Award Certificate for the Defense of Stalingrad Medal, Series P #36113, issued on 7 November 1943. The document measures 14.5 x 20.9 cm (approx. 5½ " x 8¼ "). Shows an ink stamp of the 10th Separate Reserve Rifle Division and hand-signed by Major Volyanskiy, Commander of the 32nd Separate Reserve Regiment. Note the very early date of issue: most Soviet WW2 campaign medal documents of this kind were issued later in the war, in 1944-45.

The Stalingrad certificate is in very good to excellent condition. It has been folded in four for storage as was customary and has developed a minor separation at the bottom edge along the vertical fold. It however remains perfectly sound and does not have any of the usual repairs with backing tape. The edges are otherwise free of tears, clips or "dog-ears". The document is immaculately clean, showing only normal age toning and a few tiny faint ink marks on the verso, while the front is completely free of the usual soiling, stains or fingerprints. The artwork and printed text are perfect; the stamp and hand-written entries are clear and perfectly legible.

Award Certificate for the Medal for Victory over Germany, Series "N" #181416, issued in April 1946. Shows an ink stamp of the 783rd Artillery Regiment and hand-signed by the Commander of the Artillery, 260th Rifle Division, Guards Colonel Pochitalov.

Very good to excellent condition. There are a couple of small marks on the front cover and minor wrinkles at the lower right corner; otherwise perfectly clean and sound, not showing much wear. The stamp and hand-written entries are completely legible.

Based on the information found on Russian archival websites, Yevgeniy Antonyuk, an ethnic Ukrainian, was born in 1922 and joined the Red Army in June 1942. Later that summer, he in some capacity took part in the Battle of Stalingrad and was wounded on 9 September, making him eligible for the Defense of Stalingrad Medal issued in November of the following year. At that point, Antonyuk was serving with the 10th Reserve Rifle Regiment that, contrary to its name, specialized in training artillery and mortar officer cadres for the Red Army.

Antonyuk arrived at the front in July 1944 with the rank of lieutenant and was put in charge of the command platoon of a 76-mm gun battery of the 783rd Artillery Regiment, 260th Rifle Division, 129th Rifle Corps, 1st Belorussian Front. During the following month, he distinguished himself as a forward observer in combat near the city of Stanislav in western Ukraine (formerly Polish Stanisławów and nowadays Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine). Under heavy enemy fire, Antonyuk provided exact coordinates of several enemy machine gun nests and a mortar battery that were subsequently neutralized and partly destroyed. On 21 August 1944, he was awarded his first decoration of the war for his actions at Stanislav: the Order of the Red Star. Less than a week later, on 27 August, he was wounded in combat but remained on active duty.

On 18 September, Antonyuk operated as an artillery spotter in the Wołomin district of Poland where he detected several enemy weapon emplacements subsequently destroyed by his unit's artillery. Although wounded in combat once again, he refused to leave his post until the fighting was over. For this feat, he was soon awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd cl.

Antonyuk earned his last decoration of WW2 in Germany, during the final month of the war in Europe. Starting from mid-April 1945, his unit took part in the expansion of the bridgehead on the Oder, capture of Wriezen and Brandenburg, and advance to the Elbe River. Throughout this period, Antonyuk served as deputy reconnaissance commander of his regiment and in this capacity, not only organized the work of forward observers, but also acted as an artillery spotter himself. He was directly credited with detecting 3 antitank guns, 2 antiaircraft guns, 4 heavy machine guns and 6 light machine guns that were destroyed or neutralized by his regiment. On 13 May, a few days after the German surrender, Antonyuk was recommended for the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd cl. by his regiment commander. The award was however upgraded up the chain of command to the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st cl. that was bestowed upon Lt. Antonyuk on 6 June 1945 by a general order of the 47th Army.

Research Materials: photocopy of the award commendations for the three WW2 decorations from the Russian Military Archives.