Nurken Abdirov monument, War memorial monument in Karaganda, Kazakhstan.

The Nurken Abdirov monument in Karaganda stands 9 meters tall, with a 4.8-meter cast-iron figure of the pilot on a marble-clad pedestal. The seated airman wears a flight helmet with goggles pushed up and a quilted jacket, leaning forward with his left hand gripping a curved ring. Sculptors A. P. Bilyk and Yu. V. Gummel and architect L. E. Vorobyov created the work.

Nurken Abdirov (1919–1942), a Soviet attack pilot and Hero of the Soviet Union, died near Stalingrad in 1942 after steering his burning aircraft into a concentration of enemy vehicles. The monument was erected in Karaganda in 1958, created by sculptors A. P. Bilyk and Yu. V. Gummel with architect L. E. Vorobyov. In 1982 it was listed as a monument of history and culture of republican significance, and in 1985 the old pedestal was renewed.

The avenue where the monument stands bears Abdirov's name, and the memorial marks the start of it. The figure is a portrait likeness: sculptors Bilyk and Hummel reproduced his face and the cut of his flight clothing, shown at the moment he steered his burning aircraft at enemy armour near Stalingrad.

The monument stands on Nurken Abdirov Avenue at its crossing with Bukhar-Zhyrau Avenue, on a square where the avenue named after the pilot begins. The pedestal was renewed in 1985, so the marble panels and dark stripe seen today date from that work. Karaganda winters are long and cold, and the open square offers little shelter from wind.

The pedestal was renewed in 1985, replacing the original base beneath the cast-iron figure. The sculptors modelled the face at the instant Abdirov chose to steer his burning aircraft into enemy equipment near Stalingrad, and the likeness and uniform details were singled out as the monument's strength.