On February 27th, 1943, private Aleksandr Matrosov and his comrades of the 2nd Battalion of the 91st Separate Rifle Brigade of the 22nd Army of the Kalinin Front received an order to engage an enemy base near the village of Chernushki in Pskov Oblast. As soon as the comrades emerged on an edge of a forest, they were caught up in heavy submachine gunfire – three enemy earth-and-timber emplaced submachine guns were covering the avenues of approach to the village

The Camp Follower is a soviet movie released a year after the war, based on Valentin Katayev’s novel of the same name. According to the plot, during the Great Patriotic War some Red Army soldiers pick up an orphan boy, who does not want to go to the rear and becomes the battery’s reconnaissance man. When the whole crew is KIA Vanya is sent to the Suvorov Military School, to later take part in military parades in the Red Square. The film was directed by Vasily Pronin and starred by Yura Yankin, playing the part of Vanya Solntsev

Another Hero City of the Great Patriotic War is Tula. The title was conferred onto it by the order of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union in 1976. In the tough autumn of 1941, the city became Moscow’s major south outpost.

In the last year of the Great Patriotic War the 6 O’clock in the Evening After the War feature film, directed by Ivan Pyryevoi, was released. The romantic and poetical movie reflected not only the chronicles of the war, but also the atmosphere of the period, the people’s faith in the swift victory and peaceful life ever after. The naïve lovers are separated for several years by the war, but as Fate would have it, Vasily Kudryashov, an artilleryman and Varya Pankova, an anti-aircraft gunner are destined to happily reunite thereafter at their old meeting place. Marina Ladynina and Yevgeny Samoilov starred the movie.

Battle for the Caucasus began in late July 1942. Over the year Novorossiysk remained one of the important areas of that struggle. The defense of Novorossiysk began in late August. Here, the troops of the 47th Army, the Black Sea Fleet and Azov Flotilla sailors, partisans and underground fighters bravely fought

In 1943, the Tashkent Film Studio released the Two Soldiers feature movie. The film was shot during the WWII mass evacuation. The legendary film by director Leonid Lukov is based on Lev Slavin’s My Fellow Countrymen novel. It is a story of a true battlefield friendship between Arkady Dzyubin, a cheerful and good-natured Odessa guy, and Sasha Svintsov, aka "Sash from Uralmash"; a story full of humour, goodness, and a true understanding of a soldier’s life. That’s why the movie has won the sympathies of many soviet people. The Two Soldiers was the first film to proclaim the universal truth: during a war, not only do you fight but you also live…

Only two people were the Fourfold Heroes of the Soviet Union. We have already told you about one of them, Marshal Zhukov, and now it is high time to remember the other one – Leonid Brezhnev.

The heroic defence of the Brest Fortress began on the very first day of the Great Patriotic War. The enemy expected to take the fortress by a swift assault. However, the Nazi only managed to capture the bridges over the Bug River, to break into the town of Brest, and to come close to the walls of the fortress. Nevertheless, the enemy attempt to take the fortress on the run failed.

The most famous WWII films hit the soviet cinemas in 1960-s. However, a few formidable chefs d’oeuvre had been shot during the war. The shooting of the first series, entitled “Combat Cinecollection”, had started practically during the first days of the invasion. The first episode, divided into two novellas – A Dream Come True and The Three in the Shell Hole, appeared on August 2^nd, 1941.

Twenty-seven soviet fighter pilots, Thrice or Twice Heroes of the Soviet Union, had won from twenty-two to sixty-two battles each, destroying one thousand and forty-four enemy aircrafts in total (individually), plus one hundred and eighty-four enemy aircrafts in-group. Over eight hundred pilots won over sixteen battles each.

The legendary poster “Motherland Calls!” designed by Irakly Toidze saw light in June 1941. The artist admitted that the concept of a generic image of the Mother, urging her sons to stand up, came to him rather spontaneously

In 1972 Gorky Film Studio released the epic war feature movie entitled The Dawns Here Are Quiet (Russian: “А зори здесь тихие”) that was destined to become one of the most popular motion pictures not only in Russia, but also in all former USSR member states. Stanislav Rostotsky was the director; his idea was to create a screen version of a novel of the same name by Boris Vasilyev.

