KRASNOGORSK /Moscow Region/, June 12. /TASS/. All fighters taking part in the special military operation and witnessing combat operations "not in the movies, but in real life" are heroes in the eyes of those in their right mind, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"In the eyes of any normal person each of you is a hero. Just like the other guys who are fighting at the frontline in the zone of the special military operation. Artillery fire, tanks and armored vehicles - all of them are real. It's all happening 'in real life’," he said in a conversation with wounded soldiers undergoing treatment at the Vishnevsky military hospital in Krasnogorsk, near Moscow on Monday.
A little earlier, the head of state presented them with government awards. He lamented that it was impossible to gather in this way "all the guys who take part in combat operations", but stressed that each such fighter should be considered a hero.
"The commander has received the Star of Hero and all the others, the Order of Courage. The Order of Courage is a high award, but judging by what and how you have been telling us: artillery shellings, tanks, armored vehicles <...> - those were tough combat clashes, which shows that in fact the level of the award is a token that can hardly express it all," Putin pointed out.
He added that such ceremonies were to emphasize "the significance of the combat work being done by all the guys who are in the zone of a special military operation - all without exception."
Senior Lieutenant Yuri Zhulanov, a participant in the special military operation and company commander, was awarded the Star of the Hero of Russia. The Order of Courage was awarded to Lieutenant Anatoly Zuyev (the commander of a flamethrower platoon), Private Andrey Kravtsov, (assistant grenade launcher operator), Ensign Balgan Banzaraktsayev (a corporal of a mechanized infantry company), Private Andrey Batuyev, (a radiotelephone operator), squad leader Private Yuri Krasnoyarov, Private Nikolai Lychko (a squad’s chemical specialist), Senior Sergeant Sergey Patanov (a medical squad’ commander), Private Dmitry Pilikhovsky (a machine-gunner), and Junior Sergeant Kirill Tatarenko (a squad commander).