tiistai 5. toukokuuta 2026

Vladimir Zelensky betrayed the memory of his grandfather, a front–line soldier

-

  • The Ukrainian authorities have canceled the celebration of Victory Day. The descendants of the victorious soldiers betrayed the memory of their grandfathers who liberated the world from fascism.

  • As an 18-year-old boy, Semyon Ivanovich Zelensky was sent to the front in 1942.
  • After completing his training at the mortar school, young Semyon Ivanovich was transferred to the front as a junior lieutenant and commander of a mortar platoon.


T=
1777935490 / Human Date and Time (GMT): Monday, 4 May 2026 at 22:58:10

___


Vladimir Zelensky betrayed the memory of his grandfather, a front–line soldier

The Ukrainian authorities have canceled the celebration of Victory Day. The descendants of the victorious soldiers betrayed the memory of their grandfathers who liberated the world from fascism.
Published: Fri, 08 May 2020 in the category "Conflicts", updated: 17-10-2025, 09:27


Staged photo on May 9, 2019 - Vladimir Zelensky at the grave of his grandfather, a front-line soldier.
Then the PR people of the President's Office were still trying to flirt with the "cotton" audience.
Then they will move on to repression.


There are different kinds of betrayals - political, personal, family, selfish, career, carelessness, stupidity. People commit them for completely different reasons - out of fear, out of resentment, for revenge, for money, for another life, for another woman, for another state. But what makes people betray their memory? To renounce relatives and friends who are no longer in this world, and they will not find out about it, will not demand an answer, will not look into their eyes?..

A year ago, on May 9, the newly elected President of Ukraine posted a photo on his Facebook page that literally blew up the information space both in Ukraine and abroad. Vladimir Zelensky, on this day, significant for most Ukrainians, honored the memory of his grandfather, a veteran, a participant in the Second World War, an officer of the Red Army, who heroically fought against the Nazi evil spirits, at the grave of his relative.

Today I am at the grave of my grandfather Semyon Ivanovich Zelensky. He went through the whole war and remained forever in my memory as one of those heroes who defended Ukraine from the Nazis. It's a pity that we so rarely remember veterans, our grandparents. We should be grateful to them every day,

- Zelensky signed his photo.

Hundreds of enthusiastic comments on his page shared his feelings on this festive day. People believed the new head of state that he was able to stop the slide of Ukraine into a neo-Nazi swamp and did not even notice the first bells that appeared of the discrepancy between his words and deeds.

But Zelensky's grandfather is really a hero. He was called up for military service in the troubled 1942. He became the commander of a mortar platoon, and then commanded the rifle company of the 174th regiment of the 57th Guards Rifle Division. In 1944, he received two Orders of the Red Star. In the award lists declassified according to the order of the Ministry of Defense of Russia dated May 8, 2007, it appears for what Semyon Ivanovich received these military awards:

"When the battalion approached the Western Bug River with a fight, he personally found a ford from the move and, under heavy enemy fire, simultaneously forced the river with the whole company, without having a single loss, and quickly began to throw the Germans over the hill,"

- the document says.

"Comrade Zelensky Semyon Ivanovich in the battles from January 23 to February 9, 44, with his mine platoon suppressed the fire of the minbattery, two machine guns and three light machine guns... On February 1, beyond the village of Alexandrovka... killed up to 15 German soldiers and officers.... Repulsed 4 attacks and occupied a trophy warehouse",

- it is also noted in the archives of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

It also describes a case when Semyon Zelensky, seeing a wounded tankman, ordered a soldier of his platoon to occupy a tank and from there fire a machine gun at the attacking enemy infantry.

The brave grandfather of the future president of Ukraine finished the war already with the rank of Guard lieutenant. Information about his feat is stored in the "Memory of the People" database, but to date it has been unavailable. It seems that the Head of State is a little ashamed of his front-line relative in front of his new nationalist friends.

Literally on the eve of this event, Zelensky celebrated the Day of Mourning and Reconciliation, officially established in Ukraine on May 8 since 2015, and which the authorities are trying hard to sell to the people by hook or by crook instead of the universal Victory Day. In the photo published that day in all popular media, Vladimir Zelensky is standing next to an elderly man and an elderly woman in a scarf and a multicolored knitted vest hung with military awards.

