A solemn ceremony of naming the Mi-8 and Mi-26 helicopters took place at the military airfield in Zernograd.
A commemorative ceremony of naming the Mi-26 Vyacheslav Pisny helicopter and the Mi-8 Nikolay Maidanov helicopter took place in Zernograd, the press service of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reports.
Veterans of army aviation – Hero of the Soviet Union, Honored Military Pilot of the Russian Federation Reserve Colonel Alexander Raylian and Hero of the Russian Federation Reserve Colonel Valentin Padalka were invited to the solemn event. The holiday was also attended by the command of the Air Force and Air Defense Association of the Southern Military District, representatives of the administration of the Rostov region and the Zernogradsky district, relatives and colleagues of the heroes whose names the aircraft received.
The tradition of assigning proper names to aircraft dates back to the 20s of the last century.
During the Great Patriotic War, the names of outstanding Russian commanders and military pilots were applied to the fuselages of aircraft. In modern conditions, this tradition has been continued.
