In May 2012 the Russian Side requested official permission of the UK Government for the British veterans of the Arctic Convoys to be awarded by the President of the Russian Federation the Ushakov Medal in recognition of their outstanding contribution to our allied cooperation during World War II. Under UK law the Embassy was required to provide the information concerning activities of intended recipients over the last five years, which will constitute grounds for conferring the award. So, the Embassy had to request the British veterans to provide the information regarding their participation in public/civil activities of local, national and international level over the last five years, which could be forwarded to the HM Government in support of our request. To date 813 letters from the veterans have been forwarded to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Now the Embassy is in receipt of a note of the Foreign Office which gives official response to our request. It states, inter alia, that the information supplied ‘does not describe any relevant service specific to Russia within the last five years’. Therefore it will not be possible for the Foreign Office to seek permission for those UK citizens named by the Embassy to accept and wear the Ushakov Medal. Were the Embassy to provide details of those veterans who satisfy to the “five year criterion” then the decision could be revisited. It is, however, difficult to imagine the persons in their late eighties and early nineties to do things similar to what they did at the time of the War 70 years ago.
Under the circumstances the Embassy has to express its profound regret that while the authorities of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA have granted permission to their veterans of the Arctic Convoys to be awarded the Russian award, we are not in a position to honour in the same way the courage and sacrifice of the British heroes of the Arctic Convoys. It does not diminish in any way our gratitude to them for their fightnig for the common cause of defeating Nazism and delivering Europe and the whole of mankind from this existential threat.
We’ll be writing to each British veteran to inform of the situation.
The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has reshaped the international security environment. These technologies bring immense economic and social benefits; they can also be used for purposes that are inconsistent with international peace and security. There has been a noticeable increase in risk in recent years as ICTs are used for crime and the conduct of disruptive activities.
Accreditation for members of the Russian and foreign media wishing to cover the G20 Summit of heads of state and government, to be held on September 5-6, 2013 in St Petersburg, is open at www.g20russia.ru.
On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the spaceflight by a woman, Vladimir Putin met with Valentina Tereshkova, major general, Hero of the Soviet Union, and the first woman cosmonaut.
Ahead of the G8 summit in Great Britain and the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Vladimir Putin answered questions from Russian News & Information Agency.
On 12 June 2013 Chairman of the Council of Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko accompanied by the delegation of Russian senators met with the Lord Speaker of the House of Lords Baroness D’Souza and the Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow in the British Parliament.
The delegation of the Council of Federation of Russia headed by the Chairman of the upper house Valentina Matvienko arrived in the United Kingdom with an official visit.
PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Ladies and Gentlemen, I am delighted to greet Members and guests of the General Assembly of the International Exhibitions Bureau. Russia has a long and rich experience of participation in the World Expo movement. We took part in the very first universal exhibition in London in 1851. And at the Paris exhibition in 1900 our pavilion won the coveted Gold Medal and Grand Prix. But in all this time, Russia has not hosted the World Expo, not once. Surely, time has come to change this.
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