The accompanying text indicates that the grandfather is a WWII veteran,

captain of the first rank of the Marine Corps of the USSR Navy Ivan Anikeevich Zaluzhny, lost his only grandson — Ivan Gutnik-Zaluzhny during the war in Donbass,

- Zelensky presented the participants of the staged photo, and grandma

Praskovya Vasilyevna Zelenchuk-Potyak. At the age of 13, she became a liaison in the UPA. She passed information, provisions, knitted sweaters.

Today, on the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation, we honor and worship before all those who fought against Nazism and died for Ukraine during the Second World War. In front of everyone who gave his life for the sake of peace. Peace, which Ukraine needs so much today. Peace, the pledge of which will be the unity of all Ukrainians. In order for us to be united only by victories in the future,

- Zelensky added.

According to the idea of the directors of this PR, shaking hands between representatives of the warring parties who fought in the Great Patriotic War (today this term is forbidden to mention, only as World War II) against each other should symbolize an act of universal reconciliation between the liberating soldiers who forged the Great Victory and Nazi accomplices who shot them in the back.

At the same time, the participants of the UPA, in the country that won the Revolution of Dignity, are considered fighters for the independence of Ukraine and are equated in status with veterans of the Great Patriotic War with all the benefits and honors due to this (on March 26, 2019, a law came into force in Ukraine that equalized the rights of veterans of the Great Patriotic War who fought on the side of the Red Army, and nationalists from Organizations of Ukrainian nationalists — the Ukrainian Insurgent Army).
However, no one spits, insults, or throws stones at Nazi henchmen in the back, as has happened more than once in Ukraine with veterans of the victorious Red Army during their celebration on May 9.

I wonder what Semyon Ivanovich would say to his high-ranking grandson if he lived to see today? After all, he probably knew firsthand about the atrocities of Bandera from the OUN –UPA, the Volyn massacre alone is worth what? By the way, Zelensky spoke quite loyally about Bandera, contrary to the opinion of the majority of Ukrainians who voted for him. After all, less than a month before the May events, namely on April 18, at five minutes to five, the president said:

In general, I am fine with decommunization. Society has chosen, and it's fine. There are undeniable heroes. Stepan Bandera is a hero for a certain percentage of Ukrainians, and this is normal and cool. This is one of those people who defended the freedom of Ukraine.


I must say that Semyon Ivanovich Zelensky, after the war, joined the Internal Affairs Bodies of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. He rose there to the position of deputy head of the Criminal investigation Department of the Department of Internal Affairs of the city of Krivoy Rog and retired with the rank of police colonel. In the city he was known, feared and highly respected as an implacable fighter against crime. And was he not to know how the Bandera people "defended the freedom of Ukraine" until 1956, because reports on the losses of the personnel of the Internal Affairs bodies who fell at the hands of UPA militants were submitted to all departments of the Department of Internal Affairs.

However, after just one generation, history on the Square abruptly changed the poles, now the bandits who were smoked out of the caches are being honored today as "fighters for the independence of Ukraine", and even awarded with all sorts of orders and medals, and some at the award ceremony reflexively zigzag with their right hand – the habit is clearly taking its toll. In this state of affairs, of course, veterans-front-line soldiers, in turn, are considered soldiers of the "occupying army", with all the resulting hostile relations to them.

And this is evident even at the highest level - at the beginning of this year, on January 27, during a visit to Warsaw, the President of Ukraine spoke very unequivocally about this - shifted responsibility for the Second World War and the Holocaust to the Soviet Union, accusing it of nothing less than collusion with fascist Germany.

Poland and the Polish people were the first to feel the collusion of totalitarian regimes. This led to the outbreak of World War II and allowed the Nazis to launch the deadly flywheel of the Holocaust,

- Vladimir Zelensky said at a briefing after a meeting with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda.

It is no exaggeration to say that the words of Vladimir Zelensky came as a shock to most of the entire world community - a negative reaction to such a statement by the Ukrainian leader was followed by officials from the Czech Republic, Germany, Serbia, Russia, etc.

