Were there Spitfires in the Soviet Union?

The first 35 aircraft reached the port of Basra on 10 January 1943 aboard the ship City of Derby, but were not handed over to the Soviet side until early February; the rest arrived at the end of March. The aircraft were moved to Abadan, in Iran, where they were prepared for delivery to Soviet engineers and technicians. In total, the Soviet side received 143 of the 149 aircraft shipped from England. Soviet pilots then flew them to the airfield at Kara-Chala, where the 143 aircraft received were split between two regiments.

The Spitfire Mk Vb equipped two frontline fighter regiments. These were the 57th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (57th GIAP) and the 821st Fighter Aviation Regiment (821st IAP). The 821st IAP received its aircraft in July 1943, but saw little combat before switching to P-39 Airacobras in September.

The 57th GIAP flew combat operations over the Kuban until July 1943. It first entered combat in May 1943 and claimed 48 enemy aircraft destroyed over the course of the campaign. The peak intensity came in May, when its pilots destroyed 41 aircraft in 44 engagements. The regiment flew around 69 combat sorties in total until the end of June, before switching to P-39 Airacobras at the end of July.