Aleksey Baranov was born in 1908 in the village of Peskovo.

He graduated from flight school at Orenburg in 1935.

Between January and October 1938, he served as a volunteer in the Sino-Japanese War. During this time, he flew I-15bis in more than 50 combat missions and took part in one combat but without making any claims.

He took part in the Soviet-Finnish Winter War of 1939-1940 as a member of 3./7 IAP and flying I-153s with this unit.

On 20 February, 7 IAP claimed six destroyed and three destroyed on the ground. The I-153s from 3./7 IAP claimed four Bulldogs between Hanhijärvi – Lappeenranta when starshiy leytenant Baranov claimed two, mladshiy leytenant Nikolay Ivanov claimed one while mladshiy leytenant Ivan Dubovik and mladshiy leytenant S. Masnikov claimed the fourth as a shared. Starshiy leytenant Baranov and mladshiy leytenant Ivanov also claimed one enemy aircraft each destroyed on the ground at Utti.
Starshiy politruk Pavel Kalinichenko (I-16 from 1./7 IAP) and leitenan Nikolay Kachkovsky (I-16) claimed the other two over Utti.
The third enemy aircraft destroyed on the ground was claimed by nine I-16s from 1./7 IAP at Utti. Pilots were Franchuk, starshiy politruk Nikolay Isayev, Istaukhin, Ivanov, starshiy politruk Pavel Kalinichenko, Kashrin starshiy leitenant Vladimir Kuochkin, Martynov and Shurdukov.

When Germany invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, starshiy leitenant Baranov still served in 7 IAP, which operated on the North Front with I-153s and MiG-3s.

Starshiy leitenant Baranov claimed 7 IAP’s first victory in the Great Patriotic War when he claimed one Fokker D.XXI as a shared destroyed together with leitenant Aleksandr Barabanov and a third pilot over Mietinsaarti on 2 July.

Six pilots from 7 IAP claimed three shared Bf 109s over the Leningrad Front on 9 July. Known claiming pilots are starshiy leitenant Baranov and starshiy politruk Pavel Kalinichenko.

In the early morning on 22 July 1941, thirteen Russian I-153 fighters attacked Utti airfield. Four Finnish Curtiss Hawk 75A fighters of LeLv 32 took off at 03:25 and a wild melee over the airfield ensued. Alikersantti Mauno Kirjonen shot down one of the intruders just as his plane lifted off the ground, but at the same time one Tshaika attacked him from above; Kirjonen pulled up to meet the new enemy. Both pilots opened fire at the same moment. Kirjonen’s plane was hit, metal pieces flew off and the engine started to smoke. The Russian pilot, mladshiy leitenant Vladimir Shavrov, was hit through the head by one of Kirjonen’s bullets and the I-153 dived into nearby Lake Haukkajärvi (some sources claims that Shavrov’s claim was made in a ”taran” ramming attack). Kirjonen had to parachute. His parachute opened just before he landed into the shallow shore water of Haukkajärvi. These were Kirjonen’s victories 2-3 of a total 9 ¾. The Finnish Hawk was CU-501, which crashed in Karhula village near Valkeala at 03:35.
It seems that Nikolay Svitenko (I-153) also made a claim in this combat as he claimed an Bf 109 over Utti during the day.
At least 14 MiG-3s from 7 IAP were also involved in combat over Utti during the day (reportedly with Bf 109s) and as the Finnish only reported one attack on Utti it seems that these also were involved in the morning attack. One Bf 109 was claimed by starshiy leitenant Baranov and a second by leitenant Ivan Dubovik. Two more Bf 109s were claimed as shared by 14 pilots including starshiy leitenant Baranov and leitenant Dubovik.
Shavrov’s I-153 was lifted from the lake and the dead pilot was buried near the airfield. The engine of the I-153 was detached from the plane and it was lifted in the 1980s. For this combat, Shavrov was decorated with a posthumous Order of Lenin.

