The problems of awarding state awards of the USSR to employees of internal affairs bodies: a historical and legal analysis (1922–1991)

Aleksei Elaev

VAK Russia 5.1.1 UDC 340.158 CSCSTI 10.09 Russian Classification of Professions by Education 40.07.02

4 more Collapse

THE PROBLEMS OF AWARDING STATE AWARDS OF THE USSR TO EMPLOYEES OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS BODIES: A HISTORICAL AND LEGAL ANALYSIS (1922–1991) The problems of awarding state awards of the USSR to employees of internal affairs bodies: a historical and legal analysis (1922–1991)

АА Аа

Published in Vestnik of the St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia · Volume 2026, Issue 3 · Pages 46–56 · Rubric: Theoretical and historical legal sciences

Received: 14.02.2026 Accepted: 25.09.2026 Published: 30.09.2026 Language of publication: RUS

Authors

Aleksei Elaev

ORCID SPIN

Aleksei Elaev

Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University associate professor · Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences · Kaliningrad

Ural Institute - branch of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration PhD candidate · Department of Theory and History of State and Law · Ekaterinburg

ORCID SPIN

ABSTRACT

Introduction. The relevance of this study is determined by the need to comprehend the historical experience of the legal regulation of positive sanctions in the lawenforcement system. The problem lies in the systemic contradiction between the original focus of the Soviet award system on military merit and the specific nature of the day-to-day law-enforcement activities of militia officers, as well as in the insufficient differentiation in scholarly literature between the legal regimes of various categories of NKVD – MVD personnel. The aim of the study is to identify patterns in the evolution of the legal regulation of the conferment of awards on employees of the internal affairs bodies of the USSR and to propose a typology of legal conflicts that arose during the institutionalisation of the award system. Methods. The study was conducted using the historical-legal method, the formal-legal method, the comparative law method and institutional analysis. The methodological strategy is based on a combination of data from normative legal acts, archival materials and departmental documents. Results. Key legal problems were identified, and the following typology was proposed: 1) statutory conflicts (the inconsistency of the statutes of general orders with the specific nature of law-enforcement service); 2) procedural conflicts (the difficulty of confirming the facts of conferment); 3) status conflicts (the differentiation between the statuses of military personnel and militia officers); 4) temporal conflicts (the distortion of the legal nature of an order in the period 1944–1957). Particular attention is paid to awards for length of service and to the conferment of jubilee medals of the USSR.

KEYWORDS

history of law, internal affairs bodies, history of law, internal affairs bodies, USSR award system, positive sanctions, delegation of powers, legal status of militia officers, departmental awards, jubilee medals

Funding

Text

Text (PDF)

Read Download

1. Bubnova I. A. Nagrady kak cennostnye imperativy gosudarstva i obschestva // Vestnik Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya 2: Yazykoznanie. 2019. T. 18, № 3. S. 93–102. https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu2.2019.3.7

2. Murtazaliev A. M., Magomedhanov M. M. K istoriografii pozitivnyh sankciy // Yuridicheskiy vestnik Dagestanskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. 2014. № 3. S. 29–35.

3. Shunyakov D. V. Nagrazhdenie sotrudnikov pravoohranitel'nyh organov v predvoennyy period (1933–1941) // Vestnik Severnogo (Arkticheskogo) federal'nogo universiteta. Seriya: Gumanitarnye i social'nye nauki. 2023. T. 23, № 2. S. 24–33. https://doi.org/10.3748462/2687-1505-V254

4. Shunyakov D. V. Nagrazhdenie voennosluzhaschih voysk NKVD v gody Velikoy Otechestvennoy voyny (1941–1945) // Vestnik Severnogo (Arkticheskogo) federal'nogo universiteta. Seriya «Gumanitarnye i social'nye nauki». 2024. T. 24, № 3. S. 28–37. https://doi.org/10.37482/2687-1505-V3455. Vinokurov V. A. Gosudarstvennoe nagradnoe pravo : monografiya. Moskva : Izdatel'stvo Moskovskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, 2014. 608 s.

5. Vinokurov V. A. Novyy etap pravovogo regulirovaniya nagradnoy sistemy rossiyskogo gosudarstva // Sociologiya vlasti. 2011. № 1. S. 166–178.ch

6. Shunyakov D. V. Nagradnaya sistema SSSR v gody Velikoy Otechestvennoy voyny (1941–1945 gg.) : monografiya. Ekaterinburg : Bank kul'turnoy informacii, 2021. 195 s.

7. Savin A. I. Kommunisticheskiy purizm N. S. Hruscheva i gosudarstvennaya nagradnaya politika «slavnogo desyatiletiya» // Gumanitarnye nauki v Sibiri. 2022. T. 29, № 4. S. 55–63. https://doi.org/10.15372/HSS20220406

8. Elaev A. A. Formirovanie pravovogo instituta gosudarstvennyh nagrad SSSR (1922–1942 gg.): istoriko-pravovoe issledovanie // Yuridicheskaya nauka. 2026. № 2. S. 12–16.

