©Kooskia
© googynoober (commission)
© Naomi Novik (world-setting from Temeraire series).

A Temeraire-world setting Soviet dragon: Here some info:

During the WWI the Russian Military has not learned, as many other countries, the lessons of the technology and the Aerial Corps of Dragons were sent in battle with bloody results after the improvement in weaponry and warplanes.

The Bolshevik Revolution saw the support of the Aerial Corps as happened for large numbers of soldiers and sailors: Dragons and Captains were eager to join Lenin's cause hoping to improve the living conditions of Dragons in Russian (that had remained the worse in Europe) that had suffered for long time under the czarist rule (this has been described in the same Naomi Novik's books)

In the following years the Dragons were slowly diverted into civil works, they were an important element of Lenin's and then Stalin's programs to re-build the country, but while a number of high ranked officers were put under the eyes of the NKVD and some fall during the Great Purges, the Soviet strategists were divided (as the ones of the other countries).
Old-style commanders were reluctant to abandon the logic of using dragons as frontline force in battle, others believed dragons should be removed from the ranks of Military , others believed in the strategic use of Dragons.
The last ones proved to be right: the Soviet Red Army gained incredible battle-experience using Dragons to transport troops and supplies were aircrafts could not land during the clashes against the Japanese in September 1939

Later Dragons proved to be of tremendous help air-lifting parts of a Soviet Division that has been cut from the main forces during the Winter War, but their efforts weren't enough to prevent high causalities among the infantry and the Moscow's strategists remained unsure about the Dragons effective ability on the battlefield, and for 1940 and 1941 still no large Dragon formations were built according these new strategies.

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With the start of Operation Barbarossa, the Soviet Armed Forces were forced to reconsider the use of Dragons on battle and new strategies were adapted.
It became clear that while the German armies stretched their forces into the vast Russian lands, their supply lines were endangered by an huge partisan movement in Belarus and Ukraine.

Dragons were mobilized in supply missions for Partisan forces: Russian breeds with white colours were almost invisible (and silent) from above and the same amplitude of the territories reduced the dangers of enemy ground Anti-Dragon fire.

Dragons crew-members were reduced and put inside light metallic structures developed by Tupolev's OKB. Men were given defensive machine-guns weapons and with airmen uniforms, also the networks under the belly were metallic and with a more efficient system of opening, compared to the ones used in the past conflicts.

Armor for Dragons was concentrated on the forward-parts of the body, in case of unexpected encounters with anti-partisans German ground forces and could absorb and deflect the majority of light gunfire.

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This specific dragon of Ukrainian breed is just telling his human comrades about a German dragon flying above (Germans quickly realized that the best way to intercept the Soviet dragons was using other dragons: they could more easily detect dragons rather than the higher flying recce-aircrafts, more needed on the frontline).
On the cabin crew is visible the decorative mark of being an unit "of the Guards"
The same dragon got a decoration of the "Order of the Red Banner", installed as a decorative plaque on the armour (Dragons were competitive and eager to win such decorations).
A camouflage has been applied on armour: the light blue stripes are done to not make the dragon too much "white" among the confusion of colors during wind and snow.

Comments and opinions are extremely welcome ^^