THE SOVIET–ISRAELI WAR, 1967–1973greater losses in air combat.^31 More than a year later, briefing a US counterpart, Hod
acknowledged the Soviet pilots’ gallantry but disparaged their skill, as demonstrated
in the 30 July engagement. As the American general reported, Hod dealt the unkind-
est cut when he judged that
[the] Eg yptians are the best pilots in the Middle East ... Soviet pilots are rotated every six
months and they are not up to the quality of Israeli pilots. The first air engagements con-
vinced him of the lack of Soviet training in “dog fighting.” He states Eg yptians were better
at handling the MiG-21s than the Soviets in a dog fight, until IAF pilots got on the tail of
the Eg yptians and they ejected sometimes without a shot being fired. This is not the case
of the Soviet pilots, ... [but] the Soviet fighter pilot has much to learn.^32The Soviet pilots ached for revenge, especially after Air Force Chief Marshal Pavel
Kutakhov rushed to Eg ypt to investigate their defeat. Or so Akimenkov and his
comrades may have been told. “Western defense experts” also considered that this was
the direct cause of the marshal’s trip.^33 But a journal kept by one of Kutakhov’s depu-
ties shows that he was about to depart for Eg ypt “with a group of generals” when the
news came in. July had already become his force’s worst month since 1964 in respect
of losses. From Eg ypt, Kutakhov instructed this deputy, Nikolay Kamanin, to prepare
six replacement MiG-21s.^34
The IAF—while continuing its bombardment along the canal—did not give
Akimenkov another chance. “Up to the ceasefire, we tried to draw the Israelis into a
rematch, but the Israeli code of honor does not include such chivalrous duels. ... [The
IAF’s] mercenaries squandered their bounty money at bases in the rear.”^35 Another
Soviet pilot, Oleg Tsoy, was likewise frustrated:
Oleg saw an Israeli Mirage on the tail of an Eg yptian MiG-17. Tsoy rushed to help but the
Israeli saw him coming and turned away towards the Suez Canal. In the excitement of the
chase Tsoy forgot about the orders banning Soviet pilots from crossing the canal. So he
flew on into Sinai and launched a missile at the Mirage, but the Israeli pilot evaded it.^36D. The zenitchiki score again
The Soviet pilots’ scorn for the Eg yptians was shared by the SAM crews. During the
action of 18 July, Zhayvoronok was inspecting a battery commanded by Major
Midskhat Mansurov, where the crew members in charge of plotting the paths of
incoming planes included Eg yptians—apparently trainees:
Our battery was shaking from the explosions ... the Arabs’ nerves failed, they took off their
earphones, threw off their helmets and began running out of the cabin. You had to be there
to know how horribly hot it was, everyone sitting there in underpants, helmets and gas
masks and giggling nervously. So one of ours grabs [the fleeing Eg yptian] by the under-
pants and hits him on the head with a helmet while hurling some untranslatable expres-