MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a decree to award the Hero of Russia title to Ambassador Andrei Karlov murdered in Turkey (posthumously), the Kremlin press service reported on Wednesday.

"To award the title of Hero of the Russian Federation to Andrei Gennadyevich Karlov (posthumously) for tenacity and courage displayed during his tenure as Russia’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Turkey and big contribution to the implementation of the Russian foreign policy," says the decree signed by the head of state.

Russia’s Ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, was gunned down on Monday. An armed man whom the police later identified as a 22-year-old police officer opened indiscriminate fire in an art gallery in Ankara where Ambassador Karlov was opening a photo exhibition. Turkish officials said the attacker was neutralized. Apart from the ambassador, the shooter wounded three more people but none of them were Russian citizens. The Russian Foreign Ministry has described the incident as an act of terror.

Karlov will be buried on Thursday, December 22.