12 cities of the former Soviet Union and Brest Fortress.

For the first time at the national level, the concept of “hero city” appeared in the leading article of the newspaper " Is it true" dated December 24, 1942 It was dedicated to the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on the establishment of medals for defense Leningrad, Stalingrad, Odessa And Sevastopol. In official documents, Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Stalingrad (now Volgograd), Sevastopol and Odessa were named “hero cities” for the first time - in the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the USSR Joseph Stalin dated May 1, 1945. It talked about organizing fireworks in these cities.


June 21, 1961 in the decrees of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR " About the city award Kyiv Order of Lenin" And " On the establishment of the medal "For the Defense of Kyiv"“The capital of Ukraine was called a “hero city.”

May 8, 1965, in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War The Presidium of the Supreme Council (SC) of the USSR approved the regulations on the honorary title “Hero City”. The main criterion according to which cities received this status was the historical assessment of the contribution of their defenders to the victory over the enemy. " The centers of the largest battles of the Great Patriotic War (for example, the battle for Leningrad, Battle of Stalingrad etc.), cities whose defense determined victory Soviet troops on the main strategic directions of the front.

In addition, this status was given to cities whose residents continued to fight the enemy during the occupation. According to the law, the “hero cities” were awarded the Order of Lenin, the Gold Star medal and a diploma from the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces. In addition, obelisks were installed in them with the text of the decree conferring an honorary title, as well as with images of the awards received.
On May 8, 1965, five decrees of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces were issued on presenting awards to the “hero cities” of Leningrad, Volgograd, Kyiv, Sevastopol, and Odessa. Same day Moscow was awarded the honorary title "Hero City", and Brest Fortress- “hero-fortress” with the presentation of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.
On September 14, 1973 the title was received Kerch And Novorossiysk, June 26, 1974 - Minsk, December 7, 1976 - Tula, May 6, 1985 - Murmansk And Smolensk.

All honorary titles were awarded to 12 cities of the former Soviet Union and the Brest Fortress.
In 1988 year, the practice of assigning the title was stopped by a resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
*
New honorary title - "City of Military Glory"
was installed on May 9, 2006 federal law, signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It is assigned cities, " on the territory of which or in the immediate vicinity of which, during fierce battles, the defenders of the Fatherland showed courage, fortitude and mass heroism, including cities that were awarded the title " hero city ". Currently in Russia 45 cities have the honorary title "City of Military Glory".

In Moscow, in the Alexander Garden near the Kremlin wall, near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, there is a granite alley of hero cities. There are 12 porphyry blocks here, each of which bears the name of one of the hero cities and an embossed image of the Gold Star medal.
The blocks contain capsules with earth from the Piskarevsky cemetery in Leningrad and the Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd, from the foot of the walls of the Brest Fortress and the Obelisk of Glory of the Defenders of Kyiv, from the defense lines of Odessa and Novorossiysk, from the Malakhov Kurgan in Sevastopol and Victory Square in Minsk, from Mount Mithridates near Kerch, defensive positions near Tula, Murmansk and Smolensk.

On November 17, 2009, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree according to which the granite alley of hero cities near the Kremlin wall was included in the National Memorial of Military Glory, along with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and a memorial sign in honor of cities awarded the honorary title “City of Military Glory.”

Greetings to all readers of my blog! May 9th on the calendar! Great holiday! Victory Day! Victory lives in everyone's heart! And I sincerely congratulate you, my dear readers! And I wish you, your families, your children a peaceful sky above your heads, happiness and goodness!

War. She left her mark on the history of every family, every house, every village, every city of our homeland. Today, 45 cities are cities of military glory. And there are also 13 Cities of Heroes. This is the highest degree of distinction for heroic defense during the war.

Let's talk about each of them in more detail.

Lesson plan:

Leningrad (St. Petersburg)

July 10, 1941. The beginning of the offensive of German troops in the Leningrad direction. The Germans managed to encircle Leningrad. On September 8, the siege of Leningrad began. And it lasted 872 days. The history of mankind has never known such a long siege.

