Vladimir Mikhaylovich Komarov was a Soviet test pilot, aerospace engineer, and cosmonaut. In October 1964, he commanded Voskhod 1, the first spaceflight to carry more than one crew member. He became the first Soviet cosmonaut to fly in space twice when he was selected as the solo pilot of Soyuz 1, its first crewed test flight. A parachute failure caused his Soyuz capsule to crash into the ground after re-entry on 24 April 1967, making him the first human to die in a space flight.

The 486th Fighter Aviation Regiment was a fighter regiment (IAP) of the Soviet Air Force. It was formed in 1938 as the 12th Fighter Aviation Regiment and disbanded in 1960. The regiment was awarded the Order of Suvorov 3rd class and the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky. It fought in the Soviet invasion of Poland, Crimean Campaign, Battle of Kursk, Operation Bagration and the Vienna Offensive. Regimental personnel included flying aces and Heroes of the Soviet Union Pavel Terentyevich Korobkov, Dmitry Alexandrovich Medvedev, Nikolay Mikhailovich Gusarov and Andrei Girich. Throughout its career, the regiment operated the Polikarpov I-15, Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3, Lavochkin La-7, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 and Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17, among other aircraft.