text: hero of the russian federation hero of the russian federation ( russian : герой ) is the highest honorary title of the russian federation . a person that has been this title also receives a gold star medal , an insignia of honor that identifies recipients . the title is awarded to persons for " service to the russian state and nation , usually connected with a heroic feat of valor " . the title is bestowed by decree of the president of the russian federation . russian citizenship or being in the service of the russian state is not obligatory . the title was established in 1992 , and has been awarded more than 970 times since then , including more than 440 times posthumously . history the title " hero of russia " is a successor to hero of the soviet union ( russian : герой ) , which was established by resolution of the central executive committee of the soviet union of may 5 , 1934 . the corresponding gold star is derived from the soviet design , created by architect miron and approved by decree of the presidium of the supreme soviet of august 1 , 1939 . following the dissolution of the soviet union in 1991 , russian federation under president boris yeltsin retained a modified award by law of the russian federation № 2553 - 1 of march 20 , 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 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 is the main conferring authority of the award . the insignia of hero of the russian federation is worn on the left side of the chest above all other medals and decorations . its medal is always worn in full size , there is no ribbon bar or rosette that can be worn in its lieu . when soviet titles , such as hero of the soviet union or hero of socialist labour are worn together with the medal of the russian title , the latter has precedence . description the insignia of the title of " hero of the russian federation " is also called the " gold star " medal ( russian : медаль « » ) , 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 " ( russian : " " ) at its center , 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 . recipients the majority of the early recipients of the title fell into two categories : participants in the chechnya conflicts or cosmonauts . on some occasions , the person who was awarded the title was killed while in the course of duty , such as major denis , 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 , the former governor of chechnya . the pro - moscow leader was killed in a bomb attack during the 2004 victory day parade in the chechen capital of grozny . several days after akhmad was killed , president vladimir putin 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 . some recipients of the title , such as sergei krikalev , had also received the soviet hero title , along with the order of lenin . 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 of those two groups , athletes and other civilian and military officials have also received the title . notable examples include : submarine captain gennady , of the kursk , which sank after an explosion in 2000 . due to his heroism during the explosion and his attempts at preserving the lives of the crew , was posthumously awarded the title , and the members of his crew were awarded with the order of courage . athlete larisa was presented with the title for various medals won at the 1998 winter olympics in nagano , japan . alexander was awarded for his recognition as the greatest wrestler of all time ( from antiquity to the present day ) . he was a greco - roman wrestler in the olympics , 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 . 2007 expedition members anatoly , yevgeny and artur , who , on january 10 , 2008 , performed the first ever descent to the ocean bottom at the north pole . awarded the title " for courage and heroism showed in extremal conditions and successful completion of high - latitude arctic deep - water expedition . " weapons designer mikhail t. kalashnikov , designer of the ak - 47 assault rifle and pk machine gun . he received the honor on his 90th birthday , november 10 , 2009 . the medal has been awarded posthumously approximately 340 times , primarily to people involved in the first and second wars in chechnya . one of the more recent posthumous awards was made by president dmitry medvedev to evgeny , the chief of the moscow fire department on march 24 , 2010 . died march 20 , 2010 saving others ' lives .