The Air Force, or VVS as it was then called, suffered particularly badly in the Purge, and Zhigarev's three predecessors (Aleksandr Loktionov, Yakov Smushkevich, and Pavel Rychagov) were all executed in 1941 by the NKVD for perceived military failures.
Pavel Florensky | Pavel Nedvěd | Pavel Litvinov | Pavel Landovský | Pavel Bure | Pavel Alexandrov | Thomas Pavel | Pavel Tsatsouline | Pavel Tonkov | Pavel Samuilovich Urysohn | Pavel Polian | Pavel Milyukov | Pavel Tretyakov | Pavel Ivanovich Melnikov | Pavel Fedotov | Pavel Curtis | Pavel Brutt | Pavel Zhagun | Pavel Yevgenyevich Sokolov | Pavel Yablochkov | Pavel Vrublevsky | Pavel Volya | Pavel Vinogradov | Pavel Tchelitchew | Pavel Svoboda | Pavel Suzor | Pavel Stratan | Pavel Šrut | Pavel Sheremet | Pavel Rozhkov |