At that time, approximately three million people lived in the northern capital. Terrible hunger, constant air raids, bombings, rats, diseases, and infections claimed more than 2 million lives. Despite everything, the Leningraders survived, they even managed to help the front. The factories did not stop working and produced military products.

Today, numerous memorials and monuments erected in the northern capital remind us of the feat of the Leningraders.

Memorial Piskarevskoye Cemetery. This is the site of mass graves of people who died during the siege of Leningrad. A statue of the “Motherland”, a woman who looks at the graves of her fallen sons, was installed in the cemetery.

If you walk along Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg, find house number 14. There is still an inscription from the war.

And on Victory Square there is a monument in memory of the city’s defenders. One of significant parts This monument is a torn bronze ring, which symbolizes the breaking of the blockade ring.

Stalingrad (Volgograd)

Summer 1942. The Germans decided to capture the Caucasus, Kuban, the Don region, and the Lower Volga. Hitler was going to deal with this in a week. In order to stop the enemy's advance, the Stalingrad Front was created.

On July 17, 1942, the Battle of Stalingrad began, one of the most important and largest battles. This great battle lasted 200 days. And it ended with the complete victory of our troops thanks to the selfless actions of the military and ordinary residents. More than 1 million of our soldiers died in terrible bloody battles. The Germans also suffered heavy losses. More than 800 thousand killed and wounded. More than 200 thousand German soldiers were captured.

In Volgograd, on Mamayev Kurgan, there is a monument-ensemble, which is dedicated to all the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad. The main monument of the ensemble is the 85-meter sculpture of the Motherland. 200 steps lead to this monument from the foot of the mound - a symbol of two hundred long days of battle.

And the Mamaev Kurgan itself is a huge mass grave in which more than 34 thousand dead soldiers rest.

Sevastopol

The defense of Sevastopol began on October 30, 1941 and ended on July 4, 1942. This is one of the bloodiest battles that ended in the defeat of the Soviet troops. But the courage and heroism shown by units of the Red Army and the residents of Sevastopol did not allow the Wehrmacht units to quickly seize Crimea and the Caucasus.

The Nazis, having overwhelming superiority in the air and at sea, were unable to take the city over and over again. For the first and only time (during the entire war), German troops used an artillery gun weighing more than 1000 tons, which was capable of firing 7-ton shells and piercing a rock slab 30 meters thick. But Sevastopol stood. He stood until the ammunition ran out... Until almost all the defenders died...

There are more than 1,500 monuments in Sevastopol. And about 1000 of them are installed in memory of the events of that terrible war. At Cape Khrustalny there is a monument “Soldier and Sailor”, it was erected in memory of the defenders of Sevastopol.

Odessa

In the first years of the war, victories were achieved only at the cost of gigantic sacrifices. Hundreds of thousands of people died so as not to let the enemy pass, in order to hold back the fascist war machine at least a little. The Nazis believed that Odessa would become another point in their big list cities that surrendered without a fight. But, they were wrong.

73 days of defense of Odessa inflicted colossal losses on the Romanian-German armies, which were expecting an “easy walk.” Of the 300,000 enemy soldiers, 160,000 died. Our losses were 16,000. The Nazis were never able to capture Odessa, the city was abandoned...
This is what the Pravda newspaper will write about the defense of Odessa:

In Odessa there is the “Monument to the Unknown Sailor”. The obelisk in the form of a granite stele is intended to remind those living today of the feat of sailors during the war. And next to it is the Walk of Fame, on which are the graves of fallen warrior-defenders.

Moscow

Napoleon, and after him Hitler, called Russia and the USSR “a colossus with feet of clay.” But for some reason this colossus did not want to kneel, but clenched his teeth and fists and threw himself at the spears and machine guns with his bare chest. This happened near Moscow.

At the cost of terrible losses, but the enemy moved slower and slower towards the capture of Moscow. He was stopped near Brest, he was beaten near Smolensk and Odessa, he was not given rest near Minsk and Yelets. The defensive operation near Moscow also lasted for several months. Defensive fortifications were built, thousands of kilometers of trenches were dug. They fought for every village, for every height. But the magnificent Wehrmacht machine moved forward. They even saw the walls of the Kremlin through binoculars, but for many of them this became their last memory.

