Hero of the Russian Federation
Encyclopedia
Hero of the Russian Federation is a Russian decoration
and the highest honorary title
that can be bestowed on a citizen by the Russian Federation
. The President of the Russian Federation is the main conferring authority of the medal, which is bestowed on those committing actions or deeds that involve conspicuous bravery while in the service of the state. It has been presented about 750 times since its creation, primarily to cosmonauts or to those involved with military actions in Chechnya
. Several artists, politicians, economists and athletes have also been awarded the title.
on March 20, 1992, replacing the Soviet
titles Hero of the Soviet Union
and Hero of Socialist Labor
. Decree № 2553-I contained the criteria for the title (see below) and the design of a Gold Star
medal that accompanies the title. Article 71 of the Constitution of Russia permits titles, orders and medals to be presented by the government, and Article 89 gives the Russian president power to create state awards. This is the highest honor that can be presented by the Russian president to anyone. Unlike the Soviet hero titles, there are no other medals or orders that are presented with the Russian hero title.
and second
wars in Chechnya
. The last known award was made by President Dmitry Medvedev
to Evgeny Chernyshov, the chief of the Moscow city fire department, posthumously on 24 March 2010. Chernyshov died 20 March 2010 saving others' lives.
medal (медаль «Золотая Звезда») was set out in Decree № 2553-I and is similar to that of the medal for the Soviet
title Hero of the Soviet Union
. The ribbon that is used on a rectangle (boot-tree) suspension device is sized 19.5 mm high by 15 mm wide and is colored white
, blue
, and red
. The design of the ribbon was based on the flag of Russia
. The pentagonal star
that is suspended from the boot-tree device has a diameter of 15 mm and does not have any design on the front. On the reverse, the words "Hero of Russia" appear in a 2x4 mm convex font, and a 1 mm serial number
is placed in the top ray. The serial number shows how many times the award has been presented (i.e. SN 164 indicates that the medal was the 164th one bestowed). On the reverse of the boot-tree device, there is a fastening device that consists of a pin and hook, which is used to affix the medal to clothing. The medal itself is made out of gold and weighs about 21.5 gram
s.
When the medal is worn in public, it is worn on the left side of the suit jacket above all other medals and decorations of Russia and the Soviet Union. The medal is always worn in full, so there is no ribbon bar that can be worn in place of it. There have been occasions where those who were awarded this title also wear their Soviet titles, such as Hero of the Soviet Union
or Hero of Socialist Labor
, together with the Gold Star medal of the Russian title.
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.
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 Sergey 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."
Outside of those two groups, athletes and other civilian and military officials have also received the title. Notable examples include:
Awards and decorations of the Russian Federation
The award system of the Russian Federation has varied and distinct origins. The first being pre-1917 orders of the Russian Empire re-established after 1991. The second is from former Soviet orders that were slightly modified and kept after the USSR's collapse...
and the highest honorary title
Title of honor
An honorary title or title of honor is a title bestowed upon individuals or organizations as an award in recognition of their merits.Sometimes the title bears the same or nearly the same name as a title of authority, but the person bestowed does not have to carry any duties, possibly except for...
that can be bestowed on a citizen by the Russian Federation
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. The President of the Russian Federation is the main conferring authority of the medal, which is bestowed on those committing actions or deeds that involve conspicuous bravery while in the service of the state. It has been presented about 750 times since its creation, primarily to cosmonauts or to those involved with military actions in Chechnya
Chechnya
The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
. Several artists, politicians, economists and athletes have also been awarded the title.
Creation
The title was created from a decree issued by Russian President Boris YeltsinBoris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
on March 20, 1992, replacing the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
titles Hero of the Soviet Union
Hero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...
and Hero of Socialist Labor
Hero of Socialist Labor
Hero of Socialist Labour was an honorary title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries. It was the highest degree of distinction for exceptional achievements in national economy and culture...
. Decree № 2553-I contained the criteria for the title (see below) and the design of a Gold Star
Gold Star
The Gold Star medal is a special insignia that identifies recipients of the title "Hero" in the Soviet Union and its communist allies, and several post-Soviet states.-Soviet origin:...
medal that accompanies the title. Article 71 of the Constitution of Russia permits titles, orders and medals to be presented by the government, and Article 89 gives the Russian president power to create state awards. This is the highest honor that can be presented by the Russian president to anyone. Unlike the Soviet hero titles, there are no other medals or orders that are presented with the Russian hero title.
