Andrey Girich was born in Yagotin on 28 December 1918.

He joined the Red Army on 24 March 1939 and graduated from Odessa Military Aviation Pilot School.

When Germany invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, mladshiy leitenant Girich served in 12 IAP. This regiment was equipped with Polikarpov I-153s on the South-Western Front.

The regiment was withdrawn from the front on 9 October for retraining and from 2 November they started to re-equip with LaGG-3s.

On 26 December 1941, 12 IAP was renamed to 486 IAP.

They returned to the front with their new LaGG-3s on 15 January 1942, when they became operational on the Crimean Front.

On 5 February, Girich claimed a He 111 over Bagerovo. Later in the day, he claimed a second shared together with another pilot between Mama Russkaya - Novyy Svet. It seems that the second pilot was mladshiy leitenant Anton Piskun.

During a mission between Karach and Uzun-Ayak on 9 May, Girich and Ivan Yanchenko claimed one Bf 109 each.

Between 22 August and 5 October, they retrained on the LaGG-3-37.

From 7 October 1942 and unti 17 January 1943, the regiment belonged to the Bologoevsky air defence district (with operational subordination to the Kalin Front and from 15 November, the North-Western Front).

Girich claimed a He 111 over Ostashkov on 7 November 1942. He also claimed a shared Ju 88 together with five other pilots including kapitan Ivan Menshov.

Between January and March 1943, the regiment retrained with the La-5.
The became operational again on 8 May on the Central Front as part of 279 IAD.

The Central Front became the Belorussian Front on 20 October 1943.

The regiment was held as reserve between 15 May 1944 and 12 August 1944 when they again became operational, this time on the 2nd Ukrainian Front.

Between 15 December 1944 and 13 March 1945, the regiment received and re-trained on the La.7.

On 23 February 1945, Girich was decorated with the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin.

Major Girich ended the war with 2 biplane victories and a total of 17.
These had been claimed during 478 combat missions and 84 air combats.

After the end of the war, he continued to serve in the Air Force and commanded a division.

In 1950, he graduated from the Air Force Academy.
In 1958, Major General of Aviation Girich graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff and was appointed head of the department of the Air Force Academy.

He lived in Monino, Moscow Region where he died on 11 April 1973. He is buried at the Garrison Cemetery in Monino.

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Time	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1941
1	25/06/41		1	Ju 88	Destroyed	I-153		Stanislav	12 IAP
2	28/09/41		1	Ju 88	Destroyed	I-153		Lozovaya station	12 IAP
	1942
3	05/02/42		1	He 111	Destroyed	LaGG-3		Bagerovo	486 IAP
	05/02/42		1/2	He 111	Shared destroyed	LaGG-3		Mama Russkaya - Novyy Svet	486 IAP
	16/03/42		1/5	Bf 109	Shared destroyed	LaGG-3		Vladislavovka	486 IAP
4	16/03/42		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	LaGG-3		Arabat - Kiyet	486 IAP
5	09/05/42		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	LaGG-3		Karach - Uzun-Ayak	486 IAP
6	07/11/42		1	He 111	Destroyed	LaGG-3		Ostashkov	486 IAP
	07/11/42		1/6	Ju 88	Shared destroyed	LaGG-3		Ostashkov	486 IAP
	1943
7	02/08/43		1	FW 190	Destroyed	La-5		Dobryn'	486 IAP
8	03/08/43		1	Ju 87	Destroyed	La-5		Krasnikovo	486 IAP
	21/08/43		1/3	He 111	Shared destroyed	La-5		NW Sevsk	486 IAP
9	22/08/43		1	FW 190	Destroyed	La-5		Dobrovody - Gaponovo	486 IAP
10	22/08/43		1	FW 190	Destroyed	La-5		Dobrovody - Gaponovo	486 IAP
11	06/09/43		1	Ju 88	Destroyed	La-5		Oblozhki	486 IAP
12	21/10/43		1	Ju 88	Destroyed	La-5		W Kolpen' - Ostrovy	486 IAP
13	21/10/43		1	Ju 88	Destroyed	La-5		W Kolpen' - Ostrovy	486 IAP
	1944
14	25/08/44		1	FW 190	Destroyed	La-5		SW Khushi	486 IAP
15	03/09/44		1	FW 190	Destroyed	La-5		E Ployeshi	486 IAP
16	23/09/44		1	FW 190	Destroyed	La-5		NW Turda	486 IAP
17	17/11/44		1	FW 190	Destroyed	La-5		SE Ishasseg	486 IAP

Biplane victories: 2 destroyed.
TOTAL: 17 and 4 shared destroyed.

Sources:
All aces of Stalin 1936-1953 – Mikhail Bykov, 2014
Soviet Aces 1936-1953
Soviet Fighter Pilots 1936-1953 - Mikhail Bykov