On December 5, 1941, the Germans were shown the way home. The offensive of our troops began near Moscow. More than a million soldiers and officers shouting “Hurray!” began to drive out the fascists. The victory near Moscow became one of the key moments of the war, people believed that we could win...

In Moscow, on Poklonnaya Hill, there is a huge memorial complex dedicated to the Great Patriotic War.

This complex includes:

• The monument is in the form of an obelisk 141.8 meters high. This height is not accidental. It reminds us of the 1418 days of war.
• Three churches that were erected in memory of all those who died during the war.
• Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War.
• Exhibition of military equipment under open air and other memorials.

Kyiv

When the first German planes flew over Kiev, many residents thought that these were exercises... And they even rejoiced, saying, “What a great exercise they prepared!” They even painted crosses.” No, these were not exercises - Kyiv was one of the first to experience all the horrors of war. He found himself on the front line almost immediately. There was not enough ammunition, not enough supplies. But there was an order - not to surrender Kyiv!!! More than 600,000 people died trying to accomplish it! But, on September 19, 1941, German troops entered the city. This was one of the most severe defeats of the Red Army.

On the right bank of the Dnieper, at the highest point in Kyiv, there is a monument whose height is more than 100 meters. This is a sculpture of the “Motherland”.

The sculpture depicts a woman with her hands raised up. The woman holds a sword in one hand and a shield in the other. The monument symbolizes the inflexibility of the people's spirit in the struggle for the Motherland.

Brest

On June 22, 1941, at 4:15 am, a massive artillery strike began on the defenders of the Brest Fortress. According to the plans of the German command, the fortress was to be taken by noon. But the fortress held. Without water, without food, without communication with the main units of the Red Army...

This inscription will later be discovered by historians on the walls.

Thousands died, very little is known about them. There was almost no one left who could tell... The last defender was captured only on July 23.

Memorial complex "Brest Hero Fortress". It was opened on September 25, 1971. If you are in Belarus, be sure to visit it. It includes many monuments, obelisks, an eternal flame, memorial plaques, and a defense museum. The main monument of the memorial is a sculpture depicting a head Soviet soldier against the backdrop of a waving banner.

Also pay attention to the memorial composition “Thirst”.

The defenders of the fortress experienced a lack of water, as the water supply system was destroyed. The only source of water for them was the Buk and Mokhovets rivers. But since their shores were under constant fire, the trip for water was mortally dangerous.

Kerch

Kerch was captured for the first time in mid-November 1941. In December it was liberated by Soviet troops, but in May 1942 it was again captured by the Nazis. It was from this time that the world-famous guerrilla war in the Kerch (Adzhimushkay) quarries would begin.

Throughout the occupation, several thousand partisans and regular army soldiers were hiding in them, who did not allow the German troops to live in peace. The Nazis blew up the entrances and gassed them, collapsed the vaults... To get water, they had to fight their way out each time, since all the sources were outside. But the German troops were unable to break the resistance. Kerch was completely liberated only in April 1944. A little more than 30,000 inhabitants remained alive.

The “Obelisk of Glory” located on Mount Mithridates is a symbol of Kerch.

It is dedicated to all the soldiers who died for the liberation of Crimea in 1943-1944. This monument was erected in August 1944. This is the first monument in the USSR dedicated to the events of the Great Patriotic War. The stele rises 24 meters into the sky and is made of light gray stone. And at the foot there are three cannons.

Novorossiysk

« Malaya Zemlya“Many have heard this, but don’t know where it is. Know, this is Novorossiysk. This is the triumph and courage of the Soviet marines. A couple of facts: on February 4, 1943, 800 marines (according to other sources up to 1500) held a bridgehead against 500 enemy firing points (the Allies landed 156,000 people in Normandy).

Several hundred people held out until the main forces arrived and conquered kilometer after kilometer. The Germans were never able to throw them into the sea. 225 days of offensive. Every inch of land was watered with blood and sweat, the result of superhuman efforts and Novorossiysk was liberated. On September 16, 1943, Soviet troops entered the city... it was destroyed by almost 96%.

