Russia has a long history of awarding honorary weapons, which is part of its military traditions and culture. This practice is related to the country's complex system of orders, decorations and medals.
History Tsarist period
In the Tsardom of Moscow, the custom of awarding soldiers with weapons was already in place in the mid-17th century. The earliest known award dates back to 1642, when Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich granted one of his confidants an award sabre with the inscription: "The Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Duke, Mikhail Fyodorovich has granted this sabre to the steward Bogdan Khitrovo." Award weapons, which were state awards, were presented for special military or, in some cases, civil merits. Most awards were made with bladed weapons, but in some cases, with firearms. The first mention of an award with firearms dates back to 1667, when Hetman Frol Minayev received a pishchal with an apple-wood stock decorated with bone and nacre from the Armoury Chamber.
The starting point in the creation of legislation for award weapons should be considered the creation of a regular army and navy under Peter the Great.
In 1797, Paul I introduced the Anninsky weapon into the award system.
Under Alexander I, the status of award weapons in the award system of the Russian Empire was enshrined in law: according to the decree of September 28, 1807, award weapons were equated to orders and divided into four classes:
Gold weapons without an inscription; Gold weapons with the inscription "For Bravery"; Gold weapons with diamonds; Blades decorated with diamonds and laurels.
The beginning of the wars against Napoleon (in which the Russian Empire participated) required an increase in the production of weapons for the army, and in 1808, by order of the Minister of War, the Tula Arms Plant stopped producing award and gift weapons for some time.канд. ист. н. Шокарев, Юрий Владимирович. Тульские оружейники // журнал «Охота и охотничье хозяйство», № 2, 1977. pp.24-25
In general, before the 1812 French invasion of Russia, cases of awarding personalized weapons were isolated and were made by the tsars personally. During the 1812 French invasion of Russia, the awarding of weapons became widespread. In subsequent years, awards continued - in the wars with Turkey and the Persian War, 349 people received gold weapons, in the Polish war - 341, for the Hungarian campaign of 1849 - 121. In the Crimean War of 1853–1856, 456 officers received gold weapons, and 1,551 officers received Anninsky weapons.Ильяс Галеев. Наградное оружие — уникальная регалия // «Истоки» от 11.08.2010
Later, this tradition, slightly modified, was preserved until the February Revolution of 1917 and after it.
In pre-revolutionary Russia, not only Russian subjects were awarded weapons. For example, on the recommendation of Admiral Fyodor Ushakov, the Turkish captain Zeller was awarded a sabre decorated with diamonds worth 1,803 rubles. Statistics on such awards are not kept, as are the rather numerous awards of gold bladed weapons to Russian subjects on behalf of foreign sovereigns.
In 1913, when the new statute of the Order of St. George appeared, the gold weapons assigned to this order received a new official name - St. George's weapons and St. George's weapons decorated with diamonds. All types of these weapons began to have a small enamel cross of the Order of St. George; on the general's weapons, the inscription "For Bravery" was replaced by an indication of the feat for which the award was granted. From that time on, the hilt of the St. George's weapons was officially not gold, but only gilded. During the World War I, the St. George's weapons became a mass-produced type of award. In total, 5,700 people were awarded it in 1914–1917А. Поварницын. В награду за храбрость // «Красный Путь», № 6 (286) от 7 февраля 2001. стр.11 (from January to December 1916 alone, 2,005 people were awarded the St. George weapon, three of whom were awarded weapons decorated with diamonds).Валерий Дуров. Награды: Золотое оружие с надписью «За храбрость» // журнал «Братишка», июнь 2000
Soviet period
The practice of awarding cold and firearms was already established during the Russian Civil War.Н. А. Кощеев. Ижевская винтовка № 500 000 // «Вопросы истории», № 4, 1977. стр. 209—211 Later, in 1919–1930, the Honorary Revolutionary Weapon was awarded. In total, from 1919 to the beginning of 1930, 21 people were awarded it (two of them twice).Почётное революционное оружие // Советская военная энциклопедия / ред. Н. В. Огарков. том 6. М.: Воениздат, 1978. стр.605-606
In addition, in 1927, for military successes in defeating armed gangs operating in the mountainous and forested regions of the North Caucasus, the battalion commander of the Vladikavkaz Infantry School Georgy Rodin was awarded a personalized Browning pistol.С. Е. Лазарев. Георгий Семенович Родин // «Вопросы истории», № 8, 2012. стр. 118—130 In 1928, for saving fishermen in the Sea of Azov, the Italian pilot Primo Gibelli was awarded a personalized weapon and the Honorary Certificate of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee.В. Овсянников. Примо Джибелли. // Герои-интернационалисты / сост. В. В. Тян. — М.:"Просвещение", 1991. стр. 12—18
In November 1928, for initiative and courage in combat operations, the squadron commander of the 87th Transbaikal Regiment of the 9th Separate Far Eastern Cavalry Brigade of the Red Army Kuzma Sinilov was awarded a personalized Mauser pistol.Кузьма Синилов // Пограничники. сб., сост. Г. Ананьев, М. Смирнов. М., «Молодая гвардия», 1974. стр. 151—202
