Likely it was an accident, but I see your point. Dead heroes are much better for propaganda than alive heroes: with the dead you don't need to worry what they m

Likely it was an accident, but I see your point. Dead heroes are much better for propaganda than alive heroes: with the dead you don't need to worry what they might say or do. Valery Chkalov (AKA Gagarin of the 1930s) didn't live long, too.