In 1961, a memorial was opened in Novorossiysk in memory of the heroic liberators of the city. This is a sculpture depicting three people: a soldier, a sailor with a banner and a partisan girl. Three people stand shoulder to shoulder and represent strength and courage.

“The Shot Car” is another monument in Novorossiysk.

There are countless bullet holes in this boxcar. It was installed on the Soviet defense line in 1946.

Minsk

Another difficult and terrible page of that war. So much so that even the Soviet Information Bureau did not report the surrender of Minsk. About 10 high-ranking Soviet military leaders were arrested and executed. After all, the city was taken already on June 28, 1941.

But this is not the only thing that befell the Belarusians. Several hundred thousand civilians were taken to work in Germany. Only a few returned. Hundreds of thousands were hanged, shot and burned alive. But, they didn’t give up. A partisan movement was created, with which the selected Wehrmacht units could do nothing. Thanks to the partisans, many German offensive operations were thwarted. More than 11,000 trains were derailed, and the partisans blew up more than 300,000 rails. They killed the enemy wherever they could.

In Minsk in 1952, a “Tank Monument” was erected in honor of the feat of Soviet tank crews.

On July 3, 1944, Soviet tanks entered the city during its liberation from the fascist invaders.

Tula

At the beginning of the war, news of the German advance sometimes arrived after the city had been captured. This almost happened to Tula. A sudden tank breakthrough of the front led to the capture of Orel, and from it to Tula only 180 km. The city was left practically unarmed and unprepared for defense.

But skillful leadership and, most importantly, quickly deployed reinforcements did not allow the German units to occupy the city of gunsmiths. The difficult situation at the front led to the almost complete blockade of Tula, but the enemy was never able to take it. Thousands of women dug trenches as defense factories were evacuated and fighting raged. The Germans threw selected, elite units into battle, in particular the “Greater Germany” regiment. But they couldn’t do anything either... Tula didn’t give up! She survived!

There are several memorial complexes dedicated to the Second World War in Tula. For example, on Victory Square there is a memorial in honor of the Hero Defenders who defended the city in 1941.

A soldier and a militiaman stand shoulder to shoulder, holding machine guns. And nearby, three multi-meter steel obelisks soared into the sky.

Murmansk

From the first days of the war, Murmansk became a front-line city. The offensive of the German troops began on June 29, 1941, but at the cost of incredible efforts it was thwarted and subsequently the enemy was unable to advance even a kilometer. The front line remained unchanged until 1944.

Over the years, 185 thousand bombs were dropped on Murmansk, but he lived, worked and did not give up. He repaired military ships, received food and transport... The resilience of the residents of Murmansk helped Leningrad survive, since it was in Murmansk that food was accumulated, which was then transferred to Northern capital. The Northern Fleet has about 600 destroyed enemy ships. On May 6, 1985, the merits of Murmansk residents were recognized, and their city received the title of Hero.

Memorial to the Defenders of the Soviet Arctic. The most famous monument in Murmansk.

The 35-meter-high sculpture depicts a soldier with a weapon in his hands. The monument was opened in 1974. People call this stone soldier “Alyosha”.

Smolensk

Smolensk always stood in the way of those who were rushing to Moscow. This was the case in 1812, and this was the case in 1941. According to the plans of the German command, the capture of Smolensk opened the road to Moscow. It was planned to capture a number of cities with lightning speed, including Smolensk. But, as a result, the enemy lost more soldiers in this direction than since the beginning of the war in all other directions combined. 250 thousand fascists did not return back.

It was near Smolensk that the later famous tradition of the “Soviet Guard” was born. On September 10, 1941, Smolensk fell, but did not surrender. A powerful partisan movement was created, which did not give a quiet life to the occupiers. 260 natives of the Smolensk region received the title “Hero of the Soviet Union”, and years later... On May 6, 1985, Smolensk received the title “Hero City”.

Many monuments in Smolensk remind of those who laid down their lives in the fight for their Motherland. Among them is the “Monument to the Grieving Mother.”

It is located in the place where the Nazis shot more than 3,000 people in 1943. Their mass grave is also located here, and above it they installed a memorial wall, which depicts the moment of the execution and a sculpture of a woman in simple clothes and a headscarf, with eyes full of grief.

