This image shows a toy minifigure representing a soldier of the Soviet NKVD Border Guards from the interwar period or the early stages of World War II.
The soldier is wearing a grey Budenovka, the iconic soft, pointed helmet symbolic of the early Red Army, complete with a red star insignia on the front.
His uniform is a khaki tunic with very specific insignia that identifies his service branch. The decorative braiding, or frogging, across the chest is a bright, vibrant green, and the rank patch on his sleeve also has a green background. In the Soviet system of military and security forces, bright green was the exclusive color of the NKVD Border Guards.
The figure is armed with a toy replica of the standard Soviet Mosin-Nagant rifle.
Historical Background: The Soviet Border Guards were elite, well-trained, and highly disciplined military units under the command of the NKVD (the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs). Tasked with policing the vast and often turbulent frontiers of the USSR, they were the very first line of defense. On June 22, 1941, these Border Guards were the first to bear the shock of the German invasion during Operation Barbarossa. Despite being massively outnumbered, many border outposts fought with incredible courage and tenacity, holding out for hours, days, or in the famous case of the Brest Fortress, weeks against overwhelming odds. This figure represents one of these vigilant and famously stubborn soldiers.
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