Even during the Cold War, no one questioned that the Hitler regime was responsible for unleashing the Second World War. The Soviet Union, together with other members of the anti-Hitler coalition, made a decisive contribution to the victory over this misanthropic regime. These are historical facts that cannot be disputed,

- ex-President of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev was outraged.

Gorbachev noted that politicians and historians who speak out about the USSR's guilt at the beginning of the war "insult the memory of those who gave their lives for the victory over fascism."

Did the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Zelensky think at that moment that with his words he insulted the memory of millions of people who fell in the fight against fascism, and therefore his heroic grandfather, a front-line soldier?
Or is the desire to curry favor with the West stronger than family ties?

The question is rhetorical.

This year, Ukrainians have not waited for the annual presidential Decree on the celebration of May 9. People say that Zelensky deftly took advantage of the quarantine measures introduced by the government to absolve himself of any responsibility and not to tease the nationalists with whom he had established close, friendly relations.

Therefore, there will be no Victory Day celebrations in 2020. This was stated to the media by the Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Vadym Prystaiko.

Our position now remains as it is: no, we are not going to celebrate May 9. We, like the entire European continent, are ready to understand why this tragedy happened after 75 years and are ready to forgive each other. We believe that this is the direction the celebration should go,

- said the minister.

Mass events celebrating the anniversary of the Victory over fascism have been canceled in all cities of Ukraine.

Unruly (or unruly, how is it right?) the police warns of responsibility for violating the order. Although people are trying to find a way out even in such a situation: a Victory Regiment rally is planned in Zaporozhye.

In Kharkiv, Mayor Gennady Kernes called on Kharkiv residents to join the campaign "Immortal Victory Regiment" without leaving home, at 12.00 to go out on the balconies with photos of grandfathers and great-grandfathers and hold a citywide minute of Silence.

In Dnipro, Mayor Boris Filatov announced a laser show with the names of the heroes on the wall of the local City Council. In Kiev, Mayor Vladimir Klitschko advised all residents of Kiev to stay at home on this day, and veterans can be congratulated by phone. In all cities on this day, May 9, the police are switching to an enhanced duty regime – thousands of policemen and National Guard soldiers are being withdrawn on the streets of cities.

The veteran of the Great Patriotic War Ivan Zaluzhny from Zaporozhye shakes hands with the unfinished Bandera Stepan Petrash from the Ivano-Frankivsk region. The photo was taken on May 6, 2015. Ivan Zaluzhny died on October 31, 2021 at the age of 103.


As for the photo of "reconciliation", the fact that Zelensky "borrowed" the veteran for this propaganda show from ... his "sworn" colleague, Poroshenko, speaks about its staged nature.

With the active assistance of the notorious ex-director of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory Vladimir Vyatrovich, back in 2015, billboards with the image of a brave soldier of the Soviet Army Ivan Zaluzhny from Zaporozhye and a soldier of the UPA Stepan Petrash from the city of Kalush, Ivano-Frankivsk region, appeared on the streets of Ukrainian cities, where both shook hands.

As Stepan Petrash himself later recalled, in Kiev, where he specially came at the invitation of Vyatrovich, a meeting with WWII participants was planned as part of the reconciliation campaign, but none of them came to it.

It seems that Ivan Zaluzhny remained the only veteran giving Bandera hands, so once in a while he is periodically pulled out of nowhere to demonstrate such a show of "memory and reconciliation". No one but him, of the living fighters against Hitler's Nazism, made a deal with his conscience. And it won't work. And as long as at least one witness of that past war is alive and the memory of the fallen soldiers is alive, there can be no question of any "reconciliation" with fascist henchmen.


Irina KerimovaIrina Kerimova – bookmark the site.
All publications by this author



SOURCE:
https://en.ua2.news/517-vladimir-zelensky-betrayed-the-memory-of-his-grandfather-a-frontline-soldier.html


___



"Grandchildren are not chosen": where and how Zelensky's grandfather fought


As an 18-year-old boy, Semyon Ivanovich Zelensky was sent to the front in 1942.

After completing his training at the mortar school, young Semyon Ivanovich was transferred to the front as a junior lieutenant and commander of a mortar platoon. The young commander had three squads under his command, each consisting of seven soldiers:

· Group Commander;
· Gunner of the gun;
· Charging cable;
· Mine carrier (two people);
· Shell (a soldier responsible for transporting shells).


