On October 25, 1937, for the first time in the history of world aviation, a night flight was performed. When the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936, the rebels led by General Franco were supported by the fascist regimes of Hitler and Mussolini. Under these conditions, the Soviet Union provided assistance to the legitimate government of Spain. Of the 772 Soviet volunteer pilots, 99 did not return to their homeland, giving their lives for Republican Spain. Lieutenant Yevgeny Nikolaevich Stepanov became a participant in one of the air battles that fell in the history of military aviation. At that time the hero was 26 years old. During combat duty on the night of October 25, 1937, Yevgeny Stepanov and his partner Ilya Finn received information about enemy planes approaching Barcelona. The fighters took off and at an altitude of 2000 meters discovered a flight of Italian Savoy-Merchetti-81 (SM-81) bombers carrying their deadly payload to the city. Stepanov approached the first plane of the group, but his maneuver was noticed and the Italians started firing at the Soviet Ani-15. Stepanov responded with machine gun fire, but despite hitting the wing, the bomber headed for Barcelona. Yevgeny Stepanov made a dangerous decision - to go for the ram. With his plane he crashed into the Savoy's tail; The impact caused the damaged bomber, along with his crew of 6 Italians, to crash to the ground. Stepanov himself was not injured, he only hit the dashboard, but managed to continue the air battle until the enemy bombers were scattered and driven away. Yevgeny Stepanov's plane suffered a lot of damage in this battle, but the pilot managed to land it at his airfield. The hero of the first Night Man fought for a few more months against the Francoists and their allies; In January 1938, his plane was shot down, the pilot was captured and sentenced to death, but it was possible to negotiate his exchange for a captured German pilot. Since May 1939 Yevgeny Stepanov fought in Khalkhin Gol as the commander of the 22nd IAP squadron.

On October 25, 1937, for the first time in the history of world aviation, a night flight was performed. When the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936, the rebels led by General Franco were supported by the fascist regimes of Hitler and Mussolini. Under these conditions, the Soviet Union provided assistance to the legitimate government of Spain. Of the 772 Soviet volunteer pilots, 99 did not return to their homeland, giving their lives for Republican Spain. Lieutenant Yevgeny Nikolaevich Stepanov became a participant in one of the air battles that fell in the history of military aviation. At that time the hero was 26 years old. During combat duty on the night of October 25, 1937, Yevgeny Stepanov and his partner Ilya Finn received information about enemy planes approaching Barcelona. The fighters took off and at an altitude of 2000 meters discovered a flight of Italian Savoy-Merchetti-81 (SM-81) bombers carrying their deadly payload to the city. Stepanov approached the first plane of the group, but his maneuver was noticed and the Italians started firing at the Soviet Ani-15. Stepanov responded with machine gun fire, but despite hitting the wing, the bomber headed for Barcelona. Yevgeny Stepanov made a dangerous decision - to go for the ram. With his plane he crashed into the Savoy's tail; The impact caused the damaged bomber, along with his crew of 6 Italians, to crash to the ground. Stepanov himself was not injured, he only hit the dashboard, but managed to continue the air battle until the enemy bombers were scattered and driven away. Yevgeny Stepanov's plane suffered a lot of damage in this battle, but the pilot managed to land it at his airfield. The hero of the first Night Man fought for a few more months against the Francoists and their allies; In January 1938, his plane was shot down, the pilot was captured and sentenced to death, but it was possible to negotiate his exchange for a captured German pilot. Since May 1939 Yevgeny Stepanov fought in Khalkhin Gol as the commander of the 22nd IAP squadron.