The Order of Bohdan Khmelnitsky (russian: Орден Богдана Хмельницкого, Orden Bogdana Khmel'nitskogo, uk, Орден Богдана Хмельницького, Orden Bohdana Khmelʹnytsʹkoho) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

award named after

Bohdan Khmelnytsky Bohdan Zynovii Mykhailovych Khmelnytskyi ( Ruthenian: Ѕѣнові Богданъ Хмелнiцкiи; modern ua, Богдан Зиновій Михайлович Хмельницький; 6 August 1657) was a Ukrainian military commander and ...

Hetman ( uk, гетьман, translit=het'man) is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders. Used by the Czechs in Bohemia since the 15th century. It was the title of the second-highest military ...

(leader) of the Ukrainian

Cossack Hetmanate The Cossack Hetmanate ( uk, Гетьманщина, Hetmanshchyna; or ''Cossack state''), officially the Zaporizhian Host or Army of Zaporizhia ( uk, Військо Запорозьке, Viisko Zaporozke, links=no; la, Exercitus Zaporoviensis) ...

The award was first established on October 10, 1943, by the Presidium of

Supreme Soviet of the USSR The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Верховный Совет Союза Советских Социалистических Республик, r=Verkhovnyy Sovet Soyuza Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respubl ...

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 ...

. It was the only Red Army award to be written in the Ukrainian language. The order was discontinued after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. A similar award, the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, was begun on May 3, 1995, by Ukrainian president

Leonid Kuchma Leonid Danylovych Kuchma ( uk, Леоні́д Дани́лович Ку́чма; born 9 August 1938) is a Ukrainian politician who was the second president of Ukraine from 19 July 1994 to 23 January 2005. Kuchma's presidency saw numerous corru ...

to commemorate the 50th anniversary of victory in the German-Soviet War.

Description

The General

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

, the Soviet filmmaker

Alexander Dovzhenko Oleksandr Petrovych Dovzhenko or Alexander Petrovich Dovzhenko ( uk, Олександр Петрович Довженко, ''Oleksandr Petrovych Dovzhenko''; russian: Алекса́ндр Петро́вич Довже́нко, ''Aleksandr Petro ...

, and poet Mykola Bazhan initiated the idea to create this award. The order was created during

and was awarded to

Soviet Armed Forces The Soviet Armed Forces, the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union and as the Red Army (, Вооружённые Силы Советского Союза), were the armed forces of the Russian SFSR (1917–1922), the Soviet Union (1922–1991), and t ...

personnel and often the members of the Ukrainian Front (coincidentally three of them were reinstated on October 20, 1943) for their exceptional duty in combat operations that led to the liberation of Soviet territory. The Order of Bohdan Khmelnitsky was broken down into three different classes: 1st class, 2nd class and 3rd class. General

Alexei Danilov Alexey, Alexei, Alexie, Aleksei, or Aleksey (russian: Алексе́й ; bg, Алексей ) is a Russian and Bulgarian male first name deriving from the Greek ''Aléxios'' (), meaning "Defender", and thus of the same origin as the Latin ...

became the first recipient of the 1st class Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky. The 1st class medal was awarded to army commanders, especially at the front, for successful direction of combat operations that led to the liberation of a region or town where they were successful in inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy. Altogether 323 people were awarded Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky 1st class. Distinguished people who received this order were several future

Marshals of the Soviet Union Marshal of the Soviet Union (russian: Маршал Советского Союза, Marshal sovetskogo soyuza, ) was the highest military rank of the Soviet Union. The rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union was created in 1935 and abolished in 19 ...

including Sergey Biryuzov,

Kirill Moskalenko Kirill Semyonovich Moskalenko (russian: Кирилл Семёнович Москаленко, uk, Кирило Семенович Москаленко; May 11, 1902 – June 17, 1985) was a Marshal of the Soviet Union. A member of the Soviet Arm ...

, Matvei Zakharov and Petr Koshevoi amongst others. The 2nd class medal was awarded to corps, divisions, brigade or battalion commanders for a breach of a defensive enemy line or a raid into the enemy's rear. 2400 people were awarded Order of Bohdan Khmelnitsky, 2nd class. The 3rd class medal was awarded to officers, partisan commanders, sergeants, corporals and privates of the Red Army and partisan units for outstanding bravery and resourcefulness leading to a battle victory. 5700 people were awarded Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, 3rd class. Most of them were either Red Army soldiers who fought on the Ukrainian Front or Ukrainian partisans. The Order was discontinued after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. In 1995

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

established a new Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II. Although it has the same name, it is a different medal.

External links

Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky

- Order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi {{DEFAULTSORT:Bogdan Khmelnitsky Military awards and decorations of the Soviet Union