All these cities paid with courage, blood and the lives of their inhabitants for the right to be called Heroes!

Let us once again say a huge thank you to our dear veterans. War veterans, labor veterans! For their feat!

Peace, peace!

All the best and brightest to you!

Evgenia Klimkovich.

P.S. I express my deep gratitude to my husband Denis, a great history expert, for his help in preparing this article.

P.P.S. The information presented in the article will be excellent material for preparing reports for Victory Day. You will also find on the blog interesting facts and solutions for posters and projects, and other subjects.

Memorial complex "Brest Fortress". Photo: Sergey Grits / AR

Why twelve cities and one fortress of the Soviet Union received the highest honorary title

When it comes to talking about the hero cities of Russia, the list of them will be incomplete without those cities that are today located on the territory of Ukraine and Belarus. Indeed, during the Great Patriotic War, when all twelve cities and one fortress covered themselves with unfading glory, the entire Soviet Union was called Russia, without dividing it into separate parts.

For the first time, Leningrad, Stalingrad, Sevastopol and Odessa were named hero cities on May 1, 1945. On June 21, 1961, Kyiv was added to their number, and on May 8, 1965, the honorary title “Hero City” became official and was awarded to “cities of the Soviet Union whose workers showed massive heroism and courage in defending the Motherland in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.” ." Since July 18, 1980, the title of hero city has become the highest degree of distinction for settlement. Below is a list of hero cities compiled by time of assignment highest degree differences.

The 900-day siege of Leningrad became a symbol of courage Soviet people, their readiness to die, but not to let the enemy pass. During the blockade, every fifth resident of the city died, but despite this, the city continued to supply the front with weapons, ammunition and food.

The heroic defense of Odessa lasted almost a month and a half - 73 days. During this time, almost 160 thousand enemy soldiers were destroyed. And then, during the occupation of the city, Odessa partisans, who went into the city catacombs, destroyed another 5,000 Nazis.

The second defense of Sevastopol, which lasted for 250 days, was a repetition of the legendary First Defense in the years Crimean War XIX century. The city withstood four assaults and was abandoned only after the enemy managed to occupy the entire Crimean peninsula and completely cut off the residents of Sevastopol from the main forces

Monument "Soldier and Sailor" to the heroic defenders of Sevastopol. Photo: Marina Lystseva / TASS

Stalingrad became synonymous with victory: it was here, as they said at that time, that the back of the fascist troops was broken. With the defense of Stalingrad and the encirclement of the 6th Army of Field Marshal Paulus, the offensive of Soviet troops began along the entire front, ending on May 9, 1945 in Berlin.

The sculptures “Stand to the Death” and “The Motherland Calls” in the historical and memorial complex “Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad” on Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd. Photo: Eduard Kotlyakov / TASS

The defense of Kyiv at the end of the summer of 1941 became one of the most striking episodes of the first months of the Great Patriotic War: the city’s defenders pulled back 19 German divisions, making it possible to prepare a defense line in the interior of the country. And the liberation of Kyiv in the fall of 1943 became the most important milestone in the Red Army’s offensive to the West.

“We will die, but we will not leave the fortress,” one of its nameless defenders wrote on the wall of one of the casemates of the Brest Fortress. According to the Barbarossa plan, the fortress was supposed to fall on the very first day of the war, but its soldiers fought with unparalleled courage until the beginning of July 1941.

The capital of our country became the very city under which the Red Army, after a long retreat, managed to inflict such a blow on the enemy that it forced him to stop. And the parade on Red Square on November 7, 1941, at the very height of the battle for Moscow, clearly showed: the Soviet people were not going to surrender the city or surrender.

Adzhimushkay quarries and Eltigen landing - these two concepts are inextricably linked with military history Kerch. The courage of the defenders of the quarries, who pulled off considerable enemy forces, and the heroism of Eltigen’s paratroopers, who died but held an important bridgehead, coupled with the fortitude of the townspeople during the defense of Kerch, served as the reason for awarding the city a high rank.

