The President signed an order awarding the Commander in Chief of the Russian Armed Forces’ Certificate to Royal Navy cruiser HMS Belfast for courage and heroism shown by the ship’s crew in protecting transport convoys delivering military aid to the Soviet Union during World War II.
The award was presented in a ceremony in London on board the HMS Belfast, which is a branch of the Imperial War Museum. Taking part in the ceremony were Director of the Presidential Directorate for State Decorations Vladimir Osipov, British Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Security and Counterterrorism Lord Alan West, and Director of HMS Belfast Brad King.
The award ceremony was organised on the initiative of a number of British public organisations in the run-up to the sixty-fifth anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War.