[Stig Jarlevik]

Could well be Merlin

Just so you remember, we are talking about a claim, not verification.

Fact is the claim still stands and the victory is listed "officially" (I don't know how official this is Military wise in either the former Soviet Union or todays Russia) in his total claims.

Personally I am not able to verify (if we forget units etc) what every Me 262 built until that date was doing on either days listed, so I leave that out of the equation.

Neither am I am in any position to find out if Kozhedub's original claim documents have survived and what they actually say. Do you?

However it is interesting that you bring up the topic of Kozhedub's honesty since the German top ace Hartmann lately also got his share of criticism for his claim performance.... Care to elaborate on the topic? Would be interesting to know when the story about the Me 262 began, if it was not there from the beginning. It is also obvious the Russians themselves believe in Kozhedub's honesty, so where did they go wrong and when?

Cheers
Stig