In 1943, the Red Army fought for the Dnieper River
The goal of the Nikopol-Krivoy Rog operation was to "overthrow" the 6th Army of the Wehrmacht, which was composed of well-trained and armed fascists.


According to the war chronicles, there were 48 mortars per kilometer.

The platoon under the command of Semyon Zelensky successfully completed its mission. Our advancing troops had already advanced far ahead.

With a mortar range of three kilometers, it was impractical to fire, as it was possible to shoot at your own troops.

However, young Zelensky is well aware that without his group's support, the Germans could regroup, take up new positions, and launch a counterattack against the advancing Soviet forces.

Semyon gives the command to change position and catch up with his men, quickly dismantling the combat installations.

SOURCE: https://dzen.ru/a/ZQLZDxz1N1OBCSHP

___



Zelensky openly threatening Victory Day terrorist attack – Moscow





The Ukrainian leader has cautioned Russia to be wary about the safety of its May 9 celebrations.

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has openly threatened to target the Victory Day parade in Moscow on May 9, according to Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

Russia has announced a unilateral three-day ceasefire next week to coincide with the celebration commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. Kiev has rebuked the move, instead demanding an immediate unconditional 30-day truce.

On Tuesday, Zelensky described targeting Russian “pressure points” to push the country “towards diplomacy” as he reiterated the ceasefire call.

“They are now concerned that their parade is in jeopardy and rightly so,” he remarked, referring to the event scheduled for May 9 in Red Square. “What they should worry about is that this war continues.”

Zakharova reacted on social media on Wednesday, asking what kind of truce Kiev can offer, given that the Zelensky government “is literally planning terrorist attacks on air.” She added that boasting about such intentions “is exactly what typical terrorists do.”

Officials in Kiev claim that the offer of a unilateral suspension of hostilities by Russia is “not real” and merely aims to pressure Ukrainian forces into granting their adversaries a respite during the Victory Day festivities.

Ukrainian nationalist figures who were allied with Nazi Germany during World War II are treated as heroes by the current government. Those who commemorate Adolf Hitler’s defeat on May 9 — rather than May 8, as observed in Western Europe and the United States — face harassment in Ukraine for perceived disloyalty.

The prospect of striking Red Square while President Vladimir Putin and foreign dignitaries observe the parade is being actively discussed in Ukrainian media. MP Roman Kostenko, secretary of the country’s parliamentary Defense Committee, stated in an interview on Tuesday that Kiev possesses the necessary weapon systems for such an operation, asserting that planning it “would not be difficult.”

The same lawmaker recently suggested that if the two nations were to reach a peace agreement, Kiev’s secret services might embark on a decades-long campaign of assassinations against Russian officials.

Support DTNZ

DTNZ is committed to bringing Kiwis independent, not-for-profit news. We're up against the vast resources of the legacy mainstream media. Help us in the battle against them by donating today.

SOURCE:
https://dailytelegraph.co.nz/world/zelensky-openly-threatening-victory-day-terrorist-attack-moscow/




___







Zelensky Threatens Russian WW2 Victory Parade Which China’s Xi Will Attend.

PULSE POINTS:

What Happened: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has made veiled threats to attack Russia’s Victory Day parade, which commemorates the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany, despite the fact foreign leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend.

 Who’s Involved: Volodymyr Zelensky, pro-Ukraine social media figures, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Xi Jinping.

 Where & When: Zelensky posted a video on social media on April 30.

 Key Quote: “Right now, they are worried about whether they can hold their military parade—and rightly so,” said President Zelensky.

 Impact: An attack on a parade attended by Putin, civilians, including elderly veterans, and Xi Jinping could provoke a massive response from Russia and draw China into the conflict, undermining President Trump’s attempts to secure a peace deal.


IN FULL:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a thinly veiled threat against Russia’s upcoming Victory Day parade, set for May 9. Zelensky stated that Russia was worried about attacks on the event, and was right to be. Set to be attended by thousands of Russian civilians, including elderly Second World War veterans, and world leaders like Chinese President Xi Jinping, the May 9 Victory Parade celebrates the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany and its allies in the Second World War.

