The Order of Alexander Nevsky ( ''orden Alexandra Nevskogo'') is an
order of merit
The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by ...
of the
Russian Federation
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
named in honour of saint
Alexander Nevsky
Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (russian: Александр Ярославич Невский; ; 13 May 1221 – 14 November 1263) served as Prince of Novgorod (1236–40, 1241–56 and 1258–1259), Grand Prince of Kiev (1236–52) and Gran ...
(1220–1263) and bestowed to civil servants for twenty years or more of highly meritorious service. It was originally established by the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
as a military honour during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, more precisely by Decree of the
Presidium of the Supreme Soviet
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (russian: Президиум Верховного Совета, Prezidium Verkhovnogo Soveta) was a body of state power in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Its statute was amended by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of February 26, 1947. It bears a similar name to the Imperial Order of St. Alexander Nevsky which had been established by Empress
Catherine I of Russia
Catherine I ( rus, Екатери́на I Алексе́евна Миха́йлова, Yekaterína I Alekséyevna Mikháylova; born , ; – ) was the second wife and empress consort of Peter the Great, and Empress Regnant of Russia from 1725 u ...
in 1725, and continued to be bestowed by the heads of the
House of Romanov
The House of Romanov (also transcribed Romanoff; rus, Романовы, Románovy, rɐˈmanəvɨ) was the reigning dynasty, imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastacia of Russia, Anastasi ...
after the 1917
Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...
. The Order of Alexander Nevsky was reinstated by the Soviet Union, minus the words "Imperial" and "Saint", for award to officers of the army for personal courage and resolute leadership. The Order was retained by the new Russian Federation following the
dissolution of the USSR
The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
by Decision of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation 2557-I of March 20, 1992 but was never awarded. The September 7, 2010
Decree
A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used ...
№1099 of the
President of the Russian Federation
The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...
redesigned the badge of the Order closer to pre-1917 imperial model and amended the statute of the Order making it a purely civilian award.
Statute of the Soviet and early Russian Federation Order
The Order of Alexander Nevsky was awarded to Red Army commanders who displayed personal bravery in fighting for their country in World War II, for courage, bravery and skilful leadership that ensured the success of an operation.
The Order of Alexander Nevsky was awarded in a single class by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR to divisional, brigade, regimental, battalion, company and platoon commanders for:
*the initiative of a sudden, bold and swift attack on the enemy inflicting major damage with minimal losses;
*constant and clear leadership in the coordination of arms during the execution of a mission resulting in the complete or near total destruction of numerically superior enemy forces;
*the rapid saturation of numerically superior enemy artillery or the destruction of the artillery emplacements that were preventing the advance of our units, or the destruction of a bunker or fortifications, or for repelling a large enemy armour attack causing heavy damage, while in command of an artillery unit or battery;
*successfully completing combat operations that caused great damage to the enemy with no loss while in command of an armoured unit or sub unit;
*successfully carrying out a series of combat missions, inflicting severe damage to enemy manpower and equipment without loss while in command of an aviation unit or sub unit;
*rapid actions and initiative resulting in the capture or destruction of enemy fortifications helping friendly troops to surge forward during an offensive;
*the systematic organisation of clear and timely communications greatly limiting losses, ensuring the success of major combat operations;
*able and rapid execution of amphibious operations with minimal losses, which caused great damage to the enemy and ensured the success of the overall mission.
The Soviet Order of Alexander Nevsky was worn on the right side of the chest and when in the presence of other Orders of the USSR, placed after the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky 3rd class. The early Russian Federation Order of Alexander Nevsky was also worn on the right side of the chest and when in the presence of other Orders, placed after the
Order of Kutuzov
The Order of Kutuzov (russian: орден Кутузова ''orden Kutuzova'') is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named after famous Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov (1745–1813). The Order was established ...
2nd class.
