How during the Great Patriotic War, German planes flew over the territory of the USSR from Germany to Japan
The question posed in the title of the article can make you stupefied. After all, during the Great Patriotic War, German planes could cross the territory of the Soviet Union, if the war was going on in full swing, and the skies of our country were protected by aviation and air defense systems. But no matter how it sounds, such flights over the territory of the USSR were carried out very successfully and regularly.
Ju-290A-9 aircraft.
The fact is that by the beginning of World War II, it became clear that Germany and Japan were practically allied states and both were united by expansionist goals. But there was also a huge drawback. This disadvantage was that Germany and Japan were separated by vast expanses of the territory of the Soviet Union. After Japan’s attack on the United States, air traffic became almost the only one between the two allies. This is understandable, the ocean was controlled by the Allies.
Naturally, submarines delivered cargo and documentation between the two countries throughout the war, but this was long and not always safe. The only thing left to do was to look for ways over the airspace of the USSR. And such routes between Germany and Japan were worked out by the German military command. After the occupation of Norway and the territory of the USSR, the distance between the two countries decreased.
In general, if you count only Germany without Italy, there were several routes to Japan. For example, from the Finnish airfield of Kemi to the island of Sakhalin. In total, it was 6 thousand km. There was a route from Kirovograd in Ukraine to the Paeto airfield near the Chinese city of Wuhan, occupied by the Japanese. The flight was 6,000 km. In addition, they flew from Kirkenes, Norway, to Qiqihar, located in Manchuria. The length was 6 thousand km. Planes also flew from Odessa to Paeto.
German Do-26 seaplane.
Most often, Ju-290 aircraft flew. The most famous and used route ran over the territory of the Barents Sea, the territories of Western and Eastern Siberia, Lake Baikal and Mongolia. There were also routes over Lake Balkhash, as local residents recorded real cases of German Do-26 seaplanes landing on Lake Balkhash. So the flights of German long-range aviation over the territory of the Soviet Union were carried out. Moreover, the flight altitude of the aircraft was high, and there were practically no Soviet air defense systems in Siberia.