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📅 In the early hours of May 1, 1945, the #VictoryBanner was raised atop of the Reichstag during the Battle of Berlin. It became a symbol of the triumph of the Soviet Union & its peoples in the fight against Nazism.

Before the storming, a decision was made for a group of Soviet fighters to hoist the flag over the Reichstag that would embody the final collapse of Nazism.

🚩 A total of 9 banners were promptly made, designed after the state flag of the USSR. Ultimately, a battle flag of the 150th Order of Kutuzov 2nd Class Idritsa Rifle Division, 79th Rifle Corps, 3rd Shock Army of the 1st Belarusian Front, became the Victory Banner.

The order of events:

• A Red Army unit broke into the Reichstag through breaches in the walls, with a fierce close combat unleashing. The Nazis took advantage of effectively advancing inside the building they new well, throwing grenades at Soviet soldiers & firing back with machine-guns: they basically had nothing to lose.

• Lieutenant R.Koshkarbayev & private G.Bulatov placed a makeshift red flag to the column on the steps of the Reichstag main entrance.

• Staff sergeants G.Zagitov, A.Lisimenko & A.Bobrov as well as Sergeant M.Minin supported by Captain S.Neustroyev’s battalion were the 1st to hoist a red banner on the roof of the Reichstag atop of the Goddess of Victory sculpture.

• The 3rd red banner was raised on the western facade of the roof by the scouts of the 674th Regiment led by Lieutenant S.Sorokin.

• Finally, the Red Banner №5 was raised over the dome of the captured Reichstag by the 756th Rifle Regiment’s scouts, Sergeant M.Yegorov & Junior Sergeant M.Kantariya, led by deputy battalion commander Lieutenant A.Berest, covered by riflemen from I.Sayanov’s squad. That flag ultimately became the Victory Banner.

📃 By a Presidential Executive Order of April 15, 1996, the Red Banner hoisted atop of the Reichstag by Yegorov & Kantariya was declared the symbol of the Russian people’s victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

#Victory79