The Kadosh dredger of the FSUE “Rosmorport” Azovo-Chernomorsky Basin Branch Taman Directorate found the debris of an aircraft of the Great Patriotic War in the Kerch Strait June 9, 2019. The body of the Il-2 aircraft, ammunition and air bombs were recovered from the strait floor.

Crewmembers of the dredger also found the remains of a military pilot with hand-carried duty weapon and documents. According to the documents, the name of the pilot was Kuzhelev Vasily Ivanovich. By information of the People Memory Internet portal, the pilot was born in the Ordzhonikidzesky Territory in 1923 and was called to arms by the Alexandriysk-Obilensk Regional Military Commissariat. Second Lieutenant Kuzhelev went missing during the military mission in the Kerch Strait.

At present, the vessel with the 76-year-old find calls at a roadstead. Ammunition and air bombs found at the aircraft were demined and withdrawn by representatives of the Russia’s Emergencies Ministry in the Southern Federal District. Preparations are underway to give the remains of the aircraft to the Kuban Springboard rescue detachment.

Later, the management of the FSUE “Rosmorport” Azovo-Chernomorsky Basin Branch is planning to conduct a wreath laying ceremony to Motherland’s defender at the place where the lost war hero was found. The pilot’s future burial site is still unknown.