Russian Awards Debasement

[desantnik]

Эрозия наградной системы | Еженедельник «Военно-промышленный курьер»

For those that can read it, a condemnation of the gradual, progressive erosion of the prestige of the Russian award system, alleging that with few exceptions, most awards can be purchased and awarded to anyone who pays.

[CtahhR]

This has been true of "Organisational" awards from day one and seemed to be creeping into Ministerial awards over the last decade or so (with the blurring between Ministerial and Organisational awards becoming ever noticeable).

With cost of production far less than "subscription" to be awarded it could be quite lucrative. It has kept Umalatova (to name but one) afloat for all this time.

This of course does not mean in any way it'll put me off collecting them.