Alexander Nevsky, the leader of the Russians in the XIII century, Grand Duke of Novgorod. Nevsky, which means hero of the Neva, was named after his defeat of the Swedish army on the Neva, and in 2008, Alexander Nevsky was ranked first in the "Greatest Russian" contest held in Russia.
In tsarist times, there was the Order of the Empire of St. Alexander Nevsky, and after the October Revolution all the old medals were abolished. After the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, Stalin used the names of Russian national heroes such as Alexander Nevsky, Alexander Suvorov and Mikhail Kutuzov in his famous speech on Red Square to inspire Red Army commanders and fighters to fight bravely. Later, a series of medals named after Russian national heroes were used to reward outstanding servicemen.
In 1942, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued an order establishing the Order of Alexander Nevsky. This medal differed from the Order of Suvorov and the Order of Kutuzov, which were established on the same day, in that there was no rank, and secondly, it was awarded only to commanders at the rank level.
The rules for awarding the Order of Alexander Nevsky were: "Commander of the Red Army who fought for the Motherland in the Great Patriotic War, showed valor and fearlessness, and ensured the successful completion of combat missions of the troops." ”
Originally, it was stipulated that the Alexander Nevsky Order was awarded to commanders from platoon to regimental levels. On November 10, 1942, before the first medals were awarded, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR made a new provision for the award of awards to commanders at the division and brigade level.
The designer of the Alexander Nevsky Medal was Igor Sergeyevich Tylyatnikov, and since Alexander Nevsky did not leave any portraits, the bust on the medal was painted in the image of Nikolai Cherkasov, the actor of Alexander Nevsky in the 1938 Eisenstein film.
The Order of Alexander Nevsky was worn according to the regulations on the right chest, after the Order of Bohdan Khmelnitsky.
The first Alexander Nevsky Medal was awarded on 5 November 1942 to Lieutenant Ivan Nazarovich, commander of the 154th Naval Infantry Brigade, for the annihilation of 200 German troops and the destruction of 7 tanks in the battle along the Don River.
During the entire period of the Great Patriotic War, there were about 420,000 Alexander Nevsky medals were awarded, three people were awarded the Alexander Nevsky Order three times, and about 100 or so were awarded the medal twice. In addition, 13 foreign soldiers were awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky.
After the war, the award of the medal was recorded only after the events in Hungary.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation retained the Order of Alexander Nevsky, incorporating it into its own medal system.
On December 22, 2022, Russia** Putin awarded the Alexander Nevsky Medal to the leader of the Chechen Republic, Kadyrov Jr.
The first one on the chest of Kadyrov Jr.