10 Roubles Kalach-on-Don

Kalach-on-Don sits at the point where the Don River comes within roughly 80 kilometers of the Volga — the narrow land bridge that made the area strategically critical during the German advance of 1942. The town was captured by Wehrmacht forces in July of that year and held until the collapse of the Sixth Army's position following the Stalingrad encirclement. The Soviet designation "City of Military Glory," which prompted this coin's issue under Russia's ongoing regional honors program, was awarded in 2011.