in the centre there is a relief image of the National Coat of Arms of the Russian Federation and over it a semicircular inscription along the rim: "РОССИЙСКАЯ ФЕДЕРАЦИЯ" (RUSSIAN FEDERATION) framed by doubled rhombuses on both sides, under the emblem, in three lines, there is an inscription: "БАНК РОССИИ" (BANK OF RUSSIA), the coin’s par value "25 РУБЛЕЙ" (25 RUBLES), and the year of issue "2019 г." (2019), and on the right there is a mint trade mark.
a relief image of the U-2 (Po-2) utility biplane and the inscription ‘У-2 (ПО-2)’ (U-2 (PO-2)) underneath; along the rim there are the inscriptions ‘ОРУЖИЕ ВЕЛИКОЙ ПОБЕДЫ’ (WEAPONS OF THE GREAT VICTORY) at the top and ‘Н.Н. ПОЛИКАРПОВ’ (NIKOLAI POLIKARPOV) at the bottom.
The artists: E.V. Kramskaya (obverse), O.G. Shepel (reverse).
The sculptors: A.A. Dolgopolova (obverse), computer simulation (reverse).
Mint: Moscow Mint (ММД).
The edge: 180 corrugations.
Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov (1892-1944) was a Russian and Soviet aircraft designer. He created the famous U-2 utility biplane, which was designed in 1927; in 1944 its name was changed to Po-2 in honour of its author.
Initially, the U-2 was designed as a trainer aircraft (the U stands for ‘uchebny’, the Russian for ‘training’). Very light and controllable, it played an important role in pilot training. The aircraft was very forgiving of pilots’ mistakes: it was hard to put into a spin, it glided when it lost height and could land on nearly any surface. The U-2 was also used in agriculture to dust fields with chemicals and, therefore, was nicknamed ‘Kukuruznik’.
The aircraft was simple and cheap to produce (it was made of wood, canvas and veneer) and easy to maintain (repair), could take off from any ground, and, because of its ability to fly at low speed, could fly at low altitudes that higher-speed aircraft couldn’t. These properties made the U-2 irreplaceable during the Great Patriotic War. The aircraft had a wide range of uses. It was used for aerial reconnaissance, as an air ambulance, liaison and transport aircraft, and of course as a night bomber. In the daytime the aircraft was vulnerable; however, its nocturnal nuisance attacks were legendary on both sides of the front: the U-2 could make up to ten raids per night and dropped bombs with high precision while flying at a low altitude.
Exceptionally simple and reliable, the U-2 won extreme popularity and became one of the most mass-produced and famous aircraft in the world.