
Novorossiysk is the Southern Gate of Russia, the country’s main port on the Black Sea and the leading Russian port for exporting grain. It is one of the few cities honored with the title of the Hero City. Its population is 251,013 men (2013).
In antiquity, the shores of the Tsemess Bay were the site of Bata, an ancient Greek colony specialized in the grain trade.
It is mentioned in the works of Strabo and Ptolemy, among others. Archaeological investigation in the area is in nascent state, but some interesting artefacts have already been uncovered.
Since 1722 the bay was under command of the Ottoman fortress of Sujuk-Qale. After the coastline was conquered by Russia in 1829, in 1838 admirals Mikhail Lazarev and Nikolay Raevsky founded there an eastern base for the Black Sea Fleet. Named after the province of Novorossiya (New Russia), the port formed a vital link in the chain of forts known as the Black Sea Coastal Line, which stretched south to Sochi.
During the rest of the 19th century, Novorossiysk developed rapidly. It was granted the status of a town in 1866, after the end of the colonial Russo-Adyghe (Circassian) War, and in 1896 the city became the capital of the Black Sea Governorate, the smallest in the Russian Empire.
Most of the city was occupied by the Nazi Germans on September 10, 1942. A small unit of Soviet sailors for 225 days defended only one part of it, known as Malaya Zemlya (Minor Land). The city was liberated on September 16, 1943. The heroic defense of the port by the sailors of the Black Sea Fleet allowed the Soviet Red Army to retain possession of the city’s bay, which prevented the Germans from using the port for supply shipments. Novorossiysk was awarded the honourable title Hero City in 1973.
In 1960, the city’s glorious history was immortalized in Dmitri Shostakovich’s masterpiece “Novorossiysk Chimes, the Flame of Eternal Glory” (Opus 111b).
In 2003, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree setting up the naval base of the Black Sea Fleet in Novorossiysk.
Author of the post picture is A.N. StadnikCOLLECTION
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The cockade with the “Red Star” emblem was intended to be worn on a military headdress (garrison cap, panama hat, or beret) by the junior leaders of recruitment, the rank and file soldiers and sailors, cadets of military schools, Suvorov military and Nakhimov naval cadets.
The cockade is a five-pointed star with the hammer and sickle.
The cockade is fastened with a clamper (or “the barbs”). The method of painting – cold enamel.
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The tiny lapel pin badge of the servicemen of the Special Purpose Detachment of the Interior Troops of Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD).
The emblem stands for the years of glorious fighting history. Initially it belonged to the first created in the USSR special actions group “Vityaz” (Knight-errant). The fist over the machine gun shortly and clearly shows force and confidence. Further this emblem was borrowed by the majority of the special forces detachments.
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The ID pin badge of the operatives and soldiers of the Police Riot Squad Special is to be attached to the upper garment and a special outfit: body armor, individual tactical load-bearing vest.
The pin badge is a goldish metal star of twelve rounded points formed by the beams radiating from the center of convex polished rays.
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The chest pin badge (insignia) of the servicemen of the 3rd Separate Special Purpose Brigade of Belorussian Interior Troops.
The symbol of the Brigade is the lynx – a Belorussian forester. It is a slick, fast, accurate and at the same time cunning and clever beast. Obviously, Belarusian commandos and consider themselves the owners of the same qualities.