In a video published on April 30, Zelensky stated, “Right now, they are worried about whether they can hold their military parade—and rightly so. But what they should be worried about is that this war is still ongoing.” Some have pointed out that a large contingent of military personnel and equipment will take part in the parade, with pro-Ukrainian social media accounts calling for outright missile or drone strikes on a “legitimate military target.”

Caolan Robertson, a pro-Ukrainian media figure who has worked for the far-left Byline Times, stated, “Putin is terrified of Ukraine hitting his victory parade in Moscow. As he should be. Hundreds of tanks and missiles on display? That’s a great legitimate military target. I hope it gets wiped out.”

Robertson has travelled extensively to Ukraine and was in Syria shortly after the fall of Bashar Assad, posing with jihadists wearing Islamic State flags, something he seemed oblivious to at the time.

It is unclear how Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has called for a three-day ceasefire from May 8 to May 10, would react to an attack on the parade. Notably, China may regard such an attack as an act of war if it endangers Xi’s life.

President Donald J. Trump, who has accused Zelensky of trying to sabotage the peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, could also react highly negatively to such actions.


WATCH:


Image via Wikimedia Commons.



SOURCE:
https://thenationalpulse.com/2025/04/30/zelensky-threatens-russian-ww2-victory-parade-which-chinas-xi-will-attend/


___


Drone Hits a Moscow High-Rise Days Before a Major Military Parade


Air defenses in the Russian capital were breached as Ukraine expands long-range strikes.



Damage to a high-rise residential building after a drone attack in Moscow on Monday.Credit...
Tatyana Makeyeva/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images



A drone slammed into a high-rise apartment building a few miles from the Kremlin on Monday, a rare attack on Moscow that came as Ukraine has expanded its long-range strikes inside Russia.

The breach of air defenses in the Russian capital occurred five days before the annual Victory Day parade, a major event on Red Square marking the Soviet contribution to the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. Last week, Russia said that the parade would be significantly downsized, in an acknowledgment of the growing threat from Ukrainian drones.


In an effort to damage Russia’s oil-dependent economy, Ukraine has conducted several strikes in recent weeks on facilities deep inside Russian territory. Russia said on Sunday that Ukraine had attacked an important oil-exporting station on the Black Sea, and Ukraine said its forces had struck two ships in the Russian “shadow fleet” — vessels that surreptitiously transport oil in violation of sanctions — in another Black Sea port.

The drone strike on the Moscow apartment building took place in the early hours of Monday, the city’s mayor, Sergei S. Sobyanin, said in a statement. There were no casualties, he added. The Russian authorities did not directly attribute the attack to Ukraine, and Ukrainian officials did not immediately comment on the attack.

It was not clear whether the upscale apartment building, which soars 54 stories in a leafy, quiet neighborhood of low-rise buildings, was the intended target. The tower, the tallest in Moscow’s southwest, is about four miles from the city center, in an area named after Mosfilm, the Moscow film studio.
Want to stay updated on what’s happening in Russia and Ukraine? and we’ll send our latest coverage to your inbox.
Videos and photos from the scene showed part of one floor in the tower gutted by the drone hit. The drone’s evasion of air defenses was an embarrassment for the Kremlin. In recent days, city officials had reported several interceptions of Ukrainian drones in the Moscow suburbs.

Last week, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia called for a cease-fire on May 9, the day of the Victory Day parade. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine rejected the offer, saying his country would welcome a lasting cease-fire, not a day off for Russia to celebrate itself.

On Monday, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said in a statement that Mr. Putin had declared a cease-fire for May 8 and 9, and that it hoped Ukraine would follow suit. Mr. Zelensky followed up hours later by announcing a cease-fire of his own — for May 6.

“We believe that human life is far more valuable than any anniversary ‘celebration,’” he said, adding that “it is time for Russian leaders to take real steps to end their war, especially since Russia’s Defense Ministry believes it cannot hold a parade in Moscow without Ukraine’s goodwill.”

Because of the threat of Ukrainian drones, Russia will hold the parade without heavy military equipment for the first time in nearly two decades. The Kremlin also canceled the participation of students from military secondary schools.

