Medal "30 Years Of Operation Storm 333".

[medals73]

Operation Storm 333 (Шторм-333) was the codename of the Soviet special forces operation on 27 December 1979 in which Soviet special forces stormed the Tajbeg Palace in Afghanistan and killed President Hafizullah Amin and his 200 personal guards. This was an operation linked to the Soviet invasion of the country.

Wikipedia says (using whatever size grain of salt is needed):

Taking part in the operation were 24 men from «Гром» ("Thunder") unit of Alpha Group, GRU, and 30 operators from another special KGB group: «Зенит» ("Zenith"). There were also 520 men from the 154th Separate Spetsnaz Detachment of the USSR Ministry of Defence, known as the "Muslim battalion" because it consisted exclusively of soldiers from the southern republics of the USSR, and 87 troops of a company of 345 Guards Airborne Regiment. These support troops were not issued armor or helmets, but one of them recalls that a magazine tucked inside his clothes protected him from an SMG bullet. The GRU and KGB units were clad in bullet-proof vests and helmets; this proved crucial, because Amin's personal guards were armed only with submachine guns, which were not able to penetrate the Soviet vests.

In the operation Alpha Group lost 2 men, Zenith group lost 3, the Muslim battalion 9, and the Air Landing company 5. More than 50 were wounded in total.

Now someone (I suspect one of the numerous enterprising capitalist churners-out of "commemorate" medals to commemorate every possible thing) have produced awards to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of this action. In addition to the two shown below, there is also a screwback version of the enameled star.

Yet, under contemporary "rules", these are wearable, so long as someone gives you a stamped certificate (and I haven't seen one of those, though I'm sure someone will make them up if there's a profit to be made).

[medals73]

The screwback variety of this "thing". Same size and (unfortunate) "texture" as the suspension star.

[CtahhR]

I think they call it "working to a budget".

It is rather unfortunate that many of these modern "organisational" awards are deliberately put out the same "bit" but with deliberate variations to add a few more $$ to the Organisation's fund.

I wonder just how much of the profits actually benefit the original participants of such celebrated events.

[medals73]

Originally Posted by CtahhR

I wonder just how much of the profits actually benefit the original participants of such celebrated events.

Well, er, I'd guess NONE. (As in other countries.)

And now that Russia allows all these doo-dads to be worn . . . .

[deValcourt]

For a number of years somebody has been producing and selling "commemorative watches" in all sorts of variations. Here's one I bought in Moscow in the 90s. I know it's a "fake" but this variation looked cool enough to buy ($10).

Forgive the fact I had to prop it up with a MSU grad badge to keep as much of the reflections from the lamp as I could. It is a really neat watch (hand wind daily) and well put together, as opposed to later ePay versions. I prefer this one for everyday use rather than my Movado from about the same time I bought this one.

You will notice the "Zenith" mark-up and the KGB - PGU (First Chief Directorate - foreign intelligence) just above the second dial.

Phillip