Jump to content
News Ticker
  • I am now accepting the following payment methods: Card Payments, Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal
  • Latest News

    Unapproved awards of the Defense Ministry


    TacHel

    Recommended Posts

    Below are 3 unapproved (albeit quite nice) decorations.  For some reason, the then defense minister simply refused to sign their establishment orders.  You might find them on the market, even on the odd Russian service uniform...  But make no mistake, these were never officially approved.

     

    85900251_50YearsofStrategicRocketForces.jpg.7370d8ebb17c6f2cda270e485b429664.jpg

    50 Years of Strategic Missile (Rocket) Forces.  Read in an article the commanding general's face just dropped when the minister simply laughed and walked away...

     

    479545112_60YearsOfTheMoscowOperationalHousingManagement.jpg.11a086ad0c13195d471186fcf91d7d12.jpg

    60 Years Of The Moscow Operational Housing Management

     

    1246379171_300yearsofrussianmilitarymusic.jpg.c993eafeada32972ec47e5492129d2f3.jpg

    300 years of russian military music

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Hi! Just a question to understand:

    Were these medals produced - before - approval (which didn't happen later) in anticipation that they would be approved - or - were, and are, they (being) produced - after and even in spite of - their approval had been turned down?

    Cheers

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    • 2 weeks later...

    Pre order medals were produced in numbers by at least one maker.  This practice is quite normal, the Russian market being what it is (with so many focussing on themes versus provenance), they know they'll sell them anyway.  To be perfectly honest with you, the Startegic Missile and Military Music ones not being approved shocked the (censured) out of everybody, a few generals even presented the music one anyway during major events.  And incredibly, yes, some cheap copies are being made to this day...  Go figure.

    Even with the crackdown on the wearing of unofficial awards in Russia, it isn't impossible to see military personnel and veterans wearing these...  As far as they.re concerned, they're public awards.  Huge grey area...

    These aren't the only ones...  Well over a dozen medals were struck in large numbers bearing the Ministry of Defense emblem but were never officialised.

    17812604_Medal75yearsoffuelservicepipelinetroopsMORF.jpg.fc55a718a1c70d63a5ad3b54df84142d.jpg

    1476919855_JointStrategicExerciseUnionShield2015.jpg.538739c5f57ed8ef881b7671e67863e4.jpg

    573928999_SpecialControlService50Years.jpg.86a75ae8f2956aeae6a10c3e3ef75258.jpg

    848594294_90yearsmilitaryintelligence.jpg.f0af73cc459c245f1bd0525ce07dbb24.jpg

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    On 06/04/2020 at 13:28, Paul R said:

    The heraldry office there in Russia really puts in overtime.

    You have no idea...  They actually have a travelling show going from convention to convention.  Very impressive.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now
    ×
    ×
    • Create New...

    Important Information

    We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.