Ivan Konstantinovich Boronin was born on September 12 (25), 1909, in the Titovsky khutor, Novoanninsky District, Volgograd Region (Russia), into a peasant family. He completed 5 grades of schooling and worked as a tractor driver on a state grain farm. He joined the Red Army in 1931, and in 1935, he graduated from the Kharkov Aviation School.
Early Life and the Soviet-Finnish War
He participated in the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-1940 as a commander of a bomber aviation flight. For his bravery and courage displayed in battles on the Karelian Isthmus, he was awarded the Order of the Red Star. From October 1941, he served on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War.
On October 4, 1942, two bombers, one of which was Boronin’s, conducted a long-range flight from an airfield near Grozny along the Greater Caucasus Range to Piatigorsk. Their mission was to carry out a pinpoint bombing of the Piatigorsk theater and the “Bristol” hotel, where a large group of Hitlerite officers were being awarded.
Heroic Actions in the Great Patriotic War
By September 1942, Major Boronin had completed a total of 156 combat sorties, including 45 reconnaissance missions and 111 bombing and assault strikes against enemy troop concentrations. By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on December 13, 1942, for exemplary fulfillment of combat missions on the front of the struggle against the German invaders and for the courage and heroism displayed, Ivan Konstantinovich Boronin was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, along with the Order of Lenin and the “Gold Star” medal (No. 588).
In Grozny, based on the 366th Bomber Aviation Regiment, the 366th Separate Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment (which later became the 164th Guards) was formed, where Boronin became the commander of a reconnaissance squadron. In early 1943, during the retreat of the Hitlerites from the Caucasus, the regiment was tasked with conducting intensified reconnaissance of retreating enemy troops, their airfields, bases, ports, and watercraft in the Black and Azov Seas. Major Boronin completed over 40 reconnaissance flights.
Final Sacrifice and Lasting Legacy
In October 1943, Boronin was appointed commander of the 367th Red Banner Bomber Aviation Regiment, based in Krasnodar. On March 12, 1944, I.K. Boronin, taking two engineering officers with him in the aircraft, flew in the airfield area under various regimes until the right engine caught fire. The engineers parachuted to safety.
Boronin managed to land the aircraft, but he could no longer exit the burning machine. He was buried in the All Saints Cemetery in Krasnodar. A street and a school in the Titovsky khutor, as well as a street in Krasnodar, are named after him. He was awarded two Orders of Lenin, the Order of the Patriotic War 1st degree, the Order of the Red Star, and various medals.