Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky (Soviet Union)

Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky 3rd class
Soviet Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky 3rd class
Awarded by the  Soviet Union
Type	3 grade order
Eligibility	Soviet Armed Forces personnel
Awarded for	Exceptional duty in combat operations that led to the liberation of the Soviet territory
Campaign	German-Soviet War and others
Status	discontinued in the Soviet Union, Order with the same name is issued by Ukraine
Statistics
Established	October 10, 1943
First awarded	October 28, 1943
Total awarded	8451
Ribbon of the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky 3rd class

The Order of Bohdan Khmelnitsky (Russian: Орден Богдана Хмельницкого, Ukrainian: Орден Богдана Хмельницького) was a Soviet award named after Bohdan Khmelnytsky, Hetman (leader) of the Ukrainian Cossack Hetmanate The award was first established on October 10, 1943, by the Presidium of Supreme Soviet of the USSR during World War II.

The order was discontinued after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. A similar award, the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, was begun on May 3, 1995, by Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma to commemorate the 50th anniversary of victory in the German-Soviet War

The General Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet filmmaker Alexander Dovzhenko, and poet Mykola Bazhan initiated the idea to create this award. The order was created during World War II and was awarded to Soviet Armed Forces personnel and often the members of the Ukrainian Front (coincidentally three of them were reinstated on October 20, 1943) for their exceptional duty in combat operations that led to the liberation of Soviet territory. The Order of Bohdan Khmelnitsky was broken down into three different classes: 1st class, 2nd class and 3rd class. General Alexey Danilov became the first recipient of the 1st class Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky.

The 1st class medal is awarded to army commanders, especially at the front, for successful direction of combat operations that led to the liberation of a region or town where they were successful in inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy. Altogether 323 people were awarded Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky 1st class.