One of the most prestigious Great Patriotic War decorations was the For the Defense of Moscow Medal. The Battle of Moscow is historically divided into two stages – the defensive and the offensive. This medal was conferred on those who took part in the defense part – October 19, 1941 – January 25, 1942. The medal was designed by N.I. Moskalyov, a famous soviet artist.

Only three people came out of the Great Patriotic War as Thrice Heroes of the Soviet Union. We’ve already introduced you to Ivan Kozhedub and Aleksandr Pokryshkin, now it’s time to tell you about a no less outstanding personality of Semyon Budyonny.

Our Victory team has already introduced you to Ivan Kozhedub, the best soviet fighter pilot of the great Patriotic War. However it would be unfair not to pay homage to another no less prominent war hero – Aleksandr Pokryshkin, the first Thrice Hero of the Soviet Union.

We’d like to offer you a rare footage of the military parade of November 7, 1941. At that time Moscow was under siege, the enemy was in about 70-100 kilometers from the city. It was decided to hold a military parade of the Soviet troops in the Red Square to enhance the nation’s fighting spirit. The USSR leadership thought that to be an opportunity to declare to the world that Moscow was still standing and would continue to stand firmly

Many truly heroic deeds were done in the years of the Great Patriotic War. Though the list of the Heroes of the Soviet Union is dominated by men, women were no less heroic fighting vigourously for peace and justice. Maria Smirnova, Guards major, Hero of the Soviet Union (1944).

Just two years after the war the Secret Agent (Russian: Подвиг разведчика) movie was released by Kyiv Feature Films Studio, starring: Pavel Kadochnikov, Amvrosi Buchma, Viktor Dobrovolsky, and Dmitry Milutenko.

Military photographer Yevgeny Khaldei was born in Yuzovka (now Donetsk, Ukraine). He lost his mother and grandfather during a Jewish pogrom on March 13, 1918, when a bullet passed through his side and into his mother, killing her. He studied in a heder. Khaldei discovered his passion for photography while working in a factory. And at 13 he took his first photo with a self-made camera. By the age of eighteen (1939), Khaldei was working as a staff photographer at the TASS News Agency in Moscow

A lot of songs were composed to commemorate the War. Mikhail Nozhkin’s Last Battle (Russian: “Последний бой”) remains one of the most famous. The song was written and performed during the shooting of the Liberation series (Russian: “Освобождение”) where Nozhkin played the part of an assault company commander. The first episode of the series was aired in 1969, the year when the country heard its would be people’s hymn for the first time.

In 1956 the Immortal Garrison (Russian: «Бессмертный гарнизон») feature film hit the soviet cinemas to become the nation’s legendary motion picture, dedicated to the defenders of the Brest Fortress. The film is set on June 22 – July 20, 1941, portraying the nationwide patriotic surge in the dark times of the Nazi invasion, the self-sacrificial spirit of the soviet people, their unity in the face of the enemy.

Our Victory project team is happy to offer you unique footage about the first Victory Parade that took place after the triumphant return of the Soviet Army to Moscow. The documentary was shot on June 24, 1945, – the birthday of annual salutary military parades

It is common knowledge that the movie entitled Only Old Men Are Going to Battle (Russian: В бой идут одни старики, in Russian language “Old men” also means veteran soldier or experienced soldier) is not only based on real facts, but also written after the memories of the Maestro himself – Vitaly Popkov, the legendary fighter pilot, Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, whom Leonid Bykov, a young film director met at a dinner party.

The Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War was established in Moscow, 1995, becoming the central site of the memorial Victory Park on Poklonnaya Hill. Museum’s exposition is destined to immortalize and honour the memory of the Soviet Army heroic deeds of 1941-1945

In November 1941, Joseph Stalin decided to start shooting a documentary called "German Troops Defeat near Moscow". Two directors, i.e. Leonid Varlamov and Ilya Kopalin, were appointed, fifteen war camera operators, including R. Karmen and A. Krylov, participated in the production. The film was released on February 23, 1942, and later was awarded the Stalin Prize