Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, June 26 (Xinhua) — To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, China recently established an Alliance for Research and Cooperation on the History of Air Combat in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
The decision was made at the first joint meeting of representatives of China’s memorial sites dedicated to aerial battles in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, which took place in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, East China.
The alliance was initiated by the administrations of 12 memorial sites across China dedicated to aerial combat in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, including the Nanjing Anti-Japanese War Airmen’s Martyrs’ Memorial Museum, the Eling Park Management Center in Chongqing City, southwest China, the Quzhou City Museum, east China’s Zhejiang Province, and the Kunming City Museum, southwest China’s Yunnan Province.
The alliance will carry out exchanges and cooperation mainly in the fields of inheriting and developing the spirit of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, promoting a correct view of the history of World War II, protecting historical archives of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, conducting research in topical areas, and strengthening efforts to train personnel to promote research in China on the history of aerial combat in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.
After the outbreak of China’s nationwide war against Japanese aggression, the Soviet Union was the first to provide China with air support. According to historical records, during the war, a group of Soviet volunteer pilots participated in 25 battles to defend the cities of Nanjing, Wuhan, Nanchang, Chongqing, Lanzhou and other areas of China, shooting down 539 Japanese aircraft and sinking more than 70 Japanese ships. Of these, more than 200 people died in China.
Let us recall that in November 2024, the Nanjing Anti-Japanese War Pilots’ Martyrs’ Memorial Museum for the first time fully published a revised list of 236 Soviet pilots who died in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. In May of this year, it again published updated data on 18 Soviet volunteers who died.
In addition, in Chongqing’s Elin Park there is a grave and a monument to two Soviet hero soldiers. The names of Storf and Katnov indicated on the monument are in fact the pseudonyms of Colonel Petr Lavrentyevich Skokov and Major Vasily Dmitrievich Kotolupenko, who died on May 1, 1941 and November 15, 1940, respectively.
According to incomplete statistics, there are about 20 memorial sites related to the aerial battles in China’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. They are mainly located in Jiangsu, Guangdong, Yunnan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Gansu, Chongqing, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and the northeast region. -0-