Alikersantti Mauno Kirjonen in front of the wreck of Vladimir Shavrov’s I-153 on the shore of Haukkajärvi.
Photo from SA-Kuva

Starshiy leitenants Aleksandr Baranov (2./7 IAP) and Aleksey Baranov claimed a Bf 109 each over Ruokalahti on 10 August. Both were flying MiG-3s.

Four pilots from 7 IAP claimed two Brewsters over Muolanjärvi on 19 August. Two of the claiming pilots were starshiy leitenant Baranov and leitenant Aleksandr Barabanov.

On 21 August, the MiG-3s from 7 IAP was in combat with Brewsters over Antrea Station. Starshiy leitenant Baranov claimed one shot down and a second shared with four other pilots (including Ivan Dubovik).
These losses can’t be verified with Finnish records.

On 4 October 1941, he was posted to 153 IAP, when 7 IAP’s eskadrilya equipped with MiG-3s was moved to this unit.

On 21 October 1941, starshiy leitenant Baranov didn’t return from a combat mission.

At the time of his death, Baranov was credited with 2 biplane victories and a total of 9.

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Time	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1940
1	20/02/40		1	Bulldog (a)	Destroyed	I-153		Hanhijärvi-Lappeenranta	3./7 IAP
2	20/02/40		1	Bulldog (a)	Destroyed	I-153		Hanhijärvi-Lappeenranta	3./7 IAP
	20/02/40		1	Enemy aircraft (a)	Destroyed on the ground	I-153		Utti	3./7 IAP
	1941
	02/07/41		1/3	Fokker D.XXI	Shared destroyed	MiG-3		Mietinsaari	7 IAP
	09/07/41		1/6	Bf 109	Shared destroyed	MiG-3		Leningrad Front	7 IAP
	09/07/41		1/6	Bf 109	Shared destroyed	MiG-3		Leningrad Front	7 IAP
	09/07/41		1/6	Bf 109	Shared destroyed	MiG-3		Leningrad Front	7 IAP
3	22/07/41	03:35	1	Bf 109 (b)	Destroyed	MiG-3		Utti airfield	7 IAP
	22/07/41	03:35	1/14	Bf 109 (b)	Shared destroyed	MiG-3		Utti airfield	7 IAP
	22/07/41	03:35	1/14	Bf 109 (b)	Shared destroyed	MiG-3		Utti airfield	7 IAP
4	10/08/41		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	MiG-3		Ruokalahti	7 IAP
	19/08/41		1/4	Brewster	Shared destroyed	MiG-3		Muolanjärvi	7 IAP
	19/08/41		1/4	Brewster	Shared destroyed	MiG-3		Muolanjärvi	7 IAP
5	21/08/41		1	Brewster (c)	Destroyed	MiG-3		Antrea Station	7 IAP
	21/08/41		1/5	Brewster (c)	Shared destroyed	MiG-3		Antrea Station	7 IAP
6	22/08/41		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	MiG-3		Vuosalmi	7 IAP
7	19/09/41		1	Ju 88	Destroyed	MiG-3		Manushkino	7 IAP
8	28/09/41		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	MiG-3		Lez'ye	7 IAP
9	05/10/41		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	MiG-3		Uritsk	153 IAP

Biplane victories: 2 destroyed, 1 destroyed on the ground.
TOTAL: 9 and 9 shared destroyed, 1 destroyed on the ground.
(a) Not verified with Finnish records.
(b) Probably claimed in combat with LeLv 32, which claimed 2 I-153s while losing 1 Curtiss Hawk (pilot safe). 7 IAP claimed 5 enemy fighters while losing 1 I-153 (pilot KIA).
(c) Not verified with Finnish records.

Sources:
All aces of Stalin 1936-1953 – Mikhail Bykov, 2014
Red Stars 7 - Talvisota Ilmassa - The Winter War In the Air - Carl-Fredrik Geust, 2011 Apali Oy, Tampere, ISBN 978-952-5877-04-5
Soviet Aces 1936-1953
Soviet Fighter Pilots 1936-1953 - Mikhail Bykov
Suomen Ilmavoimat part III – 1941 – Kalevi Keskinen and Kari Stenman, 2007, ISBN 978-952-99743-1-3