Criteria
Decree № 2553-I states that the title can be awarded to a person who performs a heroic deed in the service of the state and the people and thus can be received by both civilian and military personnel. The title can also be awarded posthumously if the heroic act costs the recipient his or her life. The medal has been awarded posthumously approximately 340 times, primarily to people involved in the firstFirst Chechen War
The First Chechen War, also known as the War in Chechnya, was a conflict between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, fought from December 1994 to August 1996...
and second
Second Chechen War
The Second Chechen War, in a later phase better known as the War in the North Caucasus, was launched by the Russian Federation starting 26 August 1999, in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade ....
wars in Chechnya
Chechnya
The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
. The last known award was made by President Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev is the third President of the Russian Federation.Born to a family of academics, Medvedev graduated from the Law Department of Leningrad State University in 1987. He defended his dissertation in 1990 and worked as a docent at his alma mater, now renamed to Saint...
to Evgeny Chernyshov, the chief of the Moscow city fire department, posthumously on 24 March 2010. Chernyshov died 20 March 2010 saving others' lives.
Design and display
The design of the Gold StarGold Star
The Gold Star medal is a special insignia that identifies recipients of the title "Hero" in the Soviet Union and its communist allies, and several post-Soviet states.-Soviet origin:...
medal (медаль «Золотая Звезда») was set out in Decree № 2553-I and is similar to that of the medal for the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
title Hero of the Soviet Union
Hero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...
. The ribbon that is used on a rectangle (boot-tree) suspension device is sized 19.5 mm high by 15 mm wide and is colored white
White
White is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.White light can be...
, blue
Blue
Blue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...
, and red
Red
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...
. The design of the ribbon was based on the flag of Russia
Flag of Russia
The flag of Russia is a tricolour flag of three equal horizontal fields, white on the top, blue in the middle and red on the bottom. The flag was first used as an ensign for Russian merchant and war ships and only became official in 1896...
. The pentagonal star
Star
A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
that is suspended from the boot-tree device has a diameter of 15 mm and does not have any design on the front. On the reverse, the words "Hero of Russia" appear in a 2x4 mm convex font, and a 1 mm serial number
Serial number
A serial number is a unique number assigned for identification which varies from its successor or predecessor by a fixed discrete integer value...
is placed in the top ray. The serial number shows how many times the award has been presented (i.e. SN 164 indicates that the medal was the 164th one bestowed). On the reverse of the boot-tree device, there is a fastening device that consists of a pin and hook, which is used to affix the medal to clothing. The medal itself is made out of gold and weighs about 21.5 gram
Gram
The gram is a metric system unit of mass....
s.
When the medal is worn in public, it is worn on the left side of the suit jacket above all other medals and decorations of Russia and the Soviet Union. The medal is always worn in full, so there is no ribbon bar that can be worn in place of it. There have been occasions where those who were awarded this title also wear their Soviet titles, such as Hero of the Soviet Union
Hero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...
or Hero of Socialist Labor
Hero of Socialist Labor
Hero of Socialist Labour was an honorary title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries. It was the highest degree of distinction for exceptional achievements in national economy and culture...
, together with the Gold Star medal of the Russian title.
Recipients
The majority of recipients of the title fall into two categories: participants in the ChechnyaChechnya
The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
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
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
government officials. An example of such a recipient was Akhmad Kadyrov
Akhmad Kadyrov
Hajji Akhmad Abdulkhamidovich Kadyrov , also spelled Akhmat, was the Chief Mufti of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in the 1990s during and after the First Chechen War...
, 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
Grozny
Grozny is the capital city of the Chechen Republic, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the preliminary results of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 271,596; up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Census. but still only about two-thirds of 399,688 recorded in the 1989...
. Several days after Akhmad was killed, President Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
awarded him the title. Some time after the incident, Putin awarded Kadyrov's son, Ramzan
Ramzan Kadyrov
Ramzan Akhmadovich Kadyrov is the President of Chechnya and a former Chechen rebel.Ramzan is a son of former Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, assassinated in May 2004. In February 2007 Kadyrov replaced Alu Alkhanov as President, shortly after he had turned 30, which is the minimum age for the post...
, the same title for his work in Chechnya.
