Aleksey Churilin was born in the secluded village of Shiryavskov, in the Kamensk-Uralskiy area in the Ural Mountains on 26 December 1916.
He joined the army in 1940. Attending the Stalingrad Military Air College, he graduated during 1941.

Serzhant Churilin was assigned to the 611 IAP and posted to the front on 15 December 1942.

He claimed a Bf 109 south-east of Uspenskaya on 20 August.

He enjoyed considerable success in a series of though encounters over Krasnodar, the Mius River and at Akhtyrka.

Major Churilin was an eskadrilya commander in the 611 IAP by 1944, operating over Rumania, Yugoslavia and Hungary.

During the spring of 1945, he was one of the most successful Soviet pilots over Hungary with eight claimed Bf 109s.

In the course of his combat duty, Churilin was wounded in action twice.

On 18 August 1945, he was decorated with the Gold Star of Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin.

Churilin ended the war with 3 biplane victories and a total of 26. These were claimed in more than 300 combat missions and around 100 air combats. He also reportedly claimed 21 aircraft destroyed on the ground. During the war, he flew I-153s, LaGG-3s, Yak-1s, Yak-9s and Yak-3s.
Churilin was also a good leader and teacher for young wingmen, 9 of them claimed at least 20 victories.

He remained in the VVS after the war. He retired in 1972 with the rank of Polkovnik, following which he lived in Novorossiysk.

During his career, he was also decorated with the Order of the Red Banner (5 May 1943 and 12 January 1945), the Order of Aleksandr Nevsky (5 August 1944), the Order of the Patriotic War 2nd Class (25 August 1943) and the Order of the Red Star (14 February 1943, 1955 and two more times).

Churilin passed away on 23 August 1982.

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Time	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1943
1	11/03/43		1	Ju 87	Destroyed	I-153		SW Grishkin	611 IAP
2	17/04/43		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	I-153		Kabardinka	611 IAP
3	03/05/43		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	I-153		SW Kiev	611 IAP
4	17/07/43		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Yak-1		SW Ol'khovsky	611 IAP
5	01/08/43		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Yak-1		Removka	611 IAP
6	02/08/43		1	Ju 88	Destroyed	Yak-1		Dmitriyevka	611 IAP
7	20/08/43		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Yak-1		SE Uspenskaya	611 IAP
	1944
8	20/05/44		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Yak-1/Yak-9		W Zhevritl'	611 IAP
9	20/07/44		1	FW 190	Destroyed	Yak-1/Yak-9		Maydan - Gologurskiy	611 IAP
10	20/12/44		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Yak-1/Yak-9		Height 188 (Nadashladan' area)	611 IAP
11	21/12/44		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Yak-1/Yak-9		Bat'yan	611 IAP
	1945
12	08/03/45		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Yak-3		SW Chez	611 IAP
13	08/03/45		1	FW 190	Destroyed	Yak-3		S Shapon'ya	611 IAP
14	11/03/45		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Yak-3		courtyard Felshetarshotz manor	611 IAP
15	11/03/45		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Yak-3		Shorsentego	611 IAP
16	14/03/45		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Yak-3		S Sheregel'yesh	611 IAP
17	21/03/45		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Yak-3		Height 317 (Vilonia area)	611 IAP
18	23/03/45		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Yak-3		NW Vesprem	611 IAP
19	24/03/45		1	FW 190	Destroyed	Yak-3		NW Voroshled	611 IAP
20	29/03/45		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Yak-3		E Sheregel'khaza	611 IAP
21	29/03/45		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Yak-3		W Heren	611 IAP
22	01/04/45		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Yak-3		Wulkaprodersdorf	611 IAP
23	04/04/45		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Yak-3		SW Medling	611 IAP
24	04/04/45		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Yak-3		Brune	611 IAP
25	09/04/45		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Yak-3		SE Stablots	611 IAP
26	14/04/45		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Yak-3		Utzenlaa	611 IAP

Biplane victories: 3 destroyed.
TOTAL: 26 destroyed, 21 destroyed on the ground.

Sources:
All aces of Stalin 1936-1953 – Mikhail Bykov, 2014
Le Chaika et l’attaque au sol (Les I-153 dans le Caucaseet au Kouban en 1942-43) – Dmitriy Karlenko, 2003 Air Magazine No.17 dec 2003/jan 2004, kindly provided by Ondrej Repka
Soviet Aces 1936-1953
Soviet Fighter Pilots 1936-1953 - Mikhail Bykov
Sovetskiye asy - Nikolay Bodrikhin, 1998, kindly provided by Ondrej Repka.
Stalin's Eagles - Hans D. Seidl, 1998 Schiffer Publishing, ISBN 0-7643-0476-3
Stalin's Falcons - Tomas Polak and Christhoper Shores, 1999 Grub Street, London, ISBN 1-902304-01-2
Additional information kindly provided by Ondrej Repka.