150px|thumb|right|Reverse of the Order of the Red Star

150px|thumb|right|[[Lieutenant Colonel Anatoly Lebed wearing his three Orders of the Red Star earned in Afghanistan (Photo from Russian Def Min)]]

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150px|thumb|right|Afghanistan veteran Igor Vladimirovich Vysotsky wearing his Order of the Red Star and other awards on civilian attire

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150px|thumb|right|1946 Soviet 60 kopek stamp bearing the Order of the Red Star

The Order of the Red Star () 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 but its statute was only defined in decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 5 May 1930. That statute was amended by decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 7 May 1936, of 19 June 1943, of 26 February 1946, of 15 October 1947, of 16 December 1947 and by decree No 1803-X of 28 March 1980.

Award statute

The Order of the Red Star was awarded to soldiers of the Soviet Army, Navy, border 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:

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 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.

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!" (), the band below the soldier bore the relief inscription "USSR" (). 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.

  • Mikhail Mil
  • Heydar Aliyev
  • Evdokia Zavaliy
  • Astronaut Vladimir Dzhanibekov
  • Pilot Khiuaz Dospanova
  • Major Yakov Drob
  • Lieutenant General Alexander Lebed
  • Vasily Degtyaryov
  • Marshal of the Soviet Union Vasily Chuikov
  • Physicist Georgy Mihailovich Kondratiev
  • Manhattan Project spy Harry Gold (secret)
  • World War II Soviet spy Elizabeth Bentley (secret)
  • Cold War Nuclear Submariner, Seaman Sergei Preminin
  • Guards Sergeant Mariya Borovichenko
  • Vice Admiral Vasily Arkhipov
  • Tamara Pamyatnykh, female fighter pilot
  • Ants Laaneots
  • Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn commander of a sound-ranging battery in the Red Army and Nobel laureate for literature.
  • Aleksandra Shlyakhova
  • Mikhail Konstantinovich Kudryavtsev
  • Colonel Nikolai Petrov, Deputy head of Moscow Anti-Aircraft Defences
  • Olga Avilova, surgeon
  • Ilya Devin, writer
  • Lieutenant Mikhail Golobokov
  • Victor Stern
  • Senior Lieutenant Алишев Ахан
  • Cosmonaut Valentin Bondarenko, who died as the result of burns sustained in a fire during a 15-day low-pressure endurance experiment as a part of the Soviet space programme.
  • Lieutenant Charles Thau

Units

  • Alexandrov Ensemble
  • 89th Rifle Division
  • 9th Infantry Division
  • 80th Airmobile Regiment
  • 8th Army Corps
  • 7th Guards Airborne Division
  • 10th Guards Motor Rifle Division
  • 35th Guards Motor Rifle Division

In 2015 the Order of the Red Star award awarded to Ukrainian army units were removed as part of a removal of Soviet awards and decorations from Ukrainian military units.

References

  • Legal Library of the USSR
  • Soviet-Awards.com A non-commercial website
  • Russian language, non-commercial website