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
Pilot-Cosmonaut of the Russian Federation
Pilot-Cosmonaut of the Russian Federation is a title that is presented to all cosmonauts who fly for the Russian Federal Space Agency. Usually accompanying the distinction is the title of Hero of the Russian Federation, the highest title that can be awarded to a Russian for performing heroic deeds...
. Some recipients of the title, such as Sergey Krikalev, had also received the Soviet hero title, along with the Order of Lenin
Order of Lenin
The Order of Lenin , named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was the highest decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union...
. 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."
Outside of those two groups, athletes and other civilian and military officials have also received the title. Notable examples include:
- SubmarineSubmarineA submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
captain Gennady LyachinGennady LyachinCaptain First Rank Gennady Petrovich Lyachin was the commanding officer of the Russian submarine Kursk when the vessel suffered a series of explosions and sank on 12 August 2000....
, of the Kursk, which sank after an explosionRussian submarine Kursk explosionOn 12 August 2000, the Russian Oscar II class submarine Kursk sank in the Barents Sea after an explosion. The investigation showed that a leak of hydrogen peroxide in a torpedo led to explosion of its fuel, causing the submarine to hit the bottom which in turn triggered the detonation of further...
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 with the Order of CourageOrder of CourageThe Order of Courage is a decoration presented by the government of the Russian Federation. Established in 1994, the order is presented for "acts of courage or self-sacrifice."- External links :* *...
. - Athlete Larisa LazutinaLarisa LazutinaLarisa Evgenevna Lazutina is a former professional cross country skier who competed for Russia during several Winter Olympic Games. In the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, she won five medals in skiing events: three gold, a silver and a bronze...
was presented with the title for various medals won at the 1998 Winter Olympics1998 Winter OlympicsThe 1998 Winter Olympics, officially the XVIII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 7 to 22 February 1998 in Nagano, Japan. Seventy-two nations and 2,176 participans contested in seven sports and 72 events at 15 venues. The games saw the introduction of Women's ice...
in Nagano, Japan. - Athlete Alexander KarelinAlexander KarelinAleksandr Aleksandrovich Karelin, or simply Alexander Karelin, is a Hero of the Russian Federation and was a dominant Greco-Roman wrestler for the Soviet Union and later, after its dissolution, for Russia. He won gold medals at the 1988, 1992, and 1996 Olympic Games...
, was honored with the title for his Olympic success in wrestling. - Arktika 2007Arktika 2007Arktika 2007 was a 2007 expedition in which Russia performed the first ever crewed descent to the ocean bottom at the North Pole, as part of research related to the 2001 Russian territorial claim, one of many territorial claims in the Arctic, made possible, in part, because of Arctic shrinkage...
expedition members Anatoly SagalevichAnatoly SagalevichAnatoly Mikhailovich Sagalevich is a Russian explorer, who works at the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences since 1965....
, Yevgeny Chernyaev and Artur ChilingarovArtur ChilingarovArtur Nikolayevich Chilingarov is a Russian polar explorer. He is a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union in 1986 and the title Hero of the Russian Federation in 2008. Chilingarov is also a member of State Duma from Nenets...
, who, on January 10, 2008, performed the first ever descent to the ocean bottom at the North PoleNorth PoleThe North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...
. Awarded the title "for courage and heroism showed in extremal conditions and successful completion of High-Latitude Arctic Deep-Water Expedition." - Weapons designer Mikhail T. Kalashnikov, designer of the AK-47AK-47The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
assault rifle and PK machine gun. He received the honor on his 90th birthday, November 10, 2009.
See also
- Awards and decorations of the Russian FederationAwards and decorations of the Russian FederationThe award system of the Russian Federation has varied and distinct origins. The first being pre-1917 orders of the Russian Empire re-established after 1991. The second is from former Soviet orders that were slightly modified and kept after the USSR's collapse...
- Awards and Emblems of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian FederationAwards and Emblems of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian FederationThe Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation has its own complex system of awards. This not only includes awards common to all the Armed Forces but also service specific and departmental awards...
- Awards of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of RussiaAwards of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of RussiaKnown internationally as the MVD, The Ministry of Internal Affairs of The Russian Federation encompasses all militia forces, Interior Troops and the State Migratory Service. It has its own ministerial awards system subordinate to state awards...
- Козлов, Алексей Михайлович