Valery Chukhonchev, military pilot, Hero of the Russian Federation, was born on November 11, 1961 in Izhevsk.
On May 17, 2008, he carried out the mission of evacuating wounded special forces soldiers surrounded by militants in Chechnya. The helicopter could not be landed.
Under fire, the pilot held the plane in a hovering position while three seriously wounded soldiers were brought aboard.
For courage and heroism, on September 19, 2008, Chukhvantsev was awarded the title of Hero of Russia. Today he turned 65 years old.