Ivan (Ovanes) Bagramyan (1897-1982) was a Soviet military leader, Marshal of the Soviet Union (1955), twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1944, 1977). At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, he was the Chief of Staff of the Southwestern Front. In July – September of 1941, Bagramyan took part in the Kiev strategic defensive operation. In the second half of December of 1943, the troops under his leadership conducted the Gorodok offensive operation, which ensured favorable conditions for the offensive in Vitebsk. In late January - early February of 1945, an offensive operation of crushing the enemy group near Klaipeda was executed under Bagramyan's command. He commanded the operation of seizing the fortress of Königsberg. Under his command, the troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front completed the operation to destroy the Zemland enemy grouping.
Leonid Govorov (1897-1955) was a Soviet military commander, Marshal of the Soviet Union (1944), a Hero of the Soviet Union (1945).
From the first day of the Great Patriotic War, he was at the Western Front. He took part in organization of the Mozhaisk defense line. Then he commanded the Leningrad group of troops of that front and created Leningrad counterbattery artillery corps. He elaborated the Narva and Tallinn offensive and Moonzund landing operations. Since April of 1953, he was the Chief Inspector of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR, and since May, 1954, he was the Vice Commander-in-Chief of the Air Defense Forces of the USSR – the Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR.
Ivan Konev (1897–1973) was a Soviet military leader, military commander, Marshal of the Soviet Union (1944), twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1944, 1945). During the Great Patriotic War, Lieutenant-General I. Konev became the Commander of the 19th Army formed from the troops of the North Caucasian Military District. Later on, he was appointed the Commander of the Western Front, and then of the Kalinin Front; he took part in the battle for Moscow. On February 27, 1943, I. Konev was removed from the post of the Commander of the Western Front. In March 1943, he became the Commander of the North-Western Front. Konev managed to achieve success in the Battle of Kursk, in the Belgorod-Kharkov operation and in the Battle of the Dnieper. Konev's greatest success as a military leader was Korsun-Shevchenko operation, in which a large enemy group was surrounded and defeated for the first time after Stalingrad. In March – April of 1944, he headed one of the most successful Uman-Botoshany offensive operation, in which his troops were the first in the Red Army to cross the state border and enter the territory of Romania on March 26, 1944.
Kirill Meretskov (1897–1968) was a Soviet military leader, Marshal of the Soviet Union (1944), a Hero of the Soviet Union (1940). During the Soviet-Finnish War (1939-1940), on March 21, 1940, he was awarded the title of a Hero of the Soviet Union for the organization of the breakthrough of the Mannerheim Line main fortifications. In June of 1940, Kirill Meretskov along with Zhukov and Tyulenev, was among the first to be promoted to the rank of Army General.
During the Great Patriotic War, he commanded the 7th Separate Army, the troops of the 4th Separate Army, participated in the Tikhvin offensive operation, and then was the Commander of the Volkhov Front. He was in charge of the Sinyavino operation of 1942; in January of 1943, Meretskov distinguished himself in breaking through the blockade of Leningrad during the Spark operation. In January of 1944, he played a major role in the victory in the Leningrad-Novgorod operation. On February 22, 1944, Meretskov was appointed the Commander of the Karelian Front.
Vasily Sokolovsky (1897–1968) was a Soviet military leader, Marshal of the Soviet Union (1946), a Hero of the Soviet Union (1945). From July 1941 to January 1942, he was the Chief of Staff of the Western Front. He actively participated in the planning, preparation and conduct of the Moscow offensive operation of 1941-1942 and the Rzhev-Vyazma operation of 1942. From February of 1943 to April of 1944, he was the Commander of the Western Front. From April to June of 1945, Vasily Sokolovsky was a Deputy Commander in Chief of the 1st Belorussian Front. In these positions, he greatly contributed to the planning, preparation and conduct of the Lvov-Sandomierz, Vistula-Oder and Berlin strategic offensive operations. In May of 1945, he participated in signing of the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany from the Soviet side. Since March of 1949, he was the First Deputy Minister of the Armed Forces of the USSR. From June of 1952 to April of 1960, Vasily Sokolovsky was the Head of the General Staff - First Deputy Minister of the Armed Forces of the USSR. Since the spring of 1960, he was the Inspector General of the Group of General Inspectors of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR.
The postage stamps feature portraits of I. Bagramyan, L. Govorov, I. Konev, K. Meretskov, and V. Sokolovsky.
In addition to the issue of the postage stamps, JSC Marka produced First Day Covers and special cancels for Moscow, St. Petersburg, Belgorod, Vladivostok, Rostov-on-Don, Ryazan and Orel, as well as five maxi-cards.
Design Artist: S. Ulyanovsky.
Face value: 60 rubles.
Stamp size: 37×50 mm, sheet size: 168×177 mm.
Emission form: sheets with 12 (4×3) stamps.
Quantity: 108 thousand each stamp (9 thousand each sheet).
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