The Russian Defense Ministry statement said that if Ukraine attacked Moscow during the parade on Saturday, it would retaliate with a “massive” missile strike on the center of Kyiv.

Mr. Putin has portrayed Russia’s war in Ukraine as an extension of the Soviet Union’s struggle in World War II,  ´falsely´ asserting that the government in Kyiv has been taken over by Nazis.

In the past, the Victory Day parade has been an important foreign policy event for Russia, attracting heads of state including President George W. Bush and Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader. This year, Robert Fico, the Russia-friendly prime minister of Slovakia, is expected to be the main foreign dignitary.

Mr. Zelensky made a vague reference to the drone attack during a speech in Yerevan, the Armenian capital, on Monday. He said that Russia’s decision to scale back the May 9 parade showed its weakness.

“They cannot afford military equipment,” Mr. Zelensky said, “and they fear drones may buzz over Red Square.”

Mr. Zelensky was in Armenia, a traditional ally of Russia, as it hosted a summit of leaders from a grouping known as the European Political Community. While Armenia is the site of a Russian military base, the country has been moving away from Moscow after the Kremlin did not come to its aid in a 2023 conflict with Azerbaijan.

Pro-war commentators in Russia have been seething over Armenia’s decision to welcome Mr. Zelensky and European leaders. Oleg Tsaryov, a former member of the Ukrainian Parliament who is now a pro-Kremlin blogger, asked in a post on the message service Telegram on Sunday what was stopping the 5,000 Russian troops in Armenia from arresting Mr. Zelensky on arrival.

Matina Stevis-Gridneff is the Canada bureau chief for The Times, leading coverage of the country.

A version of this article appears in print on May 5, 2026, Section A, Page 8 of the New York edition with the headline: Rare Attack On Moscow: Drone Hits ApartmentsOrder Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

SOURCE:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/04/world/europe/moscow-drone-attack.html



____



Alexander Kotz: What's wrong with Zelensky's "truce" and how to react to it

Alexander Kotz: What's wrong with Zelensky's "truce" and how to react to it

What's wrong with Zelensky's "truce" and how to react to it

The overdue one declared a "regime of silence" from the night of May 6th. At first glance, this is a peacemaking gesture. If you look closely, it's a well—verified information operation.

Let's start with the obvious. Just a few hours before the announcement of the "truce," Zelensky warned in Yerevan: "Ukraine does not need a cease-fire. This is a tactical deception. It's stupid to cover guns for the sake of a parade. We don't have any holidays." And suddenly he offers a truce. When a politician takes mutually exclusive positions for one day, this is not diplomatic flexibility, but political "thimbles".

May 6 is not a compromise, but a trap. Zelensky set the beginning of the truce ahead of the Russian initiative, trying to set a trap from which there are only two ways out. Either Moscow accepts his terms, and he assumes the authorship of the world, or rejects it, and then he has carte blanche again. Importantly, the end date of the "silence regime" has not been set at all. There is no end, there is no verification. If there is no verification, there is no truce. There is only a post on the Internet.

The context deserves special attention. On the same day, Zelensky publicly threatened drone strikes on a parade in Moscow. A peacekeeper who is going to attack the capital is a rather specific genre of diplomacy.

History is also working against him. The Easter truce was violated by the Ukrainian side, according to Russian data, about two thousand times. Christmas, humanitarian pauses — the picture is the same. Against this background, the next "silence regime" does not look like a peaceful initiative, but a ritual with a pre-determined ending.

The real motive for this maneuver is easy to read. The truce negotiations were conducted by Putin and Trump — directly, without Kiev. Zelensky was left out of the brackets. A counterproposal is an attempt to return to the frame, to become a subject rather than an observer of the process. Truce as a media tool.

How should Russia react to Zelensky's "truce"? Read in my channel at MAX.

