On September 22, 1939, four Soviet Polikarpov I-15 biplane fighters from the 35th Fighter Aviation Regiment crashed near Sinyavka, Belarus, shortly after taking off from Nabushevo airfield. The flight of six I-15s and one I-16 was ordered to redeploy to Baranavichy during the Soviet invasion of Poland, but they encountered severe weather that led to a fatal disaster.
The aircraft belonged to the 35th Fighter Aviation Regiment (35-й ИАП). They were ordered by the commander of the 4th Army Air Force to relocate to the Baranovichy airfield to reinforce Soviet military operations targeting the southern grouping of Polish forces.
Led by the regiment’s acting navigator, Senior Lieutenant Razdobudko, the group departed Nabushevo at 7:00 AM. However, the flight was struck by severe, adverse weather conditions immediately after takeoff. Due to dense cloud cover and low visibility, the formation became scattered, and four young pilots were killed when their aircraft succumbed to the conditions in western Belarus.
The results of an investigation into the matter reached the desk of Marshall of the Soviet Union Kliment Voroshilov, who was already up to his armpits in reports of negligence and poor training throughout the Red Army, particularly on display during the invasion of Poland. Based on the investigation’s findings, Voroshilov dashed off NKO Order No. 0153 (dated 2 October 1939), in which he calls out the names of those he held personally responsible, up and down the chain of command, for the deaths of the young airmen.
Given the sheer number of similar incidents that Voroshilov and his staff had been exposed to over the preceding weeks, it would not be unexpected to see fierce punishments doled out. Perhaps ten or twenty years at hard labor, during which the responsible parties could dwell on the mistakes they had made, giving them pause to see the error in their ways.
Or perhaps a written reprimand, not even all that strongly-worded. Because that’s exactly what happened.
We’ve translated the Secret copy of Order No. 0153 and are happy to provide it for your reading pleasure. With punishments like this, it is hardly surprising that military discipline did not see any immediate improvement for at least 18 months.
SECRET
ORDER OF THE PEOPLE’S COMMISSAR OF THE DEFENSE OF THE USSR
No. 0153: Regarding the crash involving 4 I-15 airplanes of the 35th Air Regiment. Imposing punishment on the guilty parties.
No. 0153. 2 October 1939. Moscow
During the morning of 22 September of this year during the flight of four I-15 aircraft from Nabushevo airfield (15 km east of Slutsk [Belarus]) to Novo-Baranovichi airfield, four aircraft crashed. Having entered thick fog, the pilots – Lieutenants Denisov, Napichkin, Margunov, and Zinovyev – perished.
The flight was being carried out at the order of the commander of the Air Force of the 4th Army of the Belarussian Front, Colonel Gushchin, who instructed the commander of the 35th Air Regiment, Major Polunin, to organize the flight and personally lead the group.
Major Polunin, aware of the pilots’ lack of proficiency in flying in complex meteorological conditions, in spite of the adverse weather, launched the aircraft without providing meteorological support for this flight.
Senior Lieutenant Razdobudko, appointed by the regiment commander as lead navigator on the flight from Nabushevo airfield, seeing that the weather was clearly unsuitable, did not cancel the flight, and led the group into the thick fog and lost the aircraft.
In NKO Order No. 070, dated 4 June 1939, I pointed out the unacceptability of clearing flights for departure, for not only units and subunits, but also individual crews, in weather conditions known to be hazardous for flying.
The deaths of the four airmen in this case occurred solely as a result of poor organization of the flight by the frontline Air Force command and the criminal regard toward the organization and support for the flight by the Army Air Force and 56th Air Brigade Headquarters.
For shoddy control and organization of the flight of the group of I-15 from the 35th Air Regiment in adverse weather conditions, the Air Force Commander of the Belorussian Front, Division Commander Gusev, and the Air Force Commissar of the front, Regimental Commissar Listrov, are hereby reprimanded.
For poor management of the flight and complete absence of any control over their own orders, 4th Army Air Force Commander Colonel Gushchin, 56th Air Brigade Commander Major Rybakov, and 56th Air Brigade Commissar Colonel Bychkov are hereby strongly reprimanded.
For failure to carry out instructions and direct disregard of the 1939 NKO Order No. 070, 35th Air Regiment Commander Major Poluchin and Regimental Commissar Pashnin are hereby relieved of their current duties and appointed to lower-ranking positions.
For making the incorrect decision while airborne to continue flying in adverse weather conditions with pilots unrated for the conditions, 35th Air Regiment navigator Senior Lieutenant Razdobudko is hereby reprimanded.
Disseminate this order to all RKKA Air Force flight personnel.
People’s Commissar of Defense of the USSR
Marshall of the Soviet Union K. VOROSHILOV
Translation © 2026 by Michael Estes and TranslatingHistory.org
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