A document for the Virtuti Militari cross of the 5th class in the name of Lieutenant General M.P. Konstantinov

An original and very rare document on the Hero of the Soviet Union, in excellent condition. The size is 140*175 mm. Guarantee of authenticity. The Order of "Virtuti militari" (military Order of Virtuti Militari (translated from Latin. — "Military valor"), Paul. Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari is a Polish military order awarded for outstanding military merit. Russian Russian Army was established by the last king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Stanislaw August Poniatowski, on June 22, 1792, in honor of the victory over Russian troops in the Battle of Zelentsy during the Russo-Polish War of 1792, abolished in the same year a year by the king himself for political reasons. After the partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Order operated in the Duchy of Warsaw. During the existence of the Kingdom of Poland, it was called the "Polish Military Order (pol. Order Wojskowy Polski)", after the restoration of Polish independence in 1919-1933, it was called the "Military Order Virtuti Militari (pol. Order Wojskowy Virtuti Militari)". It is awarded only during the war or within five years after its end by the President of the republic on the proposal of the chapter of the Order: the exception is the award of Israeli citizen Ion Degen (in 1944, his tank came to the aid of units of the Home Army in Vilnius).

Mikhail Petrovich Konstantinov (1900-1990) – Hero of the Soviet Union, participant of the Civil and Great Patriotic War, Lieutenant General. He was born on November 4, 1900 in the city of Usman, Tambov province. He graduated from a real college and a labor school. He worked as an accountant in the Usman district food Committee. In the Red Army since May 1919. He fought on the Southern and Turkestan fronts as part of combined cadet detachments. In 1926 and in 1935 he graduated from the cavalry advanced training courses for the Red Army command staff in Novocherkassk. On March 14, 1941, Major General M.P.Konstantinov was appointed commander of the 6th Kuban-Tersk Cossack Chongar Cavalry Division named after S.M.Budyonny (6th Cossack Cavalry Corps, Western Special Military District. At the front since June 1941. The corps under the command of M.P. Konstantinov operated as part of the 65th, 61st, 47th and 69th armies on the Belarusian, 1st and 2nd Belorussian fronts. He participated in the Battle of the Dnieper, Gomel-Rechitsa, Polesskaya, Belorussian, Vistula-Oder, East Pomeranian, Berlin offensive operations. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated April 6, 1945, for the skilful leadership of the cavalry corps and the determination and courage of the Guard, Lieutenant General Mikhail Petrovich Konstantinov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.
He was awarded three Orders of Lenin, four Orders of the Red Banner, the Orders of Suvorov 2nd degree, the Patriotic War 1st degree, three Orders of the Red Star, medals, foreign orders and medals. M.P. Konstantinov continued to serve in the armed forces until July 1964. He lived in Leningrad and was elected the first chairman of the city organization of war veterans. He was buried at the Theological Cemetery in St. Petersburg.