Ruslan V. Redkin

Ruslan Redkin was born on April 23, 1977, in Budapest, in a family of a military pilot. His father is from Dokuchaevsk, Donetsk region. In 1994, Ruslan graduated from secondary school No. 2 named after Yu. Gagarin in Okhtyrka, Sumy region. Since childhood, he dreamed of becoming a pilot like his father. He obtained higher education at the Kharkiv Institute of Pilots of the Ukrainian Air Force and the National Aerospace University named after Zhukovsky "Kharkiv Aviation Institute." In 1998, he began his service as a pilot-navigator in a military helicopter unit in Berdichiv, Zhytomyr region. In 2004, he was the commander of a helicopter flight (Mi-9) in the town of Kalyniv, Lviv region. In 2005, he became a pilot of a special aviation unit of the operational rescue service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. The unit was based in Nizhyn, Chernihiv region (former military unit D0170). He participated in firefighting in Georgia and Novobohdanivka. In 2007, he received a commendation from the Ministry of Emergencies of Ukraine "For Courage in an Emergency Situation." In 2010, he became the chief of staff of the helicopter squadron of special purpose of the special aviation unit of the operational rescue service of civil protection. Since June 2011, he has been the chief of staff of the special purpose aviation squadron on helicopters of the special aviation unit of the operational rescue service of civil protection. Since November 2013, he has been appointed commander of the special purpose aviation squadron on helicopters of the special aviation unit of the operational rescue service of civil protection of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. He was awarded the rank of lieutenant colonel of civil protection service.