Description of the Soviet and early Russian Federation Order
The Soviet and early Russian Federation Order of Alexander Nevsky was a silver, 50 mm wide and high ruby-red enamelled, five-pointed convex star superimposed on a decagon composed of polished diverging rays. The star had gold-plated rims and edges. In the center of the star, a central medallion bearing the left profile relief image of a helmeted Alexander Nevsky and the inscription along the left and right circumference in prominent letters "ALEXANDER NEVSKY" (russian: «АЛЕКСАНДР НЕВСКИЙ»). The central medallion was surrounded by a gilt laurel wreath bisected at its base by a silver shield bearing the hammer and sickle, the shield is superimposed over gilded sword, spear, bow and quiver of arrows. Two gilt pollaxes cross behind the central medallion, their outward facing blades protruding on either side of the five pointed star's top arm and extending slightly past the decagon's outer edge, their base visible just inside of the star's two lower arms.
The original Order was suspended by a ring through a suspension loop to an early Soviet rectangular mount covered by a red silk moiré ribbon. This was changed in 1943 to a threaded stud and nut attachment on the reverse.
The Soviet variants of the Order used the likeness of the actor Nikolai Cherkasov as Alexander Nevsky from Eisenstein's 1938 film, as there were no known portraits of Nevsky made in his lifetime.
The design of the early Russian Federation variant of the Order differed from the Soviet variant only in the abrogation of the hammer and sickle from the silver shield on the
obverse
Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ...
.
Recipients of the Soviet Order of Alexander Nevsky (partial list)
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
the order was granted to more than 42,000 Soviet servicemen and nine servicewomen, about 70 foreign generals and officers, and over 1,470 military units that display the order on their banners; in all, 50,585 were awarded. Of those recipients, nine were women
Serafima Amosova
Serafima Tarasovna Amosova (; 20 August 1914 – 17 December 1992) was the deputy commander of flight operations in the 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment during the Second World War.
Early life
Amosova was born in central Siberia on 20 ...
,
Yevdokiya Bershanskaya
Yevdokiya Davidovna Bershanskaya (Russian: Евдокия Давыдовна Бершанская; 6 February 1913, in Dobrovolnoye, Stavropol – 16 September 1982, in Moscow) was the regimental commander of the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber ...
Valentina Kravchenko
Valentina Flegontovna Savitskaya née Kravchenko (russian: Валентина Флегонтовна Савицкая; – 15 February 2000) was a Russian pilot and squadron navigator in the 125th Guards Dive Bomber Regiment during World War II. ...
Olga Sanfirova
Olga Aleksandrovna Sanfirova (russian: Ольга Александровна Санфирова; – 13 December 1944) was a captain and squadron commander in the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment during World War II. She was pos ...
,
Mariya Smirnova
Mariya Vasilyevna Smirnova (russian: Мария Васильевна Смирнова; 31 March 1920 – 10 July 2002) was a squadron commander in the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment (nicknamed the "Night Witches") of the Soviet A ...
Pavel Kutakhov
Pavel Stepanovich Kutakhov CBE (; – 3 December 1984) was a flying ace during World War II who went on to become Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Air Forces between 1969 and 1984. During his career he held a variety of commands and visited seve ...
Pierre Pouyade
Pierre Pouyade (25 June 1911 – 5 September 1979) was a French Air Force general, World War II flying ace, and a commander of the Normandie-Niemen squadron. By the end of the War he had scored eight solo victories and two group victories, all bu ...
The Order of Alexander Nevsky is awarded to citizens of the Russian Federation who have served in civil service positions for at least 20 years and have achieved special personal merit in nation-building, for many years of honest service and excellent results achieved while on duty, for strengthening the international prestige of Russia, the country's defense, economic development, science, education, culture, the arts, health care and other services, as well as to other citizens of the Russian Federation if previously awarded a state Order, for outstanding personal achievements in various sectors of the economy, research, social, cultural, educational and other socially useful activities.
The Order of Alexander Nevsky may also be awarded to prominent foreign politicians, public figures or representatives of business communities of foreign states, for merit in the development of multilateral cooperation with the Russian Federation and to assist in its socio-economic development.
The Russian Federation Order of Precedence dictates the Order of Alexander Nevsky is to be worn on the left breast with other orders and medals immediately after the Order For Merit to the Fatherland 4th class.
