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Hero of the Russian Federation (Russian: Герой Российской Федерации,
romanized: Geroy Rossiyskoy Federatsii), also unofficially called Hero of Russia (Russian: Герой России,
romanized: Geroy Rossii), is the highest honorary title of the Russian Federation. The title has a Gold Star medal, an insignia of honour that identifies recipients.
The title is awarded to persons for "service to the Russian state and nation, usually connected with a heroic feat of
valour". The title is bestowed by decree of the president of the Russian Federation. Russian citizenship or being in the service of the Russian state is not obligatory.
The title was established in 1992 after the Order of Lenin ceased issue, follwing the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
The majority of the early recipients of the
Russian Hero Medal fell into two categories: participants in the Chechnya conflicts or cosmonauts. On some occasions, the person who was awarded the title was killed while in the course of duty, such as Major Denis
Vetchinov, who was killed early in the 2008 South Ossetia War. This includes those killed in battle as well as assassinated government officials. An example of such a recipient was Akhmad
Kadyrov, the former governor of Chechnya. The pro-Moscow leader was killed in a bomb attack during the 2004 Victory Day parade in the Chechen capital of
Grozny. Several days after Akhmad was killed, President Vladimir Putin awarded him the title. Some time after the incident, Putin awarded Kadyrov's son,
Ramzan, the same title for his work in Chechnya.
After
their victory at Isandlwana on 22 January 1879 around 4,000 Zulus
pressed on to Rorke's Drift, a mission station on the Buffalo River. One
company of the 2nd Battalion 24th Regiment of Foot held them off for 12
hours. This was a welcome boost to British morale after the disaster of
Isandlwana, but it had little effect on the campaign as a whole.
Unsurprisingly, it was the defence of Rorke's Drift and the subsequent
award of 11 Victoria Crosses, rather than the defeat at Isandlwana, that
passed into British folklore.
All Russian cosmonauts are awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation following their voyage into space; some may already have earned it, for example for long service as a test pilot. Cosmonauts are also awarded the title Pilot-Cosmonaut of the Russian Federation. Some recipients of the title, such as Sergei
Krikalev, had also received the Soviet hero title, along with the Order of Lenin. Most of the cosmonaut double heroes were awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union and Hero of
Russia titles "for successful realization of flight and the courage and heroism shown."
VC
and other medals of the Scotsman Colonel C J W Grant 1856 Victoria Cross
Outside those two groups, athletes and other civilian and military officials have also received the title. Notable examples include:
- Submarine captain Gennady Lyachin, of the Kursk, which sank after an explosion in 2000. Due to his heroism during the explosion and his attempts at preserving the lives of the crew, Lyachin was posthumously awarded the title, and the members of his crew were awarded the Order of Courage.
- Athlete Larisa Lazutina was presented with the title for various medals won at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano,
Japan.
- Alexander Karelin was awarded for his recognition as the greatest wrestler of all time (from antiquity to the present day). He was a
Greco-Roman wrestler in the Olympics, and in his career he won 887 bouts and lost only 2 times. His losses are controversial because commentators believe they were caused by trivial rule changes, not a bona fide athletic defeat.
- Arktika 2007 expedition members Anatoly Sagalevich, Yevgeny Chernyaev and Artur Chilingarov, who on 10 January 2008, performed the first ever descent to the ocean bottom at the
North
Pole. Awarded the title "for courage and heroism showed in extreme conditions and successful completion of high-latitude Arctic deep-water expedition."
- Weapons designer Mikhail T. Kalashnikov, designer of the AK-47 assault rifle and PK machine gun. He received the honour on his 90th birthday, 10 November 2009.
On 16 August 2009, the Russian Air Force's aerobatics demonstration team, Russian Knights' commander, Guard Colonel Igor Tkachenko was killed when his Sukhoi Su-27 collided in mid-air with another Sukhoi Su-27 whilst practicing for the 2009 MAKS Airshow. He was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation posthumously on 22 August 2009.
The medal has been awarded posthumously approximately 340 times, primarily to people involved in the first and second wars in Chechnya. In 2010 a posthumous award was made by President Dmitry Medvedev to Evgeny Chernyshov, the chief of the Moscow fire department on 24 March 2010. Chernyshov died on 20 March 2010 saving others' lives.
On 28 March 2012, during a training exercise at a Far Eastern military base near the town of Belogorsk, Major Sergei Solnechnikov pushed a soldier away from an unsuccessfully thrown grenade and covered the grenade with his own body after it bounced back into the trench they were in with dozens of soldiers standing nearby. He was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation posthumously the following day on 29 March.
In February 2014, Colonel Alexander Popov who was commander of a detachment of Russian Spetsnaz took part in the 2014 Crimean crisis. On 4 April 2014 in a ("closed") decree of the President of the Russian Federation, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation for "courage and heroism displayed in the performance of military duty."
On 24 November 2015, a Turkish Air Force F-16 shot down a Sukhoi Su-24 which Turkey claimed had violated its airspace. Lieutenant Colonel Oleg Peshkov and Major Konstantin Murakhtin
ejected successfully from the aircraft but they were exposed to ground fire and Peshkov died as a result. Murakhtin was rescued safely later. On 25 November, President
Vladimir Putin awarded the Hero of Russia posthumously to Peshkov and Murakhtin was awarded with the Order of Courage.
On 17 March 2016, Senior Lieutenant Alexander Prokhorenko was the pilot of a Sukhoi Su-25 ground attack aircraft shot down during Palmyra offensive of the Syrian Civil War. During his last moments, he was allegedly surrounded on all sides by ISIS fighters and he decided to order an airstrike at his own position, killing himself and all of the approaching fighters. Before he died, he called the commander: " They are outside, conduct the airstrike now please hurry, this is the end, tell my family I love them and
I died fighting for my motherland. Unable command, I am surrounded, they are outside, I don't want them to take me and parade me, conduct the airstrike, they will make a mockery of me and this uniform. I want to die with dignity and take all these bastards with me. Please my last wish , conduct the airstrike, they will kill me either way. They [are] outside, this is the end commander, thank you, tell my family and my country I love them. Tell them I was brave and I fought until I could no longer .Please take care of my family, avenge my death, good bye commander, tell my family I love them!". On 11 April 2016, President Vladimir Putin declared Prokhorenko a Hero of the Russian Federation, the highest Russian honor.
On 10 July 2016, Police Lieutenant Magomed Nurbagandov from Dagestan was captured by Islamic militants. With the whole incident videotaped by the militants, they demanded that Nurbagandov and his colleagues resign from the police force, but he defied them and said to the camera "Keep on working, brothers!" before being shot dead. On 22 September 2016, President Putin praised the officer as a model for others and awarded the Hero of Russia posthumously to Nurbagandov which was handed to his parents.
On 10 May 2017, Russian President Vladimir Putin personally awarded medals to four officers of the Special Operations Forces for showing extraordinary courage combating terrorists in Syria. They were part of a 16-man special forces detachment unit which managed to successfully repulse attacks conducted by over 300 jihadists without any losses. The commander of the unit, Lieutenant Colonel Danilo was awarded the honorary title of Hero of the Russian Federation.
On 3 February 2018, Major Roman Filipov was the pilot of a Sukhoi Su-25 ground attack aircraft shot down by Syrian militants belonging to Tahrir al-Sham using a portable air-defence (MANPAD) system. Major Filipov successfully ejected but landed in a rebel-controlled area and fought a gun battle against militants. Images posted online show that he emptied both his pistol magazines and just as the militants surrounded him, he set off a hand grenade shouting “This is for the boys!” On 6 February 2018, President
Vladimir Putin signed an executive order awarding Major Roman Filipov the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.
On 15 August 2019, Ural Airlines Flight 178 crash landed in a cornfield shortly after takeoff. With the successful emergency landing, the airline praised the professionalism of the pilots. The pilot in command Damir Yusupov and the first officer Georgy Murzin were awarded the honorary title of Hero of the Russian Federation; the rest of the crew were decorated with the Order of Courage.
In December 2020, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, 1st Captain Dmitry Maslov of the Russian Navy's Northern Fleet was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation "for the performance of special tasks associated with the risk to life during one of the long voyages."
In May 2021, by a "closed" decree of the President of the Russian Federation, Police Lieutenant Colonel Zamid Chalaev of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Chechnya was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation for courage and heroism shown in the line of duty.
A
replica VC and the stone Victoria Cross of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
...
The
Nobel Peace Prize Medal 2002 - Jimmy Carter
https://www.royal.uk/the-order-of-the-garter
https://www.royal.uk/the-order-of-the-garter
https://www.nobelprize.org/
https://www.nobelprize.org/
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