On the morning of May 7, the Nanjing Anti-Japanese Aviation Martyrs Memorial Hall announced the updated information of the first batch of 18 Soviet anti-Japanese aviation heroes. Xinhua News Agency (photo taken by Huang Yudong)

  Xinhua News Agency, Nanjing, May 7 (Reporters Jiang Fang, Lu Huadong) The Nanjing Anti-Japanese Aviation Martyrs Memorial Hall announced the update information of the first batch of 18 Soviet anti-Japanese aviation heroes on the 7th. The update information includes errata for inaccurate information, and also supplements new information such as spelling of heroes' names, birth time, sacrifice time, military rank, and job information.

  After the outbreak of the national war of resistance for all China, the Soviet Union took the lead in supporting China's air battlefield. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, more than 200 internationalist fighters from the Soviet Volunteer Air Force died heroically in China.

  In November 2024, the Nanjing Anti-Japanese Aviation Martyrs Memorial Hall fully announced the list of 236 Soviet anti-Japanese aviation heroes through the official website of the Sun Yat-sen Cemetery Administration. This list was collected and confirmed by relevant departments in 1995. Due to data limitations, most heroes have identities and birth and death information, but lack information such as photos, combat situations in aid China, and burial places for sacrifice.

  Xue Lian, director of the Nanjing Anti-Japanese Aviation Martyrs Memorial Hall, said that since the list was released, relevant information has been summarized into the memorial hall through different channels at home and abroad, filling some gaps in existing Soviet anti-Japanese aviation heroes. The museum has also received some feedback on information errors or omissions from the Soviet anti-Japanese aviation heroes. After strict verification and comparison by researchers, a total of 18 Soviet anti-Japanese aviation heroes have been confirmed. Under the guidance of the cultural relics department, the museum has simultaneously completed the errata and improvement of the information of the heroes on the Heroes Monument.

  At the event, the relatives of the Soviet anti-Japanese hero Alexander Vasilievich Olekhov told the story of the hero in the form of a video speech, expressing their gratitude to the memorial hall and their support for the friendly exchanges between the Chinese and Russian people. The relatives of this aviation hero were contacted by the Nanjing Anti-Japanese Airways Martyrs Memorial Hall in April this year, with the efforts of relevant parties. This is the second relative of the Soviet Union's aviation hero who aided China.

  In front of the monument engraved with the list of Soviet anti-Japanese aviation heroes, flowers (data photos) presented by people are placed in front of the monument engraved on the Nanjing Anti-Japanese Aviation Martyrs Memorial Hall. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Qiu Bingqing

  Another Soviet anti-Japanese aviation hero, Dmitry Pugachev, a relative of Smirnov Sergei Dmitryevich, said in a written reply to Xinhua News Agency reporter: "Dmitryevich is my grandmother's brother. Although I have never seen him, when I saw his name on the monument of the heroes in the memorial hall in the photo, I burst into tears. An indescribable feeling connected me with him. I was deeply moved by the respect and attention of the Chinese government and the Chinese people for these martyrs."

  "We look forward to working with relevant Russian departments, institutions and civil organizations to find more historical materials for the anti-Japanese aviation heroes of the Soviet Union, so that the deeds of these young people who sacrificed for justice and peace will always be recorded on the monument of history," said Xue Lian.

  This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. Public opinion believes that the update of information about heroes from the Soviet anti-Japanese aviation industry is to remember the heroes and remember history.

  The Nanjing Anti-Japanese Aviation Martyrs Memorial Hall, located on the northern foot of the Zijin Mountains in Nanjing, is the first international Anti-Japanese Aviation Martyrs Memorial Hall in China. It contains rich historical materials from the joint fight against the Japanese army invading China during World War II. The names of 4,299 Chinese and foreign anti-Japanese aviation martyrs were engraved on the monument in the memorial hall.

[Editor in charge: Liu Ziya]