After transferring to the Red Army from
Osoviahim in October 1941 she began training at Engels Military Aviation School until she was deployed to defend important structures in Saratov from German bombers with the
586th Fighter Aviation Regiment. In September 1942 she was transferred to the 437th Fighter Aviation Regiment with
Yekaterina Budanova,
Lydia Litvyak, and
Raisa Belyaeva; the reasons for the transfer are disputed among historians, ranging from the need for experienced pilots in the
battle of Stalingrad to
Tamara Kazarinova wanting to get rid of the pilots who complained about her. In a postwar interview with
Anne Noggle, Kuznetsova claimed to have shot down three enemy aircraft, including a
Ju 87 and
Ju 88, but there is no confirmation of this in her award sheets or regiment documents. It is confirmed that she flew over 100 sorties, providing cover for strategically valuable targets and escorting
Li-2 transport aircraft. After serving with the predominantly male fighter aviation regiment in Stalingrad she did not want to return to her original unit, the 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment, because it was an air defense unit that saw less intense combat; however, she was forced to do so under threat of tribunal, despite complaining that she wouldn't be "deserting" to the reserve but to the frontlines. During the war she was featured alongside Litvyak and Budanova in the military aviation newspaper
Stalinsky Sokol. == Awards ==