Dmitry Medvedev presented representatives of each of the three towns with certificates.
The titles were conferred by presidential executive order for the courage, steadfastness and mass heroism the defenders of these towns displayed in fighting for their homeland’s freedom and independence.
The law on the title of City of Military Glory was passed in 2006. The title is awarded to towns whose defenders displayed great bravery and heroism in fierce battles in the towns themselves or in their environs.
Vyazma, located 220 km northwest of Moscow, played an important part in routing Nazi troops near Moscow in October 1941. Vyazma was liberated from Nazi occupation on March 12, 1943.
Kronstadt, a fortress town and port on Kotlin Island in the Baltic Sea, has a heroic past. For 300 years it has defended the approach by sea to St Petersburg-Petrograd-Leningrad and not once has an invader’s boot set foot upon its shores. Thirty-eight sailors, submariners and pilots from Kronstadt were decorated with the Hero of the Soviet Union for their feats during the 1941–1945 Great Patriotic War.
Naro-Fominsk, 70 km southwest of Moscow, was the scene of battles that marked one of the main stages in the Nazi forces’ offensive against Moscow in autumn 1941. The town saw fierce fighting that slowed the enemy offensive. Naro-Fominsk was liberated on December 26, 1941.
The title City of Military Glory has been conferred on 16 Russian towns and cities: Belgorod, Voronezh, Velikiye Luki, Veliky Novgorod, Vladikavkaz, Dmitrov, Yelnya, Yelets, Kursk, Malgobek, Luga, Orel, Polyarny, Rzhev, Rostov-on-Don, and Tuapse.