Coin Bratislava

Detailed description

With the aim of liberating Slovakia from March 25 to May 5, 1945, Soviet troops carried out the Bratislava-Brnov offensive operation. The main blow was inflicted by the forces of the 2nd Ukrainian Front with the support of the Danube Flotilla and the 5th Air Army in the direction of Bratislava and Brno.

The offensive began on the night of March 25, 1945. At night, in complete darkness, the forward detachments of the Soviet troops crossed the Gron River, interrupted the military protection of the Germans, and seized several bridgeheads. Sapper units immediately started pontoon crossings, and by morning, under cover of artillery, the main forces crossed the river, which expanded the bridgehead and began to move deeper into the territory. The offensive developed along the Danube to Bratislava. The Danube military flotilla took part in the offensive, and landed landing forces, supporting them with the fire of ship artillery. The breakthrough expanded both in width and depth. On March 30, our troops came to the river Vag, a deep, navigable, wide river with a rapid current. All the bridges across the river were blown up by the Germans. The engineer troops quickly set up the crossing, and by April 1 our army had reached the approaches to Bratislava.

The city was well fortified, anti-tank ditches, mine fields and reinforced concrete firing points were created, and numerous barricades were built on the streets. Especially strong was the eastern edge of the city. Therefore, the front commander Malinovsky decided to bypass Bratislava and strike from the north-west. But to completely avoid the city battles still failed. The fighting continued for two days, our infantry units supported the Danube Flotilla, and on April 4, 1945, Bratislava was liberated. The peaceful population joyfully met their liberators.

With the liberation of Bratislava, about 7,000 Soviet soldiers died. In their honor was built a memorial complex, the center of which is a 40-meter stela with the figure of a warrior holding a banner (the sculptor Grizulyak). Near the memorial is a military cemetery, where Soviet soldiers who died during the liberation of Bratislava are buried.

Obverse description

In the center of the disk - the denomination of the coin in two lines: "5 РУБЛЕЙ", below - the inscription: "БАНК РОССИИ", under it - the year of coinage: "2016", left and right - stylized branch of the plant, on the right at the edge - yard.

Reverse description

In the center of the disk there is an image of fragments of the memorial complex "Slavin" dedicated to the Soviet soldiers who fell during the liberation of Bratislava from the fascist invaders against the backdrop of contour images of the architectural structures of Bratislava, below is a horizontal inscription: "4 АПРЕЛЯ 1945 г.", above along the edge - the inscription: "БРАТИСЛАВА".