Nikolay Proshenkov was born in Putyatino on 7 January 1918.

In August 1938, he voluntarily joined the Red Army and in 1939 he graduated from the Chkalovsky military aviation school for pilots.

In July 1941, mladshiy leitenant Proshenkov joined 13 IAP.
With this regiment he initially flew Polikarpov I-153s on the Western Front.

On 27 July, mladshiy leitenant Proshenkov claimed a shared Bf 109 together with anther pilot over Yel’nya. It’s possible that he claimed this together with leitenant Viktor Udovenko since it’s known that he claimed one shared Bf 109 together with another pilot during the day.
Mladshiy leitenant Vasiliy Terent’yev claimed one Bf 109 during the day at an unknown place.

13 IAP was withdrawn from the front on 1 September due to understaffing and the need to retrain.
Between 7 September and 6 October, they retrained on Yak-1s.

13 IAP became operational again on the Crimean Front on 8 October.

Seven Yak-1s from 13 IAP claimed one Ju 88 as a shared destroyed over Bagerovo on 3 November. Known pilots taking part in this claim are Ivan Bazarov, Proshenkov, Vasiliy Terent’yev and Viktor Udovenko.

By 25 November, the regiment had 6 Yak-1s (of which one was non-operational) and on 4 December they where withdrawn from the Front.

Proshenkov left 13 IAP in December 1941.

He was posted to 774 IAP in March 1942, servicing as deputy commander in 2./774 IAP. With this regiment, he continued to fly Yak-1s.
This regiment became operational on the North-Western Front on 17 March.

On 24 April 1942, he suffered a shrapnel wound.

774 IAP was withdrawn from operations on 17 June and during the month, Proshenkov left the regiment to become a flight commander in 21 GIAP.
This regiment was at the time equipped with Yak-1s and operated on the North-Western Front.

On 19 July 1942, he suffered a shrapnel wound to the right side of his head.

21 GIAP was withdrawn from the front on 4 February 1943.
In March, they started to retrain on Airacobras.

On 4 October, 21 GIAP became operational with their Airacobras on the Steppe Front (renamed to 2nd Ukrainian Front on 20 October).

On 28 April 1944, 21 GIAP attacked Ju 87s north-east of Lesy. Kirill Kovalenko claimed two destroyed while Proshenkov and mladshiy leitenant Petr Baydikov claimed one each.

On 8 July 1944, the regiment became part of the Ukrainian Front.

Proshenkov left 21 GIAP when he was posted to 69 GIAP in September 1944. This regiment was also equipped with Airacobras and operated on the Ukrainian Front.

Major Proshenkov ended the war with 1 biplane victory and a total of 18.
These had been claimed during 380 combat missions and 86 air combats.

On 27 June 1945, he was decorated with the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union (no. 6559) and the Order of Lenin.

Proshenkov continued to serve after the war.
In 1952 he graduated from the Higher tactical flight training courses for officers.

In 1960, polkovnik Proshenkov was placed in the reserve.

Proshenkov died on 27 April 1963.

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Time	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1941
1	23/07/41		1	Bf 110	Destroyed	Polikarpov I-153		Yal’nya	13 IAP
	27/07/41		1/2	Bf 109	Shared destroyed	Polikarpov I-153		Yal’nya	13 IAP
2	24/10/41		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Yak-1		SE Yudendorf	13 IAP
	03/11/41		1/7	Ju 88	Shared destroyed	Yak-1		Bagerovo	13 IAP
	1942
3	18/03/42		1	”Me 115”	Destroyed	Yak-1		Gorshkovitsy	2./774 IAP
	21/03/42		1/2	”Me 115”	Shared destroyed	Yak-1		Gorshkovitsy	2./774 IAP
4	21/03/42		1	Ju 87	Destroyed	Yak-1		Penno	2./774 IAP
	21/03/42		1/3	Bf 109	Shared destroyed	Yak-1		Utoshkino	2./774 IAP
5	28/03/42		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Yak-1		Starikovo	2./774 IAP
6	14/04/42		1	Ju 87	Destroyed	Yak-1		Maloye Kozlovo	2./774 IAP
7	17/04/42		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Yak-1		Maloye Borisovo	2./774 IAP
	1943
8	15/10/43		1	FW 189	Destroyed	Airacobra		Mikhaylovka	21 GIAP
9	11/12/43		1	FW 190	Destroyed	Airacobra		Stepanki	21 GIAP
	1944
10	03/02/44		1	Ju 87	Destroyed	Airacobra		Kiselovka - Stupinka	21 GIAP
11	03/02/44		1	Ju 87	Destroyed	Airacobra		Kiselovka - Stupinka	21 GIAP
12	03/02/44		1	Ju 87	Destroyed	Airacobra		Kiselovka - Stupinka	21 GIAP
13	24/03/44		1	Ju 87	Destroyed	Airacobra		Kamennyy Most	21 GIAP
14	24/03/44		1	Ju 87	Destroyed	Airacobra		Kamennyy Most	21 GIAP
15	28/04/44		1	Ju 87	Destroyed	Airacobra		NE Lesy	21 GIAP
16	04/08/44		1	FW 190	Destroyed	Airacobra		Podonnuv	21 GIAP
	1944
17	16/03/45		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Airacobra		Neisse	69 GIAP
18	22/04/45		1	FW 190	Destroyed	Airacobra		Görlitz airfield	69 GIAP

Biplane victories: 1 and 1 shared destroyed.
TOTAL: 18 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