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Yekaterina Zelyenko graduated from the Chkalov Flying School and had already been promoted to Senior Lieutenant when the war began. She was baptized by fire in 1939-1940 over the Karelian Isthmus, during the Winter War against Finland. During battles with the Finns, who were very highly trained and disciplined pilots, she displayed great skill and valor and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
When the war began Zelyenko was an experienced squadron commander: during the first combat mission her squadron destroyed 45 enemy tanks and 20 other vehicles. However, on September 12, 1941, after accomplishing her assigned mission, her bomber encountered 7 Me-109 fighters. A fierce air battle commenced. During the Germans' first attack one Me-109 was shot down by the bomber's defensive guns. But the other Messerchmitts continued attacking her bomber. Then her navigator was shot dead. When she ran out of ammunition, and as her bomber caught on fire, she rammed her plane against an enemy aircraft (the famous "taran", widely practiced among the Soviets). Shrapnel from the smashed Me-109 killed her.
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