Russian Federation Cross for Service in the Caucasus

[TacHel]

Instituted by order of the Defense Minister in August 2001. Awarded to personnel of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation for service in anti-terrorist operations in the North Caucasus. It is aimed at replacing the very many official, semi official and unit awards bestowed for military service in the Caucasus between 1994 and 2004.

It comes in 2 classes, gold and silver, gold being the higher class. Gold class is for officers and warrant officers. Silver class is for other ranks.

Even though the cross bears the logo of the Defense Ministry at its center, all troops from the Russian Federation regardless of ministerial affiliation are eligible for this award.

Note: the crosses are also available for purchase in green or red. Supposedly, the green crosses are for border troops and the red crosses are for the legal branch. I have seen both colours advertised for sale from Russian medal makers on Russian web sites but have yet to find any official documentation supporting this. Nor have I found any pictures suggesting these were ever issued.

Edited May 17, 2009 by TacHel

[TacHel]

Award documents for the 1st and 2nd class crosses.

Edited March 22, 2009 by TacHel

[TacHel]

These are some of the semi official or otherwise completely bogus (unofficial++) awards previously bestowed by units, or by civilian or veterans' organizations. Even the 2 fine looking medals are 100% bogus.

[TacHel]

The ONLY other official (governmental) award bestowed for the Caucasus is from the Ministry of the Interior in the form of the Medal for Combat Service in the North Caucasus 1994-2004.

It comes in 2 variants. The early design had no date on the obverse, the post 2004 design has the years 1994-2004 on the obverse. Both have identical reverses consisting of "No" and a space to enter a number.

Note: a bogus 10th anniversary medal is easily found on the market. It has an identical obverse as the dated version but has a reverse inscription mentioning the 10th anniversary of the end of the conflict (10 лет). This medal is completely bogus (unofficial), it hangs from the same ribbon which is flipped to reverse the national colours at its center.

[TacHel]

This is the bogus 10th anniversary medal with award document. Many civilian and/or veterans' and/or political associations/committees bestow medals with very official looking documents and have their own also quite official looking stamps. These are unofficial (non governmental) awards.

This is a perfect example of such a medal.

Edited March 22, 2009 by TacHel

[TacHel]

After 2 full years of searching for a silver Caucasus cross and not finding a single one, I went on multiple Russian "faleristika" forums to find out what the problem was... I learned this...

Only the Moscow Mint made the silver crosses, all other makers choosing to make the gold version. End result = 10 times more gold crosses than silver ones when exactly the opposite ratio was required. This means that MANY soldiers and non-coms ended up getting the gold version (for officers and WOs) simply due to an acute shortage of silver ones.

DUH!:rolleyes:

[bmsm]

Frank,

Very informative!! Keep up the good work.

Bob

[TacHel]

Thanks... Last year I've enrolled in 2 particularly helpful Russian faleristics forums where the guys actually know their stuff. Full of serious collectors and what really helps, many serving members of the RF armed forces, MVD and Courier Service. They've given me new insight and many new links. I've also been in contact with a member of the Heraldic Council under the President of Russia. Even he can't keep up with all the new stuff coming out.

The Russians have so many uniformed ministries and departments, all with their own awards that it's a veritable nightmare trying to keep up. Personally, I'm mostly interested in military awards, but almost every ministry has troops!! The Defense Ministry, the Interior Ministry, the Ministry for Emergency Situations, the Federal Security Service, the Federal Protective Service, the Foreign Intelligence Service, the Federal Courier Service... Enough to go nuts. I hope I get to live to a ripe old 3 digit age... I'll need that much time to sort it all out.

[TacHel]

Oh oh... Yet another find about this elusive cross.

It wasn't a "given" for simple service in the Caucasus... You actually had to be recommended for it. Seems officers were very good at recommending each other while the troops were pretty much forgotten. You see? It doesn't matter what country's military you serve in, the story never changes.:rolleyes:

[TacHel]

Oh oh... Yet another find about this elusive cross.

It wasn't a "given" for simple service in the Caucasus... You actually had to be recommended for it. Seems officers were very good at recommending each other while the troops were pretty much forgotten. You see? It doesn't matter what country's military you serve in, the story never changes.

Finally found one!!

[TacHel]

New development, the Federal Security Service (FSB) has produced and bestowed its own Caucasus Cross. I'm still looking for the official ministerial order but have received multiple confirmations from Russia that this is a genuine article.

My contacts in Russia also mention a new projected award of the MVD for the same service.

[tsarenko1975]

Hi, Gents! "Участнику Сухумской СО - АВ" is unofficial badge of veteran's brotherhood MIA Special Force Detachment "Vityaz". Sukhumi incident is assault of jail in august 1990. See www.bratishka.ru

Good luck!

[TacHel]

Hi, Gents! "Участнику Сухумской СО - АВ" is unofficial badge of veteran's brotherhood MIA Special Force Detachment "Vityaz". Sukhumi incident is assault of jail in august 1990. See www.bratishka.ru

Good luck!

Tsarenko, could you give me a more precise URL please? Like one directly to the info you mention.

Thank you,

[tsarenko1975]

May be, this:http://www.bratishka.ru/specnaz/vv/vityaz/symbol.php

[TacHel]

May be, this:http://www.bratishka.ru/specnaz/vv/vityaz/symbol.php

I still cannot find anything on the particular cross...:unsure: