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Mannerheim’s record as a soldier was impressive. He fought for Russia on the battle front in both the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 and in the First World War between 1914 and 1917. General Mannerheim was decorated with the St George’s Cross for gallantry and was famous for his military skill and efficacy. He came from the Grand Duchy of Finland, which sent more than 4,000 officers to serve in the Russian army between 1809 and 1917. Almost 400 of them reached the rank of general or admiral.
Most of the officers from Finland spoke Swedish as their mother tongue, Finnish being used mainly as a second language, if they knew it at all. Mannerheim’s Finnish before 1917 was far from fluent.

http://finland.fi/life-society/mannerheim-hero-in-finland-and-russia/ Even John Paul Jones fought for Russia 2014-Scotland:

Former Russian submarine skipper Admiral Alexander Zhurkov visited the John Paul Jones Birthplace and Museum in Kirkbean, Scotland on 19 September 2014. Admiral Zhurkov and his wife Svetlana took time out of their first visit to the United Kingdom to pay their respects at the Revolutionary War hero’s childhood home.
Cementing the relationship between Jones and Russia, Admiral Zhurkov was recently named a Patron of the Birthplace Museum Trust. According to an article published in the Dumfries Courier, the 57-year old retired Admiral was delighted at the opportunity his new appointment gives him to learn more about John Paul Jones and the his tie with Russian naval history. Admiral Zhurkov was deeply “impressed with the museum” and the work done to preserve the memory of John Paul Jones. the highlight of the visit was a small ceremony held on site where he hoisted the 1788 flag of the Imperial Russian Navy, the very same naval jack flown on John Paul Jones’s ships during his service as Kontradmiral. The Imperial Russian flag hoisted looks oddly enough like the Scottish Saltire flag in reverse (a white field instead of blue). As Rear-Admiral with command of the flagship Vladimir, he was successful in repelling the Turkish fleet from the Liman, fighting alongside the Black Sea Cossack flotilla. He was awarded the Order of St. Anne for his services, and declared an honorary Cossack by his new comrades.

Weird: Arguably the 'founder' of the US navy was a Russian admiral... When his grave was discovered in Paris he was in his Russian Admiral's uniform! http://www.pravdareport.com/society/stories/06-03-2006/76898-admiral-0/