Drawings of Victory Banner's author available on Presidential Library's portal

Digital copies of drawings by the front-line artist Vasily Buntov (1905-1979) have been added to the electronic collection of the Presidential Library and are now available to readers both in Russia and abroad.

Vasily Buntov is best known for his creation of the world-famous Victory Banner that was raised on the roof of the ruined Reichstag building in Berlin in 1945. The banner was designed by Buntov and his team of artists, and it became a symbol of victory for the Soviet Union and its allies in World War II.

Born in the village of Ustye, in the Vologda region of Russia, in 1905, Buntov studied at the Leningrad Art and Industrial College and worked as a teacher of drawing and painting in schools and youth centers. He also served as a member of the local city committee of artists and contributed to the cultural life of his community.

When the Great Patriotic War started, Vasily Buntov volunteered to go to the front on the second day. He took a pencil and a sketchbook with him. As a front-line artist, he traveled the roads of war all the way to Berlin. He painted a lot and made sketches in various media, recording all the horrors of war: human suffering, blood, and death.

As the head of the club for the 23rd Guards Rifle Division, Vasily Alekseevich created posters, slogans, and cartoons. He fought as part of troops on the North-Western, 2nd Baltic, and 1st Belarusian fronts.

In the spring of 1945, Vasily Buntov was given an urgent task by the command to produce nine special banners - copies of the USSR State Flag - in two days. The work was completed on time, and the banners depicted a hammer and sickle with a star, the names of the divisions, and ordinal numbers 1 to 9 in the lower right corner, corresponding to the number of divisions in the 3rd Shock Army advancing on Berlin.

One of the banners was destined to be the Banner of Victory, which the fighters would use to break through and raise over the Reichstag before others. The task was completed successfully, and the work of Vasily Buntov played an important role in the victory of Soviet troops in World War II.

The banner number 5 belonged to the 150th Rifle Division of the Idritska Order of Kutuzov. It became the banner of victory, which was hoisted over the Reichstag by scouts Mikhail Egorov and Meliton Kantaria on May 2, 1945. This banner participated in the Victory Parade on Red Square on June 24, 1945.

After the Great Patriotic War ended, Vasily Alekseevich Buntov returned to Leningrad and continued to create art. The military theme remained central in his work, and he brought back 60 sketches from the front, dedicated to his fellow soldiers and their heroic deeds. These sketches have been exhibited in various exhibitions. Unfortunately, some of them were lost. Irina Vasilyevna Alekseeva, his daughter, donated 47 works by her father to the Presidential Library for digital preservation.

I am very pleased, – she said, – that electronic copies of my father's drawings are now in the collection of the Presidential Library, where everyone can see them. These drawings serve as a living reminder of those difficult times, which we should never forget. It is particularly important that younger generations remember the events of those war years.

Some of Vasily Buntov's works can be found in the Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineering, and Communications Troops. Most of his works are part of the "Relics of the War. 1941–1945" exhibition in the city of Pushkin.

Vasily Buntov was a participant in the Great Patriotic War and was awarded several military orders and medals, including the Order of the Red Star, Order of the Patriotic War II degree, medals for the Victory over Germany, Capture of Berlin, Liberation of Warsaw, jubilee medals for 50 years of the Armed Forces, 20 years after the Victory in the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945), badge for 25 years after the victory, medals for 30 years after victory, In memory of the 250th anniversary of Leningrad, and the badge Veteran of the 3rd Shock Army. He also received the title Veteran of Labor.