TacHel

President Medvedev has approved a new medal: Jubilee medal "65 YEARS OF VICTORY IN THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR 1941 - 1945" Decree 238 dated 4 March 2009. Link to President Medvedev's speech (in English) of 4 December 2009 during the first award ceremony (courtesy of Christophe) Link to the actual Presidential Decree (in Russian) (courtesy of Christophe)

Emanuel, I've never seen a French medal bar, period. They wear their medals all individually pinned on the uniform. I've seen the odd attempt at a bar but since they wear their medals only 3 wide, it gets complicated and quite cumbersome really fast.

Eight months later... L to R, Excellent Marksman, Excellent Sailor, Excellent Airborne, Excellent Space Troop. I have yet to see a single picture of Russian servicemen or women wearing these. The above model is easily found on Russian ODM auction sites, while the model with the flag mostly shows up on eBay.

No pics...:(

The SVR is 70% pure military, simply not under the Defense Ministry. Look at the SVR's long service medals my friend, they're military medals. Go on the SVR's web site and scan through the press releases, all military uniforms on the pictures. But that doesn't explain this ribbon now does it?:unsure:

This is yet another "non-governmental" medal denoting the same event.

Good point... This is the first time I've seen a Red Eagle Order on a non-combattant ribbon, absolutely awesome set!:jumping:

Emanuel, AWESOME bar! What are the other medals on it?

Outstanding! What a great thing to learn of such people! Thanks for sharing!:cheers:

Komtur, that's a BE-AU-TI-FUL set!! Why no Wilhelm der Grosse Centennial medal? The bearer made it to 1897 since he has the 25 year leaves on his Ek2... Just curious...

This medal with the GRU emblem is one of the unofficial medals being pawned off as the real thing. I'm actually quite surprised that a non government organization was allowed to hang it from a ribbon that closely ressembles real Defense Ministry colours.

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.

Just found some more swindles on eBay. Be extremely weary of so called official medals not found on my Wiki page! I've seen 2 sellers who post a reverse pic showing an official ministerial affiliation that is NOT the reverse of the actual medal being sold!

As usual, OUTSTANDING!:jumping:

Actually NADA from eBay. I've reached the limits of what eBay offers. I now have a dealer supplying me directly from Russia.

Fourragères are not individual awards, they are unit awards. An individual earning a CdG will not get a fourragère. A fourragère is worn by all of the unit members when the unit as a whole was awarded a CdG. Now, as far as design goes, my knowledge is a bit limited, but I believe the cords (over and under arm) differ because of the makers. Many wore French made fourragères which differed from the later US made ones. I have both French and US made example and although similar in color, it stops there! The US made examples are much simpler in design then their European counterparts. I'll take pictures of the ones I have as sson as I have a few minutes, you'll see the differences. The outer cords were for citations numbering above 9 times if memory serves...

Award document.

Official medal of the defense ministry. Several non official medals were also struck to commemorate the same department but this is the one and only official/governmental medal.

The link below will take you to a Russian web site displaying all of the Defense Ministry's sub departments. There are quite a few. Clicking on an individual emblem will bring you to a different page with a larger image of the emblem and the name of the sub department. The site is in Russian though. LINK TO SITE

Great set! Congrats! I have a question though... Why is the Albecht Order so far back? I understand it is a non Prussian award but is it simply because it was given in peace time?

Commemorative Medal of the "15th Anniversary of the Federal Agency for Safe Storage and Destruction of Chemical Weapons. As mentioned in the initial post, I am still searching for the official ministerial order. The only reason I believe this medal to be genuinely official (governmental) is the fact is is suspended from a ribbon with the colours of the Defense Ministry (yellow half with black stripes).

This customs official is seen receiving the above medal. The citation mentioned his multi year active involvement in the transfer of such weapons from ex soviet republics to the main disarmament centers.

Federal Agency for Safe Storage and Destruction of Chemical Weapons. A department of the Defense Ministry of the Russian Federation. Medal for Strengthening the Brotherhood of Chemical Disarmament. I am still searching for the ministerial order and award criteria, if anybody knows where I can find them, please advise. All I've been able to discover so far is that it was instituted in 2007.

The tri colour ribbon has been used to excess by non governmental organizations, especially since the new state regulations forbid them from using colours similar to governmental awards. Also, many ministerial and departmental awards for service in the Caucasus that were replaced by the cross almost all hanged from that ribbon. But in this case, we're talking about wearing what is one of the highest honours in the country, you'd think fiddling with the design would be a major nono... Or that at the very least, the official web site would mention this should it now be allowed.

This was a VERY GOOD month! Top row L to R -Medal for the Brotherhood of Emergency Services (EMERCOM) -Commemorative Medal for 90 Years of Military Intelligence (Def Min) -Medal for Merit in Upholding the Memory of Fallen Defenders of the Fatherland 1st class (Def Min) -Cross for Valor (EMERCOM) -Medal of the "15th Anniversary of the Federal Agency for Safe Storage and Destruction of Chemical Weapons" (Def Min) -Medal for Strengthening the Brotherhood of Chemical Disarmament (Def Min) Bottom row L to R -Breast Badge "Veteran Aviator of the MES of Russia" (EMERCOM) -Breast badge for "Model Member of a Special Police Unit" (MVD) -Breast Badge "For Faithfulness to Duty" (MVD) -Breast Badge "Model Employee in Fire Prevention" (EMERCOM) -Breast Badge "Participant in Disaster Relief Management" (EMERCOM)