Hero of the Russian Federation ( rus, Герой Российской Федерации, p=ɡʲɪˈroj rɐˈsʲijskəj fʲɪdʲɪˈratsɨɪ), also unofficially called Hero of Russia ( rus, Герой России, p=ɡʲɪˈroj rɐˈsʲiɪ), is the highest

honorary title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be ins ...

of the

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. 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 The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation (), is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the Federal State Council and the supreme commander-in-chief of the Russian Armed Forces. I ...

. Russian citizenship or being in the service of the Russian state is not obligatory. The title was established in 1992 and, , was awarded more than 970 times, of which more than 440 were posthumously.

History

The title "Hero of Russia" is a successor to

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union () was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society. The title was awarded both ...

(), which was established by Resolution of the

Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union The Central Executive Committee of the USSR (), which may be abbreviated as the CEC (), was the supreme governing body of the USSR in between sessions of the All-Union Congress of Soviets from 1922 to 1938. The Central Executive Committee elec ...

of 5 May 1934. The corresponding Gold Star is derived from the Soviet design, created by architect Miron Merzhanov and approved by Decree of the

Presidium of the Supreme Soviet The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet () was the standing body of the highest organ of state power, highest body of state authority in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).The Presidium of the Soviet Union is, in short, the legislativ ...

of 1 August 1939, and the ribbon was updated from the Soviet flag colors to the colors of the Russian flag. Following the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

in 1991, Russian Federation under president

Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician and statesman who served as President of Russia from 1991 to 1999. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1961 to ...

retained a modified award by Law of the Russian Federation No. 2553-1 20 March 1992. 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 honour that can be presented by the

Russian president The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation (), is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the Federal State Council and the supreme commander-in-chief of the Russian Armed Forces. I ...

to a citizen.

Statute

The title of Hero of the Russian Federation can be awarded for a heroic deed in the service of the state. It can be awarded to both civilian and military personnel. The title can also be awarded posthumously if the heroic act costs the recipient his or her life. The

President of the Russian Federation The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation (), is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the Federal State Council and the supreme commander-in-chief of the Russian Armed Forces. I ...

is the main conferring authority of the award.

Description

The insignia of the title of "Hero of the Russian Federation" is also called the "Gold Star" medal (), its design is similar to the Soviet variant. The "Gold Star" medal is a gold five-pointed star with smooth 15mm dihedral rays on the obverse. The otherwise plain reverse bears the prominent relief inscription in 2mm high letters "HERO OF RUSSIA" () at its centre, in the upper portion, the award serial number in 1mm high numbers. The insignia is secured to a standard Russian square mount by a ring through the suspension loop. The mount is covered by a silk moiré tricolour ribbon of white, blue, and red. The insignia of Hero of the Russian Federation is worn on the left side of the chest above all other medals and decorations. It is always worn in full size; there is no ribbon bar or rosette that can be worn in lieu of the medal. When worn together with Soviet-era hero titles (

Hero of Socialist Labour The Hero of Socialist Labour () was an Title of honor, honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It represented the highest degree of distinction in the USSR and was awarded for exceptional achievem ...

), the Russian title has precedence.

Recipients

The majority of the early recipients of the title fell into two categories: participants in the

Chechnya Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federa ...

conflicts or

cosmonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

s. 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 Akhmat-Khadzhi Abdulkhamidovich Kadyrov (23 August 1951 – 9 May 2004) was a Chechen politician and revolutionary who served as Chief Mufti of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in the 1990s during and after the First Chechen War. At the outbreak ...

, the former governor of Chechnya. The pro-Moscow leader was killed in a bomb attack during the 2004

Victory Day Victory Day is a commonly used name for public holidays in various countries, where it commemorates a nation's triumph over a hostile force in a war or the liberation of a country from hostile occupation. In many cases, multiple countries may ob ...

parade in the Chechen capital of

Grozny Grozny (, ; ) is the capital city of Chechnya, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 328,533 — up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Russian Census, 2002 ce ...

. Several days after Akhmad was killed, President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

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 The Honorary Title Pilot-Cosmonaut of the Russian Federation () is a state award of the Russian Federation presented to all cosmonauts who fly for the Russian Federal Space Agency. Usually accompanying the distinction is the title of Hero of th ...

. Some recipients of the title, such as

Sergei Krikalev Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev (, also transliterated as Sergei Krikalyov; born 27 August 1958) is a Russian mechanical engineer and former cosmonaut and head of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. As a prominent rocket scientist, he ...

, had also received the Soviet hero title, along with the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

. 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 those two groups, athletes and other civilian and military officials have also received the title. Notable examples include: *

Submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

captain Gennady Lyachin, of the ''Kursk'', which sank after an

explosion An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume of a given amount of matter associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Explosions may also be generated ...

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 The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano, Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with some events ...

in Nagano, Japan. * Alexander Karelin was awarded for his recognition as the greatest

wrestler Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves diffe ...

of all time (from antiquity to the present day). He was a Greco-Roman wrestler in the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

, 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, and

Artur Chilingarov Artur Nikolaevich Chilingarov (; 25 September 1939 – 1 June 2024) was an Armenian-Russian polar explorer, a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union in 1986 and the title of ...

