Occasionally his P-39s also escorted the Pe-2 bombers. In that role, he used his nickname "Sotka" ("One Hundred") – his radio call sign), because he knew very well that the "Luftwaffe" ordered its airmen to stay on the ground if they knew he was in the air. A Pe-2 pilot of the 36 Bomber Aviation Regiment, Timofey P. Puniov, recalled that because of the heavy casualties inflicted by the German fighters, the 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment was tasked to escort them. Puniov clearly remembers that twice Pokryshkin violated radio silence saying openly in the frequency: ""Vnimanie! Ya – sotka. Poedu na rabotu!"" (Attention! I'm "100". I'm going to work!). Neither on those two occasions nor after did the German fighters try to intercept the 36th Bomber Aviation Regiment.