The Opening of the Second Front

Obverse

a view of the dome of the Senate building and the Saviour's Tower of the Moscow Kremlin, to the right - the mint trademark. The inscriptions along the rim framed by an ornament: at the top — «ТРИ РУБЛЯ 1994 г.» (THREE RUBLES 1994), at the bottom — «БАНК РОССИИ» (BANK OF RUSSIA).

Reverse

against the background of a map of Europe - the stylised national flags, to the left - of Britain and the United States, to the right - of the Soviet Union, the inscriptions along the rim: at the top — "ОТКРЫТИЕ" (THE OPENING), at the bottom - "ВТОРОГО ФРОНТА" (OF THE SECOND FRONT), in the center the date in two lines - "ИЮНЬ 1944" ( JUNE 1944) (the beginning of military operations on the second front).

Authors

The artist: A.V. Baklanov
The sculptor: V.M. Nikishchenko
Moscow Mint (ММД)
The edge: two incised inscriptions "ТРИ РУБЛЯ" (THREE RUBLES), separated by two asterisks.

For the Russian people the war against the Fascist Germany became from the start a truly patriotic war. The four years of the Great Patriotic War (as the war waged by Russia against the Fascist Germany is called in this country) included the heroic defence of the Brest fortress, the hard-fought defensive battles waged by the Soviet army in the early days of the war, the march past of troops on November 7, 1941, on Red Square wherefrom they went straight to the frontline, the siege of Leningrad, the evacuation of industrial enterprises and people from the frontline regions to the east of the country, hard work for victory in the rear, the victories won by Soviet troops at Moscow, Leningrad and Kursk, the crossing of the Dnieper River, the defence of the Caucasus, the large-scale offensive operations mounted by Soviet troops in 1944-1945 and the ultimate liberation of the Soviet Union and European countries from the German invaders.