, who on 10 January 2008, performed the first ever descent to the ocean bottom at the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

. 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 The AK-47, officially known as the Avtomat Kalashnikova (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is an assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms designer Mikhail Kala ...

assault rifle and

PK machine gun The PK (, transliterated as ''Pulemyot Kalashnikova'', or "Kalashnikov's machine gun"), is a belt-fed general-purpose machine gun, chambered for the 7.62×54mmR rimmed cartridge. The modernized and most commonly known variant, known as the PKM ...

. He received the honour on his 90th birthday, 10 November 2009. On 16 August 2009, the

Russian Air Force The Russian Air Force () is a branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces, the latter being formed on 1 August 2015 with the merging of the Russian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the reb ...

aerobatics Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aeroplane" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and gl ...

demonstration team, Russian Knights' commander,

Guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

Colonel Igor Tkachenko was killed when his

Sukhoi Su-27 The Sukhoi Su-27 (; NATO reporting name: Flanker) is a Soviet Union, Soviet-origin twinjet, twin-engine supersonic Supermaneuverability, supermaneuverable fighter aircraft designed by Sukhoi. It was intended as a direct competitor for the lar ...

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 The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

wars in

. In 2010 a posthumous award was made by President

Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev (born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician and lawyer who has served as Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia since 2020. Medvedev was also President of Russia between 2008 and 2012 and Prime Mini ...

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 who was commander of a detachment of Russian

Spetsnaz SpetsnazThe term is borrowed from rus, спецназ, p=spʲɪtsˈnas; abbreviation for or 'Special Purpose Military Units'; or () are special forces in many post-Soviet states. Historically, this term referred to the Soviet Union's Spet ...

took part in the

annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation In February and March 2014, Russia invaded the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, part of Ukraine, and then annexed it. This took place in the relative power vacuum immediately following the Revolution of Dignity. It marked the beginning of the Russ ...

. 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 The Turkish Air Force () is the Air force, air and space force of the Turkish Armed Forces. It traces its origins to 1 June 1911 when it was founded as the Ottoman Aviation Squadrons, Aviation Squadrons by the Ottoman Empire. It was composed ...

F-16 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it e ...

shot down a

Sukhoi Su-24 The Sukhoi Su-24 (NATO reporting name: Fencer) is a supersonic, night fighter, all-weather tactical bomber developed in the Soviet Union. The aircraft has a variable-sweep wing, Twinjet, twin engines and a side-by-side seating arrangement for it ...

which Turkey claimed had violated its airspace. Lieutenant Colonel Oleg Peshkov and Major 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 The Sukhoi Su-25 ''Grach'' ( ('' rook''); NATO reporting name: Frogfoot) is a subsonic, single-seat, twin-engine jet aircraft developed in the Soviet Union by Sukhoi. It was designed to provide close air support for Soviet Ground Forces. Th ...

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 Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

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 reoutside, 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

declared Prokhorenko a Hero of the Russian Federation, the highest Russian honor. On 10 July 2016, Police Lieutenant Magomed Nurbagandov from

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Fede ...

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 Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

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

ground attack aircraft shot down by Syrian militants belonging to

Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) was a Sunni Islamist political organisation and paramilitary group involved in the Syrian civil war. It was formed on 28January 2017 as a merger between several armed groups: Jaysh al-Ahrar (an Ahrar al-Sham facti ...

using a portable air-defence (

MANPAD Man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS or MPADS) are portable shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles. They are guided weapons and are a threat to low-flying aircraft, especially helicopters and also used against low-flying cruise missi ...

) 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 A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A mod ...

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 and the first officer 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 of the

Russian Navy The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...

Northern Fleet The Northern Fleet (, ''Severnyy flot'') is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Arctic. According to the Russian ministry of defence: "The Northern Fleet dates its history back to a squadron created in 1733 to protect the terri ...

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 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. On 5 June 2022, Roman Kutuzov was killed in the village of Mykolaivka, during the battle for Sievierodonetsk–Lysychansk near

Lysychansk Lysychansk ( , ; , ; , ) is a city in Sievierodonetsk Raion, Luhansk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. It is located on the high right bank of the Donets River, approximately from the administrative center of the oblast, Luhansk. It faces Sievierodonet ...

, Ukraine, while commanding the 1st Army Corps of the

Donetsk People's Republic The Donetsk People's Republic (DPR; , ) is Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, occupied territory in Ukraine that the Russian Federation has claimed to annex and declared as a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia, comprising parts o ...

. Reports of his death originated on Russian milblogger

Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

channels and were later confirmed by Russian state media. He was buried in the Federal Military Memorial Cemetery on 7 June 2022. Kutuzov's promotion to

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

was announced posthumously, and he was awarded the Hero of the Russian Federation award alongside his other medals.

References

External links