On July 6, a PCWCS dedicated to the 125th Birth Anniversary of Pavel Rotmistrov, a Chief Marshal of the Armored Forces, a Hero of the Soviet Union, was put into postal circulation in the History of the Armed Forces of Russia series

Pavel Rotmistrov (1901–1982) was a Soviet military leader, a Chief Marshal of the Armored Forces, and a Hero of the Soviet Union. He was born in 1901 in Skovorovo of the Tver Province. In 1919, he joined the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. In 1924, he graduated from the 1st Soviet Combined Military School of the Red Army named after the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (presently, the Order of Lenin and the Order of October Revolution Moscow Higher Combined Arms Command Red Banner School). In 1931, he graduated from the Frunze Red Army Military Academy, and in 1953, from the Voroshilov Higher Military Academy (currently, the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia).

During the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939–1940, he commanded the 35th Light Tank Brigade of the 7th Army. From December of 1940, he served as Deputy Commander of the 5th Tank Division (Baltic Military District), and from May of 1941, as Chief of Staff of the 3rd Mechanized Corps. From September of 1941, he commanded the 8th Tank Brigade of the 11th Army during the Battle of Moscow in 1941–1942. In April of 1942, he assumed command of the 7th Tank Corps, which operated in the area around the city of Yelets and later near Stalingrad. In January of 1943, P. Rotmistrov's corps took part in the defeat of the group of troops of Field Marshal Erich von Manstein, as well as in the liberation of Rostov-on-Don from the Nazis. On February 9, 1943, Lieutenant General of the Tank Forces P. Rotmistrov headed the 5th Guards Tank Army. The army's troops distinguished themselves in the Battle of Kursk, playing a decisive role in the Prokhorov tank battle. Later on, the 5th Guards Army successfully proved itself in the Belgorod-Kharkov, Uman-Botoshan offensive operations, the defeat of large enemy groups in the area of Krivoi Rog, Kirovograd, as well as the encirclement and liquidation of the Korsun-Shevchenko enemy group. In the summer of 1944, the 5th Guards Army participated in the Belorussian Offensive. In August of that same year, P. Rotmistrov was appointed Deputy Commander of the Armored and Mechanized Forces of the Red Army.

After the end of the Great Patriotic War, from 1945 to 1947, he commanded the Tank Forces of the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany, and in 1947, he commanded the Tank Forces in the Far East. From 1948 to 1958, P. Rotmistrov was a Deputy Head of a department at the Higher Military Academy, and since 1958, the Head of the Military Academy of Armored Forces (Moscow). In 1964-1968, he was an Assistant to the Minister of Defense of the USSR for higher military educational institutions, and in 1968-1982, Rotmistrov was a member of the Group of Inspectors General of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR.

P. Rotmistrov was the author of scientific works on the combat use of tank troops, wrote the books The Tank Battle near Prokhorovka (1960), Time and Tanks (1972), Tanks at War (1975), Steel Guard (1984).

The commemorative stamp provides images of warriors of different times; the main illustration features a portrait of Marshal of the Armored Forces Pavel Rotmistrov against the battle scene of the Belgorod-Kharkov Strategic operation.

In addition to the issue of the postcard with a commemorative stamp, JSC Marka produced special cancels for Moscow and Tver.


Design Artists: S. Ulyanovsky and Kh. Betredinova (illustration).
Quantity: 3 thousand postcards.

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