The lost Order of the Red Star was returned to the family of a veteran of the Great Patriotic War

The family of Alexander Gorelov, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War (WWII), was able to return the Order of the Red Star, which was lost.

The veteran participated in the battles on the Khalkhin Gol River and the battles of the Finnish War. In WWII, he was a platoon commander of an autobatallion and often performed risky tasks. Even the most experienced column leaders considered some tasks impossible. So, on his first flight, he took the cars to unload on a snowy road and returned an hour ahead of schedule.

The soldier received the Order of the Red Star for courage and bravery. Gorelov's great-niece Irina Nosenko shared that he was a very self-contained and kind person, loved flowers and, especially, violets, and also drove his relatives by car. According to her, he was a war invalid, but he drove, as it seemed to her, a masterpiece.

The true circumstances of the award's disappearance are unknown, but a collector with Russian roots in Toronto purchased the order for $200.

"I acquired the Order of the Red Star of Gorelov about 15 years ago. They showed me a lot of awards. Two bags of awards in cellophane bags. There were about 200 pieces," said Sergei Yeremeyev, a foreman at the 191st Infantry Division Military History Club.

Currently, the website of the antique shop where the order was sold contains, among other things, a large number of medals from the time of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. So, the Order of the Patriotic War of the first degree, which was awarded to veteran commander Alexei Patuev, can be purchased for $ 616.

Marina Samsonova, coordinator of the Long Road Home movement, clarified that such awards are returned not only from Russia, but also from other countries, and not former compatriots are involved in this matter.

"I think there was a large flow in the 1990s, and a lot of awards were exported there. Now there is a very serious control in this regard," she said.

Members of the 191st Rifle Division club in Canada buy Soviet orders and medals in order to later find their rightful owners and descendants. Thus, 90 people have already received family heirlooms. Reenactors have been searching for Gorelov's descendants for 15 years. His great-niece accidentally came across the publication on the Internet when she was collecting information about Gorelov.

"We are all engaged in the purchase of these state awards, naturally at our own expense, no one sponsors it. It's all out of your pocket. As members of the historical club, history lovers, it is a shame for us to see that someone's feat, embodied in metal, is simply sold as some kind of thing," said Ruslan Rakhutin, a member of the 191st Rifle Division reenactors club.

On February 18, in Moscow, veterans of the Great Patriotic War, home front workers and former prisoners of fascism were awarded commemorative medals to mark the 80th anniversary of the Victory. The participants of the special military operation also received awards.

In 2025, May 9 marks the 80th anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War. In January 1945, the Soviet army launched an offensive against Berlin. As a result of the fighting, at 0:43 Moscow time on May 9, the commanders-in-chief signed the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Germany, which served as the end of the war.