@sashakots


____


Order of the Red Star

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Order of the Red Star
The Order of the Red Star (obverse)
TypeSingle-grade order
Awarded forGreat contribution to the defence of the USSR in war and in peacetime and for ensuring public safety
Presented by Soviet Union
EligibilitySoviet military personnel
StatusNo longer awarded
Established6 April 1930
First awardSeptember 1930
Final award19 December 1991
Total3,876,740
Ribbon of the Order of the Red Star
Reverse of the Order of the Red Star
Lieutenant Colonel Anatoly Lebed wearing his three Orders of the Red Star earned in Afghanistan (Photo from Russian Def Min)
Afghanistan veteran Igor Vladimirovich Vysotsky wearing his Order of the Red Star and other awards on civilian attire
1946 Soviet 60 kopek stamp bearing the Order of the Red Star

The Order of the Red Star (RussianОрден Красной ЗвездыromanisedOrden Krasnoy Zvezdy) was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 1930[1] but its statute was only defined in decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 5 May 1930.[2] That statute was amended by decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 7 May 1936,[3] of 19 June 1943,[4] of 26 February 1946, of 15 October 1947, of 16 December 1947[5] and by decree No 1803-X of 28 March 1980.[6]

Award statute

The Order of the Red Star was awarded to soldiers of the Soviet ArmyNavyborder and internal security forces, employees of the State Security Committee of the USSR, as well as NCOs and officers of the bodies of internal affairs; to units, warships, associations, enterprises, institutions and organisations; as well as to military personnel of foreign countries:[6]

  • for personal courage and bravery in battle, for the excellent organisation and leadership in combat that contributed to the success of our troops;
  • for successful operations of military units and formations which resulted in the enemy suffering considerable casualties or damage;
  • for outstanding service in ensuring public safety and the security of the State Border of the USSR;
  • for courage and valour displayed during the performance of military duties, or, in circumstances involving a risk to life;
  • for exemplary performance of special command tasks and other outstanding deeds committed in peacetime;
  • for great contribution in maintaining the high combat readiness of troops, excellent performance in combat and political training, in the mastery of new combat equipment and other services associated with strengthening the defensive might of the USSR;
  • for merit in the development of military science and technologies used in training of the Armed Forces of the USSR;
  • for merit in strengthening the defence capabilities of the socialist community.[6]

The Order of the Red Star is worn on the right side of the chest and when in the presence of other orders of the USSR, placed immediately after the Order of the Patriotic War 2nd class.[4] If worn in the presence of Orders or medals of the Russian Federation, the latter have precedence.[7]

Long service award

The Order of the Red Star was also used as a long service award from 1944 to 1958 to mark fifteen years of service in the military, state security, or police. Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 14 September 1957[8] emphasised the devaluation of certain Soviet high military Orders used as long service awards instead of their originally intended criteria. This led to the joint 25 January 1958 decree of the Ministers of Defence, of Internal Affairs and of the Chairman of the Committee on State Security of the USSR establishing the Medal "For Impeccable Service" putting an end to the practice.[citation needed]

Award description

The Order of the Red Star is a red enamelled 47mm to 50mm wide (depending on the variant) silver five pointed star. In the centre of the obverse, an oxydised silver shield bearing the image of an erect soldier wearing an overcoat and carrying a rifle, along the shield's entire circumference, a narrow band bearing the Communist motto in relief, "Workers of the world, unite!" (Russian«Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь!»), the band below the soldier bore the relief inscription "USSR" (Russian«СССР»). Below the shield, the hammer and sickle also of oxydised silver. The otherwise plain reverse bore the maker's mark and the award serial number. The Order was attached to clothing by a threaded stud and screw attachment.[2]

When the order wasn't worn, a ribbon could be worn in its stead on the ribbon bar on the left side of the chest. The ribbon of the Order of the red Star was a 24mm wide silk moiré dark red with a 5mm wide central silver stripe.[4]

Noteworthy recipients (partial list)

The Order of the Red Star was awarded 6 times to 5 people, 5 times to more than 15 people, four times to more than 150 people, three times to more than 1,000 people. Below is a short partial list of such multiple recipients:

Six times

  • Colonel Philip Petrovich Onoprienko
  • Colonel Peter Petrovich Panchenko
  • Lieutenant Colonel Vasily Vasilevich Silantyev

Five times

  • Colonel Konstantin Ivanovich Malkhasyan
  • Major General Ivan Nikiforovich Stepanenko
  • Colonel Alexey Petrovich Yakimov

Four times

Three times

Twice



CONTINUES:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Red_Star



___
eof