In 1930, weapons were awarded to 11 Red Army commanders who distinguished themselves during military operations on the Chinese Eastern Railway: Brigade Commander Stepan Vostretsov was awarded the Honorary Revolutionary Weapon, the commander of the artillery battery of the Primorsky Group of Forces M. A. Taube and nine commanders of the 105th Rifle Regiment of the 35th Rifle Division of the Red Army were awarded personalized weapons.В пламени и славе. Очерки истории Краснознамённого Сибирского военного округа. 2-е изд., испр. и доп. Новосибирск, Новосибирское кн. изд-во, 1988. стр.54 Also in 1930, three operatives of the Moscow Criminal Investigations Department (N. I. Zhivalov, A. Kochkin and P. Kuzin) were awarded personalized Mauser pistols.Алексей Ефимов. В те трудные годы (записки о работе Московского уголовного розыска) // Тревожные будни. сб., сост. А. И. Беляев. М. Воениздат, 1977. стр. 95—101 On December 20, 1930, the TK pistol was awarded to the commandant of the 17th Timkovich border detachment I. I. Apanasevich (who developed the operation that resulted in the arrest of a Polish intelligence agent)).Ветераны вспоминают // журнал «Пограничник», № 11, 1987. стр. 34
At the end of 1931, the platoon commander of the combined detachment of cadets of the Lenin United Central Asian School Nikolai Lyashchenko was awarded a personalized weapon (for skillful command of the unit and personal bravery in battles with the Basmachi movement during the detachment's 1,200-km march through the Karakum Desert in September 1931).Н. Г. Лященко. Годы в шинели. Фрунзе, изд-во «Кыргызстан», 1974. стр. 99
In May 1932, a graduate of the Naval Academy, Nikolai Kuznetsov, was awarded a personalized TK pistol.Солдаты XX века. Справочник. / редколл., отв. ред. проф. С. М. Семенов. выпуск IV, том 2. М., ОАО «Московская типография № 6», 2005. стр. 85
For military distinctions in the fight against the Basmachi movement, by the Decree of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union of October 27, 1932, the commander of the aviation unit of the 95th transport aviation detachment of the Air Force of the Central Asian Military District, Pavel Nedosekin, was awarded a personalized weapon. On June 5, 1934, participants in the operation to search and rescue the crew of the icebreaker "Chelyuskin", Soviet Border Troops pilots V. A. Shurygin and A. A. Shestov, were awarded personalized Mauser pistols.Часовые советских границ. Краткий очерк истории пограничных войск СССР. / колл. авт.: П. А. Иванчишин, Ю. Г. Кисловский, Н. И. Афанасьев и др. М., Политиздат, 1979. стр. 85
There were no awarded weapons among the participants in the Battle of Lake Khasan in the summer of 1938. Among the participants in the Battles of Khalkhin Gol in 1939, one person was awarded a weapon by decision of the government of a foreign state: on September 14, 1940, by decision of the Council of Ministers of the Mongolian People's Republic, the divisional commissar of the 17th Army, Mikhail Nikishev was awarded a personalized firearm - a Sauer hunting shotgun - for his military merits in the battles against Japanese troops«Триединая формула» Никишева // Янгузов З. Ш. Комиссары «нашенского края». Благовещенск, Хабаровское кн. изд-во, 1975. стр. 222—241
The majority of those awarded personalized weapons in the Soviet Union occurred during the Great Patriotic WarОружие именное // Советская военная энциклопедия / ред. Н. В. Огарков. том 6. М.: Воениздат, 1978. p. 128 (at the same time, there were cases of awarding distinguished snipers with personalized sniper rifles,генерал-лейтенант М. В. Рудаков. Боевые дела снайперов // «Военно-исторический журнал», № 3, 1972. стр. 56—60 at least several infantrymen were awarded PPSh-41 submachine gunsН. Сергеев. Оружие сталевара Чалкова // газета "Известия", № 162 от 11 июля 1943 стр.3 and on May 1, 1944, a personalized machine gun was awarded). There are known cases of awarding captured weapons. There were cases of presenting personalized bladed weapons as a collective award (for example, the Sword of Stalingrad).
At the same time, there were repeated awards of weapons (sniper Vasiliy Komaritsky, who was awarded a sniper rifle after killing 170 enemy soldiers and officers, was awarded a personalized pistol).История Тульского оружейного завода, 1712—1972. М., «Мысль», 1973. стр.298
In the post-war period, the basis and procedure for presenting this award was strictly regulated by the disciplinary regulations of the Soviet Armed Forces.
In 1968, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union established a new category of award weapons for senior officers of the Soviet Armed Forces, honorary weapons with a gold image of the State Emblem of the Soviet Union (in total, 26 senior officers were awarded this weapon).
In 1975, two new categories were introduced: prize weapons for military athletes (for winning competitions in military-applied sports, such as shooting or fencing) and gift weapons – hunting rifles and carbines, which the command of military units could award to civilians. A small batch of custom-made AKM and AK-74 assault rifles (with a butt, fore-end, handguard, pistol grip and magazine made of green plastic) was manufactured to award the best Soviet Border Troops.М. Т. Калашников. Записки конструктора-оружейника. М., Воениздат, 1992. pp. 285—286 (the first AKM award assault rifles were presented on January 24, 1973; later awards were made with AK-74 assault rifles.М. Т. Калашников. Я с вами шел одной дорогой. Ижевск, изд. дом "Вся Россия", 1999 г.
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