residents of Belgrade, the inscriptions along the rim separated by two dots: at the top - "ОСВОБОЖДЕНИЕ ЕВРОПЫ ОТ ФАШИЗМА" (THE LIBERATION OF EUROPE FROM FASCISM), at the bottom - "БЕЛГРАД 20.10.1944" (BELGRADE OCTOBER 20, 1944).
The artist: A.A. Kolodkin
The sculptor: V.M. Nikishchenko
Moscow Mint (ММД)
The edge: two incised inscriptions "ТРИ РУБЛЯ" (THREE RUBLES), separated by two asterisks.
For the Russian people the war against the Fascist Germany became from the start a truly patriotic war. The four years of the Great Patriotic War (as the war waged by Russia against the Fascist Germany is called in this country) included the heroic defence of the Brest fortress, the hard-fought defensive battles waged by the Soviet army in the early days of the war, the march past of troops on November 7, 1941, on Red Square wherefrom they went straight to the frontline, the siege of Leningrad, the evacuation of industrial enterprises and people from the frontline regions to the east of the country, hard work for victory in the rear, the victories won by Soviet troops at Moscow, Leningrad and Kursk, the crossing of the Dnieper River, the defence of the Caucasus, the large-scale offensive operations mounted by Soviet troops in 1944-1945 and the ultimate liberation of the Soviet Union and European countries from the German invaders.
