MOSCOW, December 8. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Thursday on awarding the Order of Courage to servicemen and civilian personnel of Russia’s Armed Forces who were killed or wounded in Syria, the Kremlin press service said.

Col. Ruslan Galitsky, two Russian medical specialists - Sergeants Nadezhda Durachenko and Galina Mikhailova, and also Col. Eduard Skvortsov were awarded the Order posthumously.Vadim Arsentyev, professor of the S. M. Kirov Military Medical Academy, who was seriously wounded during the shelling of the Russian hospital in Syria, also received the award.

On Wednesday, Putin instructed the Defense Ministry to recommend the Russian medical workers who lost their lives in Syria for the awards of distinction and do everything possible to help their families."Risking their lives, the Russian military personnel are doing their utmost to help the Syrian army in the fight against terrorists and save civilian lives. You know that on December 5, medical workers of a military hospital, Sergeants Nadezhda Durachenko and Galina Mikhailova, were killed while performing their duties," he said.

Colonel Ruslan Galitsky died in Syria on Tuesday after being severely wounded during the terrorists’ shelling of a neighborhood in western Aleppo. Galitsky worked as a military adviser to the Syrian army, the Defense Ministry said.

Two Russian nurses, Galina Mikhailova and Galina Durachenko, were killed in Syria on December 5 during the terrorists’ shelling of a Russian makeshift hospital near Aleppo. The sources in the hospital said that they were young women under 40 and had children at home. Children’s doctor, Vadim Arsentyev, was severely wounded in the attack.