#grigori

Oh Grigori *dreamy sigh*

It's all fun and games until the dragon talks like an aged sorcerer and places an excruciatingly painful curse on you.

Auugh! How is DD2? I heard the rumors, but the money grubbing crap are optional right? Not in your face advertised in game I hope.

Time lapse for funzy! Not gonna Iie, Grigori is spooky AF!

I was first drawn to this subject out of sheer curiosity. I simply wanted to identify the medals used for Grigori. Along the way, though, it became harder to think of the medals themselves as just props. Behind each of these decorations are thousands of real recipients who earned them through years of service or extraordinary sacrifice. World War II claimed millions of lives, and countless families – including my own – still carry their memories. It felt important to remember that, even while writing about medals pinned to the jacket of a fictional character.

With that in mind, here’s my best attempt at identifying Grigori Rozanov’s medals.

In Episode 2, on the night of the gala, we see him in a uniform-style jacket with numerous decorations. The jacket doesn’t actually match a dress uniform of Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs. Later, in Episode 5, at the memorial dinner, several of Grigori’s medals are displayed in a frame with the inscription За патриотизм и службу государству – “For patriotism and service to the state”. These framed medals are noted below. One additional award – the Order of Courage – is placed separately next to a shot of vodka.

Below is a breakdown of the medals on Grigori’s left side.

Top row:

Медаль “Ветеран Труда” (Medal “Veteran of Labor”) – Established January 18, 1974, awarded for many years of conscientious labor in industry, science, culture, education, healthcare, or government service, typically upon reaching pension-eligible seniority. A long‑service recognition rather than a distinction for specific achievements. Worn on the left breast.

Медаль Жукова (Medal of Zhukov) – Established May 9, 1994, by the Russian Federation, not the USSR – despite looking every bit the Soviet part. Originally awarded to WWII veterans of the Red Army, Navy, NKVD troops, partisans, and underground fighters based on documented wartime participation. It was later broadened to include modern servicemen for combat bravery. For Grigori, it would represent a late-life addition honoring his wartime past, not something he’d have worn during the Soviet period. Worn on the left breast.

Орден Ленина (Order of Lenin) – Established April 6, 1930. The USSR’s highest civilian decoration, awarded for outstanding state service, exemplary military service, contributions to international cooperation, or other significant service to Soviet society. From 1944–1957 it also functioned informally as a 25‑years‑of‑service award before dedicated tenure medals existed, and it accompanied the Hero of the Soviet Union and Hero of Socialist Labor titles. This is a major state honor – real institutional weight, not just time served. Worn on the left breast. (2nd framed.)

Second row:

Юбилейная медаль “30 лет Победы в ВОВ 1941–1945 гг.” (Jubilee Medal “30 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945”) – Established April 25, 1975, marking the 30th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany. Awarded to WWII military participants, partisans, and home‑front laborers who already held earlier wartime medals. Worn on the left breast. (3rd framed.)

Медаль “За доблестный труд в ВОВ 1941–1945 гг.” (Medal “For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945”) – Established June 6, 1945, awarded for at least one year of wartime civilian labor (six months for disabled veterans). Recognizes industrial, transport, agricultural, scientific, artistic, and Party/trade‑union staff who sustained the war effort from the home front. Worn on the left breast. (1st framed.) Sitting next to front-line combat medals, this one stands out because it specifically recognizes civilian contributions to the war effort.

Юбилейная медаль “50 лет Вооружённых Сил СССР” (Jubilee Medal “50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR”) – Established December 26, 1967, marking the 50th anniversary of the Soviet armed forces. Awarded to active-duty personnel as of February 23, 1968, cadets, 20+‑year retirees, Heroes of the Soviet Union, and full Order of Glory holders. Worn on the left breast. (4th framed.) This one implies that Grigori would already have been established in a military or security career by the late 1960s.

