Snapshot. Private Collection.
This WWII era red army soldier was awarded quite a few medals. He’s leaning against a tree branch for an artistic portrait of himself. He’s posing without his ‘pilotka’ side hat on. The photographer may have been one of his ‘comrades’, the peaked top of his hat being the shadow on the sitter’s arm. Yes, that’s a stretch but maybe not too much. ;)
Friend or foe? Depends if this was taken before or after 1941. :)
Digital restoration work titled WWII Soviet Army Soldier In Tree by Caroline C. Ryan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Bowlers And High Collars 
March 14th, 2020 at 12:02 am
This was taken no earlier than 1943 which is when the shoulder straps were re-introduced in Red Army,
Judging by the sheer number of medals, most likely taken at the end of the war, I’m tempted to say right after the German capitulation. The guy was a private in a Guards’ unit and has the Chemical branch insignia.
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