The museum displays a copy of the certificate issued by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR conferring the title Hero of the Soviet Union upon Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov — an outstanding Soviet intelligence officer and partisan.

This highest distinction was established by decree of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR on April 16, 1934, and awarded to military personnel for acts of heroism or exceptional achievements in combat. On October 16, 1939, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet approved the Gold Star Medal as the official insignia of the title. Recipients awarded the title a second time received a second Gold Star and had a bronze bust erected in their honor in their hometown. Those honored a third time were to be commemorated with a bust placed at the Palace of Soviets in Moscow.

Nikolai Kuznetsov was a legendary figure in Soviet intelligence, whose contribution to victory in the Great Patriotic War is difficult to overstate. Operating undercover in Nazi-occupied Rovno, he gathered critical intelligence and eliminated several high-ranking German officers. His reports on Nazi Germany’s strategic plans helped thwart key enemy operations.

On November 5, 1944, Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. In his final letter, he wrote:

For fifteen long years, the location of the partisan’s grave remained unknown. Only through the persistent efforts of his comrades-in-arms — Nikolai Strutinsky, Boris Sukhenko, Pyotr Mamonets, Georgy Strutinsky, and others — was it finally established that Kuznetsov fought his last battle in the village of Boratin. In the early hours of March 9, 1944, he died alongside his fellow partisans, Yan Kaminski and Ivan Belov.

On July 27, 1960, Nikolai Kuznetsov’s remains were reburied with full military honors on the Hill of Glory in Lvov. Notably, his commander, General Pavel Anatolyevich Sudoplatov, had included Kuznetsov on the award list without yet knowing the full details of his death. But Sudoplatov had no doubt: men like Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov could only fall as heroes.