On February 5, an EWCS dedicated to the 100th Birth Anniversary of Hero of the Soviet Union Aleksandr Matrosov was put into postal circulation in the On the 80th Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945 series

Aleksandr Matrosov (1924–1943) was a Hero of the Soviet Union, a Red Army soldier.

He was born on February 5, 1924, in Ekaterinoslavl. He was in the Red Army since September of 1942, served in the 2nd separate rifle battalion of the 91st separate Siberian Stalin Volunteer Brigade (later on, the 254th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 56th Guards Rifle Division of the Kalinin Front).

On February 27 of 1943, the 2nd Battalion was tasked to attack a fortified strong point near the village of Pleteni, to the west of the village of Chernushki in the Loknyansky District of the Pskov Region. As soon as the Red Army soldiers passed through the forest and came to the edge of the woods, they were caught by severe machine-gun fire from the enemy: three enemy machine-guns in earth-and-timber bunkers were covering up the approaches to the village. One machine gun was suppressed by an assault group of machine gunners and antitank gunners. Another group destroyed the second bunker, but the machine-gun from the third bunker continued to apply fire on the entire ravine in front of the village. Then privates P. Ogurtsov and A. Matrosov moved towards the bunker. Soon P. Ogurtsov was severely wounded, and A. Matrosov approached the fire slit alone. He threw two shells and the machine gun went silent, but as soon as the soldiers attempted to attack the enemy, the machine gun came to life again. Then Aleksandr Matrosov got up, rushed towards the bunker and closed the fire slit with his body. He contributed at the cost of his life to the fulfilment of the unit's combat mission.
By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 19, 1943, for the exemplary performance of combat missions of the command at the front of the fight against the Nazi invaders and the courage and heroism shown upon that, Red Army soldier Aleksandr Matrosov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

The commemorative postage stamp presents an image of the emblem of celebration of the 80th Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945; the main illustration features a Monument to Hero of the Soviet Union Private A. Matrosov in Velikie Luki of the Pskov Region.

In addition to the issue of the envelope with a commemorative stamp, JSC Marka produced special cancels for Moscow, Pskov and Velikie Luki of the Pskov Region.


Sculptor: E. Vuchetich.
Design Artists: А. Moskovets and N. Karpova.
Quantity: 500 thousand envelopes.

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