The battle for Novorossiysk lasted 225 days, and during all this time the Nazis failed to completely capture the city. The legendary Malaya Zemlya bridgehead also played a vital role in the defense, and the battle for the city itself did not allow the enemy to realize plans to capture the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus.

Finding itself at the forefront of the main attack of the Wehrmacht, which was rushing towards Moscow, Minsk was occupied already on the sixth day of the war, and was liberated only on July 3, 1944. But all three years the tension in the city did not decrease guerrilla warfare: No wonder eight participants of the Minsk underground were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

The defense of Tula is an example of unprecedented courage, first of all, of its citizens: the destroyer battalions made up of them held out as long as it took to transfer regular troops to the city. As a result, Tula, whose arms factories did not stop their work even for a day, never surrendered to the enemy, although the enemy was already standing on its outskirts.

The ice-free northern port of Murmansk became the main base where Lend-Lease convoys were received and from where British and American tanks, cars and planes went to the front in a continuous stream. Even the constant bombing to which the Nazis constantly subjected the city could not prevent this: in three years, 185,000 bombs were dropped on Murmansk soil!

The famous Battle of Smolensk in 1941 lasted for two months, and although it was not possible to defend the city, the battle for it delayed the Wehrmacht divisions rushing towards Moscow for a long time. And the courage of the Smolensk partisans, who gave no rest to the invaders for two years, became as legendary as the heroism of their Bryansk comrades.

How many cities of military glory are there in Russia?

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the practice of awarding the title Hero City was stopped, but remembering the courage and heroism of the defenders of the Fatherland in Russia, a new title “City of Military Glory” was introduced.

Russian cities began receiving the honorary title “City of Military Glory” in 2007: the first were Belgorod, Kursk and Orel. As the presidential decree states, this title is awarded “for courage, fortitude and mass heroism shown by the city’s defenders in the struggle for the freedom and independence of the Fatherland.” In total, as of 2015, 45 Russian cities are cities of military glory, not only in the west of the country, but also in the Far East.

The city of the first fireworks given in honor of its liberation in 1943.

The city after which one of the most famous battles of the Great Patriotic War, the Kursk Bulge, took its name.

It began with a blow in the direction of Eagle strategic operation“Kutuzov”, and after liberation, the first parade of partisan formations in the history of the war took place in the city.

On the outskirts of Vladikavkaz, Wehrmacht troops were stopped, whose target was the oil fields of the Caspian Sea.

The battle for Malgobek became key during the battle for the Caucasus: it was here that Soviet troops managed to stop the Nazis rushing to Grozny.

The city in the vicinity of which one of the most tragic and bloody battles of the Great Patriotic War unfolded - the Rzhev operation.

Yelnya became the first big city, liberated in 1941 as a result of the autumn counter-offensive of the Red Army.

Liberated during the counter-offensive near Moscow in December 1941, the city served as the center of the Oryol region until the liberation of Oryol.

The Battle of Voronezh played a key role in the defense of Stalingrad: the Wehrmacht troops were delayed for several days, which made it possible to strengthen the defense of the city on the Volga.

The famous Luga line, which delayed the advance of Army Group North troops on Leningrad, passed through this city.

During the Great Patriotic War, the city was the main base of the Soviet Northern Fleet of the USSR Navy: submarines and escort ships for allied convoys were based here.

The first liberation of Rostov-on-Don in November 1941 was also the first major victory of the Red Army since the beginning of the Great Patriotic War.

After the capture of Sevastopol, the city became the main base of the Black Sea Fleet, which the Wehrmacht failed to take even after a five-month siege.

This city is covered with military glory for more than one century: since 1242, from the day of the Battle of Lake Peipus, it has more than once played the role of the northern shield of Russia.

The cradle of Russian democracy and a city that went down in history as the place of the reign of Alexander Nevsky, a commander whose name was given to one of the most honorable orders during the Great Patriotic War.

Although it was here at the end of November that the Nazis launched their last attempt to attack Moscow, they failed to take the city.

Vyazma glorified itself in two Patriotic Wars: 1812 and the Great Patriotic War, becoming the site of several major battles.

The fortress city, the citadel of the Baltic Fleet, has never allowed an enemy beyond the walls of its forts in its history.