Award description
The Order of Alexander Nevsky is a 40 mm wide gold plated ruby enameled
cross pattée
A cross pattée, cross patty or cross paty, also known as a cross formy or cross formée (french: croix pattée, german: Tatzenkreuz), is a type of Christian cross with arms that are narrow at the centre, and often flared in a curve or straight ...
obverse
Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ...
, a circular convex medallion bearing the enameled figure of Prince Alexander Nevsky riding a white steed facing left. On the reverse center, from the right end of the right arm of the cross to the left end of the left end of the cross, the horizontal inscription in relief "FOR WORK AND FATHERLAND" (russian: «ЗА ТРУДЫ И ОТЕЧЕСТВО»). At the bottom of the reverse of the lower cross arm, the award's serial number.
The Order of Alexander Nevsky is secured to a standard Russian pentagonal mount by a ring through the suspension loop. The mount is covered by an overlapping silk moiré 24mm wide red ribbon with a central 1.5mm wide yellow stripe.
Notable recipients
File:Deripaska_Oleg_September_2020.jpg,
Oleg Deripaska
Oleg Vladimirovich Deripaska (russian: Олег Владимирович Дерипаска; born 2 January 1968) is a Russian billionaire and an industrialist. Deripaska enriched himself on previously state-owned assets that were privatized in ...
Alexander Lukashenko
Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (as transliterated from Russian; also transliterated from Belarusian as Alyaksand(a)r Ryhoravich Lukashenka;, ; rus, Александр Григорьевич Лукашенко, Aleksandr Grigoryevich Luk ...
,
President of Belarus
The president of the Republic of Belarus ( be, Прэзідэнт Рэспублікі Беларусь; russian: Президент Республики Беларусь) is the head of state and head of government of Belarus. The office was ...
File:Vekselberg_viktor_feliksovich.jpg, Viktor Vekselberg, Businessman
File:Aleksandar_Vučić_2019_(cropped).jpg,
Aleksandar Vučić
Aleksandar Vučić ( sr-Cyrl, Александар Вучић, ; born 5 March 1970) is a Serbian politician serving as the president of Serbia since 2017, and as the president of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) since 2012.
Vučić serve ...
,
President of Serbia
The president of Serbia ( sr, Председник Србије, Predsednik Srbije), officially styled as the President of the Republic ( sr, Председник Републике, Predsednik Republike) is the head of state of Serbia.
The cu ...
File:Vladimir Zhirinovsky 2015-06-29.jpg,
Vladimir Zhirinovsky
Vladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky, ''né'' Eidelshtein (russian: link=false, Эйдельштейн) (25 April 1946 – 6 April 2022) was a Russian right-wing populist politician and the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) fr ...
Valentin Zorin
Valentin Sergeyevich Zorin (; February 9 1925, Moscow – April 27 2016, Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian political commentator, journalist, author, screenwriter and television presenter.
Career
Zorin was host of several Soviet television program ...
, Political commentator
File:Mirziyoyev_cropped.jpg, Shavkat Mirziyoyev,
President of Uzbekistan
The president of the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Oʻzbekiston Respublikasining Prezidenti, Ўзбекистон Республикасининг Президенти) is the head of state and executive authority in Uzbekistan. The office of Pr ...
Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow
Gurbanguly Mälikgulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow (born 29 June 1957), also known as Arkadag (Cyrillic: Аркадаг, "protector"), is a Turkmen politician who served as the second president of Turkmenistan from 2006 to 2022.
A dentist by profe ...
, former
President of Turkmenistan
The president of Turkmenistan ( tk, Türkmenistanyň prezidenti), officially the president and chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan, is the head of state and head of government of Turkmenistan. The president is also the supreme c ...
Awards and decorations of the Russian Federation
The State Award System of the Russian Federation has varied and distinct origins. The first being pre-1917 orders of the Russian Empire re-established after the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union, the second is from former Soviet orders that w ...
Awards of the Ministry for Emergency Situations of Russia
Known internationally as EMERCOM, Russia's Ministry for Civil Defence, Emergency Situations and Disaster Relief is composed of both military and civilian personnel. It encompasses land, naval and air assets, the State Fire Service, rescue teams a ...