Юбилейная медаль “60 лет Вооружённых Сил СССР” (Jubilee Medal “60 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR”) – Established January 28, 1978, with eligibility criteria similar to the 50‑year medal. Worn on the left breast, following the 50‑year medal. Once the 50‑year medal’s eligibility is met, the 60‑year medal follows naturally. (This one is hard to make out clearly on screen, so I’m identifying it by best visual match rather than certainty.)

Third row:

Медаль “В ознаменование 100-летия со дня рождения В.И. Ленина” (Medal “In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of V.I. Lenin”) – Established November 5, 1969, issued in several versions: civilian (“For Valiant Labor”), military (“For Military Valor”), and a plain version for foreign communist‑movement figures. Officially, this medal ranks just below the USSR’s two hero titles and ahead of everything else on the jacket. Finding it all the way in the third row is one of the clearest signs that the actual order of precedence was ignored.

Знак “Победитель социалистического соревнования” (Badge “Winner of Socialist Competition badge”) – A badge issued annually from 1973 to 1980 by Party, government, trade‑union, and Komsomol bodies to top-performing workers, farmers, engineers, and staff. The version shown, with the “flag on a gear” design, dates from resolutions of December 30, 1976, and April 8, 1977. It’s a departmental competition badge rather than a state order – recognizing outstanding performance during a particular year rather than long-term state service – and belongs on the right breast with the other qualification badges, not mixed in with state honors on the left.

Знак “Отличник Советской Армии” (Badge “Excellent Soldier of the Soviet Army”) – Established April 17, 1957, awarded to conscripts and career soldiers for excellent combat and political training and exemplary discipline. Can be awarded only once per term of service. Also a right-side badge by rule, so its placement here is another deviation from regulations. (There are several similar-looking badges for different military arms, but I think this is the best choice for Grigori.)

And here is the right side, with a single row.

Пам'ятний знак "50 років визволення України" (Памятный знак “50 лет Освобождения Украины”, Commemorative Badge “50 Years of the Liberation of Ukraine”) – Established by decree of Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk on March 22, 1993. It recognized WWII veterans living in Ukraine who took part in its liberation from Nazi occupation, as well as non-Ukrainian liberators living abroad – the badge is worn on the right breast regardless of the recipient’s citizenship. It genuinely belongs on the right but its presence is notable simply because it’s Ukrainian rather than Russian, unlike every other award on the jacket.

(This one gave me the most trouble – I was looking for Russian orders, medals, badges, so many things, and nothing matched until I came across this one. No wonder – it’s Ukrainian!)

Орден Мужества (Order of Courage) – Established March 2, 1994, replacing the Soviet-era Order “For Personal Courage.” Awarded for courage in protecting public order, fighting crime, disaster response, or risking one’s life in military or civil duty. Can be awarded multiple times, including posthumously. This one belongs on the left with the other state orders, so its placement here is a real error. But for the narrative, it’s a useful one: singling this specific medal out later, laid out on its own beside a shot of vodka, almost feels like the show telling the audience this is the one that actually mattered to him, misplacement and all.

Grigori’s age in the books is not given, and we only know that he is “almost fifty years older than Ilya.” This places his birth in the early- to mid-1940s, making him too young to have earned World War II medals personally. I’ve seen suggestions that he may be wearing a relative’s medals instead. That’s a tempting explanation. But the regulations don’t support it. Presidential Decree No. 442 and Article 17.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses prohibit wearing state awards not personally received. Medals may be inherited, but the right to wear them is not transferable. Even the Бессмертный полк (Immortal Regiment) marches emphasize carrying portraits rather than wearing decorations.

More importantly, it doesn’t match what we see on screen. Most of Grigori’s decorations are worn on the left, exactly where a recipient would wear his own awards. This suggests that the audience is meant to understand them as his. And that would mean that the TV version of Grigori is significantly older than the book suggests, born no later than 1925, making him around 90 during the 2014 Sochi Olympics, the last time we see him.