Divided by the Nara River into two parts, the city steadfastly resisted the Nazis: they never managed to cross the river.

The city, which has served as the defender of Russia’s western borders for eight centuries, is one of the symbols of the glory of the Russian Airborne Forces.

During Batu’s invasion of Rus', Kozelsk offered the most fierce resistance to the invaders, for which it received the nickname “Evil City” from them.

Having first glorified itself in the battles of Peter the Great, Arkhangelsk, along with Murmansk, received allied convoys during the Great Patriotic War.

One of the key cities during the Battle of Moscow, which forever glorified the soldiers of the famous Panfilov Division.

Bryansk became a city-symbol of partisan glory: in the region more than 100 partisan detachments fought against the Nazis.

The liberation of Nalchik was one of the first offensive operations during the Great Patriotic War carried out by regular troops together with partisan detachments.

The city, which became part of Russia through the efforts of Peter I, ceded to Finland after 1917 and returned in 1939, was the site of fierce fighting during the Soviet-Finnish and Great Patriotic Wars.

It was in this city that during Operation Uranus to encircle the 6th Army of the Wehrmacht on November 23, 1942, the ring of Soviet troops closed.

An outpost of Russia in the Far East, Vladivostok became famous both during the Russo-Japanese War and during the Second World War, when it served as one of the destination ports for allied convoys.

It was one of the key cities during the defense of Leningrad, and in November 1941, it was here that the first offensive in the northwestern direction began.

Kalinin was the focal point of the defense of Moscow in the fall and winter of 1941 and became one of the first cities liberated by the Red Army during the counter-offensive near Moscow.

During the Battle of Crimea and the Battle of the Caucasus, the port of Anapa served as one of the bases of the Black Sea Fleet and the place of formation of the legendary Black Sea Marine battalions.

During the defense of Leningrad, the front line passed 3-4 km from the center of Kolpino, but despite this, the city continued to be repaired military equipment and supply the army with food. via

To be continued...

TASS-DOSSIER /Kirill Titov/. For the first time at the national level, the concept of “hero city” appeared in an editorial in the newspaper Pravda dated December 24, 1942. It was dedicated to the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on the establishment of medals for the defense of Leningrad, Stalingrad, Odessa and Sevastopol. In official documents, Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Stalingrad (now Volgograd), Sevastopol and Odessa were named “hero cities” for the first time - in the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the USSR Joseph Stalin dated May 1, 1945. It talked about organizing fireworks in these cities. On June 21, 1961, in the decrees of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR “On awarding the city of Kyiv with the Order of Lenin” and “On the establishment of the medal “For the Defense of Kyiv,” the capital of Ukraine was called a “hero city.”

On May 8, 1965, in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the Presidium of the Supreme Council (SC) of the USSR approved the provision for the honorary title “Hero City”. The main criterion according to which cities received this status was the historical assessment of the contribution of their defenders to the victory over the enemy. “Hero-cities” became the centers of the largest battles of the Great Patriotic War (for example, the Battle of Leningrad, the Battle of Stalingrad, etc.), cities whose defense determined the victory of Soviet troops in the main strategic directions of the front. In addition, this status was given to cities whose residents continued to fight the enemy during the occupation. According to the law, the “hero cities” were awarded the Order of Lenin, the Gold Star medal and a diploma from the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces. In addition, obelisks were installed in them with the text of the decree conferring an honorary title, as well as with images of the awards received.

On May 8, 1965, five decrees of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces were issued on presenting awards to the “hero cities” of Leningrad, Volgograd, Kyiv, Sevastopol, and Odessa. On the same day, Moscow was awarded the honorary title "Hero City", and the Brest Fortress - "Hero Fortress" with the presentation of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. On September 14, 1973, Kerch and Novorossiysk received the title, on June 26, 1974 - Minsk, on December 7, 1976 - Tula, on May 6, 1985 - Murmansk and Smolensk.

In total, 12 cities of the former Soviet Union and the Brest Fortress were awarded the honorary title. In 1988, the practice of conferring the title was stopped by a resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

New honorary title - "City of Military Glory"

On May 9, 2006, a federal law signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin established a new honorary title - “City of Military Glory.” It is assigned to cities “on the territory of which or in the immediate vicinity of which, during fierce battles, the defenders of the Fatherland showed courage, fortitude and mass heroism, including cities that were awarded the title “hero city.” Currently, there are 45 cities in Russia have the honorary title "City of Military Glory".

