Award Certificate for the Medal for the Capture of Berlin, (Series "A"), #469585 , issued on 22 February 1946 (on the eve of the Red Army Day celebrations). The document shows an ink stamp of the 348th Rifle Division and is hand-signed by its commander, Colonel Balyasov. The document is in good condition. It shows mild water stains along its perimeter and on the back, but it is not too detractive. The document remains very sound and presentable; its interior pages are free of stains; the hand-written entries are fully legible.

Award Certificate for the Medal for the Capture of Berlin, (Series "A"), #469585 , issued on 22 February 1946 (on the eve of the Red Army Day celebrations). The document shows an ink stamp of the 348th Rifle Division and is hand-signed by its commander, Colonel Balyasov. The document is in good condition. It shows mild water stains along its perimeter and on the back, but it is not too detractive. The document remains very sound and presentable; its interior pages are free of stains; the hand-written entries are fully legible.

Award Certificate for the Medal for the Capture of Koenigsberg, (Series "В"), #099082 , issued on 27 June 1947. The document shows an ink stamp of the Military Commissariat of the Klichevskiy District (located in the Mogilev region of Soviet Belorussia) and is hand-signed by the commissar of the district Major Mukasevich. The fact that the document was issued by a military commissariat rather than a military unit clearly indicates that the recipient had been discharged from military service by the time. Note also that unlike the Berlin document, the recipient is referred only by his name, without mentioning his military rank.

In good condition, practically identical to that of the Berlin document. Shows mild water stains along its perimeter and on the back, not too detractive. The document remains very sound and presentable; its interior pages are free of stains; the hand-written entries are fully legible.

The 348th Rifle Division where Private Dubinin served at the end of the war was a highly distinguished unit. One of the Red Army units formed after the German invasion during 1941, the division performed extremely well during the Soviet counteroffensive at Moscow, liberating a large number of settlements including the important town of Klin. In 1942-43, it was severely mauled in the bloody and unsuccessful Soviet offensives at Rzhev (the so-called "Rzhev Meatgrinder") and Demyansk, and in March 1943, temporarily withdrawn from the front for rest and replenishment. In the counteroffensive phase of the Battle of Kursk, the division fought valiantly in the northern sector of the front, first pushing the German lines back to their original jumping-off position and then playing a significant role in the Soviet offensive at Orel in early August, when it crossed the Oka River, cut several major roadways, and captured the southwestern part of the city.

The 348th then advanced into Belorussia where as a part of the 63rd Army, 1st Belorussian Front, it was instrumental in clearing the path for the 9th Tank Corps in the initial phase of the Operation Bagration in late June of 1944. During the following month, the division played such an important role in the liberation of the city of Bobruisk that it was given an honorific title of "Bobruiskaya", and a month later, was awarded with the Order of the Red Banner for its performance in the storming of Bialystok. In the early months of 1945, it operated as a part of the 3rd Army, 3rd Belorussian Front, in northern Poland and East Prussia, and in the first week of March, reached the shore of Frisches Haff (Vistula Lagoon). Upon the conclusion of the East Prussian offensive, it was transferred back to the 1st Belorussian Front. During the Battle of Berlin, it made a major contribution to neutralizing the attempt of General Wenck's Ninth Army - Hitler's last hope - to save Berlin from an encirclement (Wenck ultimately succeeded however in extricating a part of his troops and large number of civilians, who managed to escape west and surrendered to the Americans). The division ended the war on the Elbe River where it met the American troops.

As a result of its outstanding performance throughout the Patriotic War, the 348th Rifle Division received a total of three decorations: Orders of the Red Banner, Suvorov and Kutuzov, in additional to the title of "Bobruiskaya" - an exceptionally high level of recognition for any single unit!

/Detailed unit history is available in Volume IX Red Tide of Charles Sharp's Soviet WWII Order of Battle series, as well as a number of Russian-language Internet sources. /
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