Binoculars of the Pilots Boris Safonov and Alexander Kovalenko

These 6×30 prismatic binoculars, number 408319, belonged until 1942 to Hero of the Soviet Union Boris Feoktistovich Safonov, and after 1942 to Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Andreyevich Kovalenko. Both were fighter pilots of the Northern Fleet Air Force and served in the same regiment.

Boris Safonov (1915–1942) was made a Hero of the Soviet Union on 16 September 1941. On 30 May 1942 he led a flight of fighters covering convoy PQ-16, reported by radio that he had shot down three Ju 88s, after which contact was lost; the exact cause of his death is unknown. He was awarded a second Gold Star medal posthumously on 14 June 1942. Alexander Kovalenko (1909–1984) served from March 1940 as a flight commander in the 72nd Composite Aviation Regiment of the Northern Fleet Air Force, where Safonov became his squadron commander. Kovalenko became a Hero of the Soviet Union on 14 June 1942.

The marking 6×30 means sixfold magnification and objective lenses 30 mm in diameter. The binoculars were made in the USSR in 1935–1940: the two tubes are joined by a hinge, and the body is painted black. They are in working order but have survived without a case or strap.