In Moscow, in the Alexander Garden near the Kremlin wall, near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, there is a granite alley of hero cities. There are 12 porphyry blocks here, each of which bears the name of one of the hero cities and an embossed image of the Gold Star medal. The blocks contain capsules with earth from the Piskarevsky cemetery in Leningrad and the Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd, from the foot of the walls of the Brest Fortress and the Obelisk of Glory of the Defenders of Kyiv, from the defense lines of Odessa and Novorossiysk, from the Malakhov Kurgan in Sevastopol and Victory Square in Minsk, from Mount Mithridates near Kerch, defensive positions near Tula, Murmansk and Smolensk. On November 17, 2009, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree according to which the granite alley of hero cities near the Kremlin wall was included in the National Memorial of Military Glory, along with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and a memorial sign in honor of the cities awarded the honorary title “City of Military Glory.”

Murmansk- a city in Russia, the administrative center of the Murmansk region.
Murmansk is located on the rocky eastern coast of the Kola Bay of the Barents Sea. The world's largest city located beyond the Arctic Circle. One of the largest ports in Russia.

In the west, where rocky Iceland and the Feroe Islands, where the waters of two oceans - the Atlantic and the Arctic - merge, where the routes of ships leading from the Atlantic countries to the Arctic shores of Europe pass, three countries converged: Norway, Finland, and the USSR. Norway is occupied by the Nazis, Finland is their ally. And the Nazis extended their plans into this distance. The enemy heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer was getting there, and a German submarine was laying mines in the Gulf of Ob.
WITH Far East, from Siberia - along the Yenisei and Ob - our ships delivered important cargo to Arkhangelsk. Murmansk is connected by railway to the center of the country. The road was hastily built in the first world war- among rocks and swamps - precisely for the connection of Russia with allies England and France.
For Murmansk, the war began on June 29, 1941. Active military operations in the North began a week later than in other sectors of the front. The Germans called the operation to capture Murmansk and Polyarny (with the subsequent capture of Arkhangelsk) “Silberfuchs” - “Silver Fox”.
The Nazis were not particularly interested in the number of their ships and ours. Just as in the Baltic and Black Sea, they hoped to take our bases in the Barents Sea from land. And lightning fast.
As elsewhere on the Soviet-German front, the fighting in the North immediately became fierce. Soviet soldiers and marines responded with fierce resistance and iron stamina. The inhabitants of Germany in those days were accustomed to victorious messages from Eastern Front. But no such reports were received from its polar region. How in the battle of Moscow the enemy was stopped and defeated not by frosts, not snow, and near Murmansk it was not the tundra, not the hills that stopped the fascists, but the heroism of the Soviet people.
Having many bombers, the Nazis fiercely bombed our positions before the attack. In these difficult moments, fighter jets flew in to help the infantry. The fascist pilots especially remembered the day of September 15th. In the morning, Safonov's seven fighters forced a large group of enemy bombers to turn back and drop bombs on their positions.
The fleet is also involved in repelling the Nazi offensive on land. Thousands of volunteer sailors joined the Marine Corps. The ships with their anti-aircraft artillery defended Murmansk from aviation. At that time, patrol duty of ships was not easy. They had to repel attacks by enemy aircraft, submarines and destroyers.
Several months of fighting in the Arctic passed. The Germans achieved very little. In the Murmansk area, they pushed our troops back three dozen kilometers from the border. They managed to cut off the Sredny and Rybachy peninsulas, but they could not occupy them. Neither in the Ukhta nor in the Kandalaksha directions did the enemy reach railway. In the fall of 1941, the front line beyond the Arctic Circle stabilized, and it did not change until our offensive in 1944.
At the end of 1944, the Northern Fleet outnumbered the enemy by almost three times in the number of aircraft.
The feat of Murmansk will forever go down in the history of our Motherland as a symbol of perseverance and unparalleled mass heroism.