9. Elaev A. A. Periodizaciya istorii instituta gosudarstvennyh nagrad SSSR (1992–1991 gg.): teoretiko-pravovoy analiz evolyucii delegirovaniya polnomochiy // Istoriya gosudarstva i prava. 2026. № 6. S. 43–49. https://doi.org/10.18572/1812-3805-2026-6-43-49

10. Kolesnikov G. A., Rozhkov A. M. Ordena i medali SSSR. 2-e izd.. Moskva : Voenizdat, 1983. 311 s.

11. Antonov V. S. Nagrady vneshney razvedki : simvoly professionalizma : [95-letiyu Sluzhby vneshney razvedki Rossii i ee sotrudnikam posvyaschaetsya]. Moskva : Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya, 2016. 270 s.

12. Elaev A. A. Izmenenie poryadka nagrazhdeniya gosudarstvennymi nagradami SSSR v period Velikoy Otechestvennoy voyny na primere voysk NKVD SSSR / Nikto ne zabyt. Nichto ne zabyto (k 80-letiyu Pobedy v Velikoy Otechestvennoy voyne) : sbornik materialov III Mezhdunarodnoy nauchno-prakticheskoy konferencii, g. Saratov, 7 maya 2025 g. / otv. red. A. T. Tashpekova. Saratov : Saratovskiy voennyy institut voysk nacional'noy gvardii Rossiyskoy Federacii, 2025. S. 19–23.

13. Shunyakov D. V. Nagrady udostoeny… Statisticheskie dannye po nagrazhdeniyu sovetskimi ordenami i medalyami v gody Vtoroy mirovoy voyny // Voenno-istoricheskiy zhurnal. 2021. № 5. S. 46–50.

14. Elaev A. A. Dramaturg Ostrovskiy i neyasnyy status yubileynyh medaley // Zakon. 2024. № 6. S. 106–109. https://doi.org/10.37239/0869-4400-2024-21-6-86-110

15. Kalinin D. A. Sovetskaya nagradnaya sistema: istoriograficheskiy aspekt // Vestnik Moskovskogo gosudarstvennogo oblastnogo universiteta. Seriya: Istoriya i politicheskie nauki. 2022. № 2. S. 132–141. . https://doi.org/10.18384/2310-676X-2022-2-132-141

16. Yakushev V. A., Ermolov P. A. Institut pooschreniy uchastkovyh upolnomochennyh milicii v period sovetskogo gosudarstva // Akademicheskaya mysl'. 2023. № 2 (23). S. 174–177.

This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

PDF JATS XML

Editor in chief

Larisa Kaverina

journalspbmvd@mail.ru +7(812)730-26-96

Editorial office

Eliana Ytrobina

demushkina.eliana@mail.ru +7(911)959-89-96

153

downloads

This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Creative Commons

GOST

Elaev A. A. The problems of awarding state awards of the USSR to employees of internal affairs bodies: a historical and legal analysis (1922–1991) // Vestnik of the St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. 2026. no. 3. pp. 46-56. URL: https://vestnikspbmvd.ru/en/nauka/publications/article/6a9c162632807fdbab871d6f/the-problems-of-awarding-state-awards-of-the-ussr-to-employees-of-internal-affairs-bodies-a-historical-and-legal-analysis-1922-1991/view. (Date of access 25.10.2026).

MLA

Aleksei Elaev. "The problems of awarding state awards of the USSR to employees of internal affairs bodies: a historical and legal analysis (1922–1991)." Vestnik of the St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia 2026.3 (2026): 46-56. URL: https://vestnikspbmvd.ru/en/nauka/publications/article/6a9c162632807fdbab871d6f/the-problems-of-awarding-state-awards-of-the-ussr-to-employees-of-internal-affairs-bodies-a-historical-and-legal-analysis-1922-1991/view.

APA

Elaev A. A. (2026). The problems of awarding state awards of the USSR to employees of internal affairs bodies: a historical and legal analysis (1922–1991). Vestnik of the St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, 2026(3), 46-56. URL: https://vestnikspbmvd.ru/en/nauka/publications/article/6a9c162632807fdbab871d6f/the-problems-of-awarding-state-awards-of-the-ussr-to-employees-of-internal-affairs-bodies-a-historical-and-legal-analysis-1922-1991/view

Chicago

Aleksei Elaev. "The problems of awarding state awards of the USSR to employees of internal affairs bodies: a historical and legal analysis (1922–1991)." Vestnik of the St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia 2026, no. 3 (2026): 46-56. URL: https://vestnikspbmvd.ru/en/nauka/publications/article/6a9c162632807fdbab871d6f/the-problems-of-awarding-state-awards-of-the-ussr-to-employees-of-internal-affairs-bodies-a-historical-and-legal-analysis-1922-1991/view.

WIKI

{{cite journal | author = Elaev A. A. | title = The problems of awarding state awards of the USSR to employees of internal affairs bodies: a historical and legal analysis (1922–1991) | journal = Vestnik of the St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia | year = 2026 | volume = 2026 | issue = 3 | pages = 46-56 | url = https://vestnikspbmvd.ru/en/nauka/publications/article/6a9c162632807fdbab871d6f/the-problems-of-awarding-state-awards-of-the-ussr-to-employees-of-internal-affairs-bodies-a-historical-and-legal-analysis-1922-1991/view }}

Copy

Export: BibTeX EndNote RefMan RusMARC

THE PROBLEMS OF AWARDING STATE AWARDS OF THE USSR TO EMPLOYEES OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS BODIES: A HISTORICAL AND LEGAL ANALYSIS (1922–1991) The problems of awarding state awards of the USSR to employees of internal affairs bodies: a historical and legal analysis (1922–1991)

Confirmation