powerful updraft. We were quickly carried away in height. I didn't even have time to see his face, he disappeared into the sky."
LASTOCHKA EVDOKIMOVA
Attempts to find at least some mention of Ivan Volkorese led nowhere. But the personality was so outstanding that some information must have been preserved. But another name is often found - Nikolai Evdokimov. Veteran paratroopers say - this is the black paratrooper!
Nikolai Alexandrovich Evdokimov was born in 1909. He graduated from the flight school, served in the 1st separate special squadron in Gatchina. He made the first long jump in the history of Russian parachuting on May 22, 1932. Then he performed the first jump in the Soviet Union with a long delay in opening the parachute, recorded as the first all-Union record - 600 meters of free fall. It was not just a record, but an important experimental leap. Then no one knew how a prolonged free fall would affect the human body, it was also not known how to achieve a stable position, how to control your body in free fall. In 1934, Nikolai Evdokimov set a new world record in long jumps - 7900 m in 142 seconds. He was the first to perform jumps, which were named after him - "Evdokimov's swallow."With such a jump, the parachutist bends in the lower back and flies with tightly clenched legs and arms spread to the side. Evdokimov died very young - he was only 29 years old. But in his short life he managed to do a lot, including writing the book "Notes of a Parachutist". Nikolai Aleksandrovich crashed while testing the plane. Being a legend during his lifetime, Evdokimov became a legend after his death.
***
At the Moscow metro station "Revolution Square", the sculptor actually depicted not a parachutist, but a parachutist. However, the people turned her into a legendary paratrooper.
Sergey SHAPOVALOV