Gaffken

The reverse looks believable to me...do many fakes normally appear with the Ministry stamp on back?

With the help of a friend, I might have tracked down what appears to be the National Guard's (Rosgvardia's) service medal below, but I'm curious for everyone's thoughts. Like the MoD medal above, it seems to have the proper Ministry attributions on the reverse, although the obverse again seems a bit unusual.

The second photo is supposedly a real example, but I already notice differences in it from the first pic...

Gaffken 

Thanks Megan...that's indeed odd/unusual. And especially since multiple ministries are involved. Hopefully time will tell...

All,

Wondering if there might be an official Russian campaign or service medal issued for the current Ukraine war/special operation that was launched last year, similar to the Syria or Caucasus campaign medals of the past. I've seen plenty of Ukrainian service medals floating around currently, but has anyone seen anything from the Russian side?

Many thanks,

Gaffken

>  Is OMON going into the Ministry of Justice or the FSB?

Oops, sorry...poor wording. I meant that along with the VV, OMON and SOBR were pulled over to the National Guard, too. No change to the Justice Ministry or FSB though. All that's left of the MVD now is the civil police and the counter-narcotics folks (the former FSKN; it was reabsorbed into the MVD back in April too)...

I can’t really help with the individual medals listed above, but I can honestly add that the Internal Troops medals will ALL be gone soon, if they aren’t already. That’s mainly because the Internal Troops don’t exist anymore, and were broken off from the wider MVD and rebranded the (Russian) National Guard in April 2016. Other MVD forces like the special police units (OMON and SOBR) were pulled away too, leaving just the regular police/Militia to comprise the MVD from now on.

Gaffken

I heard about this back at the time, too, unfortunately. Motorcycle accident in Moscow. Hit the curb, flipped forward, and died of massive head injuries. I remember seeing a lot of press about it, but few details, if any, on any official ceremonies...

It seems there's a Spetsnaz kick going on in Russia these days--I just saw this one today:

Russian president hails, decorates special unit that fought in war with Georgia

August 8, 2011

[Presenter] The 10th Separate Brigade of the Defence Ministry spetsnaz [special-purpose troops] was one of the first to stand in the way of the Georgian troops in those August days [of 2008]. Dmitriy Medvedev visited its base today. Seventy-six of its servicemen were earlier awarded orders and medal for courage, while Pte Rashufan Abdullin was posthumously awarded the tile of Hero of Russia.

The president spoke highly of the brigade's achievements and combat skills, and presented it with the Order of Zhukov.

[The 10th Separate Brigade of the spetsnaz was formed in May 2003, in the village of Molkino in Krasnodar Territory. "It is a combined reconnaissance unit of the Southern Military District and is designed to provide the command with timely intelligence," the report said, adding that its personnel "took part in the operation to force Georgia into peace in August 2008".]

This is the only one I saved, but I know there are more out there. 13 August 2008. Also, I didn't recall til now, but I'm pretty sure the unit goes by the moniker 'Grey Wolves,' too...

Just a postscript, but if I recall right, Lebed was also the guy who led an element of the 45th Regt. into Poti, Georgia during the 2008 war and essentially sunk the Georgian Coast Guard there. I have some pics of that somewhere that I'll try and dig out...

I wasn't aware of the 21st OBRON's beret either--that's great info!

Frank: In addition to the red beret's of the 21st and the MVD Spetsnaz, there's also a newer one introduced more recently--a green beret for intelligence, which is about the same hue as the Border Troops green, if I recall right (ie, but not as dark as US green berets).

Gaffken

What do you mean with this "'93 coup" ?

...or 'attempted coup', I probably should say, since it failed. Basically, the September '93 incident that involved the shelling of the White House by the 2nd GMRD and other Moscow area units:

Frank,

Any idea how many were officially awarded, and what the exact criteria was?

I'm also kind of curious if there was a similar medal struck for the '93 coup, now that I see the White House on this medal...

Gaffken

(A couple of yrs late in reply, but...)

I was just at the Platterhof last month and have to admit that I was completely ignorant of where I was standing with regard to the photo in post #9. Only when I returned home to the US did I realize that just beyond the guardrail in that photo stood the mammoth Platterhof, which to my shock was torn down and meticulously looted in 2000. With my US military affiliation, I actually had the opportunity to stay in the General Walker shortly before it reverted back to the Germans in the mid-90s (back then it was simply ‘Armed Forces Recreation Facility, Berchtesgaden’), and I’m kicking myself that I didn’t do so because now it’s gone, which I was appalled to learn. Granted, I don’t know for sure why it was torn down after only 5 yrs of disuse, but I can only imagine it was for some of the usual concerns. I was told that the only remaining remnant of the original hotel was the foundation for a large 200 car parking garage on the far side of the hotel, which is now a bus stop and gift shop for buses going up to the so-called Eagles Nest/Kehlsteinhaus.

The building in post 7&8 is still there and is a nice little restaurant (our group ate there, but I can’t recall the name now), as is the Klubheim further down the hill on the left (in Terry’s other post on the Berghof), which is now a museum referred to ominously as the ‘Documentation Center’, though there was no mention whatsoever in my tour that it was once Bormann’s office. The one item that might possibly be new since Terry’s photos is the bunker complex (air raid shelters) now open to the public which were under the Platterhof, and are now accessible via a tunnel from the Documentation Center. Unfortunately, I don’t have any new exterior photos to add to Terry’s (nothing’s really changed anyway), but here’s a few sparing photos of the incomplete Bunker Anlage…

Berghof aside, this is a truly fabulous part of Germany unlike any other, and you should definitely visit if you ever have the chance.

Gaffken

Machinery room:

Air raid shelter in the same complex:

I've looked through a few Russian heraldic sites but couldn't find it...

The one thing that surprised me about this medal was the choice of ribbon. It's in the colors of the Foreign Intelligence Service, a completely separate organization, almost a rival within Russia. They merely used the ribbon from the Medal for "Veteran of the Foreign Intelligence Service" and reversed it.

Thanks for looking Frank!

I guess I can sort of understand the logic of the ribbon, being that the GRU and SVR both have responsibilities abroad, but it's still a little odd (like you say), esp. when you consider that the GRU is a military entity while the SVR is non-military. I suppose it would be interesting to know what the colors in the ribbon represent...that might explain the inversion. (or maybe there's just a ribbon shortage in Russia )

I'm not quite sure what the significance of the red starburst is to the GRU, but here's a variation that I recalled from the patch of the old 24th Spetsnaz Brigade...

Frank,

I don't have a definitive answer for your question, but I can say that I've made the same observation that you have, in that the use of the tri-color ribbon seems to be spreading. I can't recall exactly, but I noticed this happening with increasing frequency maybe 4-5 yrs ago in photos of new award recipients (probably from Chechnya, etc), as the brightly colored ribbons really seemed to jump out in the photos. Realize this isn't too much help to you, but thought the timeframe might help your researching...

Sorry Christophe--this is all there is...there wasn't a scan of the other side of the document.

Like you, I think it may be unofficial--I found it interesting that there wasn't any sort of government crest (eagles, etc) visible on the medal or the document (that I can see, that is), which led me to believe it's non-official, but apart from that, I have no idea where it might have come from (?). First Georgia-related service medal I've seen, nevertheless.

Guys,

Can you explain what this might be? Commemorative or unofficial? The red text is inscribed on the reverse; somehow it doesn't appear official to me, but...

Gaffken

When I started reading this thread, I immediately thought of Wild Card's great piece, which he had shown somewhere long ago, though I had no idea it was boxed/cased! I don't ever think I've seen a cased example...

(Tony must have been holding out on me, too, because I never new he owned one of these!)

I recently stumbled upon this 'then&now' video of Königsberg on YouTube, which so succinctly evinces how starkly Kaliningrad contrasts with the city lost during the war:

Königsberg vs. Kaliningrad

I'm not sure if this is totally correct, but I think the guy above (with the 1st class order) might be Viktor Chrenomyrdin, ambassador to Ukraine, though I've never seen a photo of him before.

(I hear he received this award in May...)

Gaffken

Here's a front view of the Opera when I was there in 2008; I would have been standing on the left in Terry's photo, facing to the right. If this city was heavily damaged in WWI, you'd never know it today, IMO, and unlike the reconstruction carried out after WWII in other cities...

To echo Jeremy's comments, my god what a waste...I'd heard stories of how much damage Königsberg sustained in the last battle, but didn't fully understand how cataclysmic it was until I saw that first photo from 1947.

I gather that not too many photos exist of the city right after the battle because of how late it occurred in the war--do any others out there know of any good resources like that online?

Beautiful website though--it almost makes the old city look like a fairytale (but to think what it looks like now...).

Gaffken

My Russian's pretty bad, but I think the title roughly breaks out to '65 years since the lifting of the blockade on Leningrad' (ie, Jan 1944).

Gaffken

Conversely, I've also just heard them called the 'FSB Border Service' or 'FSB Border Troops' (ala the old 'KGB Border Troops' convention). Also does a bit to preserve the western acronym 'FBS', swapping the 'Federal' for 'FSB'.

There's no longer a Tajikistan service medal/cross because the FBS pulled out of there in 2003-4, though I wonder if there'll be a new medal for service in Georgia (Abkhazia and South Ossetia) where Border Troops deployed in May (?).